ESPN Power Rankings

[BradyManny]

NFL Power Rankings Week 7 - National Football League - ESPN

Pats are back in the top three, behind Pittsburgh and the J-E-T-S. We come in at #3 with the Ravens coming in at #4 (not sure how that happens) and the Colts somehow sneaking in to round out the top five.

I've never been one to count out the Colts - at all. I'm always the guy who says "as long as they have Manning, they'll compete". But that division is going to be pretty tough this year, and the AFCE may provide both wildcards. So if Indy is going to be left out on any year, this could be it.

And I don't think they've proven they are the 5th best team in the league.

Pittsburgh seems for real - which proves how wrong my preseason feelings could be.

I see the NYJ losing a few games and falling back to reality. I still don't think they are as good as people think they are.

 

[BlueThunder]

I've never been one to count out the Colts - at all. I'm always the guy who says "as long as they have Manning, they'll compete". But that division is going to be pretty tough this year, and the AFCE may provide both wildcards. So if Indy is going to be left out on any year, this could be it.

And I don't think they've proven they are the 5th best team in the league.

Pittsburgh seems for real - which proves how wrong my preseason feelings could be.

I see the NYJ losing a few games and falling back to reality. I still don't think they are as good as people think they are.

Agree...Sanchez hasn't proven he can bring his team back from a deficit yet and win. The hail mary vs Denver and getting a penalty flag on the 2 yd line isn't exactly what I mean by a comeback win.

Jets will lose another 3 or 4 games at least. It's a long season......

 

[Patriot Missile]

Like the Jets or not they are our only loss and deserve to be ahead of us. As lucky as they were last week vs Denver good teams seem to get the luck when they need it.They beat a good football team in Denver. I still think we are a better team and game planned horribly in the 2nd half against them , we should beat them soundly when we see them again.

Pittsburgh? I don't know. They've beaten some really bad teams.{Like they should} That Cleveland game though, not very impressive. Kind of like our Buffalo game I guess, in division can be tough sometimes.

Baltimore? They are elite still. Top 5 if not top 3 for sure.

Indy? Their offensive line is a weakness. Having a better division will not keep them so fresh throughout the season either. I don't even know if they are the best team in that division never mind a top 5 team. Manning is still one of the top players in the Nfl so I guess they will get the benefit of the doubt, for now. This team is almost 2-4.

 

[Rob0729]

Like the Jets or not they are our only loss and deserve to be ahead of us. As lucky as they were last week vs Denver good teams seem to get the luck when they need it.They beat a good football team in Denver. I still think we are a better team and game planned horribly in the 2nd half against them , we should beat them soundly when we see them again.

Pittsburgh? I don't know. They've beaten some really bad teams.{Like they should} That Cleveland game though, not very impressive. Kind of like our Buffalo game I guess, in division can be tough sometimes.

Baltimore? They are elite still. Top 5 if not top 3 for sure.

Indy? Their offensive line is a weakness. Having a better division will not keep them so fresh throughout the season either. I don't even know if they are the best team in that division never mind a top 5 team. Manning is still one of the top players in the Nfl so I guess they will get the benefit of the doubt, for now. This team is almost 2-4.

Although I don't disagree that the Jets should be ranked ahead of the Pats, I disagree that the Broncos are a good football team. They are 2-4 in a weak division. They are 26th in points allowed while only 15th in points scored.

From the look of the last two games, the Jets may be trending down barely beating two mediocre teams. Both the Vikes and Broncos have two wins a piece. The Vikes haven't beaten anyone who has more than one win this season. It is a long season and they could return from their bye as the most dominant team in the league, but they went from looking nearly unbeatable in weeks 2-4 to squeaking by teams with more losses than wins the last two weeks.

I still think the Steelers are the best team in the league. They have the best defense in the league thus far and have Roethlisberger back. I think they will get the #1 or #2 seed in the AFC if I was to make a prediction.

As for Indy, I don't even know if they will win their division at this point. They are a great passing team and that is about it. I don't know if the Wild Card will come out of the South. So they are in danger of sitting out the playoffs in a long time.

 

[Froob]

Why is Baltimore a suprise at #4? Many people had them #1 before the lost to the pats who are #3. Makes enough sense. Colts have peyton and wayne still. So I'm fine with them at #5.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

and the AFCE may provide both wildcards. .

