The Dolphins hold tight in our week five edition of the Suck for Luck Power(less) Rankings
1. Miami Dolphins
Miami is keeping Tony Sparano around for some reason and its not because his players play for him. The Dolphins are without Chad Henne, so it appears Matt Moore will be taking snaps from center for the remainder of the season. Their schedule doesn’t get any easier the rest of the way out with two games against the Bills, Jets, and one with New England. The only winnable games on their schedule would appear to be Denver and Kansas City and those are big ifs. At best Miami is a two win team which should put them as the top contenders for the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.
Previous Week: 1
2. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are better with Curtis Painter at the helm but I’m not sure that will win them anymore games. They rank in the bottom third of every major statistical category in the NFL. They are inept running the ball and stopping the run and their schedule doesn’t give them any breaks. The only hope for wins are two games against Jacksonville and one with the Panthers. It is reasonable to believe that barring a Peyton Manning 2011 comeback we could be looking at the 1-15 and maybe the 0-16 Indianapolis Colts.
Previous Week: 4
3. St. Louis Rams
The Rams couldn’t have asked for a better time for a bye week. They need to regroup and try to get the season back on track. Unfortunately, the schedule makers didn’t do them any favors with Green Bay out of the bye week. They do have a very winnable stretch on their schedule that features Arizona, Cleveland, Seattle, and Arizona in consecutive weeks. They have to get their run game going and stop opponents from running on them to give Sam Bradford a chance in his sophomore season.
Previous Week: 3
4. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville’s defense has kept them in games but their lack of passing offense (dead last in the league) forces them to be on the field for most of the game. Their schedule is absolutely brutal the rest of the way with the only reprieve coming from two Indy games and one against Cleveland. On the bright side, Blaine Gabbert is showing promise but needs to complete more passes to keep Jacksonville from being in position to take Andrew Luck.
Previous Week: Unranked
5. Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota is fresh off a beat down of the lowly Arizona Cardinals but their schedule doesn’t do them any favors the rest of the way out. The Vikings cannot throw the ball at this point and are doing nothing to stop opponents from throwing on them. They are one of the best teams in the NFL stopping the run and running the ball with AP. The Vikings could finish a 3-4 win team at best.
Previous Week: 2
6. Denver Broncos
It appears to be Tebow time in Denver. No one is sure if that’s a good or bad thing at this point. What we do know is that it really can’t get that much worse. The only bright spot for a team that ranks near the back half in every major statistical category is the schedule is rather generous in comparison to the other teams on our Suck for Luck power(less) rankings. With two games against KC, one with Miami and Minnesota that could sneak out 4-5 wins.
Previous Week: 6
7. Arizona Cardinals
After the 34-10 beat down at the hands of previously winless Vikings, the Cards make their first trip to our Suck for Luck power(less) rankings. The Cardinals are aided by a relatively soft schedule that features matchups with St. Louis, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Seattle in the remaining eleven games. One would have to think they could sneak out two to three more wins to finish 3-13 or 4-12. This year that won’t be enough to position themselves for Andrew Luck.
Previous Week: Unranked
