NFL Power Rankings: Why Are Football Fans Uniting and Loving It?

People enjoyed seeing the bickering of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens and their fall from grace and friendship.

People loved it when the Dallas Cowboys lost Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin and started their downward spiral toward a quarterback carousel and mediocrity that ultimately ended with Tony Romo as their savior.

They loved it when Steve Young was knocked out, Jeff Garcia was let go, and Owens made a mockery of the 49ers before being traded, starting the Niners' downward spiral toward NFL embarrassment.

All across the NFL there are teams that fall and teams that rise and there are teams (and fans), that love seeing certain teams fail.

However, right now it seems football fans from everywhere (except in New England) are excited and anxious to see a team that has been great for so long finally collapse.

Here you have the New England Patriots.

The demise of the Patriots is coming together as though it has already been written in the NFL history books.

After the Pats won three Super Bowls in four years, the Pittsburgh Steelers surprised everyone by winning it all as a Wild Card playoff team in 2006.

Then one of the Patriots’ biggest rivals in recent years, the Indianapolis Colts, broke the routine of second (and third) fiddle and finally won the Super Bowl in 2007.

Then in the 2007-2008 season, the Patriots' rose back to NFL superiority and went undefeated, winning all 16 regular season games. They got through the playoffs and advanced to the Super Bowl in 2008, looking like immortals ready to claim the top spot in NFL greatness.

However, in the Patriots' way were the New York Giants, who eventually stuck it to one of the greatest offenses in NFL history and beat the Pats in the closing seconds, 17-14, creating a collapse of mammoth proportions that appeared to have been already written.

Then the division that the Pats have dominated for so long got better.

During the offseason the Dolphins hired one of the greatest coaches in NFL history to be their general manager and they also received an upgrade at quarterback; not to mention two good running backs who appear to be 100 percent back and ready to resume their NFL careers. 

The Jets acquired a future Hall of Fame quarterback to lead their team to the promised land, a move that definitely made the team better.

Finally, the Bills appeared to have everything working at the same time, from their QB to their RB to their defense and special teams. They all seem to be on the same page and will be in the playoff hunt.

Then to open the ’08 season, the Patriots lost their starting quarterback and franchise player in the first quarter of the first game, against one of worst teams in the NFL.

The Pats relied on an unproven quarterback who has not started a game since his senior year in high school, thus showing the ignorance and failure of the coaching staff not to hire a proven backup QB.  

The Pats’ defense (that many thought were declining prior to the ’07 season) show their age against worst team of ‘07 (the Miami Dolphins) and get blown out 38-13 at home, in the third week of the ’08 season.

This came after the Pats skimmed by two of the NFL’s worst from a year ago in the New York Jets (19-10) and the Kansas City Chiefs (14-10).

Even with the NFL’s scheduling the Pats’ first four games against the league's four worst teams from a year ago (Chiefs, Jets, Dolphins, and 49ers), it’s still not going to help New England. It is only postponing the fall.

With an aging defense that will take a few years to rebuild, it appears the Pats will have some rebuilding to do after this season. Without their franchise QB, a decent backup QB, and a running game, it appears the fate of the New England Patriots has already been written.

With cohesiveness of the offense and defense slowly deteriorating, we are already living history.

And football fans are loving it.

Power Rankings

Easiest Team to Rank

Tennessee Titans

After the first three weeks they are easily the best team in the AFC, but so far it's tough to put them above the G-Men and Cowboys.

Toughest Team to Rank

Pittsburgh Steelers

They beat the Texans and the Browns and got stomped by the Eagles. I see this team falling as the season gets older.

1. New York Giants (previously No. 1)

They needed overtime to beat the hapless Bengals, but then again it was hard to find a junior varsity team to practice with that would resemble them. They stay at No. 1 until someone beats them.

2. Dallas Cowboys (2)

They took care of business in Green Bay in an authoritative manner.

3. Tennessee Titans (10)

The Titans' defense is fierce! Trent Dilfer said it looks like the defense he played with in Baltimore.

4. Buffalo Bills (3)

They came back from a two-score deficit twice in the fourth quarter for the win. Trent Edwards made his claim that he should have been picked No. 1 overall back in the ‘07 draft.

5. Denver Broncos (10)

Who would have thought the Broncos would win throwing the ball and not with their trademark running game?

6.  Philadelphia Eagles (9)

The Eagles' defense absolutely dominated the Steelers' offense unlike any team I’ve seen in awhile.

7. San Diego Chargers (Not Ranked)

They lost to Carolina and Denver in the closing seconds, and then trounced the Jets. I think they're back. Next up: Oakland Raiders.

8. Green Bay Packers (6)

They got whupped. Aaron Rodgers’ feet finally hit the ground and he realized this isn’t going to be so easy.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (4)

If the Packers got whupped, the Steelers got really whupped. Double-time. If they don’t start protecting Big Ben they’ll fall really fast.

10. San Francisco 49ers (NR)

Okay, okay, they beat the Lions. But they beat ‘em the way they should have, something that they haven’t done for awhile. They could be 3-0 if they didn’t have five turnovers in the first game. 

11. Carolina Panthers (5)

They scratched up the Chargers and ran circles around the Bears, but got caught by the Vikings. I think they bounce back.

12. Washington Redskins

I was wrong. I said the ‘Skins would not rise any more in my power rankings, but they did. Maybe the NFC East is a four-team race. 

13.  Arizona Cardinals

They lost to the Redskins in Washington, and that’s not an easy game.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

They lost to the Saints, but I think the division is between them and the Panthers. They’re 2-1 and could be 3-0.

15. Baltimore Ravens

Their two wins are against the Falcons and Browns.

16. Atlanta Falcons

Who would have thought this team would be 2-1? It’s amazing what coaches can do.

17. Miami Dolphins

The final score was 38-13. Was it really a surprise? The Pats barely beat the Chiefs and Jets. And remember last season when they were running up the score? Teams don’t forget!

18. Jacksonville Jaguars

They got a big time win over the Colts. Is this the spark they needed?

19. Indianapolis Colts

Big time loss to the Jags; is this team fading fast?

20. Chicago Bears

I still don’t know what to think about the Bears. Is their defense back or not?  Their offense certainly isn’t.

21. Minnesota Vikings

Tough opening schedule, but they came out of it 1-2. It’s certainly better than 0-3. The only place to go from here is up.

22. New Orleans Saints

At No. 22 they still might be overrated. It’s hard to win when your defense is bad.

23. New England Patriots (9)

Wow, what a drop. I think they deserve it, too. Who have they beaten? And who have they lost to? All teams in the bottom of the NFL.

24. New York Jets

Another team that’s overrated. There is no cohesiveness with the coach and QB.

25. Seattle Seahawks

They're 1-2 and they beat the Rams.

26. Oakland Raiders

They darn near pulled it out in Buffalo, but conservative play and bad defense in the fourth quarter lost it for them.

27. Cincinnati Bengals

I said last week that if they lost I was going to put them last. But how could I? They took the Giants into overtime and Houston, Cleveland, Kansas City, Detroit, and St. Louis are really bad.

28. Houston Texans

They have the Jags next. An 0-3 start after week four isn’t so bad. They could be 0-4.

29. Cleveland Browns

Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland! The people will be shouting "Brady, Brady" after a few more bad plays.

30. Kansas City Chiefs

They lost to the Raiders, Falcons, and Patriots. They’re bad.

I still have that bright idea: Trade Larry Johnson to the Bengals for Chad Johnson.

31. Detroit Lions

The laughingstock of the NFL, and nobody can take it from them! Except for the Rams, of course.

32. St.  Louis Rams

Ugly!

Tell me what you think.