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Power rankings don't mean much in the NFL year-round, but particularly in the offseason we should be careful not to put too much weight into them. But they're at least worth paying attention to and discussing, and today the Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King released his offseason power rankings. And unbelievably, he has the Indianapolis Colts at number eleven - not even being ranked in the top ten.
Here's what King wrote, trying to explain why the AFC favorites aren't even in his top ten:
11. Indianapolis (11-5). Best team in the AFC South, which isn't saying much. Still have no clue how the Colts will stop the best offenses in football. I bet Chuck Pagano doesn't know either.
I always respect differing opinions and think that they are worth noting, but King fails to make his point here. He is saying that the Colts' issues are the same ones that they had last year - when they won 11 games and made the AFC Championship game. In order for the Colts to not even make the top ten, King has to argue that the Colts got worse this offseason while others got better, not just that others got better and the Colts stayed the same.
Yes, the defense is still a concern, and I agree that I'm not quite sure how they're going to stop the best offenses. But that was the same case last year, and the Colts seemed to do ok then despite their poor defensive play. Furthermore, this defense looks improved (if only slightly) from last year's version.
But the biggest thing that Peter King is forgetting is that football is more than just defense. The Colts have loaded up the offensive side of the football for Andrew Luck, and as long as Luck is under center the Colts are likely to be one of the top teams in the league. Sure, there are questions about the defense, but Indy also has Andrew Luck. And he can cover over a lot of issues, as we've seen over the past three years.
The Colts not being ranked in the top ten is a joke, but at least it's not the only joke in King's power rankings. Want some other nuggets from the rankings? The Chiefs are ranked fourth and the Vikings are sixth, while the Texans, who could push for a wild card spot this year, are the fifth-worst team in the NFL (still ahead of the Jaguars and the Titans, who are ranked last). I take it Peter King really doesn't like the AFC South.