Greeson: Old-school Seahawks still No. 1 in NFL power poll

photo Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) runs before he dove in for the game winning touchdown in overtime of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, in Seattle. The Seahawks beat the Broncos 26-20.
photo NFL logo

Did we actually have an NFL week with no off-the-field drama? Did we?

Well, pass the butter and slap Roger Goodell's knee. How about that, huh? A September week of actual football. Well, other than the Raiders, of course, who have decided to embrace the full-blown definition of insanity and continue the "Make a silly head coaching hire and then fire him less than two years into it."

Nice. Of course if you have seen a picture of Raiders owner Mark Davis -- and his uncanny Lloyd from "Dumb and Dumber" haircut -- well, that explains some of it.

Here's an idea: Let's do a power poll.

• 1. Seattle: The best roster remains the best team. The Seahawks are built on as an old-school foundation as there is: They run the ball (third in the league at 148 yards per game) and stop the run (fifth in the league at 72.3 per game). Sometimes it's just that simple. Blocking, tackling, giving 110 percent (if you could give 110 percent, then why aren't you giving 112 percent?). They all apply.

• 2. Denver: Still has the best offense in the league led by the league's most influential quarterback. Omaha, Omaha. That said, the Broncos spent a ton of coin upgrading a defense that headed into last Sunday's bye week needing a break like Nell Carter. Denver is allowing more than 390 yards a game. That raises the stakes, right, Omaha?

• 3. Cincinnati: The AFC's most complete roster -- and statistically the league's best defense -- will be in the mix all year. That said, if we could buy stock in one NFL storyline from this point forward that we're going to see over and over again it would be, "Can Andy Dalton win a postseason game?" It's the Microsoft of NFL themes come the holidays.

• 4. Arizona: The Cardinals have arguably the league's most complete pass rush, and it will be tested in Denver this week. Arizona has drafted well over the last three-plus years and coach Bruce Arians deserves a ton of credit for leading the organization through the potential distractions that the Jonathan Dwyer charges could have been. Cardinals fever ... catch it.

• 5. Detroit: Want to guess who has the stingiest defense in the NFL when it comes to yards per game? If you went through the old Wizard of Oz options -- Lions, Tiger, Bears, oh my -- you got it on the first try. Ndamukong Suh, the Lions' beastly defensive tackle, is the personification of the NFL. On Sundays, he's magnificent. When we hear about him during the week, there's likely trouble. So far this season, Suh has been all about football and all about looking like an All-Pro.

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And for the powerless poll ...

• 28. Washington: What was that? Washington got punked at home to an all-but-dead New York Giants team last Thursday. The football is so bad in the capital right now, here's saying Daniel Snyder might start floating nickname conspiracy theories to get everyone's mind off the debacle that is the team.

• 29. Tennessee: OK, who else is kicking themselves for not finding the local entertainment broker and putting a college fund on the Colts, at home, against a Titans team with Charlie Whitehurst prominently involved. It's moments like that that can make or break a season for some entertainment brokers. Alas.

• 30. New Orleans: The team that a lot of folks expected to challenge the Seahawks for the top spot in the NFC is now 1-3 and reeling. Defensively, this group would have a tough time stopping a middle school offense, never mind an NFL one. Here's a testament of when things go really bad: If you get whipped on and off the field by the carnival show that is the Dallas Cowboys -- who do gainfully employee Derek Dooley, mind you -- well, there you go.

• 31. Jacksonville: The Jaguars are now starting a rookie quarterback who shows promise, and that tempers the expectations and the ceiling for the moment. But whether Blake Bortles becomes more Bradshaw than Brister is going to be immaterial until Jacksonville does something to help a defense that allows 38 points per game. Ouch-standing.

• 32. Oakland: Hey, Oakland, good luck to the A's in the playoffs -- it's the last time they will be in the Coliseum for the foreseeable future.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp. Listen to Jay and David Paschall on Press Row every weekday from 3-6 on ESPN 105.1 FM and timesfreepress.com.

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