Arizona Sports NFL Power Rankings – Patriots rise to the top; Cardinals plummet
Sep 14, 2016, 8:50 AM | Updated: 3:56 pm
New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) makes a call against the Arizona Cardinals during an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
One week in the books, and we’ve got a new top team in our Arizona Sports NFL Power Rankings.
The New England Patriots marched into University of Phoenix without their two best players (and several other starters) and beat the Arizona Cardinals 23-21. Jimmy Garoppolo managed the game well and took advantage of some defensive mistakes by the Cardinals in earning his first NFL win.
The loss drops the Cardinals to fifth in our weekly poll.
| Rank | Team | High | Low | Comment | Movement | This Week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1. | New England Patriots (1-0) | 1 (4 voters) | 3 (Grialou) | Are injections the secret to Jimmy G’s perpetual tan? He lives in Boston! — Morgan | ▲ 2 | vs. Miami |
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2. | Green Bay Packers (1-0) | 1 (Green) | 3 (Marotta, Burns) | Good road win, but they didn’t look great. — Franz | — | @ Minnesota |
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3. | Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) | 1 (Grialou, Burns) | 4 (Marotta, Burns) | Roethlisberger and Brown made it look easy at times. — Grialou | ▲ 3 | vs. Cincinnati |
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4. | Seattle Seahawks (1-0) | 2 (Marotta) | 6 (Green) | They won, but close win at home over Dolphins may have exposed flaws. — Green | — | @ Los Angeles |
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5. | Arizona Cardinals (0-1) | 4 (Green, Burns) | 7 (Marotta, Morgan, Franz) | This is still a good football team, they lost to the Patriots. It’s OK, Cardinals fans. — Dimakos | ▼ 4 | vs. Tampa Bay |
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T6. | Denver Broncos (1-0) | 4 (Franz) | 13 (Green) | Take your time, offense and the defense can handle Newton & Luck back-to-back. — Franz | ▲ 2 | vs. Indianapolis |
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T6. | Carolina Panthers (0-1) | 6 (Grialou, Burns, Franz) | 9 (Morgan) | Dear NFL, Stop covering your a** and protect Cam Newton! — Morgan | ▼ 2 | vs. San Francisco |
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8. | Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) | 4 (Morgan) | 10 (Grialou) | At least there was one NFL kicker who made a 47-yd FG to win a game. — Grialou | ▼ 1 | @ Pittsburgh |
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9. | Oakland Raiders (1-0) | 8 (Green, Burns) | 13 (Marotta) | People like gutsy coaching decisions when they work. — Green | ▲ 1 | vs. Atlanta |
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10. | Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) | 8 (Morgan) | (13) Dimakos | Nice comeback there, KC, but I’m not so enthused about you. — Dimakos | ▲ 1 | @ Houston |
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11. | Houston Texans (1-0) | 7 (Grialou) | 14 (Morgan) | So far, so good for Brock. He’s going to like throwing to Will Fuller. — Burns | ▲ 2 | vs. Kansas City |
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12. | Minnesota Vikings (1-0) | 9 (Grialou, Green) | 15 (Burns, Franz) | Beat GB and I’ll be impressed. Score zero offensive TDs vs. Tennessee and I’m not. — Franz | ▼ 3 | vs. Green Bay |
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13. | New York Giants (1-0) | 11 (Marotta, Green, Burns) | 14 (Dimakos) | Solid road win in Dallas, with an assist to Terrence Williams. — Marotta | ▲ 3 | vs. New Orleans |
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14. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) | 12 (Dimakos, Franz) | 16 (Green) | Dirk Koetter is 1-0 as an NFL head coach. Yes, that Dirk Koetter. — Grialou | ▲ 6 | @ Arizona |
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15. | Baltimore Ravens (1-0) | 12 (Morgan) | 19 (Green) | Forgive me for not being impressed by a close win over the Bills. — Green | ▲ 4 | @ Cleveland |
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16. | Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) | 14 (Green, Franz) | 22 (Grialou) | Still buying this stock. Gave a good team all they could handle in the end. — Burns | ▲ 1 | @ San Diego |
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17. | New York Jets (0-1) | 14 (Burns) | 21 (Morgan) | Fitzpatrick played like he hasn’t played much lately. — Franz | ▼ 2 | @ Buffalo |
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18. | Detroit Lions (1-0) | 16 (Marotta) | 24 (Green) | Stafford looked pretty darn good, albeit against a woeful Colts’ defense. — Morgan | ▲ 9 | vs. Tennessee |
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T19. | Indianapolis Colts (0-1) | 17 (Dimakos) | 24 (Franz) | B.A. will hate me, but Chuck Pagano is just not a head coach. — Franz | ▼ 7 | @ Denver |
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T19. | Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) | 16 (Grialou, Morgan, Franz) | 25 (Green, Burns) | Let’s see Wentz vs. anyone but Browns. — Burns | ▲ 10 | @ Chicago |
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21. | Washington Redskins (0-1) | 18 (Dimakos) | 23 (Marotta) | Losing to Pittsburgh is not embarrassing. Having no plan for Antonio Brown is. — Franz | ▼ 7 | vs. Dallas |
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22. | Dallas Cowboys (0-1) | 19 (Morgan, Dimakos) | 28 (Grialou) | No Romo, no chance. History has proven this. — Grialou | ▼ 4 | @ Washington |
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23. | New Orleans Saints (0-1) | 19 (Burns) | 26 (Morgan) | 35 points allowed to the Raiders? So much for an improved ‘D’. — Morgan | ▼ 3 | at NY Giants |
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24. | Miami Dolphins (0-1) | 15 (Green) | 27 (Marotta) | Either let Tannehill throw the ball down the field or get a new QB. — Franz | — | @ New England |
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25. | Atlanta Falcons (0-1) | 24 (Marotta, Dimakos) | 29 (Green) | It’s going to be a long season in Atlanta. — Green | ▼ 3 | @ Oakland |
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26. | San Diego Chargers (0-1) | 22 (Franz) | 29 (Marotta, Morgan) | One game down, already two top WRs out for the year. — Marotta | — | vs. Jacksonville |
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27. | Buffalo Bills (0-1) | 23 (Grialou, Morgan) | 30 (Franz) | People shouldn’t have to pay to watch this boring version of football. — Dimakos | ▼ 4 | vs. NY Jets |
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T28. | Tennessee Titans (0-1) | 27 (4 voters) | 30 (Marotta, Grialou) | I think they’ll play 15 close games and win five of them. — Franz | ▲ 1 | @ Detroit |
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T28. | San Francisco 49ers (1-0) | 21 (Marotta) | 31 (Green) | Are the Niners improved or are the Rams that bad? — Morgan | ▲ 3 | @ Carolina |
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30. | Chicago Bears (0-1) | 27 (Grialou) | 30 (Morgan, Green) | Pains me to say it, but they are going to be awful (sorry, Dad). — Dimakos | ▼ 2 | vs. Philadelphia |
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31. | Los Angeles Rams (0-1) | 23 (Green) | 32 (Franz) | Offensive offense. — Franz | ▼ 6 | vs. Seattle |
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32. | Cleveland Browns (0-1) | 31 (Franz) | 32 (Everyone else) | Yeah, no. — Burns | — | vs. Baltimore |
Biggest drop: Washington Redskins, Indianapolis Colts ▼ 7
How the panel voted – Week 2 Burns | Dimakos | Franz | Green | Grialou | Marotta | Morgan
