This Week's Power Rankings

[VJCPatriot]

Post them here. CHFF has us as #2 (behind the Jets), and muses about a possible Pats-Eagles SB rematch:

Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Power Rankings: a Patriots-Eagles SB rematch?

CHFF also had the Pats as the worst 6-1 team in the NFL.

Pats are ranked 3rd behind Jets and Eagles in most power polls. Keeping bringing on the disrespect. Eagles win over a lousy Washington team is more impressive than Pats drubbing of previously considered #1 Pittsburgh? Puhleez. Jets barely holding on for two back to back OT wins more impressive? I don't think so. But I like it when the Pats are the underdogs. They will be considered underdogs vs the Colts and Jets as well. Bring it on mediots and prepare to EAT CROW!

 

[shmessy]

Eh, did we dream the 2-5 Cleveland game two weeks ago? Then again, I'm not one to base a team's quality on the strength of one game. The Giants are probably the best team in the NFC, and they laid an egg against a fired up Cowboy team.

Yet, you referenced their EARLIER win at Dallas as reason people rank them highly. Doesn't their most recent clocking at home at the hands of those same Cowboys mean as much?

6-2 Pats fall to precipitously after losing on the road to a 2-5 AFC (Varsity Conference) team that just beat the defending SB champs in their building.

6-3 Giants come in at #5 after losing to a 1-7 NFC (JV Conference) team at home.

Yeah, I see the similarities you point out.

 

[shmessy]

Defense + Hakeem Nicks + Ahmad Bradshaw - Offensive Turnovers - Mediocre Special Teams = Team with potential, but still better than most of the NFC.

NFC.

'nuf ced.

 

[mgteich]

As usual, the espn rankings seem about right to me.


altanta #1
pats #2
other afc #3, #4, #5 (jets, ravens, steelers)
eagles #6

NFL Power Rankings Week 11 - National Football League - ESPN

 

[Ron Sellers]

NFL Week 11 Power Rankings Feature Jets, Patriots Setting Pace at 7-2 - Power Rankings - NESN.com
1-5: Jets, Pats, Falcons, Saints, Steelers
6-10: Ravens, Packers, Eagles, Colts, Giants

There's a new No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week, and if that recent trend is any indication, it probably doesn’t bode well for the Jets' chances Sunday against the Texans.

This is also the best showing in the rankings for the NFC. Just a few weeks ago, the AFC ruled the top five, but there's a little more balance in the top portion of the rankings. That conference can thank the Falcons for their dramatic victory against the Ravens, an outcome that gave a little more credibility to the top teams in the NFC.

New York Jets
Whether they're lucky or good, it really doesn’t matter, because the Jets keep pulling out wins. But that Week 13 matchup with the Patriots on Monday night might be the most important game in the AFC this season. The winner will likely get a first-round bye, while the loser will almost certainly open the playoffs on the road.

New England Patriots
Tom Brady's name has been mentioned in the MVP race for a few weeks, but his output in Pittsburgh, on an injured right foot no less, might be the signature performance he'll need to really springboard that campaign.

Indianapolis Colts
The Colts don’t have an overly impressive win just yet, but this week's trip to New England could change that. Either way, we'll soon know if the Colts are a legitimate contender, or a team that's simply getting by due to its elite quarterback.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Power Rankings: Falcons get turn on spinning top - NFL - CBSSports.com Football

Late last Thursday night, I told Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff something that made them cringe.

"I think just watched one of the two best teams in the NFC," I said. "The Giants and Falcons have the two best teams in the conference."

They both waved me away.

It's November. You don't want to be a champ in November. But this is the month for separation. This is the month where contenders emerge and the pretenders fade away.

The Falcons are a contender.

1-5: Falcons, Jets, Pats, Eagles, Colts
6-10: Ravens, Steelers, Giants, Saints, Packers

#3 Patriots:What they did at Pittsburgh was coaching mastery. The Steelers couldn't match what Bill Belichick had for them.

