NFL Rankings - 27 Sep

Out of 16 NFL games last week, 10 of them ended with the underdog winning, starting with the Giants on Thursday night and finishing up with the Seahawks upsetting Green Bay on Monday night. All of those upsets equal a huge shift in the rankings, with #1 Houston among the few teams that didn't see a huge rise or drop. Here are the updated rankings, with ESPN's Power Rankings in parentheses.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Result (ESPN)
1. (1) Houston (3-0) W (1)
2. (9) Atlanta (3-0) W (2)
3. (6) Denver (1-2) L (14)
4. (4) Arizona (3-0) W (5)
5. (2) Seattle (2-1) W (10)
6. (7) Pittsburgh (1-2) L (16)
7. (10) New England (1-2) L (8)
8. (18) NY Jets (2-1) W (17)
9. (13) Miami (1-2) L (29)
10. (5) Baltimore (2-1) W (3)
11. (11) Green Bay (1-2) L (7)
12. (16) San Diego (2-1) L (13)
13. (24) Jacksonville (1-2) W (30)
14. (19) Chicago (2-1) W (11)
15. (3) San Francisco (2-1) L (4)
16. (28) Minnesota (2-1) W (21)
17. (26) Buffalo (2-1) W (19)
18. (14) Philadelphia (2-1) L (9)
19. (17) Dallas (2-1) W (12)
20. (20) NY Giants (2-1) W (6)
21. (29) Oakland (1-2) W (27)
22. (30) Indianapolis (1-2) L (31)
23. (22) Tampa Bay (1-2) L (20)
24. (8) Detroit (1-2) L (18)
25. (31) Kansas City (1-2) W (26)
26. (25) Cincinnati (2-1) W (15)
27. (21) Cleveland (0-3) L (32)
28. (12) Saint Louis (1-2) L (25)
29. (15) Washington (1-2) L (22)
30. (32) Tennessee (1-2) W (24)
31. (23) Carolina (1-2) L (23)
32. (27) New Orleans (0-3) L (28)

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was the Minnesota Vikings' victory over the San Francisco 49ers, where Christian Ponder outplayed Alex Smith and put the game away in the fourth quarter with his third touchdown of the day, which came after the 49ers scored twice in the third quarter to pull within 4 points. The two teams, which began the week ranked among the top and bottom 5 teams, are now virtually tied in the middle of the rankings and have the same record.

Denver may have a losing record, but they still find themselves ranked #3 after losing to each of the top 2 teams by 6 points. The Broncos have made a bad habit of falling behind early and then making a furious fourth quarter rally before falling short at the end. The good news is that Peyton Manning is looking better each week, and they play the 1-2 Raiders this weekend, which should allow them to get back to .500.

Washington skyrocketed to the top of the rankings after they defeated New Orleans to open the season, but after losing to Saint Louis and Cincinnati and watching the Saints lose twice more, it is obvious that the Saints were vastly overrated and that the Redskins, while boasting a strong offense led by Robert Griffin III, are about as good as was expected when the season began.

The Detroit Lions have been a big disappointment so far this season, winning in the final seconds against Saint Louis before losing to a good 49ers team and a very weak Titans squad. This weekend, they face the Vikings team that just beat San Francisco, who has already beaten the Redskins, so logic dictates that the Lions will continue their downward spiral.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

Cleveland at Baltimore - Ravens by 23

Sunday

Carolina at Atlanta - Falcons by 45
New England at Buffalo - Patriots by 6
Minnesota at Detroit - Vikings by 8
San Diego at Kansas City - Chargers by 10
Seattle at Saint Louis - Seahawks by 20
San Francisco at NY Jets - Jets by 12
Tennessee at Houston - Texans by 45
Oakland at Denver - Broncos by 24
Miami at Arizona - Cardinals by 8
Cincinnati at Jacksonville - Jaguars by 15
New Orleans at Green Bay - Packers by 31
Washington at Tampa Bay - Buccaneers by 8
NY Giants at Philadelphia - Eagles by 5

Monday

Chicago at Dallas - Cowboys by 1

Prediction Results

NFL: 7-9 (.438) 27-21 overall (.563)
Upsets: 4-3 (.571) 6-6 overall (.500)