NFL Week 9 Power Rankings

One team got its first loss of the season. Two got their first wins of the season. The Giants have fallen to third in the NFC East. Three top ten teams and three bottom ten teams made up the list of six on bye last week. My head is going to spin figuring out these rankings, but here we go.

1. New Orleans Saints (7-0) [1] - The Saints continue to roll with a big divisional win against the Falcons. Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas both had solid games, and the defense recorded three interceptions for a league-leading 16, including yet another interception returned for a touchdown. This team can beat you in so many different ways.

2. Indianapolis Colts (7-0) [2] - The Colts remain undefeated, but it was not pretty with an 18-14 home victory over the 49ers. They were unable to find the end zone until the fourth quarter, and it was on a pass from running back Joseph Addai to Reggie Wayne. You can be disappointed about Peyton Manning throwing no touchdown passes, but he still had a great day with 347 yards and no interceptions. With Donald Brown injured, Addai took 20 of the 21 handoffs, rushing for a 3.1 yards per carry average. I don't think the loss of Brown makes that much of a difference; every great team has their stumbles.

3. Minnesota Vikings (7-1) [4] - With the Broncos losing, the Vikings return to #3 as the best team with a loss after winning in Green Bay. You can hate him all you want for his inability to decide what to do with his career, and for the ridiculous over-coverage of him in the media, but Brett Favre is having a remarkable season.

4. Denver Broncos (6-1) [3] - Eventually, somebody had to beat this team. At least it was to a very good Ravens team desperate for a win after three straight losses, but still, I would have liked to see a bit more fight from the Broncos. Their offense sputtered against a Ravens defense that has been shaky this year.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) [5] - Huge win over the Vikings in their last game, and will now face the Broncos in another huge game coming out of the bye. They will not have the advantage of being at Heinz Field though, but they still have a good chance of pulling off the win.

6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) [8] - It is hard to believe that Cedric Benson's 102.9 rushing yards per game is second in the NFL, behind just Chris Johnson. The Bengals are certainly enjoying Carson Palmer's return to good health, I had begun to forget what that was like.

7. New England Patriots (5-2) [6] - The Patriots face a grueling five game stretch out of their bye starting and ending with the Dolphins, with the Colts, Jets, and Saints in between. Will they be ready for the test?

8. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) [9] - It was a dominating win for the Eagles, with Donovan McNabb easily finding the gaping holes in the Giants defense while Eli Manning overthrew seemingly every pass to Giants receivers. They have the big play ability, but I'm still not seeing the team that was projected as an elite team before the seasons started.

9. Baltimore Ravens (4-3) [10] - After three tough losses to very good teams, the Ravens came out of their bye and dominated the previously undefeated Broncos to break the losing streak. I still need to see some consistency from their defense.

10. Dallas Cowboys (5-2) [12] - The Cowboys have stormed out of the bye with two very convincing victories, although the Seahawks are not the same calibur as the Falcons. They could be feeling as much momentum as anyone right now, and they will need it to carry over into Phiadelphia where they face an Eagles team who they are tied with atop the NFC East.

11. Atlanta Falcons (4-3) [13] - The Falcons move up despite a loss, although that has more to do with teams in front of them needing to be moved down. They did put up a decent fight though against the Saints.

12. New York Giants (5-3) [7] - The Giants could potentially be lower after three straight horrible losses, but I have faith in their defense once Michael Boley returns from injury. Eli Manning, however, needs to be better. He looked like an elite quarterback in the early parts of the season, but at one point last game I half-jokingly said Derek Anderson was better. He was absolutely awful against the Eagles, with more overthrows than I've ever seen. I was honestly surprised to look at the box score and see that he completed more than half of his passes (20/39).

13. Green Bay Packers (4-3) [14] - There is disappointment after losing to the Vikings again, especially at Lambeau Field this time, but there are still a lot of quality players on this team. However, I did a double-take seeing Ahman Green doing kick returns. I love that the Packers re-signed him, but there has to be a better option at kick returner than the 32-year-old Green. His 20.1 yard return average is not going to cut it.

14. Arizona Cardinals (4-3) [11] - I expected the Cardinals to blow out the Panthers last week, instead it turned out to be the other way around. Kurt Warner's six turnovers helped lead to a 34-21 loss against a horrible Carolina team. I expect better from them in the future, but it is at least a reality check for the Cardinals who were beginning to soar towards the top.

15. Houstan Texans (5-3) [15] - After a slow start, the Texans roared back for a dominating victory in Buffalo. Don't let Ryan Moats' line fool you, that Buffalo defense is terrible against the run. He will not be a better option than Steve Slaton, assuming Slaton can hold onto the ball, but that has not been the case this year. They have big weapons at the wide receiver position with Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter, but they suffered a big loss of tight end Owen Daniels for the season.

16. San Diego Chargers (4-3) [19] - LaDainian Tomlinson tripled his touchdown total for the season. The Chargers have a great passing game, but unless they get better production in the running game and their defense, I don't have much faith in them. So far they have beat the Raiders twice, the Chiefs, and the Dolphins when they knocked out Chad Pennington for the season.

