Week 10 NFL Power Ranks

Did you hear that? That my friends was the sound of the 1972 Miami Dolphins popping the champagne. The only undefeated team in NFL history had reason to celebrate this past weekend as the lone unbeaten team, the Atlanta Falcons, fell to the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta had a shot at the end of the game but they were denied on fourth and goal. Will that loss be enough to knock the Falcons from their perch atop my rankings? You don't have far to go to find out.

1. Houston Texans (8-1) After outbearsing the Chicago Bears in Chicago the Texans reclaim the top spot. They are the class of the AFC and just took down one of the top NFC teams. (Last Week's Rank 2)

2. Atlanta Falcons (8-1) Atlanta may have fallen from the ranks of the undefeated and the top of these ranks but they are still a helluva good team. Losing by four points to Drew Brees and the resurgent Saints is not the worst thing to happen. In fact, this might turn out to be a blessing. (LWR 1)

3. Chicago Bears (7-2) Losing by a touchdown to the Texans in sloppy weather won't hurt the Bears ranking this week at all. Losing Jay Cutler who was concussed in that game might be too much to overcome. At least they have a capable backup in Jason Campbell rather than Caleb Hanie. (LWR 3)

4. Baltimore Ravens (7-2) The Ravens steamrolled the Oakland Raiders in Baltimore this weekend to the tune of a club record 55 points. Even the punter, Sam Koch, got in on the fun scoring a touchdown on a fake field goal. (LWR 6)

5. San Francisco 49ers (6-2-1) Another game, another tie, another two teams that didn't seem to understand the rules. Yes, people, a tie can happen in an NFL regular season game. Both kickers missed overtime field goals in this ugly one. (LWR 4)

6. New England Patriots (6-3) While people will criticize the Patriots pass defense there is no denying they are an offensive juggernaut. They are averaging just over 32 points per game. If that keeps up their defense can afford to be a little suspect. (LWR 7)

7. Green Bay Packers (6-3) Nobody was more thrilled about watching the Bears lose than the Packers. Kind of nice to pick up ground in the division without playing a game. (LWR 8)

8. Denver Broncos (6-3) ?With a win at home this coming weekend against the San Diego Chargers the Broncos can open up a huge lead in the AFC West. (LWR 9)

9. New York Giants (6-4) Nobody in the NFL needs a bye week more than Eli Manning who hasn't looked like himself for the better part of a month now. (LWR 5)

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) A win is a win but needing overtime at home to beat the pitiful Kansas City Chiefs is not what I expect from the Steelers with or without Ben Roethlisberger. If he misses any time it could be crushing as they play division-leading Baltimore twice in the next month. (LWR 10)

11. Seattle Seahawks (6-4) Seattle made the New York Jets look silly on Sunday. If I see a road trip to Seattle on my schedule I am not looking forward to it that's for sure. (LWR 11)

12. Indianapolis Colts (6-3) A ton of Colts shaved their heads this week in support of their ailing coach Chuck Pagano who is battling leukemia. Their play lately has been just as inspiring as they are officially this year's feel good story. (LWR 12)

13. Minnesota Vikings (6-4) The Vikings seem to have found a gem in kicker Blair Walsh who went 4-for-4 kicking field goals in the win over Detroit to improve to 23-for-24 on the season. (LWR 13)

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4) Tampa had the luxury of playing the turnover prone San Diego Chargers this past weekend and took advantage by pulling off one of my favorites as they scored on offense, defense (interception return) and special teams (blocked punt). (LWR 16)

15. New Orleans Saints (4-5) After starting the year 0-4 the Saints have put themselves back in the playoff picture. Taking down the undefeated Falcons was a nice touch as well. (LWR 22)

16. Dallas Cowboys (4-5) Sigh. The Cowboys also pulled off my fave scoring trifecta. Unfortunately I had to watch them do so against my pitiful Philadelphia Eagles. With the Giants reeling Dallas is back in the NFC East race. (LWR 20)

17. Detroit Lions (4-5) Looks like Megatron is back after he racked up over 200 yards receiving in a loss to the Vikings. At 4-5 they are still in the wild card hunt but they can kiss the division goodbye. (LWR 15)

18. Miami Dolphins (4-5) I don't even know how to explain what happened against the Tennessee Titans. Just....plain.....ugly. (LWR 14)

19. Cincinnati Bengals (4-5) The only thing that might be better then that dismantling of the Giants is that up next on the schedule the Bengals will get to feast on the Chiefs. They could be right back at .500 in no time. (LWR 21)

20. Arizona Cardinals (4-5) Hey! The Cardinals stopped their losing streak! Oh. They had a bye. Hey! The Cardinals are still on a five game losing streak! (LWR 19)

21. San Diego Chargers (4-5) This has to mark the end of the Norv Turner era wouldn't you say? (LWR 17)

22. Philadelphia Eagles (3-6) This has to mark the end of the Andy Reid era wouldn't you say? (LWR 18)

23. Washington Redskins (3-6) Is it wrong of me, as an Eagles fan, to hope the Redskins thoroughly beat us down this week so I can put my focus towards next year? I mean, isn't that what Mike Shanahan is doing anyway? (LWR 23)

24. St. Louis Rams (3-5-1) You may be wondering why the 49ers went down and the Rams moved up after their tie. I will tell you the 49ers should have won that game. The Rams get the "win" in this one. (LWR 25)

25. Tennessee Titans (4-6) Maybe their owner should put the team on notice more often. (LWR 28)

26. Buffalo Bills (3-6) With Miami and the Jets both struggling the Bills could have been a contender this year. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. (LWR 27)

27. New York Jets (3-6) The Jets stink on ice. Plain and simple here. (LWR 24)

28. Oakland Raiders (3-6) The Raiders have given up 97 points in the past two weeks. The 49ers have given up 127 points all season. Yikes. (LWR 26)

29. Carolina Panthers (2-7) The Panthers could do some damage to Tampa Bay's playoff hopes this weekend. They won't. But they could. (LWR 29)

30. Cleveland Browns (2-7) The Browns could so some damage to Dallas' playoff hopes this weekend. They just might. (LWR 30)

31. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8) There was never much reason to watch the Jaguars. Without Maurice Jones-Drew there is zero reason. (LWR 31)

32. Kansas City Chiefs (1-8) They actually had a real shot to win in Pittsburgh Monday night. Then Matt Cassell threw a typical Matt Cassel interception. Ballgame. (LWR 32)