Here are my weekly power rankings, with the team’s previous rank in parenthesis.
1. New York Giants (1) – Another week, another blowout by the Giants. Eli Manning’s foot bears watching, but so long as he can stay on the field, the Giants can – and likely will – stay atop the rankings.
2. Indianapolis Colts (2) – Not only did they go to Nashville and put the final nail in the Titans’ coffin, but they did so in disturbingly dominant fashion. Peyton Manning is on one of his out-of-control binges right now, which should almost be expected from the best quarterback ever to lace them up. Expected or not, it’s still amazing to watch.
3. Minnesota Vikings (6) – What’s remarkable about the Rams game is that the vaunted Vikings defense actually gave up 400 yards of offense to the worst team in football. But the four turnovers kept the lead a healthy four touchdowns. And it wasn’t even that close.
4. New Orleans Saints (3) – Biggest game of the year coming off the bye for the Saints: hosting the Giants in what could be one of the best games of the season.
5. Denver Broncos (10) – Fluke plays, crazy catches, etc. etc. That was a big-time win against the Patriots, and a big-time performance by Kyle Orton. I have no choice but to call them legitimate at this point, even as every instinct I have tells me that this is a .500 team that has caught a bunch of breaks and is playing good enough defense to capitalize on those breaks. While Kyle Orton may remind the loony Peter King of 2001 Tom Brady, the Broncos remind me of the 2001 Chicago Bears; a fluky, lucky team with a pretty damn good defense who will have no impact on the playoffs other than providing some better team a first round opponent.
6. Atlanta Falcons (not ranked) – Was that slaughter of the 49ers out west evidence of the Falcons’ prowess, or are the 9ers a bit worse than we thought? I’m inclined to believe the former, and look forward to what is going to be a huge match-up with the Bears on Sunday night in Hotlanta.
7. Chicago Bears (8) – A one-rank bump on the bye week primarily because Baltimore and New England keep messing around instead of being the top-tier teams I expected them to be.
8. Cincinnati Bengals (not ranked) – All righty, I’m fully aboard the Bengal Bandwagon. Cedric Benson has decided that he’s interested in playing football (thanks, Ced. Appreciate it.) and Carson Palmer is back to being Carson Palmer. Wins over Baltimore and Pittsburgh mean something. 3-0 in their division means that until the Steelers get it together and the Ravens right the ship, the Bengals may well be the team to beat in a nasty AFC North.
9. Baltimore Ravens (4) – Two tough tests in New England and versus Cincinnati, two losses. This weekend will be the toughest test to date in the Metrodome. In fairness, they kept it dangerously close in both of their losses, and I still think this is one of the best couple of teams in the AFC, but if they can’t keep it close (or pull the upset) against Old Man Winter, they risk dropping off the map here, at least for a little while.
10. Philadelphia Eagles (not ranked) – Every week I display a complete lack of faith in this team, and every week they come out and punch somebody in the mouth. Last week’s hapless victim was the woeful Buccaneers. This week’s is the Raiders. And I don’t care that it’s in Oakland; doesn’t matter. This could be a three score game in no time whatsoever.