chefsos
11-01-2005, 12:45 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking?season=2005&week=9&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233
Power Rankings: Colts, Steelers remain on top
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ESPN.com's Power Rankings
The top two spots remain the same, although the Broncos' impressive performance on Sunday has them right on the Steelers' heels. The Giants make a strong move up the rankings, jumping from No. 10 to No. 6, putting them right behind the Falcons and Seahawks as the NFC's highest-ranked teams.
At the bottom of the rankings, the Texans just can't catch a break. Despite winning their first game of the season, Houston remains in the bottom spot. The 49ers avoid the No. 32 spot by beating the Bucs, jumping up to No. 27, the highest they've been all season.
On to the rankings. Also, you can rank the teams yourself with SportsNation's NFL Power Rankings.
2005 Power Rankings: Week 9
RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT
1 (1) Colts 7-0-0 A win in Foxborough this Monday would go a long way toward ensuring that if the Patriots and Colts meet again in the playoffs, it will be in Indianapolis.
2 (2) Steelers 5-2-0 People might have been expecting a blowout, but you can bet the Steelers knew they were going to get a fight against the Ravens on "Monday Night Football."
3 (4) Broncos 6-2-0 Jake Plummer for MVP? Probably a little premature for that, but he is playing some of the best football of his career.
4 (3) Falcons 5-2-0 Michael Vick is never going to complete 65 percent of his passes. But the Falcons are 28-13-1 in the regular season with him as the starter. That's pretty good.
5 (5) Seahawks 5-2-0 The biggest news in Seattle these days: Shaun Alexander's contract situation. Maybe a sign of good things to come.
6 (10) Giants 5-2-0 The most explosive offense in the NFL? With Manning, Barber, Burress and Shockey, the Giants just might have it.
7 (9) Bengals 6-2-0 Five picks against Brett Favre and all the team can muster is 21 points? That game should have been a rout.
8 (13) Panthers 5-2-0 Everyone knows Jake Delhomme is going to Steve Smith, but no one can stop them.
9 (11) Patriots 4-3-0 Tedy Bruschi can't fix everything that's wrong with the Patriots, but getting him back obviously makes them a better team than they were last week.
10 (12) Chargers 4-4-0 LaDainian Tomlinson has as many TD passes (3) this season as the Jets do as a team.
11 (16) Cowboys 5-3-0 Marion Barber sure looked good Sunday. Don't think Bill Parcells will just automatically hand the job back to Julius Jones.
12 (7) Eagles 4-3-0 The Eagles have been outscored 62-14 in the first quarter this year. That has to change.
13 (8) Jaguars 4-3-0 We noted last week how easy the Jaguars' remaining schedule is. But unless they stop playing down to the level of their competition, that won't matter.
14 (6) Buccaneers 5-2-0 Jon Gruden is sticking with Chris Simms at QB. Let's see if he's still on a long leash if he stinks it up against Carolina.
15 (15) Chiefs 4-3-0 What an incredible performance from Trent Green (347 yards, 2 TDs) just a few days after losing his father.
16 (14) Redskins 4-3-0 Pretty poor display in such an important game. The Giants played with tons of emotion and it looked like the Redskins didn't play with any.
17 (17) Rams 4-4-0 Obviously, circumstances dictate game plans, but there should be no way Steven Jackson doesn't get the ball 20 times a game from here out.
18 (19) Bears 4-3-0 The Bears are playing some serious defense. They just punished Jeff Garcia on Sunday.
19 (22) Raiders 3-4-0 If they can get Jerry Porter (123 yards, 2 TDs) clicking on a regular basis, watch out!
20 (18) Bills 3-5-0 Bills pretty much dominated the Patriots on Sunday. But in the end that doesn't matter all that much.
21 (25) Dolphins 3-4-0 Pretty nice one-two punch the Dolphins had going at RB this weekend with Ronnie Brown (106 yards) and Ricky Williams (82 yards).
22 (20) Lions 3-4-0 Yes, Jeff Garcia was trying to make a play in OT. But there are times when there just isn't a play to be made.
23 (24) Titans 2-6-0 Tough game for Pacman Jones. He has an 82-yard punt return for a TD overturned on a bad call and then gets called out for missing a key tackle on Jerry Porter on a play that turned into a 44-yard TD.
24 (26) Ravens 2-5-0 Jamal Lewis (17 carries for 61 yards) was a little better Monday, but the Ravens don't need a little better from Lewis. They need a lot better.
25 (27) Jets 2-5-0 Curtis Martin said the Jets were in the "worst condition that we've been in as a team since I've been here." Well, we're not sure things are going to get much better.
26 (23) Cardinals 2-5-0 Good news for the Cards comes in the form of Anquan Boldin suffering only a bone bruise and not cartilage damage.
27 (31) 49ers 2-5-0 Seven games into the season and they're already on their fourth starting QB (Cody Pickett). That's not a good thing.
28 (28) Browns 2-5-0 Maybe the Browns shouldn't have been so worried about being underdogs against the Texans.
29 (21) Vikings 2-5-0 No sarcastic comment this week. Just wishing Daunte Culpepper a speedy recovery from his knee injury. He obviously wasn't having a good year, but Culpepper is still one of the NFL's most dynamic players.
30 (29) Saints 2-6-0 San Antonio or Louisiana? Benson vs. cameraman. When will the franchise be able to just focus on football again?
31 (30) Packers 1-6-0 Yes, at some point the Packers need to plan for the future. But it's not time to start talking about sitting Brett Favre.
32 (32) Texans 1-6-0 It's a small consolation, but the fans really had to enjoy the threat of an 0-16 season going away coming off the heels of a World Series sweep.
