NFL Power Ranks: Week 10

Wow, what a finish to that game last night. The Smartest Man Who Ever Lived made a pretty dumb decision at the end there, and the Colts are almost as highly ranked as you can be, with 89.45 points out of a possible 100, and 100 is mathematically impossible. In fact, the highest score any team could realistically get is probably around 92-93. So that's pretty good. The Saints stayed undefeated as well, and hung onto the #2 spot, while the Vikings win coupled with Cowboys and Patriots losses moved them up to #3, while the Patriots fell to #4. At #5, we have the Bengals. Wait, let me fix that typo.....

Holy crap! The Bengals are ranked #5. Ironically when I updated my little top 5/bottom 5 graphic for week 10 from 2008, I was able to cut and paste the Bengals logo from the bottom to the top. They now hold a 7-2 record and are on top of the AFC North all by themselves, and they have a guy playing WR named Ochocinco....

The Browns solidfied themselves as the worst team in the NFL Monday Night on national TV and dropped to last. I caught part of the game at Buffalo Wild Wings, and I wonder if B-Dubs has ever tried to seek damages against the NFL and ESPN when the Browns are on Monday Night Football, because it was completely dead there tonight. This caused the Lions and Rams to move up a spot, the Raiders to stay put, and the Redskins actually won so welcome back, Tampa, to the bottom 5.

There was a lot of movement in the ranks this week, with so many teams hovering around .500 and with only 2 teams with byes. The biggest gainer this week is the Titans (+7) who have won 3 straight and move all the way up to #17 after a horrible start. The Chargers and Jaguars both move up 6 spots by beating playoff contenders and building some more momentum for their own playoff races. The biggest losers were the Seahawks (stick a fork in them) and the Falcons, who are trying their best to disprove me calling them an elite team a few weeks back. The Broncos also fell 5 spots, beginning their collapse earlier than usual.

Playoff Projections
NFC
First Round Byes: #2 Saints, #3 Vikings
#11 Packers @ #8 Cowboys
#9 Eagles @ #13 Cardinals
Top 3 Out: #16 Falcons, #19 Giants, #21 49ers

AFC
First Round Byes: #1 Colts, #4 Patriots
#10 Ravens @ #5 Bengals
#7 Steelers @ #6 Chargers
Top 3 Out: #12 Texans, #14 Broncos, #15 Jaguars

Full Ranks:
1. Colts - 89.45 - Even
2. Saints - 82.88 - Even
3. Vikings - 74.76 - +2
4. Patriots - 72.55 - -1
5. Bengals - 71.40 - +2
6. Chargers - 68.01 - +6
7. Steelers - 62.91 - -1
8. Cowboys - 62.89 - -4
9. Eagles - 61.58 - -1
10. Ravens - 61.47 - +5
11. Packers - 61.40 - +3
12. Texans - 60.89 - -1
13. Cardinals - 59.65 - Even
14. Broncos - 53.63 - -5
15. Jaguars - 52.61 - +6
16. Falcons - 51.19 - -6
17. Titans - 46.01 - +7
18. Dolphins - 45.95 - +2
19. Giants - 45.70 - -2
20. Jets - 45.05 - -4
21. 49ers - 43.23 - +4
22. Bills - 40.73 - -4
23. Panthers - 40.48 - Even
24. Bears - 38.02 - -2
25. Seahawks - 36.10 - -6
26. Chiefs - 35.90 - Even
27. Redskins - 34.09 - +1
28. Buccaneers - 26.20 - -1
29. Raiders - 23.72 - Even
30. Rams - 21.02 - +1
31. Lions - 17.36 - +1
32. Browns - 16.17 - -2