Sportaholic NFL Power Rankings Week 8

Another tough week in the NFL and a few top teams took a tumble. The Jets couldn’t score a point in Lambeau and Pittsburgh met a desperate defending Super bowl champ with all the voodoo working on Halloween. The Titans for some reason just can’t beat the Chargers. The Patriots and the Colts beat up on Minnesota and Houston. Some other really good teams had a bye this week. (Giants, Ravens, Eagles)



Now let’s unveil the new top five

1. New England Patriots – They just keep finding ways to win. They shut down the Vikings offense when they needed to and Tom Brady will always give you an opportunity to win. The throw he made to Brandon Tate was a thing of beauty. The young defense is now starting to find their way and jell. The hit by Myron Rolle on Brett Favre was vicious, gave the old man eight stitches. And for all the Randy Moss pre-game talk, he had all of one catch for eight yards.

2. Indianapolis Colts – Did you see Peyton Manning run for a first down Monday night? I see why he doesn’t do that often, he looked so awkward sliding. Even with all the weapons they have lost, they remain potent on offense. As long as the Sheriff is in town, they have a shot. (Pun intended)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers – Talk about a tough venue, trying to go into the Super Dome and face “Who Dat” nation on Halloween. They even set a world record for the largest Halloween gathering with 17,777 fans in costumes (don’t they always have that many at every home game?). I can’t say that they didn’t have their chances though. A lot of late mistakes but sooner or later Big Ben was going to show some vulnerability. The Saints defense finally played like it did last year. With that all said, the Steelers will be just fine

4. New York Jets – A goose egg Jets? Did I miss the frozen tundra out there or something? Mark Sanchez took a lot of heat for that game but it wasn’t his entire fault. His receivers (Jerricho Cotchery in particular) dropped multiple passes. The run game wasn’t effective either, with LT and Shonn Greene combining for just 76 yards. The Jets defense did their part, only allowing a very good offensive team to nine points. It was just an ugly game by both teams. That Clay Matthews is a beast.

5. Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens had a bye this week and with Tennessee losing, I have to keep them at this spot. They have a tough game against Miami this week. The Dolphins are 4-0 on the road this season and are coming to town. We should get a better feel for the Ravens, after their head scratching performance against Buffalo.

Honorable mention: Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers