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4. Green Bay Packers (2-1-1)
After Sunday’s 22-0 defeat of the Buffalo Bills, Aaron Rodgers said the “offense was terrible” and there is some truth to that. The receivers all had a horrible day dropping balls and Rodgers turned the ball over twice himself, but the defense came through big time with seven sacks, three takeaways and no points allowed to Josh Allen & company.
Moreover, Aaron Jones looks special in a group of running backs that hasn’t done in quite some time. He displayed the balance to bounce off tacklers as well as when he was tripped up on a screen pass, but put a hand down and spun back onto his feet, the power to run a defender over on the goal-line and the burst to knife through defenses.
I don’t believe Green Bay’s offense will struggle going forward, especially with Jones getting more involved, and I’m very encouraged by what I’ve from these young defenders they have added. I thought the Packers should have easily won versus Vikings if not for a ridiculous roughing the passer penalty on Clay Matthews and Rodgers’ knee is only getting better. Give that guy an average defense and somewhat of a running game and it’s a wrap.
5. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
There is a pretty argument to make that the Ravens have the most complete team in the AFC. Their defense is ranked second in yards and third in points allowed with 16.2, while their offense is putting up more than 30 games a contest. Terrell Suggs leads a defensive unit that has Brandon Williams & company plugging up the middle, goes five guys deep at edge rusher, has a tremendous veteran safety duo and plenty of cover-guys.
Joe Flacco is playing as well as he has ever done in the regular season with all those new weapons around him in the passing game. At the end of the season, it is highly possible that their top five pass-catchers will be new to the roster. They might not have a running back that really stands out, but they can convert on the ground when they need to and an Alex Collins goal-line fumble on Sunday night marked their first red-zone drive that didn’t end in a touchdown.
While they lost already at Cincinnati, their win at Heinz Field has made this division pretty much a two-headed race at the moment and Baltimore still gets back their number one cornerback Jimmy Smith and their first-round pick Hayden Hurst at tight-end.
