Guest Blog: NFL Mid-Season Review
By: Adam Troester
We are officially past the halfway mark in the NFL Season. Nine weeks down. Eight weeks left. Every team has played at least eight games and some have played nine. With that said, there’s only one thing that we know. The Green Bay Packers are the team to beat. Other than that, everything else is still up in the air. Without further ado here is the midseason report for the NFL.
Power Rankings
- Green Bay Packers (8-0): With five home games remaining in the last half of the season the 1972 Miami Dolphins might be sweating this one out in January.
- Baltimore Ravens (6-2): With a season sweep of the Steelers out of the way the Ravens could win 13 games.
- San Francisco 49ers (7-1): Definitely the surprise of the season. With five games against their weak division opponents remaining, the Niners are looking a 12 win season in the face for the first time since 2001.
- Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3): The defending AFC Champions have only lost to the Ravens and at Houston.
- Detroit Lions (6-2): Two disappointing losses in their last three games. The bye week before a huge game at Chicago should give them the chance to bounce back.
- New Orleans Saints (6-3): Haven’t lost at home yet. One bad loss against one win St. Louis keeps them out of the top five.
- New York Giants (6-2): The meat of their schedule still lies in front of them. Be impressed if they reach double digit wins.
- Chicago Bears (5-3): Back-to-back wins at Tampa and Philadelphia ensures the Bears will be in the hunt until the end.
- New York Jets (5-3): Mark Sanchez said they would look back at their three game losing streak and laugh. I’m afraid he’s probably right.
- Houston Texans (6-3): A very manageable schedule will give them enough to win ten or 11 games and make their first playoff appearance.
- New England Patriots (5-3): A huge game at the Jets this week will go a long way in determining the Patriots’ fate.
- Atlanta Falcons (5-3): I’d be surprised if the Falcons don’t end up with at least ten wins.
- Cincinnati Bengals (6-2): Six wins would usually get you higher than 13th at the midway point, but four games remain against the Ravens and Steelers.
- San Diego Chargers (4-4): Three straight losses have them reeling, but I see a Philip Rivers bounce back in the second half to capture the AFC West title.
- Dallas Cowboys (4-4): If the Cowboys can get past the Bills this week at home, there’s a good chance they’ll be 8-4 heading into the last four games of the season.
- Buffalo Bills (5-3): Three straight road games will tell us if the Bills are a legitimate playoff team or a first half pretender.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4): A brutal schedule is keeping this talented team down.
- Philadelphia Eagles (3-5): Everyone thought they were back, but the dream is almost put to sleep for good.
- Oakland Raiders (4-4): The Carson Palmer project is still young. If he regains his form, they are the Chargers’ biggest threat in the division.
- Kansas City Chiefs (4-4): They might be tied for the division lead, but I don’t see a scenario where they get to nine wins.
- Tennessee Titans (4-4): Probably right where they should be. If they can manage to stick around a Week 17 match up with the Texans will be big.
- Denver Broncos (3-5): If Tim Tebow plays like he did against the Raiders, this team has a slim chance to win nine games. Who knows that might make the playoffs.
- Washington Redskins (3-5): The NFC East is far from over. The Redskins might need a six more wins to steal the division, but anything is possible with the schedules these four teams are facing.
- Cleveland Browns (3-5): Even if the Browns bounce back a tough three game road stretch will be the end of them if they haven’t met it before Week 14.
This is where the word “power” in power rankings officially runs out. At this point, there are 24 teams within two games of a playoff spot. That list will grow shorter and shorter every week and if you’re not in position to even compete for a spot in the post season, there is really no time to be discussed in regards to where you rank.
Midseason Awards
NFL MVP: Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers): At this point in the season, there really isn’t anyone else in the conversation with Rodgers. The Super Bowl MVP is having one of the best, if not the best season of all time. He is on pace to break almost every record that has been set for a single season in the NFL. It’s hard to pick what is most impressive about his season, but I’m choosing his 24 TD’s with only 3 INT’s. That is simply unbelievable.
Defensive MVP: Jared Allen (Minnesota Vikings): With all due respect for Darrelle Revis of the Jets, Jared Allen’s first half cannot be overlooked. The most amazing part of Jared Allen’s 13 sacks in the first half of the season is that no one is talking about it. His season high total for sacks is 15.5 back in 2007. He has almost surpassed that with eight games left to play. Allen is on pace to shatter the 22.5 sack single season record set by Jared Allen.
Hardest Handshake of the Year? Jim Harbaugh.
Coach of the Mid Year: Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco 49ers): The first half of the season of the Lions and Bengals can’t be overlooked by any means, but I just couldn’t choose Marvin Lewis or Jim Schwartz over Jim Harbaugh. Lewis is a close second due to the fact that no one saw the Bengals coming either. Schwartz has been in place and a fair amount of people were projecting the Lions in the playoffs before the season started. The fact remains that Harbaugh is a first year coach in a lockout year. It is extremely difficult for a team to pick up a new coach’s strategy and missing training camps on top of that makes the 7-1 start by the 49ers extremely impressive. Don’t blame it on the weak NFC West because they’ve only played one game in division so far.
Rookie of the Mid Year: Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers): I debated between Andy Dalton of the Bengals and Newton for a long time. However, I just can’t ignore the 700 more passing yards and 300 more rushing yards by Newton. That’s 125 more yards of total offense PER GAME. I know Dalton is 6-2 and Newton is 2-6, but look at who they have played. Four of the Panthers six losses have come to: Green Bay, @ Chicago, New Orleans, @ Atlanta. That would be a tough task for any quarterback let alone a rookie with the highest expectations.
Predictions:
NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC North: Green Bay Packers (Bold Prediction: Packers will be 16-0 heading into the playoffs)
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
NFC Wildcard 1: Detroit Lions
NFC Wildcard 2: Chicago Bears (Tiebreaker over Falcons due to head-to-head win in Week 1)
AFC East: New York Jets
AFC South: Houston Texans
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC West: San Diego (Tiebreaker over Oakland due to best division record)
AFC Wildcard 1: Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC Wildcard 2: New England Patriots
Playoffs:
NFC:
Wildcard Round: Lions over the Eagles, Saints over the Bears
Divisional Round: Packers over the Lions, Saints over the 49ers
NFC Championship: Packers over the Saints
AFC:
Wildcard Round: Steelers over the Chargers, Jets over the Patriots
Divisional Round: Ravens over the Steelers, Jets over the Texans
AFC Championship: Ravens over the Jets
SUPER BOWL XVLI:
The Green Bay Packers defeat the Baltimore Ravens 34-17 to finish a perfect 19-0 and proclaimed as the best team of all-time.
Now, start debating.
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