17. Chicago Bears (4-3) [17] - Like the Chargers, this team has the weapons, but has been disappointing in their running game and defense. Also, Jay Cutler was less than stellar against a terrible Browns team last week after struggling the last two weeks. This team is far from the team that beat the Steelers in Week 2 (or more likely, the current Steelers are far from what they were then), and have just beaten the Seahawks, Lions, and Browns since.

18. Miami Dolphins (3-4) [18] - The offense was hardly a factor last week for the Dolphins, who managed just 104 yards, but they got the job done with a Jason Taylor fumble recovery for touchdown and two 100+ yard kickoff return touchdowns by Ted Ginn.

19. New York Jets (4-4) [16] - The Jets took another step backward last week with the loss at home against the Dolphins. Jerricho Cotchery returned with a decent effort, and Braylon Edwards had a great catch and fight for the touchdown, but the Jets still came up short.

20. San Francisco 49ers (3-4) [20] - He may not be making the team worse, but Alex Smith starting at quarterback does not make the 49ers any better. He is still and always will be a poor quarterback. The 49ers kept it close with the Colts thanks to their run defense and a huge touchdown run from Frank Gore. Michael Crabtree had six catches for 81 yards, but also lost a fumble.

21. Seattle Seahawks (2-5) [21] - There is a big dropoff from #20 to #21, and the Seahawks stay here because they were the least disappointing of the ones directly below them. At least it was the Cowboys they lost badly to.

22. Carolina Panthers (3-4) [24] - Hard to imagine the Panthers winning 34-21 with Jake Delhomme throwing 7/14 for 90 yards, with 50 of them coming on one touchdown pass to Steve Smith. What is even funnier is that was good for his highest passer rating of the season. At least he didn't throw any interceptions for the first time all year, as the Panthers won the turnover battle 6-0 to give them the victory over the Cardinals. DeAngelo Williams rushed for 158 yards, while Jonathan Stewart added 87 yards and two touchdowns. But they can't expect to win many games that aren't handed to them when their quarterback is throwing for 90 yards.

23. Buffalo Bills (3-5) [23] - The Bills lead the AFC with 15 interceptions, but that may be the only thing going for them right now. They led the Texans 10-9 through three quarters with two interceptions off Matt Schaub, but they let Ryan Moats run all over them as Houston exploded for 22 unanswered points in the fourth.

24. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) [22] - Despite 177 yards on eight carries for Maurice Jones-Drew, including touchdown runs of 80 and 79 yards, the Jaguars still got blown out 30-13 by the winless Titans.

25. Washington Redskins (2-5) [26] - It will be interesting to see how the Redskins respond coming out of the bye week with new offensive playcaller Sherman Lewis. I don't know if I should have the blind faith to flip them with the Chiefs with both on bye, but this is a talented offense that just needs to find a way to click. If there's even a slight chance of that happening now, they could be on their way up.

26. Kansas City Chiefs (1-5) [25] - As if horrible performance wasn't reason enough, the Chiefs are finally pushing Larry Johnson out at running back. He will be suspended for this week's game, but it remains to be seen what kind of role he will have the rest of the way, if any. Jamaal Charles may not be much, but anything must be better than Johnson at this point.

27. Tennessee Titans (1-6) [29] - Vince Young is 1-0 since taking over as starter, which is one more win than Kerry Collins had in six games. Of course, it helps when Chris Johnson runs for 228 yards and two touchdowns (197/2 apparently wasn't enough when they faced the Texans in Week 2). Young finished 15/18 for 125 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions, with 30 rushing yards; not exactly a jaw-dropping line.

28. Detroit Lions (1-6) [26] - After fighting to earn the slightest bit of respect following an 0-16 season, the Lions just lost to the Rams at home. I will give them a slight break though as they were still without Calvin Johnson, but this hurts.

29. Oakland Raiders (2-6) [28] - I still don't understand how this team has two wins right now. Darren McFadden is on the verge of returning, which could give some more life to the offense, but this team is still far from being worth anything.

30. St. Louis Rams (1-7) [32] - Congratulations to Steve Spagnuolo on his first victory as a head coach. I expected it to come sooner though as he had been such a great defensive coordinator for the Giants, but you can only do so much with the talent handed to you.

31. Cleveland Browns (1-7) [30] - This team is going absolutely nowhere. Derek Anderson had another steller performance last week: 6/17, 76 yards, and two interceptions for a 10.5 passer rating. He doesn't cease to amaze me. Luckily for the Browns, they still have the Lions, Chiefs, Raiders, and Jaguars on their schedule, but that doesn't necessarily mean their win total will increase any. I wish I could put them last, but there's still one more team....

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7) [31] - I would love to see the Buccaneers win a game so I can put the Browns last, but I'm not sure if they ever will. Seriously, look at their schedule and tell me when they will win. Their only opportunity at home is the Jets, who have struggled at times but should easily find a way to beat the Bucs. Their chances on the road are in Carolina, who beat the Bucs in Tampa already, and Seattle in a cross-country team to Qwest Field, arguably the place with the biggest home field advantage in the NFL. Of course, surprises are always possible, and as their quarterback carousel turns to it's third man, Josh Freeman, a spark can possibly be lit. But you have to have serious doubts about this team winning a football game this year.