Updated NFL Power Rankings: Week 10

1.  Baltimore Ravens (6-2)  Baltimore took care of the Dolphins at home and stopped Miami’s four game road winning streak.  They appear to be the best the NFL has to offer, but this season that isn’t a vote of much confidence.

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2.  New York Giants (6-2) The Giants put on a clinic against Charlie Whitehurst and the Seahawks.  There is no doubt now that they are the best the NFC has to offer at this point and
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3.  New York Jets (6-2) Big win for the Jets against the Lions.  They didn’t play well enough for three and a half quarters to deserve to win, but made plays when they needed to and cashed in on their opportunities.

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4.  Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) The Steelers are winning games but they aren’t looking very dominate in doing so.  They capitalized on Cincinnati’s mistakes Monday but was unable to win convincingly

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5.  New England Patriots (6-2)  New England looked absolutely terrible against a tough Browns team.  Tom Brady was off all day and the defense forgot it was Sunday.  Peyton Hillis had a field day running all over the Patriots defense.  The Patriots will need to regroup before next Sundays showdown with the Steelers

6.  Atlanta Falcons (6-2) Atlanta won another divisional game and Matt Ryan looks unbeatable at home.  The Falcons are definitely in the conversation for the best team in the NFC half way through the season.

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7.  New Orleans Saints (6-3)  The Saints took care of the Steelers and then turned around and finished off Carolina with ease.  They don’t look like they have the same swagger they had last season, but the Saints have not had a Super Bowl letdown yet this season.

8.  Green Bay Packers (5-3)  Green Bay put on a show against a miserable Cowboys team and look to be one of the NFC’s best.  The question surrounding Green Bay is whether or not they are healthy enough to finish the season on a positive note.
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9.  Philadelphia Eagles (5-3)  Big win for Michael Vick and the Eagles against Manning and the Colts.  Vick is likely playing his way to a lucrative contract after the season with his decision making and ability to create plays with his feet.

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10.  Indianapolis Colts (5-3) Peyton and company had a chance in Philadelphia late, but they couldn’t pull off the victory.  The loss of Anthony Gonzalez to IR and a concussion to Austin Collie were to much for the Colts to overcome.  Manning has done amazing things with very little talent around him, but it may be catching up to the Colts now.

11.  Tennessee Titans (5-3) The Titans didn’t play this week but they still made headlines by claiming Randy Moss of waivers.  It seems like a good move now, but we said the same about Minnesota trading for Moss a month ago.  We will all watch eagerly to see how this one turns out.

12.  Oakland Raiders (5-4) The Raiders made a valiant comeback against Kansas City and Jacoby Ford stole the show.  It remains to be seen if the Raiders are indeed as good as they have looked, but picking in the top 10 for years has allowed them to stockpile some solid talent at key positions and it is finally starting to pay off.

13.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-3)  The Buccaneers are close, but a loss at Atlanta is proof they are just not quite there.

14.  Kansas City Chiefs (5-3)  Tough tough loss in overtime to the Raiders.  With the division on the line the Chiefs couldn’t hold on.  The AFC west is shaping up to be a very intriguing playoff race.

15.  Chicago Bears (5-3) Chicago just doesn’t look like a very good team.  They do have five wins and beat Buffalo in a game they had to win, but overall they just do not strike fear into their opponent.  Regardless they are getting the job done and finished the first half of the season with a winning record.

16.  San Diego Chargers (4-5)  Phillip Rivers is unbelievable.  He keeps winning and making plays despite the fact that all of his WR’s are people no one has ever heard of, and he basically has no running game.  The Chargers consistently start slow and come on strong late in the season.  They are right on track for another late season run.

17.  St. Louis Rams (4-4)  The Rams have four wins and are in a perfect spot to go from #1 overall pick to playoffs the next year.  They just need to continue to improve each week and make sure they take advantage of the miserable teams in their division.

