NFL Week 8 Power Rankings

How will the rankings shake up after one unbeaten lost, one had to pull off a huge comeback, and an unbeaten from two weeks ago has lost for the second straight week? Well, it's hard to make changes when the other good teams are beating up the awful tier of teams. It seems like you can look at so much of the top of the list and question their strength of schedule so far.

1. New Orleans Saints (6-0) [1] - Call me stubborn for keeping the Saints here after falling behind 24-3 to the Dolphins off a miserable start to the game by Drew Brees. But they showed great resiliency to come back and win 46-34 in beating a much better team than the Colts beat. Add another two interception returns for touchdowns for this New Orleans defense. We shall see how they handle the Falcons offense this week.

2. Indianapolis Colts (6-0) [2] - This Colts team is not letting up, with a 42-6 win over the Rams last week. Another three touchdowns for Manning and a solid performance by the defense. It's more like 1 and 1a between them and the Saints.

3. Denver Broncos (6-0) [4] - The Broncos move up during their bye week as they are now one of three remaining unbeaten. They face a tough road game in Baltimore this week though, but they have had their share of tests this year that they have passed so far.

4. Minnesota Vikings (6-1) [3] - The Vikings had a perfect opportunity to at least tie the game last week in the final minute if Chester Taylor catches that screen pass. Even though it was a loss, it was still a good effort playing in Pittsburgh. On a neutral field, the Vikings are the better team.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) [8] - After a disappointing start, the Steelers are 4-0 since Rashard Mendenhall took over as the featured running back. Even without Aaron Smith, their defense had two huge touchdowns and held Adrian Peterson to 3.8 yards per carry.

6. New England Patriots (5-2) [6] - In a week full of blowouts, I expected the Patriots to do a bit better than a 35-7 victory over the Buccaneers. It would have been a bigger blowout if not for two interceptions thrown by Tom Brady. After the bye week, they face a rough five-game stretch against divisional rivals and unbeatens.

7. New York Giants (5-2) [5] - Two weeks ago the Giants defense did nothing against the Saints. This past week it was the offense that could not get anything going against the Cardinals. It is extremely important for them to work out these inconsistencies in time for their showdown in Philadelphia this week.

8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) [11] - After a disappointing loss to the Texans, who may not be so bad after all, the Bengals came back with a surprising 45-10 blowout over the Bears. Carson Palmer (five touchdown passes) and Cedric Benson (189 rushing yards) both had monster games. After the bye week, they have their division rematches against the Ravens and Steelers, which will go a long way in determining how the standings will shape out at the end of the season.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) [10] - Once again, Brian Westbrook is banged up. LeSean McCoy was less than stellar replacing him against a good Redskins defense, and will face an even tougher Giants defense this week. The Eagles have the big plays to DeSean Jackson, but don't seem to have much else on offense.

10. Baltimore Ravens (3-3) [9] - Baltimore had a bye week to think about the three-game losing streak they are currently on, and will now face the undefeated Broncos, with the Bengals after that. The three losses have all come against good teams though, but they need to beat some of these good teams.

11. Arizona Cardinals (4-2) [13] - The Cardinals defense was very impressive in shutting down the dangerous Giants offense last week in a big win at the Meadowlands. Anquan Boldin's health is again a concern, but this team is getting back to the level that brought them to the Super Bowl last season.

12. Dallas Cowboys (4-2) [16] - The running back trio of Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice is returning to health, and they have found a dangerous receiver in Miles Austin. This team could continue rising fast after being kept down in the middle of the pack most of the way.

13. Atlanta Falcons (4-2) [7] - Perhaps this is too far of a drop for the Falcons, but while their offense is very good, they need to show more on the defensive side. I expected more from them last week but instead got a 37-21 beating.

14. Green Bay Packers (4-2) [12] - The Packers have outscored their opponents 57-3 in the last two weeks, but those opponents were the Lions (without Calvin Johnson) and Browns. They have a huge game this week at home against the Vikings after losing by a touchdown in Minnesota earlier.

15. Houston Texans (4-3) [17] - After a disappointing start, the Texans are starting to reach the potential that many predicted at the beginning of the season. They still have yet to face the Colts, and those two games will obviously be very important as the Texans are the only thing standing in the Colts' way of winning the AFC South.

16. New York Jets (4-3) [20] - The Jets get a redeeming win with a 38-0 blowout against the Raiders. Say what you want about the Raiders, but it was a huge win for the Jets' morale leading into the home rematch against the Dolphins.

