Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
Week 7 is here and it’s time to talk rankings! We’ve ditched the S+ category because the 49ers looked decidedly un-S+ this week. So we have a three team S tier with San Francisco, Kansas City, and Detroit. More on Detroit later, but let’s look at a team who’s doing surprisingly well so far this season: the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland clearly feels like they are close to making a run. Ever since they bounced back from that 0-16 record in 2017 to make a playoff appearance in 2020, they’ve been trying to figure out if they have the right QB to do so. Baker Mayfield clearly didn’t convince them despite leading them to that playoff appearance. Cleveland had already demonstrated that they value winning over public perception when they signed Kareem Hunt in the wake of the surfacing of video of an incident in which Hunt was seen shoving down a woman and then kicking her (after being physically assaulted by her). Kansas City cut him despite there being no charges filed (due to him not instigating the physical interaction), and the Browns scooped him up a few months later despite quite a bit of backlash at the time.
Whether Hunt should have been cut or not, most teams didn’t want to go anywhere near the story, but the Browns figured it was worth it. Then they doubled down in 2022 by trading a bunch of picks (including three first rounders) for Deshaun Watson, this despite a boatload of both sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations. He sat out all of 2021, initially because he wanted a new contract from the Texans (despite signing through 2025 just the year before), and then because the NFL suspended him. Watson ended up avoiding legal repercussions, but did have to settle out of court with many of the accusers (his new fully guaranteed 5 year, $230 million contract probably helped)*. In the end, Watson missed the first 11 games of 2022 due to suspension. When he returned, he played pretty poorly. In fact, this year he has played pretty poorly as well. He’s currently 18th in quarterback rating, one spot behind Andy Dalton. He has also been injured since Week 3 and his backups have been even worse. The real surprise for Cleveland in that despite poor play from the most important position in football, they’re 3-2 and coming off a win against the 49ers, who basically looked unbeatable coming in. All this despite the loss of Nick Chubb, one of the best running backs in the league, in Week 2. So how are they doing it? With defense! The Browns are allowing an absurd 200.4 yards per game, over 60 fewer than the Ravens (260.8). If not for their god-awful turnover differential (-8, tied with New England for last in the league), who knows what their record could be. Regardless about how you feel about their personnel decisions, Cleveland will probably only get better as the season goes on. A very tight AFC North had better watch out for the Browns.
Well, I went on and on about Cleveland, so I’ll keep it brief on the subject of the Lions. Another week, another great performance! This time the running game was entirely shut down by Tampa Bay (22 rushed for 40 yards), so Goff threw for 353 yards, 2 TDs on 30 completions in 44 attempts. The Lions controlled the game from start to finish. Detroit did lose David Montgomery for a few weeks (at least), so the injuries are piling up. But the Lions have managed to acquire some depth and players have stepped up all year when needed. There’s a really tough game against another great defense next week at Baltimore, which I suspect may result in loss number two. But I’m starting to feel confident Detroit will figure it out and overcome these injuries as the year goes on. The schedule starts getting pretty favorable after this week. It might be time to retire the brown paper bags!
*It is interesting to note that no team was willing to sign a dual threat QB in his prime who had already led a team to the Super Bowl due to his political beliefs and taking a knee during the national anthem. As of 2020, a majority of Americans agree with at least the right to protest during the national anthem, yet Kaepernick still remains unemployed. But Watson was never even released by Houston and a team was willing to trade a king’s ransom for the opportunity to sign him to what was at the time the most guaranteed money in NFL history. And by interesting, I mean it’s kinda bullshit.
