NFL Power Rankings

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. New Orleans Saints
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Cincinnati Bengals
6. Dallas Cowboys
7. New England Patriots
8. Denver Broncos
9. San Diego Chargers
10. Arizona Cardinals
11. Philadelphia Eagles
12. New York Giants
13. Atlanta Falcons
14. Houston Texans
15. New York Jets
16. Baltimore Ravens
17. Chicago Bears
18. San Francisco 49ers
19. Green Bay Packers
20. Miami Dolphins
21. Jacksonville Jaguars
22. Buffalo Bills
23. Seattle Seahawks
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Washington Redskins
26. Tennessee Titans
27. Oakland Raiders
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
29. Kansas City Chiefs
30. St. Louis Rams
31. Detroit Lions
32. Cleveland Browns

Top Ten:  Though it could go either way, right now the Colts are the best team in the NFL, even over the Saints. New Orleans is a great team in their own right, but they don’t have the star power among their skill players or on defense that the Colts do. The Vikings are the Saints closest competitor in the NFC. With Favre, Peterson, and that defense, the Vikings will be tough to beat this year, but the Pittsburgh Steelers showed it was possible. Speaking of the Steelers, while they lost to the Bengals, they still get the nod here. The Steelers only losses have come with defensive stalwart Troy Polamalu injured, and Pittsburgh has knocked off the Chargers, Vikings and Broncos. The Bengals are right on the Steelers heels, and with a 4-0 record in the division have a the lead over the Steelers for the AFC North title. The Cowboys started this year pretty slowly, but have been on fire of late, and are in a great position to win the NFC East. The New England Patriots have killed weak teams, battled solid teams and lost to good teams. The Pats have a couple tough games coming up, so we will see who the real Patriots are. A few weeks ago you could make a case that the Broncos were one of the top teams, but back to back embarrassing losses have them moving the wrong way on this list. The Chargers could very well overcome the Broncos in the coming weeks, but their lack of a running game is a serious issue. The Cardinals are perhaps the streakiest team in the NFL, they are 1-3 at home, but 4-0 on the road. If they get hot though, the Cards might be the most dangerous team in the postseason.

Next Ten:  The Eagles, Falcons, and Giants are fighting for the two NFC wildcard spots. All three of them have the talent to make a playoff run, but all have been extremely inconsistent this season. The Bears, Packers and even the 49ers could make a playoff run, but in reality are probably still a year away from really being a contender. The Texans, Jets, and Ravens are all still in the thick of it, but will need some help to make a serious playoff run.

The rest of the league:  This is the year of the haves and have nots in the NFL. Either due to injuries, bad management, or ineffectiveness there are an unusually high number of bad teams in this year’s NFL. All of the 1 and 2 win teams are going to need serious overhaul this coming offseason.