NFL Power Rankings, Week 2

As much as you might dislike my rankings, you'll have to admit that at least they're better than those collegiate polls, so infiltrated by old boy cronyism. I remember some years ago, actually many years ago, when Sam Bam Cunningham was USC's fullback and Sam and the boys positively crushed Bear Bryant's Alabama squad early in the season. Well, at the end of the year it came down to Alabama vs. USC for the No.1 vote, and wouldn't you know that Bear's boys swung the election.

"They beat them! They killed them!" I screamed, and then the collegiate voters went into this tapdance about how the teams were different later on, or maybe it was the phases of the moon, and I swore that I would try to keep the integrity of head to head as long as I possibly could in doing my own rankings. Which brings us to Week Two of a season in which all the AFC powers except for New England and Pittsburgh started off with an L next to their name.

So I'm warning you. Throw out what you read in this column last week, or better yet, recycle it. It's all different. Everything has changed. The big boys who got upset have been socked hard, a real flogulation, even though they might quickly regain their status. A few poor devils who never again will be in the top 16 again, this season, have been so honored. Fourteen of the top half of the board spots belong to last weekend's winners (sorry, but I just couldn't fit Arizona or Atlanta in there). So look out, here it comes. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.)

NFL Power Rankings, Week 2