Power Rankings Compilation, Week 2

My pick for the Vikings: #22. And that was even before Adrian Peterson missed a couple practices and was listed as "questionable" for Sunday's game against the Panthers. *sigh*

(And another thing...why is it so hard to find the NFL weekly injury report? With all the fantasy football players out there, not to mention people just plain interested in how hurt their favorite team's players are, it should be part of the main nav bar on any NFL page. I shouldn't have to dig for it. Is Bill Belichick behind this?)

ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert says:

21. It's already apparent that Tarvaris Jackson isn't the quarterback they should have entrusted with a playoff-caliber team.

SportingNews.com's Vinnie Iyer says:

22. Who can turn the world on with a smile, a juke, a stiff arm and then a 50-yard run? Adrian Peterson, of course. Now he needs his quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, to show more "spunk."

FoxSports.com's Adrian Hasenmayer says:

19. Give the Vikes a legitimate NFL quarterback, and I give you a Top 5 team. Otherwise with the very raw Tarvaris Jackson, they will lead the league in "almosts" and "near misses." Message to Brad Childress: Stop reading our rankings right now and trade for Jeff Garcia.

CBS SportsLine's Pete Prisco says:

22. Brad Childress hitched his coaching wagon to Tarvaris Jackson. Now it might cost him his job. The Vikings are 0-2. Wow.

Or, in other words (as Pete said last week): quarterback, Quarterback, QUARTERBACK! And you know what? He might be right.

5. (Tennessee) The defense has given up 17 points in two games. If they continue that, does it really matter who plays quarterback?

Well, maybe. Then again, how nice would it be if we'd gotten to play Cincinnati?

USAToday.com writes:

18. QB questions are swirling. Will they stick with Tarvaris Jackson?

USA TODAY's NFL power rankings update on Tuesday evenings every week:

'Nuff said.

Yahoo.com's Michael Silver says:

19. Minnesota Vikings: How can a team with Adrian Peterson fail to reach the end zone against an undersized, Cover 2 defense?

First of all: Congrats, Michael, on not going the obvious "It's the quarterback's fault" in your analysis. My Steeler-loving friend says he can't understand why the Vikings use a zone-blocking scheme -- which relies on quick linemen -- when we have 300+ pound maulers like Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk, and (usually) Bryant McKinnie. Just another in the brilliant coaching moves of Brad "Holding at 6%" Childress, I suppose.

Then again, maybe it's just the quarterback's fault.

And, the rare positive comment comes from Viking-backer Dr. Z of SI.com:

20. Well hidden star performance in Colts game was turned in by linebacker Chad Greenway, first round draft choice of two years ago. I know, plenty of more serious stuff is happening out there, but I just wanted to get this to you while the memory is fresh.

Chad has looked good in his 18 NFL games. Now, can he throw?

Overall, that's an average of 20.1, better than I would have expected for an 0-2 team with bad quarterbacking, even one that lost two games (to pretty good teams) by a total of 8 points. It could be worse, though; we could be San Diego, which lost its two games by a total of 3 points, and both on the last play of the game, counting the two-point conversion in the Denver game, which San Diego actually won. Sort of.

Meanwhile, the "Huh?" of the week goes to Michael Silver, who rates the Packers at #1 for the second week in a row. Now, I never thought the Packers would collapse when Aaron Rodgers took over for Brett Favre, and they have looked good. That said, I think the Cowboys (my pick for the #1 team in the league) will beat them soundly this week. If not, then by all means, put the Packers at #1, and I'll have some of what Silver's drinking.