#5 Colts: The good news coming from the Bengals victory was how well the defense played. You know the offense will get it going again.

 

[Rob0729]

The only power ranking that matters is the one that comes out the week after the Super Bowl. I really don't care where the Pats are ranked. There are no awards for being #1 week 10 in the season.

 

[JackBauer]

The Falcons are good, I just have a hard time believing they're the best in the NFL.

 

[Nikolai]

Yet, you referenced their EARLIER win at Dallas as reason people rank them highly. Doesn't their most recent clocking at home at the hands of those same Cowboys mean as much?

If you watched the game, you probably would have noticed that the Giants started off horribly and the rout was on. Then, they destroyed the Boys throughout the rest of the game. Overcoming adversity is an impressive kind of thing. We all thought (well, most of us) that the Ravens game was great for that very reason.

6-2 Pats fall to precipitously after losing on the road to a 2-5 AFC (Varsity Conference) team that just beat the defending SB champs in their building.

6-3 Giants come in at #5 after losing to a 1-7 NFC (JV Conference) team at home.

Yeah, I see the similarities you point out.

We're well aware of anti-Pats bias. You're entitled to your opinion that the Giants suck, and I'm entitled to mine that they're a rather decent team that had a bad week. You're taking my opinion on the Giants too seriously. Lighten up.

 

[Ron Sellers]

NFL Power Rankings - Top 32 NFL Football Teams - FOX Sports on MSN

Well, that's it. I give up. Any team I put at No. 1 can't hold the spot for more than a few weeks. We should just start the rankings at No. 2 since you could probably find five to seven teams who deserve to be ranked in that area, but none of them deserve to be ranked at No. 1.

I still think the Giants are the best team when you examine their personnel from both sides of the ball. However, they now have major injury issues to deal with. Any team is capable of laying an egg in a given week. That's what happened to them against the visiting Cowboys. That was their one mulligan.

1-5: Jets, Falcons, Pats, Giants, Ravens
6-10: Colts, Steelers, Saints, Eagles, Packers

#3 Patriots: That was a quite a performance on the road at Pittsburgh. You can tell that they were embarrassed by the previous week's performance at Cleveland. New England is still a bit limited in certain areas, but this team has a tremendous upside based on their solid young talent. We'll get a better idea of how good they are this week against the Colts.

#6 Colts: This team is beat-up on both sides of the ball but remains the class of the AFC South. But for the Colts to go far in the playoffs, they'll have to get some of those key players back on the field soon. Their depth will be tested by the visiting Patriots this week.

I guess Caplan doesn't realize where Sunday's game is being played.

 

[Nikolai]

I guess Caplan doesn't realize where Sunday's game is being played.

Force of habit, I'm afraid. The last time they played in Foxboro, Saddam Hussein was on trial, kids were waiting for the Chronicles of Narnia, and you couldn't lose by investing in real estate.

 

[shmessy]

We're well aware of anti-Pats bias. You're entitled to your opinion that the Giants suck, and I'm entitled to mine that they're a rather decent team that had a bad week. You're taking my opinion on the Giants too seriously. Lighten up.

Whoa. Nikolai. English may or may not be your first language, but where in my post did I ever say that they "sucked"?

There's a big difference between criticizing someone for ranking them #5 and saying they "suck". Once again, the Pats fell far more than that after losing to a far better team on the road. This was pointed out to you very clearly.

That post was just lazy on your part.

 

[Nikolai]

Whoa. Nikolai. English may or may not be your first language, but where in my post did I ever say that they "sucked"?

There's a big difference between criticizing someone for ranking them #5 and saying they "suck". Once again, the Pats fell far more than that after losing to a far better team on the road. This was pointed out to you very clearly.

That post was just lazy on your part.

Yep, it was lazy, because I don't really care about the Giants, though I know why some Pats fans do. You're right though, I amalgamated a few opinions together into yours. Mea culpa. The point stands, I disagree with the Pats being moved so low after the Browns loss and I agree with the decision to keep the Giants high. Never too high after a win, and never too low after a loss.

