2013 Week Nine NFL Power Rankings

By: Matt Harmon

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-8)

• If anyone is thinking of moving the Jaguars to London, they had to be disappointed in what the team showed the fans over there on Sunday.
  

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7)

• In his weekly press conference Greg Schiano said that the team is going to consider playing more man coverage with Darrelle Revis. Well, that is a smart idea; it just comes about nine weeks too late. 
  

30. Minnesota Vikings (1-6)

• The Vikings look to be trying to deal Jared Allen before today’s 4:00 pm trade deadline. I would be very surprised if anyone wants to take on Allen’s high salary just to rent him for the remainder of the season. He is no longer a top ten defensive lineman either. 
  

29. New York Giants (2-6)

• The Giants are not getting a bump for beating a team down to a rookie third string quarterback. Especially when the offense only managed to kick field goals against a rather pedestrian defense. Do not buy into the talk about them competing in the NFC Least; the Giants are still a bad team.
  

28. Houston Texans (2-5)

• The Texans were on a bye last week, and used that time to the conclusion that Case Keenum should keep the starting quarterback job. That is the correct decision.  
  

27. Washington Redskins (2-5)

• Even though there seems to be a new problem almost every week with their current starting quarterback, there is absolutely no to ever consider making Kirk Cousins the starting quarterback. It is sad this even needs accessing, but there was a faction of fans on Twitter that were insistent Cousins was a better player. Here is some news for you: Kirk Cousins fell to the fourth round for a reason. He has a very low ceiling and will likely only develop into an average starter at best. Rant over. 
  

26. St. Louis Rams (3-5)

• The Rams played a pretty impressive game Monday night, but given the mismatch between their defensive ends and the Seahawks offensive tackles, it may have been the perfect matchup for them. With the state of their offense right now, it is hard to envision them winning many more games.
  

25. Cleveland Browns (3-5)

• Jason Campbell represented a visible upgrade over Brandon Weeden. They will never rise as high as they did when Brian Hoyer was behind center, but if Campbell can sustain his play from late in Sunday’s games, maybe they finish higher than this. 
  

24. Atlanta Falcons (2-5)

• The Falcons are pitiful, and it is not just because of their injuries at receiver. Their defense is a bottom ten unit in the NFL and their offensive line might be even lower than that. That is not exactly a quality recipe for success. 
  

23. Buffalo Bills (3-5)

• The Bills are making the right call by resting C.J. Spiller until he is fully healthy. There was no sense in letting Spiller continue to get worse by having him play through pain. With a healthy Spiller and E.J. Manuel in the backfield paired with a diverse defense, the Bills could be on the upswing in the second half of the season. 
  

22. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5)

• The two game win streak was fun, but the Steelers remind us all what a flawed team they are by losing to the Raiders on Sunday. There are just too many holes on this roster to be competitive, and it is past time to start questioning the coaching staff and organization for what is happening here.
  

21. Philadelphia Eagles (3-5)

• It is way too early to make any judgment about Chip Kelly in the NFL. You have to remember that this year he is mostly making due with a lot of players on offense that are not his guys. Give the guy at least an offseason to assemble his own players. 
  

20. Oakland Raiders (3-4)

• It is pretty incredible that a team we all left for dead at the beginning of the season has a great chance to be above .500 soon with a very easy schedule remaining. 
  

19. Arizona Cardinals (4-4)

• Andre Ellington, and another rookie Stepfan Taylor, brought a strong running game to the Cardinals for the first time all season. It was easy to see their positive effect on the offense, and they should continue to faze Rashard Mendenhall out of the picture. 
  

18. Miami Dolphins (3-4)

• The Dolphins are a good enough team to be in all of their games, but they have enough issues that we should expect them to blow a few more games like they did on Sunday. 
  

17. Tennessee Titans (3-4)

• The Titans were on bye this week, but return to a very favorable schedule with a healthy quarterback. 
  

16. New York Jets (4-4)

• Rex Ryan apparently did not have his team watch the film of their domination at the hands of the Bengals. Normally watching film of a game the next day is always smart, but in this case, it may be better to just move on.
  

15. Carolina Panthers (4-3)

• The Panthers continue to rise up the power rankings, but they still need to be in a close game, or beat a good team to be considered legit. If the Panthers lose to their struggling division rival Falcons on Friday, they will open themselves up to a ton of questions.
  

14. Baltimore Ravens (3-4)

• The Ravens come back from a bye with a ton of talk about their plans to fix their running game. Hopefully they have more in mind than just their signing of Bernard Scott. 
  

13. San Diego Chargers (4-3)

• The Chargers were yet another team on a bye, and strangely enough, this team is currently in the best position to grab the final wild card spot in the AFC. 
  

12. Chicago Bears (4-3)

• The Bears come back from their bye ready to roll with Josh McCown. The Bears have enough talent on offense around McCown that it would be foolish to write them off just yet. 
  

11. Dallas Cowboys (4-4)

• Dropping the Cowboys too far based off their loss to the Lions would be foolish. Of course the narrative is harsh because the Cowboys have a history of coming up short in clutch moments, but lets keep this in perspective. There is not a lot of shame in losing to a good team on the road. 
  

10. Detroit Lions (5-3)

• The Lions put together a signature win on Sunday with some help from a really poor defensive game plan for Calvin Johnson. Johnson must have been laughing when he continued to see single coverage from the Cowboys defense.
  

9. New England Patriots (6-2)

• The Patriots are flawed and Tom Brady has not been playing well all season, but the team just keeps rolling out the wins. It will be hard to win this way later in the season against playoff teams, but they will take it for now. 
  

8. Cincinnati Bengals (6-2)

• Andy Dalton continues his tremendous play, but lets remember he does this every year. He racks up great statistical performances in midseason games, but has historically wilted down the stretch and in the playoffs. That’s where he can prove he is a different player. 
  

7. San Francisco 49ers (6-2)

• As if the 49ers defense needed any more talented players, they look close to getting rookie Tank Carradine on the active roster very soon. Carradine was an elite pass rusher in college and could make an impact all over their defense. He is a player to watch. 
  

6. Indianapolis Colts (5-2)

• The Colts were on a bye this week. At the half way point in the season, the Colts look to be in complete control of their division. 
  

5. Kansas City Chiefs (8-0)

• There is a lot of talk about how Alex Smith is limiting Dwayne Bowe this season, but it is not that simple. Smith’s job is to simply throw to make an easy throw to the first open receiver, and Bowe is just not getting open very often. Criticizing Smith is too easy, and a short cut to thinking. 
  

4. Green Bay Packers (5-2)

• Everyone was all up in arms when Aaron Rodgers was losing receivers by the second. However, Rodgers showed us why he is an elite quarterback on Sunday. He made his receivers better and just kept putting up dominant numbers. 
  

3. New Orleans Saints (6-1)

• Jimmy Graham gave all of his fantasy owners a scare when it was announced he was very questionable with a plantar fasciitis injury, but he rewarded the faithful who played him anyways by snagging two touchdown passes. This is an important lesson to for fantasy footballers; when your studs are playing, never bench them. 
  

2. Seattle Seahawks (7-1)

• The Seahawks need their starting tackles back in a bad way. There is just no way they can expect to compete allowing the type of pressure Russell Wilson was seeing on Monday night. 
  

1.    Denver Broncos (7-1)

• The Broncos regain the op spot on the power rankings after handling Washington on Sunday, despite a “less than his best” performance from Peyton Manning. That game showed us that this is a complete team, not just one carried by a passing game. 
  

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