17. Chicago Bears (3-3) [14] - We have seen the bad side of Jay Cutler the past two weeks with five interceptions in a pair of road losses. He returns home this week and should have no problem with the Browns, but the week after poses a bigger challenge with the Cardinals coming in. I would like to see him spread the ball around to his other receivers. Obviously, Matt Forte also needs to do a much better job, as he was held to under 30 yards rushing for the third time this season. Cleveland can be run on very easily, but the same cannot be said about the Cardinals. This is just a mediocre team right now.

18. Miami Dolphins (2-4) [19] - If they could have held on for the win against the Saints, it obviously would have been a huge win. They have perhaps the most dangerous rushing attack in the league and a decent enough defense, but it is hard to beat a great team like the Saints with the inexperienced Chad Henne at quarterback. They have a chance to win at least half of their remaining games this season depending on the play of Henne.

19. San Diego Chargers (3-3) [15] - It is a bit surprising to see them drop four places following a 37-7 victory, but the four teams jumping above them have shown more this season. Philip Rivers has been terrific, but LaDainian Tomlinson is clearly not the running back he used to be.

20. San Francisco 49ers (3-3) [18] - The quarterback change to former #1 overall pick Alex Smith provided a spark in last week's game with three touchdown passes to former first round pick Vernon Davis. Michael Crabtree had a decent enough first game as the most recent San Francisco first round pick. If these offensive weapons start clicking around Frank Gore, this will be a very dangerous offense, but that remains to be seen.

21. Seattle Seahawks (2-4) [22] - The Seahawks have the potential but have failed to find consistency this season. They will likely not be able to slow down the Cowboys this week, then the Lions will make them look like a great team again before going on the road to face the Cardinals and Vikings.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) [23] - David Garrard has been solid and Maurice Jones-Drew is a great running back, but that's about all this team has. They can be thankful for an easy schedule with games that those two players alone can win for them.

23. Buffalo Bills (3-4) [24] - The Bills were dominated offensively last week but got four turnovers to set themselves up for the road win against the Panthers. I feel like the Bills have done nothing to be ranked as high as 23rd, but they have three wins and blew two more with special teams fumbles. It may be pretty ugly, but it is much more than the teams below them can say.

24. Carolina Panthers (2-4) [21] - I should have seen the loss to the Bills coming. The Jets could not beat the Bills despite a dominating running game, and even Mark Sanchez at his worst is much better than Jake Delhomme has been this season. Three interceptions doomed the Panthers. Unfortunately, they have very little reason to bother starting either of their backup quarterbacks.

25. Kansas City Chiefs (1-6) [26] - Larry Johnson just made a fool out of himself and will suffer the consequences, but it is about time the Chiefs got him out of the running game, because they were going absolutely nowhere with him. I don't know if Jamaal Charles can do any better, but he can't do much worse either.

26. Detroit Lions (1-5) [27] - It appears as though Calvin Johnson is still not ready to return this week as the Lions will try to avoid losing to the Rams. This will be the Rams' best shot at winning this season, and surely the Lions would like some company in the group of teams with an 0-16 season (although the Rams are not the last hope for this year).

27. Washington Redskins (2-5) [28] - The Redskins have lost Chris Cooley to injury as the season continues to worsen. Their defense is starting to play decently enough, but they appear to have no chemistry on offense. There is potential though.

28. Oakland Raiders (2-5) [25] - Things were surprisingly looking up after shocking the Eagles, but the real Raiders returned for a 38-0 loss. The current winless teams deserve the wins more than the Raiders do, but they are the ones sitting with two wins on their record. They rank ahead of only the Rams in points scored per game.

29. Tennessee Titans (0-6) [30] - The Titans move up a spot with the bye week to forget about the 59-0 loss to the Patriots as the three teams below them all got blown out this past week. Chris Johnson should be enough on his own to beat some of these teams, but the rest of his team has failed so far to give half an effort. They need to show up this week in a winnable home game against the Jaguars.

30. Cleveland Browns (1-6) [29] - So much for Joshua Cribbs. The only player worth watching on this team managed just one yard on one rush, -1 yards on one reception, and lost a fumble. The one victory against the Browns keeps them [perhaps wrongly] ahead of the Bucs and Rams.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7) [31] - The Josh Johnson experiment is over after no positive results, and the Buccaneers will turn to third quarterback Josh Freeman. There is no reason to believe things will get any better though.

32. St. Louis Rams (0-7) [32] - The Rams are scoring an average of 8.6 points per game and are allowing 30.1 points per game. At least they have the Lions and their bye week coming up next, but then they have the pleasure of facing the Saints in Week 10.