Week Eight, and then there were two… winless teams that is. Congratulations to the St. Louis Rams for getting their first victory of the season. Of the two “0-for” teams – the Miami Dolphins have been getting closer and look competitive, while the Colts look like they might be on track to become the second 0-16 team in NFL history.
And at the top of the board, the NFC still looks dominant. The Packers continue right on rolling, the 49ers are riding a great defense and running game to the only 1-loss record, and the Lions look like they’ve recovered from their two-game slide to get their nasty attitude back.
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Rank |
Team |
Record |
Comments |
|
1 |
Green Bay Packers |
7-0 |
Still flawless, Rodgers making a strong MVP bid. Defense did give up 27 points and 218 yards rushing to Minnesota, but a win is a win. |
|
2 |
San Francisco 49ers |
6-1 |
Only 1-loss team, Gore leads an outstanding running game and defense gets better every week. |
|
3 |
Detroit Lions |
6-2 |
Lions stop their two game losing streak by abusing Tim Tebow and the Broncos. On the other hand – it was the Broncos, Better test against Chicago after their bye week. |
|
4 |
Baltimore Ravens |
5-2 |
Both Harbaugh coached teams near the top of our rankings, leading up to big faceoff on Thanksgiving night. |
|
5 |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
6-2 |
Outstanding victory over New England, but they stay in fourth due to face-to-face loss to Ravens in Week One. Big Rematch game with the Ravens this weekend, with winner likely to crack the top three. |
|
6 |
Buffalo Bills |
5-2 |
Continue to churn out big offensive numbers behind Action Jackson and FitzMagic, but the defense came up big this weekend handing Shanahan his first shutout ever. If defense continues to play this well, Bills can go deep in the playoffs. |
|
7 |
New England Patriots |
5-2 |
This may seem like a big slide, but they have one seriously flawed unit – their pass defense has continued to worsen. Brady is averaging 324 passing yards per game, but Pats are giving up 323 passing yards per game. Not a formula for success. |
|
8 |
New York Giants |
5-2 |
While everyone is making noise about the Eagles and the Cowboys, the Giants the only team in the NFC East with a winning record, and playing the most solid football. If they can get healthy, they are a serious threat in the NFC. |
|
9 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
5-2 |
Excellent defense and error free offense has turned what was expected to be a rebuilding year into a possible playoff run. |
|
10 |
New Orleans Saints |
5-3 |
Disappointing loss to the winless Rams. Give the Rams credit, but hard to believe the Saints didn’t look past the game a bit. They had just beaten the winless Colts by 55 points and have the Bucs next week. Hard to stay focused playing two winless teams in a row. |
|
11 |
Houston Texans |
5-3 |
Sitting alone atop AFC South after win over Jacksonville. Offense continues to fire despite key injuries |
|
12 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
4-3 |
Good test coming up against an angry Saints team. Bucs won last matchup two weeks ago. |
|
13 |
Oakland Raiders |
4-3 |
Their fortunes will be determined by how well Palmer starts clicking now that he’s had a bye week to practice with the receivers. Although adding T.J. to the mix, combined with McFadden and running game, could move the Raiders up into the elite. |
|
14 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
4-3 |
Gutsy win against Chargers, Chiefs turn 0-3 start where they were outscored 109-27 into 4-3 and tied for first place. |
|
15 |
San Diego Chargers |
4-3 |
One bad play by Rivers lets game slip away, wiping out excellent performance through remainder. Tough loss to Chiefs keeps three-way tie atop the AFC West |
|
16 |
Tennessee Titans |
4-3 |
Hanging tough at 4-3 despite worst rushing attack in the league, with highest paid running back. |
|
17 |
New York Jets |
4-3 |
One game behind the Bills and Patriots in third place in the strong AFC East. Tough test coming up against division rival Buffalo next weekend. |
|
18 |
Chicago Bears |
4-3 |
Distant third in division despite winning record thanks to Packers and Lions. Offensive line playing better of late. Get tough test this week against surging Eagles, followed by Lions the week after. |
|
19 |
Atlanta Falcons |
4-3 |
Quality win over Detroit before their bye week, now they are rested and heading to Indianapolis. Should be an easy victory, but have to watch the let down game. |
|
20 |
Philadelphia Eagles |
3-4 |
Seem to be putting the pieces together with quality wins over Washington and Dallas the last two weeks, and the |
|
21 |
Washington Redskins |
3-4 |
Tough loss this week as Shanahan gets shut out for the first time ever. |
|
22 |
Dallas Cowboys |
3-4 |
Rounding out the muddled NFC East contenders – Very erratic |
|
23 |
Cleveland Browns |
3-4 |
Defense playing solid, but offense continues to struggle. Scored under 20 points for last 5 games in a row, sole win being the 6-3 victory over Seattle. |
|
24 |
Carolina Panthers |
2-6 |
Newton continues to play well and outplayed Ponder, plus Steve Smith energized by Newton throwing to him, but missed chip shot field goal to lose game. Need a few more pieces, but continuing to improve. |
|
26 |
Seattle Seahawks |
2-5 |
Anemic offense and QB confusion this week, combined with second worst running game in the league. |
|
27 |
Minnesota Vikings |
2-6 |
Looks like they’ve found their QB of the future – Ponder playing solid football in two starts. |
|
25 |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
2-6 |
After scrappy win against Baltimore, Jags crash back to earth against the Texans this week. Gabbert crashed back to earth with 26.7 QB rating, looking like the fourth best rookie QB at this point. |
|
28 |
Denver Broncos |
2-5 |
Tebow distraction aside, the problem is their offensive line. And a coach promoting a new QB while getting rid of his best receiver seems like an odd move. You’d almost think they were setting him up for failure. Schedule remains tough – Oakland up next. |
|
29 |
St. Louis Rams |
1-6 |
Congrats on first win, and such a big upset, we’ll jump you over the Cardinals. |
|
30 |
Arizona Cardinals |
1-6 |
Too much talent to have this record, but big face off with St. Louis next weekend. Somebody gets their second win. |
|
31 |
Miami Dolphins |
0-7 |
Still winless, but have been competitive. Last two losses each by 3 points. |
|
32 |
Indianapolis Colts |
0-8 |
All alone at the bottom. Since Mom always said if you can’t say something positive… at least their 17-point loss this weekend is an improvement on their 55-point loss last weekend. |