18.  Houston Texans (4-4)  The Texans are right on track to finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs yet again.  They have plenty of weapons but can’t seem to get over the hump and win games they are talented enough to win.

19.  Cleveland Browns (3-5)  The Browns are clearly well coached and talented.  Their three wins are vs. New England, New Orleans and Cincinnati.  Their losses do not seem quite as bad now seeing how Kansas City and Tampa are playing.  The Browns are on the right track, and are a team that no one really wants to play.  If you don’t believe that ask Bill Belichek.

20.  Miami Dolphins (4-4) Miami just looks perfectly beatable.  They beat the teams they should beat and get roughed up by teams superior to them.  In a tough division they will need to do better.

21.  Washington Redskins (4-4) The Redskins are a mess.  Their QB was benched for a career backup in a perfectly winnable game.  If it weren’t for the Vikings and Cowboys being more dysfunctional people might actually care.

22.  Seattle Seahawks (4-4)  Charlie Whitehurst looked like a guy who had never started an NFL game.  The Seahawks were throttled by the Giants and appear the be a team with multiple personalities.  One week they are up the next they are down.  Regardless they have a shot at the playoffs no matter how bad they look at times.

23.  Jacksonville Jaguars (4-4) The Jaguars are a deceiving 4-4.  But in the NFL wins are wins.  The second half of the season will decide if they are pretender or contender.  At this point my vote is pretender.

24.  Cincinnati Bengals (2-6)  The Bengals just absolutely cannot put a complete game together.  This team is now playing for their jobs with a the playoffs now out of the picture

25.  Detroit Lions (2-6) The Lions are so much better than their 2-6 record shows.  If Matthew Stafford could stay healthy this team might be closer to .500.  Turns out that a missed PAT may have cost the Lions an OT loss to the Jets.

26.  Minnesota Vikings (3-5)  If coaches were fired at halftime Brad Childress would be on unemployment.  Instead Brett Favre may have saved his job for him.  The Vikings had a stunning comeback against Arizona just days after releasing Randy Moss and their coach and star WR getting into a heated exchange.  Had the Vikes lost on Sunday they would have likely ended up in the cellar of our power rankings.

27.  Arizona Cardinals (3-5) Tough loss for the Cardinals who seemingly had the struggling Vikings on the ropes.  The key here is that the Cardinals have no clear starter at QB and can’t string together any consistency on offense.  Maybe they shouldn’t have cut Matt Leinart, at least no one would have questioned giving him the starting job week in and week out.

28.  San Francisco 49ers (2-6) Troy Smith might be the spark this team has needed.  He brought them from behind in London and has had an extra week of practice as the starter.  It wouldn’t normally matter for a 2-6 team,  but in the NFC west they still have a good chance at the playoffs.  It will be interesting to see if they can turn it around.

29.  Denver Broncos (2-6) Denver has lost four straight and now find themselves all alone in the AFC West division.  The bye week only meant they couldn’t lose another game at this point..

30.  Carolina Panthers (1-7)  The Panthers offense is atrocious and now Matt Moore is out for the season.  Let the Jimmy Clausen era begin though it won’t be easy for the rookie without his top two RB’s.  I bet the Panthers are really wishing they had traded DeAngelo Williams when they had the chance.  This team needs to restock its talent pool.

31.  Buffalo Bills (0-8) The Bills scored three touchdowns.  The Bears scored 3 Touchdowns.  That was all the scoring in the game and yet the Bills managed to lose by 3 points thanks to a missed PAT.  They are playing hard and getting close to a win, but they are getting no breaks and generally lack talent.

32.  Dallas Cowboys (1-7) Has a team so talented ever looked so disinterested and discouraged?  They were absolutely manhandled by the Packers and were just generally sloppy and look poorly coached.  Jerry Jones fixed the coaching issue by firing Phillips on Monday and giving head coach in waiting Jason Garrett a chance to prove he’s worth giving the job to.