The NFL Blog: 2009 Week 10 Power Rankings

Power Rankings After Week 10

1. Indianapolis 9-0 (2nd)
2. Minnesota 8-1 (3rd)
3. New Orleans 9-0 (1st)
4. Cincinnati 7-2 (6th)
5. New England 6-3 (5th)
6. Pittsburgh 6-3 (4th)
7. San Diego 6-3 (13th)
8. Houston 5-4 (10th)
9. Baltimore 5-4 (11th)
10. Arizona 6-3 (14th)
11. Dallas 6-3 (7th)
12. Philadelphia 5-4 (12th)
13. Atlanta 5-4 (9th)
14. Denver 6-3 (8th)
15. New York Giants 5-4 (15th)
16. Carolina 4-5 (18th)
17. Tennessee 3-6 (19th)
18. New York Jets 4-5 (16th)
19. Miami 4-5 (17th)
20. San Francisco 4-5 (22nd)
21. Green Bay 5-4 (23rd)
22. Jacksonville 5-4 (25th)
23. Chicago 4-5 (21st)
24. Buffalo 3-6 (20th)
25. Seattle 3-6 (24th)
26. Washington 3-6 (26th)
27. Kansas City 2-7 (27th)
28. Oakland 2-7 (28th)
29. St. Louis 1-8 (29th)
30. Tampa Bay 1-8 (30th)
31. Cleveland 1-8 (31st)
32. Detroit 1-8 (32nd)

-Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis;

Change at the Top: Despite the fact that all of the teams in my top 3 from last week won again this week, there was a shakeup at the top of my rankings. I moved New Orleans out of the top spot, this time after a lackluster win over the lowly Rams. The Saints have not won impressively since their big win over the Giants a month ago. I dropped the Saints to 3rd and moved the Colts up from 2nd to 1st after they pulled out a dramatic win over the Patriots at home. I moved the Vikings up a spot from 3rd to 2nd after they took care of business against the Lions.

Moving Up: Only 2 teams made climbs of more than 3 spots this week. I moved the Cardinals up 4 spots from 14th to 10th after their win over the Seahawks at home. Really this was a result of a few solid performances by Arizona and some major faltering by the teams in front of them. The team making the biggest jump in my rankings this week was San Diego, who moved up 6 spots from 13th to 7th following their victory over the Eagles. Again, their big jump was a result of a string of big wins they have put together over the last few weeks, as well as the problems that teams previously ahead of them are having.

Going Down: 4 teams fell at least 4 spots in my rankings this week. I dropped the Cowboys 4 spots from 7th to 11th this week after their pitiful performance in Green Bay. Just when you thought it was safe to think of the Cowboys as contenders, they go out and score 7 points against a team that had just given up 38 to the Bucs the week before. I dropped the Falcons 4 spots from 9th to 13th after their loss at Carolina. It wasn’t just that loss that led me to knock the Falcons down that much. They also suffered a crippling injury to their most important offensive player, Michael Turner. Also, the play of QB Matt Ryan has been increasingly spotty and the defense has been scrambling to keep from breaking all season. The Bills also fell 4 spots in my power rankings this week after they were run over by the Titans. I knocked the Bills down 4 spots from 20th to 24th. The team making the biggest fall in my rankings this week was Denver, who dropped 6 spots from 8th to 14th. The Broncos suffered a 3rd straight loss last week and for the first time they lost to a bad team. Along with the loss at Washington—Denver’s 3rd straight loss by double digits—the Broncos also lost QB Kyle Orton to injury.

The Divide: There are now just 4 teams left with less than 3 losses and they are my top 4 teams. There is still a very clear bottom of the league. The bottom 7 teams in my rankings stayed in place this week.