Ranking the Defeated: Top 10 Teams Who Can Turn Their 2010 Season Around
As we get ready to watch our favorite teams clash this weekend, it's important to realize that Week Three is often one of the more important times in the NFL season. This often is the measuring stick to see which teams are for real, against the ones most likely to be watching the playoffs in January. It's also a time for those that have struggled to make a statement that they are righting the ship. While we have some nice surprises amongst the eight undefeated teams like the Chiefs and the Buccaneers, we have surprises amongst the 0-2 bottom eight like the Vikings and the Cowboys. In the middle sit the other 16 teams in the league with 1-1 records.
Amongst those 24 teams that are no longer unscathed and struggling, which 10 are most likely to show us that they can still make a deep run into the playoffs? Let's take a look.
10) Dallas Cowboys
1 of 11
You might ask, why the Cowboys are ranked so low on a list to turn it around. I dare ask, have you seen their games? Tony Romo has thrown the ball far too frequently, their offensive line is still struggling and their defense made the Chicago Bears look like a Super Bowl contender.
That's without even looking at their schedule where they still have to play all AFC South teams, five more games against their NFC East rivals, Green Bay and New Orleans. Dallas had two of their easier games on their schedule and lost them both. Now, they'll have to likely go 10-4 the rest of the way to make the postseason.
This is a team with talent though and one has to believe they have a chance to turn things around. A win this weekend against Houston will help stop the bleeding and get them on the right track. A loss however, could prove to be a fatal blow.
9) San Francisco 49ers
2 of 11
The stats don't look encouraging for the preseason NFC West favorite. Only 13 percent of teams that start 0-2 make the playoffs. But most of those 0-2 teams didn't play in a sub-par division like the 'Niners do this year. While Seattle could conceivably challenge for the division, this is still the 'Niners race to lose, despite their records.
All those who watched their game against the Saints saw a team that if they did not turn the ball over four times, likely would have bested the defending Super Bowl Champions. With a quarterback who is continuing to emerge, a fairly soft schedule, and a brutally awful division, the 49ers have no need to panic.
To put it this way, the 49ers could start this season 1-3, and there's a decent chance they could be tied for first!
8) Washington Redskins
3 of 11
If you're looking for a positive, the Redskins were a whisker away from starting this season 2-0. The negative is they didn't, are at 1-1 and have a hard schedule following their encounter with the Rams this weekend. However, beating the Cowboys and outplaying the Texans for long stretches are encouraging. Donovan McNabb also looks to be at top form. It is concerning that they gave up a 17-point lead however.
The next weeks will tell the story for Washington. If they can enter their Week Nine bye week with a 4-4 record, their second half schedule looks like it'd be possible for them to go on a 6-2 run. Getting to that. 500 record could be tough seeing as they have games against the Eagles, Packers, Bears and Colts in the next six weeks.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
7) New England Patriots
4 of 11
Perhaps they're ranked a bit too low on this list, but I'm not completely sold on the Patriots. I personally picked them to miss the playoffs this year and I still believe that's possible. Between their second-half struggles, their go to receiving running back Kevin Faulk missing the rest of the season, and an extremely hard schedule, the postseason isn't an automatic for this squad.
With five division games, as well as contests against Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indianapolis, San Diego, Green Bay, Minnesota, and Chicago, it's not impossible to see this team losing seven games by the time the season is over.
The last potential hiccup that could turn into an ugly scene is if the Pats do struggle, no one knows how the disgruntled Randy Moss will act on and off the field.
6) Cincinnatti Bengals
5 of 11
The good news for the Bengals is they played two of their tougher games, and managed to win one of them. The news gets better that they have three games so that by their Week Six bye week, they should be 4-1. However of their 11 remaining games after their rest, nine of them are against playoff contenders. Going 5-6 may sound like a lock but the Bengals are known for their losing ways. What makes it even more difficult is they reside in a division where 10-6 may place them in third.
It would then be up to tie breakers most likely with the same AFC teams they'd be playing against in those final 11 weeks.
5) Atlanta Falcons
6 of 11
Talk about a team not many are talking about. With all of the turmoil going on with other struggling teams like the Cowboys and Vikings, no one seems to be paying attention to the 1-1 Falcons who are coming off blowout of the Cardinals. That could prove to be a big help as they are poised to fly under the radar and go to the playoffs as along as they play up to their potential.
The problem with that, is the Falcons have been wildly inconsistent with playing to their potential for the past year. They do have some difficult games on the horizon this year, such as the Saints twice, Bengals, Packers, Eagles and Ravens but their schedule shouldn't be impossible to navigate.
4) New York Jets
7 of 11
The J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS are O-N-E ONE and ONE. Ironically, they can thank their one win to the stellar play of Mark Sanchez in the second half in last week's game against the Patriots. Yes, the same Sanchez everyone thought was a bust one week earlier. The Jets have a big game this week against the Dolphins that will go a long way to tell us where both teams are in this season. If the Jets win, they'll be in first place, but if they lose the Dolphins will have a two-game lead on them.
While the Jets do have some tough games on their schedule, they also have four games against the Bills (twice), Browns and Lions. Assuming they beat Miami this week and add those four wins, you have a talented Jets team only needing to go 5-6 in their remaining games.
3) Baltimore Ravens
8 of 11
The Ravens are a hard team to figure out. They spend two years to piece together a competitive offense, and on paper it looked so good there were debates it'd carry the team this year. However, through two games it looks no different than the Ravens of old, having only given up 24 points in two games. The problem is they've only scored 20.
The positive is that the Ravens secondary is playing very well despite injury issues. The negative is Joe Flacco threw four interceptions last week and looks uncomfortable behind center. With a game this weekend against a Browns team that is starting a backup QB and no set starting running back, the Ravens should start to turn things around.
2) San Diego Chargers
9 of 11
Of the 10 teams on this list, the Chargers may rank towards the bottom in terms of talent. However, when you play in the AFC West, your odds of turning a season around skyrockets. The Chargers have one of the easier schedules in football and should be able to gain 10 wins in a division that may only take eight to win.
1) Indianapolis Colts
10 of 11
So how many of you here feel the Colts are slipping after seeing the drubbing they put on the Giants last Sunday? Is it possible the Colts have a few weaknesses this year? Sure. But that's like saying the American military has a few weaknesses in their German outposts, namely; the Colts still might be the best team in football with the issues they have.
With a schedule that is manageable, and the best quarterback of this generation under center, there is no reason to believe the Colts won't win another 12 games this year.
I Didn't Forget About The....
11 of 11
VIKINGS: When I had to rank the 10 teams most likely to turn it around, I just can't imagine putting the Vikings on the list. They have one of the most difficult schedules in the league, a beaten up receiving corps, and a quarterback in Brett Favre that just doesn't look happy to be there. Throw all of those aspects in together, you have to wonder if the Vikings can even make the playoffs this year.
EAGLES: I think Andy Reid either lost his marbles, or just got a talking to from ownership. Those are the only two explanations I can think of when he announces Kevin Kolb as his starting quarterback, only to look like Guy Pearce from the movie Memento where he couldn't remember anything the next day, when Reid announced Vick would start. I can't see how this ends up working out well for the Eagles.
If Vick struggles in the next few weeks, which is entirely possible, everyone will claim Kolb should never have been benched. If Vick excels, people will ask why they didn't start him to begin with and why they didn't trade Kolb. I believe the handling of this situation will be the Eagles undoing and thus, I don't believe they will turn their season around.
So who do you believe belongs on or off this list? Sound off!
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")