SportsCrack

NFL Powerless Rankings - September 3rd, 2008

By Josh Galligan

After some low to mild success with my MLB Powerless Rankings, I felt it was only right to spread the nearly non-existent buzz to the wondrous NFL world we all know and love. If you’ve never read any types of Power Rankings then you’re either lying to yourself or you don’t know how to read. Since your reading this, we’ve just eliminated one half of those. Liar.

Any questions?


What are the Powerless Rankings?

The Powerless Rankings are a set of rankings that focus on the bottom five teams in the league at a given time (weekly). We pay so much attention to all the good teams -- ranking them and verbally commending them -- why should the bad teams be left out in the cold (besides that they’re horrible)?

Although it’s exciting at the beginning of the year because it tends to enflame fans of particular teams much more than during the mid-season mark, the rankings will eventually feature a top 5 as well. So they’ll start out strictly powerless but end up getting pretty powerful. Don’t worry though; I’ve heard that they end up coexisting together quite nicely from the three people who’ve read the MLB version.


How do I know if the Powerless Rankings are for me?

If you’re easily enraged and/or lack the ability to admit that your hometown team may not be stacked at every position, I suggest you turn away. Just pretend this article was about hamsters or something. What are you reading this for? You don’t even like hamsters! Go away!
Other than that, I don’t think there’s anything else that needs explaining. The rankings start at 28th and move down to 32nd in what is a warped, sorry excuse to try and build some suspense. The “winner” is basically the “loser”. It’s really quite ironic.


Do you realize that you’re essentially asking yourself questions?

Yes, yes I do. But hey, being on house arrest in the interests of being a good father and being at home with my daughter (while the other half works the overnights) does have its benefits! I have so much time on my hands that not only can I ask myself questions, but I can also pound out random articles that randomly appear in my head.


Will you please shut up and get on with this already?

Yes. My fault...





NFL Powerless Rankings – September 3rd


28. Miami Dolphins

Sure, the Dolphins team as a whole has improved since last year’s one-win pathetic fest, but not that much. In fact, they no longer have Jason Taylor who (in addition to salsa dancing) was a pretty big part of their defense for last very long time. Wait a second, aren’t Jason Taylor’s replacements Vonnie Holliday and Kendall Langford? Uh, yeah, that’s a bit of a downgrade I would say.

Joey Porter is also reportedly overreacting to minor injuries as if they are career threatening in nature, which sounds suspiciously to me like someone isn’t too high on playing on a rebuilding team again this year. As much as I’ll admit that the offensive unit has some rising young stars on it, the defense, at least for this year, aren’t going to be accomplishing too much outside of establishing a new identity.

Stock: Rising


29. San Francisco 49ers

As highly as you hold Mike Martz, you still have to know that even he can’t do the impossible. A lot of people are of the belief that he’s going to radically transform the offense into a well-oiled, Rams team of yore-esque, machine. Don’t get me wrong, the offense is going to get better. But they also don’t have anywhere else to go but up.

Barring J.T. O’Sullivan bursting upon the scene in something akin to the Brady/Romo, ‘What’s this guy’s name again?’ mold, the 49ers will only go as far as Frank Gore and the defense can take them.

Stock: At rest


30. Baltimore Ravens

Many people questioned the Ravens early decision to delay the start of the Joey Flacco era, mainly because of the other two options they were considering as starters (Kyle Boller and Troy Smith). In what was a refreshing surprise, the Ravens eventually ended up naming Flacco the starter, which was something their fans had been demanding since he’d been drafted. Although to be fair, they probably only did so because of blatant, recorded evidence contrary to that of their original decision. A smart move if I’ve ever seen one.

The primary staple of team, the defense, isn’t getting any younger, while the offense, which was usually the brunt of the team jokes, is on the rise. It’s a rebuilding year for sure, but at least the rebuilding appears to be going in a productive and sensible direction.

Stock: Dropping


31. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs shored up their team with some solid NFL Draft selections this past April. But unfortunately, they still have major questions at arguably the two most important parts of a football team --Quarterback and the offensive line. As talented as Larry Johnson is, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to carry the offense all by himself.

Until they prove to the contrary (a contrary that is a safe bet not to be proven Sunday), here the Chiefs will stay. Like the 49ers, if the Chiefs do manage to prove me otherwise, you can rest assured I will make fun of myself in the very next installation.

Stock: At rest


And the “winner” is…


32. Atlanta Falcons

Unlike the Ravens, the Falcons decided early on to throw rookie QB Matt Ryan into the starting fire this season. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that they had signed Ryan to a contract that was comparable to the gross income of a small country – but still. That’s neither here nor there. At least they decided what they wanted and they decided it early.

