NFL Rankings - 2 Nov

Last week's #1 team, the New Orleans Saints, didn't show up this week in a pushover game against Saint Louis and ended up going down hard. That loss left a hole at the top, but San Francisco didn't play well enough to regain the top spot with a 10-point win over Cleveland, which leaves undefeated Green Bay, as well as big winners Buffalo and Detroit, to fight over the top spot. Here are this week's rankings, with team name followed by overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

TW. Team (Record) Rating (LW)
1. Green Bay (7-0) -14.52 (3)

2. Detroit (6-2) -13.18 (4)

3. San Francisco (6-1) -11.87 (2)
4. New Orleans (5-3) -10.93 (1)
5. Buffalo (5-2) -10.84 (11)
6. Philadelphia (3-4) -10.16 (12)
7. Houston (5-3) -9.18 (5)
8. Baltimore (5-2) -9.08 (8)
9. Chicago (4-3) -8.10 (6)
10. Atlanta (4-3) -7.83 (10)

11. Cincinnati (5-2) -6.76 (16)
12. New England (5-2) -6.46 (7)
13. Pittsburgh (6-2) -5.70 (15)

14. Dallas (3-4) -2.56 (9)
15. NY Jets (4-3) -2.08 (13)
16. Carolina (2-6) -1.16 (14)
17. Minnesota (2-6) -1.10 (19)

18. NY Giants (5-2) 0.45 (20)
19. Tampa Bay (4-3) 0.92 (17)
20. Jacksonville (2-6) 1.05 (23)
21. Washington (3-4) 1.50 (21)
22. Arizona (1-6) 2.20 (28)
23. San Diego (4-3) 2.30 (18)
24. Tennessee (4-3) 2.95 (27)

25. Kansas City (4-3) 5.55 (22)
26. Seattle (2-5) 5.72 (24)
27. Saint Louis (1-6) 5.85 (31)
28. Cleveland (3-4) 6.49 (30)
29. Oakland (4-3) 6.66 (25)
30. Miami (0-7) 7.15 (29)

31. Denver (2-5) 10.19 (26)

32. Indianapolis (0-8) 16.41 (32)

This week's most surprising team was Saint Louis, who was given almost no chance to beat the top-rated Saints, but they led New Orleans 24-0 with 21 minutes left in the game. It was the first win of the season for the Rams, who were without starting quarterback Sam Bradford, so it looks like an obvious case of only one team showing up at the stadium.

The Cincinnati Bengals, minus Carson Palmer, have kept pace with the top teams in their division with 4 straight wins with rookies at starting quarterback and star receiver. November is not going to be nice to them, with games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, but if they can pull through the month in decent fashion, they may be looking at a trip to the playoffs.

Philadelphia is finally starting to look like the dream team they were branded as before the season, beating the Dallas Cowboys in every facet of the game, taking a 34-0 lead in the 4th quarter before allowing their rivals one late score and losing their shutout. They've already pulled into a second-place tie in their division, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win the division even after their early 4-game losing streak.

Buffalo retook the top spot in the AFC East with a dominant 23-0 victory over the Washington Redskins, a game which featured 9 sacks by the Bills defense. Both of the team's losses this season were by only three points and both came on the road, and they have beaten both New England and Philadelphia this season. What all this means is that the Bills are for real.

Prediction Results

NFL: 10-3 (.769) 76-40 overall (.655)
Upsets: 2-0 (1.000) 29-47 overall (.382)