NFL Power Rankings: Week 10

They just can't be stopped...

Welcome to the Week 10 edition of the Cubicle GM NFL Power Rankings.  Every Tuesday you can look forward to our composite rankings, as well as a bit of brief insight and analysis about each of the 32 teams. 

The rankings are determined by taking the average of each of the contributors here at The Cube.  For Week 10, we have rankings from five members of the Cubicle GM team, including me, Gideon, Mickey, Walker and Smokey.  So remember, if you disagree with some portion of our rankings, be sure to check the individual rankings to find the culprit. 

As it has been for nearly a month now, the Saints and Colts held on to their unanimous places in the top two spots in the rankings after their respective close wins.  The Minnesota Vikings may have gotten a real life boost during their bye week, but not so in the rankings, as the New England Patriots leapfrogged them into the No. 3 spot, their highest such ranking since the preseason edition.

Entering the Top 10 for the first time this season are the Dallas Cowboys, who jumped three spots to No. 8 after their Sunday night victory over Philadelphia which moved them into first place in the NFC East.  Falling out as a result were the Ravens, who dropped two spots to No. 11 after their second loss to Cincinnati this season. 

After dropping five spots in the last two weeks, the Giants fell down to No. 14 this week after suffering a fourth straight loss, a heartbreaker to the San Diego Chargers at home.  The Chargers, on the other hand, jumped up three spots to No. 12 as a result. 

The bottom of the rankings got another change this week, as there are finally no more winless teams in the league.  Tampa Bay jumped to No. 31 after their first win of the season, an indication that beating Green Bay means more than defeating Detroit.  St. Louis again occupies the bottom spot, but both Tampa and Cleveland are not far away. 

As with last week, change was the theme in the rankings.  Including the two undefeated teams, there were just five teams that held steady this week, with eight teams moving at least three spots up or down the ranks.

The Arizona Cardinals can’t decide what kind of a team they are, but after another big win had the biggest positive movement this week, jumping four spots back to No. 15 where they stood two weeks ago after defeating the Giants The biggest downward mover was not surprising, as the Green Bay Packers fell six spots after their loss at the hands of previously winless Tampa Bay.

The disagreements among the rankers remained very little this week. There were just five disagreements of at least six spots in their ranks, and this marks the third consecutive week with no double digit disagreements between any of the contributors.

Carolina Panthers (7) – Mickey 18, Walker 25

Seattle Seahawks (7) – Walker 18, Gideon/Mickey 25

New York Giants (6) – Smokey 11, Gideon 17

New York Jets (6) – Gideon 14, Smokey 20

Oakland Raiders (6) – Mickey 26, Walker 32

On the divisional side, the NFC East’s lead is nearly gone, as their average score of 12.80 barely leads the AFC North, who came in with a 13.00 average this week.  The bottom division remains the same for the seventh consecutive week, as the NFC West checks in with a 22.65 average rank.  Second to last did get a change, as the Broncos fall gave the lowly AFC West a score of 18.90. 

As a reminder, you can check out all the backup data here.  Without further ado, onto the rankings.  As always, last week’s ranks are in parentheses. 

1.  New Orleans Saints (1) – The Saints’ defense came up with another huge defensive TD to seal a win over Carolina, but it’s clear they miss Sedrick Ellis in the middle.

2.  Indianapolis Colts (2) – Which Peyton Manning fun fact / record should we go with?  How’s this?  Manning is the first QB ever to throw for 40,000 yards in a decade. 

3.  New England Patriots (4) – Randy Moss loves facing Miami, going for 694 yards and 9 TDs in eight career games against the Fins.

4.  Minnesota Vikings (3) – The Vikings got a big boost during their bye week, as Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit all went down.

5.  Pittsburgh Steelers (6) – A dominant performance on the road shows that maybe the Steelers were just missing Troy Polamalu.

6.  Cincinnati Bengals (8) – After becoming the first player in the last 40 games to rush for over 100 yards against Baltimore earlier this season, Cedric Benson did it again on Sunday in the Bengals’ win.