The 2008 Falcons could very well become the staple comparison for a team that is going through a ‘rebuilding year’.
All is not bad, at least on offense. Michael Turner could prove to be a solid starting RB and Roddy White looks to be a top-tier WR. However, clutching at straws isn’t going to get the Falcons any wins, so expect them to make a comfortable living down here in the basement.

Stock: Comfortably at rest

Wannabe GM: San Francisco 49ers QB Situation

I’ve decided to pretend that I’m a GM of various ailing NFL teams and describe exactly what I would do to turn the franchise around. Think of it as a guideline for these teams to follow so they won’t suck as much next year.

The first edition: The San Francisco 49ers. The topic: The horrid QB situation they’re faced with.

As we all know, the San Francisco 49ers had a QB carousel this season. Four different quarterbacks lined up under center in 2007: Alex Smith, Trent Dilfer, Shaun Hill and Chris Weinke. Call me crazy but that’s a lot of quarterbacks, especially if for the most part, they all didn’t show us much skill at all (except Shaun Hill). Firstly, let’s take a look at each QB’s stats (and their full names!):

Trent Farris Dilfer: 113 completions with 219 attempts for 1166 yards (51.6 completion %), 7 TD, 12 INT, 5.32 yards per attempt and a 55.1 QB rating. Trent played in 7 games.

Alexander D. Smith: 94 completions with 193 attempts for 914 yards (48.7 completion %), 2 TD, 4 INT, 4.74 yards per attempt and a 57.2 QB rating. Alex played in 6 games (and one play in a seventh).

Shaun Hill (Couldn’t find a middle name or initial): 54 completions with 79 attempts for 501 yards (68.4 completion %), 5 TD, 1 INT, 6.34 yards per attempt and a 101.3 QB rating. Shaun played in 3 games.

Christopher Jon Weinke: 13 completions with 22 attempts for 104 yards (59.1 completion %), 1 TD, 0 INT, 4.73 yards per attempt and a 86.2 QB rating. Chris played in 1 game… and I’m not entirely sure why.

To be fair, it’s hard to compare Shaun and Chris to Trent and Alex due to the varying degree of games played. It's like comparing apples and pebbles, but, we’re going to do it anyway.

Take a long look at that list. Soak in all of the statistics. If you owned an NFL team, which QB on that list would you want running your offense? What’s that? None of them? If I absolutely had to pick one QB on the list it would be Shaun Hill, but those are stats for three games. THREE games!

Trying to give Alex Smith the benefit of the doubt(which is difficult, he nearly ruined my fantasy team this year), since he is the franchise quarterback after all, I took a look at his previous two years statistics.

2005 (rookie year): 84 completions with 165 attempts for 875 yards (50.9 completion %), 1 TD, 11 INT, 5.30 yards per attempt and a 40.8 QB rating. Alex played in 9 games his rookie year.

2006: 257 completions with 442 attempts for 2890 yards (58.1 completion %), 16 TD, 16 INT, 6.54 yards per attempt and a 74.8 QB rating. Alex played in all 16 games in 2006.

Smith’s 2007 season was riddled by injuries but even so, the games he did play in were not of franchise QB caliber. You could say his 2007 was an off year and he could improve on both his 2006 and 2007 campaigns with a great 2008. I would have to disagree – the 49ers have waited three years on this kid, it’s time to look elsewhere. Not let him go entirely, but look elsewhere.

Heading back to the Shaun Hill front (the only other on-team option – that’s right, I’m not considering Weinke and Dilfer as options) I took a quick look at his career statistics. What I found was… nothing. In his six years in the NFL, all of Shaun Hill’s career stats came in 2007 (save for two rushes when he was with the Vikings for a whopping -2 yards).

So the question that stands before us? Are three quality starts enough to base a whole 2008 season on? Of course not, so that is why the 49ers must take a QB in the upcoming draft. The Niners have the 30^th overall pick in the first round (acquired from Indianapolis) and by all accounts, they are going to take a WR with their first pick. Why shouldn’t they? Their WR situation is more sordid than the QB one. They do have the 7^th pick in the 2^nd round, however. So here are some quarterback’s that will most likely be available.

• Colt Brennan (Hawaii)

• John David Booty (USC)

• Chad Henne (Michigan)

• Dennis Dixon (Oregon)

These are all promising picks, not to mention a bunch of other sleepers that we’ll learn about at the NFL Combine. If I had to choose though, it would either be Brennan or Dixon – with a lean towards Dixon. I think the 49ers offense would benefit greatly from an agile quarterback considering that even if they get a great WR in the first round, they still won’t have an all start cast at wide out.