In any event, you can lay off the "English may or may not be your first language" part. That's a pretty juvenile insult.

 

[shmessy]

Yep, it was lazy, because I don't really care about the Giants, though I know why some Pats fans do. You're right though, I amalgamated a few opinions together into yours. Mea culpa. The point stands, I disagree with the Pats being moved so low after the Browns loss and I agree with the decision to keep the Giants high. Never too high after a win, and never too low after a loss.

In any event, you can lay off the "English may or may not be your first language" part. That's a pretty juvenile insult.

I apologize for the insult, but misrepresenting what another person writes is not cool. I never intimated that the Giants "suck". Not even close.

 

[Nikolai]

"Then, they destroyed the Boys throughout the rest of the game. Overcoming adversity is an impressive kind of thing."

Yeah, they didn't lie down and die in their own stadium against a 1-7 team. Sorry, if I'm not as impressed as you are by that. And that is not "overcoming adversity". Winning the game would have been "overcoming adversity".

"We all thought (well, most of us) that the Ravens game was great for that very reason....."

Umm, Nikolai......the Ravens are a top team......and the Patriots actually WON. It's a wee bit different than 'not laying down and giving up to a 1-7 team in the second half and making the score a little closer in a losing effort'. Maybe you don't see the difference, however.

The "destroyed the Boys" game I was talking about was the first game. Jeezus, dude. Just give it up. It's the Giants. Why are you so hung up on this? Do you live in New Jersey or something?

 

[Nikolai]

I apologize for the insult, but misrepresenting what another person writes is not cool. I never intimated that the Giants "suck". Not even close.

Google "mea culpa"

In any event, I'm done talking about the Giants. Go find someone else to fight with.

 

[ALP]

The Giants have a pretty complete team - best D-line in the league, good secondary, solid running & passing games.

What team doesn't have close wins combined with an embarassing loss or 2?

LOL, that secondary is awful...as will be attested when Vick goes to town for the second straight week

the problems in the secondary the giants had last season have been exposed yet again

 

[RobertWeathers]

LOL, that secondary is awful...as will be attested when Vick goes to town for the second straight week

the problems in the secondary the giants had last season have been exposed yet again

Agreed. Their scondary is marginal at best. It was marginal in 07 too which goes to show if you have a great pass rush, it sure does help!

The G-men are awful protecting the football. That has been their achillies heel this year.

 

[darrelujah]

Pats are ranked 3rd behind Jets and Eagles in most power polls. Keeping bringing on the disrespect. Eagles win over a lousy Washington team is more impressive than Pats drubbing of previously considered #1 Pittsburgh? Puhleez. Jets barely holding on for two back to back OT wins more impressive? I don't think so. But I like it when the Pats are the underdogs. They will be considered underdogs vs the Colts and Jets as well. Bring it on mediots and prepare to EAT CROW!

Reality check:

- Jets beat the Patriots head to head
- That second OT win you speak of was against the Browns, the team that destroyed the Patriots last week
- The Jets and Pats may both be 7-2 but the Jets are undefeated in the division and own the tiebreakers

Win over the Steelers was impressive, but it's tough to justify putting the Patriots above the Jets. Still, the Patriots are ranked in the top 3 just about everywhere and you're crying about being underrated. Prob became a fan circa 2002...

 

[VectorPrime]

Reality check:

- Jets beat the Patriots head to head
- That second OT win you speak of was against the Browns, the team that destroyed the Patriots last week
- The Jets and Pats may both be 7-2 but the Jets are undefeated in the division and own the tiebreakers

Win over the Steelers was impressive, but it's tough to justify putting the Patriots above the Jets. Still, the Patriots are ranked in the top 3 just about everywhere and you're crying about being underrated. Prob became a fan circa 2002...

And the Pats beat the Ravens in a tough fought game, unlike the Jets who lost after playing their most pathetic game in years.