7.  Denver Broncos (5) – There’s the Kyle Orton we remember from Chicago.  The Broncos QB put up his worst performance of the season, but didn’t get any help from the running game either.

8.  Dallas Cowboys (11) – New star WR Miles Austin didn’t touch the ball ‘til the fourth quarter, but he turned his one catch into paydirt for the game-winning score.

9.  Philadelphia Eagles (7) – LeSean McCoy filled in admirably, but the Eagles really missed Brian Westbrook in their loss to Dallas.

10.  Atlanta Falcons (13) – An on-field melee overshadowed what was a great day by Michael Turner for the Falcons. 

11.  Baltimore Ravens (9) – The Ravens defense played alright, but the offense couldn’t do much against against the now first-place Bengals.

12.  San Diego Chargers (15) – Down by six, on the road, one timeout, 80 yards to go equals no problem for Philip Rivers and the Chargers, who have now won three straight.

13.  Houston Texans (14) – The Texans were a missed FG away from taking the Colts to overtime, but still have backfield issues to sort out.

14.  New York Giants (10) – The Giants’ inability to convert on a drive that started at the Chargers’ 4-yard line is a big reason they sit at 5-4 going into their bye week.

15.  Arizona Cardinals (19) – Kurt Warner had one of his best games against a terrible Bears defense, but the Cards should be worried if he goes down because Matt Leinart looked awful.

16.  Miami Dolphins (16) – Joey Porter didn’t back up his pregame talk, finishing without a tackle in the loss to the Pats. 

17.  New York Jets (18) – The Jets have a key matchup with New England in Week 11, but shouldn’t look past Jacksonville coming off their bye.

18.  Green Bay Packers (12) – The Packers had more first downs, passing yards, rushing yards, third down conversions and time of possession than the Buccaneers, but also had more turnovers and sacks allowed in what could turn out to be a crushing defeat.

19.  Chicago Bears (17) – The Bears coaching staff needs to learn to make adjustments, failing to stop Arizona once in the first half of their blowout loss.

20.  Carolina Panthers (21) – The Panthers took a 17-6 halftime lead by attempting just four passes.  They attempted 26 in the second half and went on to lose by 10. 

21.  San Francisco 49ers (20) – The 49ers came into the week as the No. 2 rush defense in the league, then they met Chris Johnson. 

22.  Tennessee Titans (25) – The Titans’ defense got a big boost with the return of Cortland Finnegan, who sealed their second straight victory with a pick six in the fourth quarter. 

23.  Jacksonville Jaguars (22) – WR Mike Sims-Walker’s home-road splits are incredible after his 149 yard performance on Sunday.  He has 20 more receptions, 370 more yards and 4 TDs at home.

24.  Seattle Seahawks (23) – Matt Hasselbeck’s 51 pass attempts were the most he has thrown since 2002, completing 39 of them against a porous Detroit secondary.

25.  Buffalo Bills (24) – It appears Trent Edwards will be cleared to play Sunday at Tennessee.  Let’s see if it does any good for the Bills.

26.  Washington Redskins (28) – The Redskins added injury to insult, losing Clinton Portis in the first quarter of their loss to Atlanta with a head injury.

27.  Detroit Lions (27) – This latest Lions loss must hurt nearly as bad as the loss to the Rams, blowing a 14-0 lead while falling to another NFC West opponent.

28.  Oakland Raiders (29) – Some good news for Oakland!  RB Darren McFadden participated in practice and hopes to play Sunday against the Chiefs.

29.  Kansas City Chiefs (26) – The Chiefs released Larry Johnson, but only gave his replacement, Jamaal Charles, six carries in a loss to Jacksonville.

30.  Cleveland Browns (30) – Coming off their bye week, the Browns make their lone MNF appearance of the season, hosting the Ravens.

31.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (32) – Josh Freeman gives the fans in Tampa a bit of hope with their first win of the season.

32.  St. Louis Rams (31) – The Rams’ reward for their first win of the season?  A visit from the Saints.

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