Hopefully the 49ers will pick a quality QB this time and sure, he’s going to have his learning curve. But coupled with a rookie WR, a rejuvenated Frank Gore and a few tweaks on defense, the San Francisco 49ers could very well return to their former juggernaut status of yore.

San Francisco 49ers Year in Review

The 2007 NFL football season has been great. Although I can’t remember a football season that I didn’t enjoy, this year was so chock full of headlines and interesting stories, it would take days to cover them all. Throw in my first full season of NFL Sunday Ticket, and you’ve got yourself a good time. Anyway, I’ve taken it upon myself to pick a few random NFL teams, and take a look at their season as well as a look ahead to what’s in store for them next year. We’ve all been talking about the playoff teams so much; I’ve felt the need to write about some of the non-playoff teams. Call it a swan song of football before I jump into writing about basketball, if you will. Anyway, today’s team: The San Francisco 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers started out the 2007 season as the trendy sleeper pick of the pre-season. They were coming off an improved 2006 performance and signed many key free agents including CB Nate Clements and WR Ashley Lelie. Frank Gore was coming off a fantastic year (1695 rushing yards, 8 TD’s) and Alex Smith appeared to be maturing into the starting QB role after an equally impressive 2^nd year in the NFL (2890 passing yards, 16 TD’s 74.8 QB rating).

The 49ers started out 2007 with an impressive come from behind victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the second Monday Night Game of the evening. Although the offense was stagnant for the most part, many were optimistic about it all, concluding that the Niners could come from behind and win close ball games. Not to mention, it was a divisional victory and who complains about divisional victories, right?

The optimism continued in Week 2 as the 49ers squeaked out another close win in St. Louis 17-16. Alex Smith again had a mediocre showing, but Frank Gore rushed for a respectable 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. The 2-0 49ers could easily have been 0-2, but they were not – and there defense was playing fantastic. 49er fans were beginning to think that all of the preseason hype was beginning to look legit and they did indeed have a playoff caliber team.

However, it was at this time boys and girls that the wheels began to fall off the 49er bandwagon. They dropped six straight leaving them at 2-6 and looking at a Monday Night match up against their division rival, The Seattle Seahawks. During this nationally televised game, the 49ers were shutout 24-0, in one of their poorest showings in franchise history. They would not win again until Week 12, an overtime thriller against the Arizona Cardinals. But by then, it was too late.

During the final five weeks of the season, the 49ers would go 2-3, beating the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They finished the season 5-11 and are generally regarded as the biggest disappointment of the entire season, when taking into account pre-season predictions. After last years run at the NFC West title, the 49ers were outclassed by the front running Seattle Seahawks in both games this year, being outscored 47-3.

There is a lot to look forward to next year, though. Patrick Willis, the 49ers first round draft pick won defensive rookie of the year honors. Frank Gore, while not having his best of years in 2007, is still relatively young and can only get better. While the defense isn’t anything to write home about, you’d be a fool to think it can’t be tweaked a bit and be a top 10 unit.

2007 Team Leaders

Passing

T. Dilfer - 113 completions, 219 attempts, 1166 yards, 7 TD, 12 INT

Rushing

F. Gore - 260 carries, 1102 yards, 4.2 average, 5 TD

Receiving

A. Battle – 50 receptions, 600 yards, 12.0 average, 5 TD

Defense

P. Willis – 135 solo tackles, 39 assisted tackles, 4 sacks

One of the big questions going into the off season for the 49ers is what to do at the quarterback position. Will they stick with Alex Smith? Perhaps they will give Shaun Hill a chance? This is a topic in and of itself (one in which I will be writing about next) but you can’t rule out the 49ers taking a QB in the draft, either. Alex Smith has appeared to hit a stopgap talent wise, but he could still get better. It is however, a major concern that the organization will have to address for the team to live up to its true potential.

One of the most glaring needs for the 49ers is of course, the wide receiver position. Darrel Jackson is in no way a #1 receiver and Ashley Lelie did not live up to expectations at all in 2007. This could again be because of the inconsistency at the QB position (the team started 4 different QB’s during the season) or the 49ers could need better receivers. I believe it is a mixture of both.

If the 49ers focus on a promising younger receiver, possibly a quarterback and depth on defense in the draft, they have a realistic shot at accomplishing next year what they were supposed to this year. We’ll all just have to wait and see.