If I had to bet...one AFCE wildcard and one AFCN. NEP, Ravens, Steelers and Jets all make the playoffs. Which ones as the wildcard and which ones as the div winner is not as clear.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Also, I could easily see the Giants in the top five instead of the Colts. They look to have turned around their defensive issues and are playing some pretty good ball right now.

Agreed- Giants impress me more than the Colts or Ravens right now. The one big weakness that I see there is that Eli still turns the ball over way too much, but it's not like the Colts and Ravens are without achilles heels themselves.

 

[goheels22002]

I'm shocked that Phillips hasn't gotten fired yet. I would have swung the axe already if I was Jerry Jones. He made a huge mistake hiring him as a coach in the first place. He pretty much wasted that team's prime championship years.

Wade Phillips is a puppet for Jerry Jones and has an ability to get along with his players which makes him tough to replace.

The Cowboys would be a top five team for sure if Bill Belichick were the head coach with that collection of talent. That offensive line would be 100% better if it were coached by Dante Scarnecchia.

I like Pats being ranked closer to middle of the pack - no sneaking up on anybody now.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think the trouble with the rating has been the fact that the Colts spanked the Giants pretty decisively.

The problem with thinking like that is the Giants seem to have turned it around since then. For instance, I can point out the fact that the Giants completely shut down the team that shoved the ball down the Colts' throats in Week 1 - the Texans.

 

[jah]

If I had to bet...one AFCE wildcard and one AFCN. NEP, Ravens, Steelers and Jets all make the playoffs. Which ones as the wildcard and which ones as the div winner is not as clear.

I was going to say the exact same thing.

 

[Nikolai]

Pats are #3 in the SI rankings as well. Pit, NJJ, and the Pats.

NFL Power Rankings for Week 7 has Jets rising to No. 2 - Don Banks - SI.com

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

Also, I could easily see the Giants in the top five instead of the Colts.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Colts 38
Giants 14

Two teams with the same record, with one of them blowing out the other makes the team that was blown out "easily" better than the Colts. What the hell?

 

[Kontradiction]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Colts 38
Giants 14

Two teams with the same record, with one of them blowing out the other makes the team that was blown out "easily" better than the Colts. What the hell?

As I said before, the Giants are playing better football now than they were when they played the Colts. On top of that, they beat the team (rather handily) that took it to the Colts in Week 1.

 

[zoostation]

power ratings are for Jets fans

 

[eagle eye]

I'm shocked that Phillips hasn't gotten fired yet. I would have swung the axe already if I was Jerry Jones. He made a huge mistake hiring him as a coach in the first place. He pretty much wasted that team's prime championship years.

It doesn't matter who the coach is in Dallas. Jerry Jones has turned into Al Davis Mark II

 

[eagle eye]

As for the rankings I don't think the Patriots should be top 3 right now. In fact I'd have them at no.5.

The Patriots came off a bye week to beat the Ravens in Gillette. Thats enough of an advantage but on top of that they traded away Moss and got Branch back. The Ravens had to do more guessing than is normal while preparing for the Patriots offense.

As for the Colts, well they got beat by the Texans and the Jags in their own division and are behind the Titans in my estimation at this time who thumped the Jags in Jacksonville on Monday night.

Right now for me it should be like this.

Steelers
Jets
Ravens
Titans
Patriots

 

[mgteich]

Agreed.

You four, the colts, plus the division winner in the West should be the favorites for the playoffs. And, I agree with the top 5 as of now.

If I had to bet...one AFCE wildcard and one AFCN. NEP, Ravens, Steelers and Jets all make the playoffs. Which ones as the wildcard and which ones as the div winner is not as clear.

 

[BradyManny]

If I had to bet...one AFCE wildcard and one AFCN. NEP, Ravens, Steelers and Jets all make the playoffs. Which ones as the wildcard and which ones as the div winner is not as clear.

True, I guess the Phins keeping up with those teams is unlikely. Heck, even the NYJ may not keep up with them.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I'm shocked that Phillips hasn't gotten fired yet. I would have swung the axe already if I was Jerry Jones. He made a huge mistake hiring him as a coach in the first place. He pretty much wasted that team's prime championship years.

Jones has lots of money and therefore power to steal Carolina's quest to get Bill Cowher to coach his team next year - Fox is a sitting duck and Phillips will ride off into the sunset before the end of the season.

Expect Cowher to be coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2011 with Jon Gruden possibly going to Carolina