Power Rankings: Colts, Steelers remain on top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com's Power Rankings
The top two spots remain the same, although the Broncos' impressive performance on Sunday has them right on the Steelers' heels. The Giants make a strong move up the rankings, jumping from No. 10 to No. 6, putting them right behind the Falcons and Seahawks as the NFC's highest-ranked teams.
At the bottom of the rankings, the Texans just can't catch a break. Despite winning their first game of the season, Houston remains in the bottom spot. The 49ers avoid the No. 32 spot by beating the Bucs, jumping up to No. 27, the highest they've been all season.
On to the rankings. Also, you can rank the teams yourself with SportsNation's NFL Power Rankings.
2005 Power Rankings: Week 9
RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT
1 (1) Colts 7-0-0 A win in Foxborough this Monday would go a long way toward ensuring that if the Patriots and Colts meet again in the playoffs, it will be in Indianapolis.
2 (2) Steelers 5-2-0 People might have been expecting a blowout, but you can bet the Steelers knew they were going to get a fight against the Ravens on "Monday Night Football."
3 (4) Broncos 6-2-0 Jake Plummer for MVP? Probably a little premature for that, but he is playing some of the best football of his career.
4 (3) Falcons 5-2-0 Michael Vick is never going to complete 65 percent of his passes. But the Falcons are 28-13-1 in the regular season with him as the starter. That's pretty good.
5 (5) Seahawks 5-2-0 The biggest news in Seattle these days: Shaun Alexander's contract situation. Maybe a sign of good things to come.
6 (10) Giants 5-2-0 The most explosive offense in the NFL? With Manning, Barber, Burress and Shockey, the Giants just might have it.
7 (9) Bengals 6-2-0 Five picks against Brett Favre and all the team can muster is 21 points? That game should have been a rout.
8 (13) Panthers 5-2-0 Everyone knows Jake Delhomme is going to Steve Smith, but no one can stop them.
9 (11) Patriots 4-3-0 Tedy Bruschi can't fix everything that's wrong with the Patriots, but getting him back obviously makes them a better team than they were last week.
10 (12) Chargers 4-4-0 LaDainian Tomlinson has as many TD passes (3) this season as the Jets do as a team.
11 (16) Cowboys 5-3-0 Marion Barber sure looked good Sunday. Don't think Bill Parcells will just automatically hand the job back to Julius Jones.
12 (7) Eagles 4-3-0 The Eagles have been outscored 62-14 in the first quarter this year. That has to change.
13 (8) Jaguars 4-3-0 We noted last week how easy the Jaguars' remaining schedule is. But unless they stop playing down to the level of their competition, that won't matter.
14 (6) Buccaneers 5-2-0 Jon Gruden is sticking with Chris Simms at QB. Let's see if he's still on a long leash if he stinks it up against Carolina.
15 (15) Chiefs 4-3-0 What an incredible performance from Trent Green (347 yards, 2 TDs) just a few days after losing his father.
16 (14) Redskins 4-3-0 Pretty poor display in such an important game. The Giants played with tons of emotion and it looked like the Redskins didn't play with any.
17 (17) Rams 4-4-0 Obviously, circumstances dictate game plans, but there should be no way Steven Jackson doesn't get the ball 20 times a game from here out.
18 (19) Bears 4-3-0 The Bears are playing some serious defense. They just punished Jeff Garcia on Sunday.
19 (22) Raiders 3-4-0 If they can get Jerry Porter (123 yards, 2 TDs) clicking on a regular basis, watch out!
20 (18) Bills 3-5-0 Bills pretty much dominated the Patriots on Sunday. But in the end that doesn't matter all that much.
21 (25) Dolphins 3-4-0 Pretty nice one-two punch the Dolphins had going at RB this weekend with Ronnie Brown (106 yards) and Ricky Williams (82 yards).
22 (20) Lions 3-4-0 Yes, Jeff Garcia was trying to make a play in OT. But there are times when there just isn't a play to be made.
23 (24) Titans 2-6-0 Tough game for Pacman Jones. He has an 82-yard punt return for a TD overturned on a bad call and then gets called out for missing a key tackle on Jerry Porter on a play that turned into a 44-yard TD.
24 (26) Ravens 2-5-0 Jamal Lewis (17 carries for 61 yards) was a little better Monday, but the Ravens don't need a little better from Lewis. They need a lot better.
25 (27) Jets 2-5-0 Curtis Martin said the Jets were in the "worst condition that we've been in as a team since I've been here." Well, we're not sure things are going to get much better.
26 (23) Cardinals 2-5-0 Good news for the Cards comes in the form of Anquan Boldin suffering only a bone bruise and not cartilage damage.
27 (31) 49ers 2-5-0 Seven games into the season and they're already on their fourth starting QB (Cody Pickett). That's not a good thing.
28 (28) Browns 2-5-0 Maybe the Browns shouldn't have been so worried about being underdogs against the Texans.
29 (21) Vikings 2-5-0 No sarcastic comment this week. Just wishing Daunte Culpepper a speedy recovery from his knee injury. He obviously wasn't having a good year, but Culpepper is still one of the NFL's most dynamic players.
30 (29) Saints 2-6-0 San Antonio or Louisiana? Benson vs. cameraman. When will the franchise be able to just focus on football again?
31 (30) Packers 1-6-0 Yes, at some point the Packers need to plan for the future. But it's not time to start talking about sitting Brett Favre.
32 (32) Texans 1-6-0 It's a small consolation, but the fans really had to enjoy the threat of an 0-16 season going away coming off the heels of a World Series sweep.