NFL Rankings - 10 Oct

Arizona fell to Saint Louis, reducing the number of undefeated teams to two, and neither was especially impressive in attaining win #5, but several other teams showed some real talent in whipping their opponents, which caused a shakeup at the top and a new #1 for the first time in a month. Here are the updated rankings, with ESPN Power Rankings in parentheses and teams grouped by similar performance level.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Result (ESPN)
1. (5) Chicago (4-1) W (6)

2. (3) San Francisco (4-1) W (3)

3. (8) Atlanta (5-0) W (2)

4. (2) New England (3-2) W (5)

5. (1) Houston (5-0) W (1)
6. (14) Saint Louis (3-2) W (18)

7. (12) Seattle (3-2) W (16)
8. (13) Green Bay (2-3) L (12)
9. (9) Minnesota (4-1) W (8)

10. (6) Arizona (4-1) L (9)
11. (7) Denver (2-3) L (17)
12. (11) NY Giants (3-2) W (7)

13. (4) Baltimore (4-1) W (4)

14. (23) Dallas (2-2) BYE (13)
15. (16) Washington (2-3) L (21)
16. (25) Indianapolis (2-2) W (22)
17. (19) Detroit (1-3) BYE (20)

18. (17) Miami (2-3) W (19)
19. (21) Tampa Bay (1-3) BYE (23)
20. (18) San Diego (3-2) L (14)

21. (15) Philadelphia (3-2) L (11)
22. (24) Carolina (1-4) L (26)
23. (27) New Orleans (1-4) W (24)
24. (10) Cincinnati (3-2) L (15)
25. (22) Pittsburgh (2-2) W (10)

26. (20) Cleveland (0-5) L (32)

27. (29) NY Jets (2-3) L (25)
28. (32) Kansas City (1-4) L (30)
29. (26) Jacksonville (1-4) L (31)

30. (28) Buffalo (2-3) L (27)

31. (30) Tennessee (1-4) L (28)

32. (31) Oakland (1-3) BYE (29)

The Chicago Bears take over the top spot with a defense that is crushing the competition while the offense is running more smoothly each week. For the second straight week, Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs each returned an interception for touchdown, and the Bears pulled away with 4 fourth quarter touchdowns. Other than their loss to Green Bay in week 2, Chicago hasn't let anybody keep up with them in winning 4 of their first 5 to take the division lead.

San Francisco won their second straight game without giving up a touchdown, and they did it in record-breaking style, racking up a franchise-record 621 yards and became the first team ever to record over 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing in the same game. While neither of the opponents they've run over in the last two weeks is looking like playoff material, they could win some major credibility by beating the defending Super Bowl champions this Sunday.

Baltimore was ranked #4 last week and was facing off against the worst team in the league, but somehow only managed to win 9-6, which caused their fall to #13 this week. They did not look like the team that outlasted New England two weeks ago, and nothing like the team that handed Cincinnati at 31-point loss in week one. Hopefully playing the Cowboys this week will wake up a team that has the potential to play in the Super Bowl when they are at their best.

Indianapolis pulled off its second big upset of the season on Sunday, coming from behind to take down the Green Bay Packers in a matchup of last season's best and worst teams. They are also the only team to beat Minnesota so far this season, and though Andrew Luck plays like a rookie some weeks, he is showing much more than that with his poise, and the Colts have already matched last season's win total.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

Pittsburgh at Tennessee - Steelers by 5

Sunday

Oakland at Atlanta - Falcons by 31
Cincinnati at Cleveland - Bengals by 1
Saint Louis at Miami - Rams by 6
Indianapolis at NY Jets - Colts by 7
Detroit at Philadelphia - Eagles by 1
Kansas City at Tampa Bay - Buccaneers by 12
Dallas at Baltimore - Ravens by 5
Buffalo at Arizona - Cardinals by 21
New England at Seattle - Seahawks by 2
NY Giants at San Francisco - 49ers by 17
Minnesota at Washington - Vikings by 2
Green Bay at Houston - Texans by 5

Monday

Denver at San Diego - Broncos by 6

Prediction Results

NFL: 9-5 (.643) 46-31 overall (.597)