With week nine of the NFL season in the books, here are the InscriberMag’s NFL Power Rankings.
1.) New England Patriots (7-2, 3): Thanks to a convincing and dominating 43-21 win over the Denver Broncos, New England leapfrogs the second-ranked Arizona Cardinals. Tom Brady is the second-hottest quarterback in the NFL not named Roethlisberger as he has continued his two-week rampage in passing for 687 yards, nine TD’s and one interceptions, and over the last five games has 18 touchdowns and only one interception.
2.) Arizona Cardinals (7-1, – ): The best team in the NFC—and possibly the entire NFL—the Cardinals caught a Tony Romo-less Dallas Cowboys short-handed and had to face the inept Brandon Weeden(apologies, from this long-suffering Browns fan!). Not to throw an injury into rankings, but would Arizona have beaten a full strength Cowboys team, remains to be seen. Regardless, Arizona is a very talented team to be reckoned with, but not on the same level as the Patriots, sorry.
3.) Denver Broncos (6-2, 1): A 22-point shelling at the hands of your biggest rival, just another tough day at Foxboro for Peyton Manning.
4.) Detroit Lions (6-2, 5): A week off after their comeback win across the pond, the Lions face a surging Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins at home.
5.) Philadelphia Eagles (6-2, 8): Can the San-chise keep the Eagles flying high?
6.) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3, 14): Could a seventh Super Bowl be in Pittsburgh’s near future, the way Big Ben is playing, watch out for the Steelers.
7.) Indianapolis Colts (6-3, – ): Screw Philip Rivers, Andrew Luck is the real deal at QB in 2014-15.
8.) Dallas Cowboys (6-3, 4): No Romo, enter Brandon Weeden, thanks Cleveland!
9.) Green Bay Packers (5-3, 7): With a week to prepare for their favorite foil in Jay Cutler, the Pack appear to be hitting their stride.
10.) Seattle Seahawks (5-3, 10): Another narrow win against an inferior opponent in the winless Raiders, the Seahawks just seem to be lacking that “it” factor they had last year.
11.) Cincinnati Bengals (5-2-1, 16): A 33-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars is one thing, letting your third-string wideout, Greg Little run his mouth a day before a key division game against his former team—the Cleveland Browns—could come back to bite him.
12.) Miami Dolphins (5-3, 17): Quietly but surely, Ryan Tannehill is becoming one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL.
13.) Buffalo Bills (5-3, 14): Quietly at 5-3, the Bills are in contention for the post-season thanks to Kyle Orton.
14.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-3, 14): A 24-10 win over the clueless Jets isn’t QUITE enough to bump them up.
15.) Baltimore Ravens (5-4, 13): Memo to Terrell Suggs—might be wise not to fire up Big Ben and the Steelers at Heinz Field.
16.) Cleveland Browns (5-3, 18): Another ugly win over a one-win team in Tampa, The Browns can officially be considered contenders if they win down in the Queen City.
17.) New Orleans Saints (4-4, 19): A much-needed win by the “road warrior” Saints, New Orleans appears to be trending in the right direction just in time to face a staggering Niners squad.
18.) San Francisco 49ers (4-4, 10): Like their nemesis Seahawks, it appears that the Niners have a Ram infestation to deal with.
19.) San Diego Chargers (5-4, 9): Wow, Chargers, just wow! One week after losing by 14 to Denver, they get owned by the sudden world-beater Dolphins, 37-0! Seriously!
20.) Minnesota Vikings (4-5, 27): An impressive 268-yard performance by Teddy Bridgewater gives the Vikings hope for the future.
21.) Houston Texans (4-5, 20): Cue the Ryan Mallett era in the Space City.
22.) New York Giants (3-5, 21): Big Blue has little time to lick their wounds from a 16-point beatdown at the hands of Andrew Luck as they fly out to the Pacific Northwest to tangle with the defending champion Seahawks.
23.) Carolina Panthers (3-5-1, – ): A 28-10 loss to the road-adverse Saints is not what the Panthers had in mind, who now have to travel to face the Mark Sanchez-led Eagles.
24.) St. Louis Rams (3-5, 27): A second straight win over an NFC West heavyweight in the Niners, earns the Rams a nice bump here.
25.) Chicago Bears (3-5, – ) : With a week off to recover from a 28-point beatdown at the hands of Tom Brady, the Bears now have to travel cross the border to face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
26.) Washington Redskins (3-6, 24): Perhaps they should have let Colt McCoy start?
27.) Atlanta Falcons (2-6, 26): It may be time for Mike Smith to start updating that resume. Just saying.
28.) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8, – ): At least Blake Bortles is getting some quality playing time as starter.
29.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-7, – ): Despite a 22-17 loss to the Browns on the road, Tampa appears to have found their quarterback of the future in Mike Glennon.
30.) Tennessee Titans (2-6, – ): Will Selfie-gate be the end of the Titans?
31.) New York Jets (1-8, – ) How much does Percy Harvin miss Seattle right now? Ouch!
32.) Oakland Raiders (0-8, – ): What NFL scheduling gods did the Raiders piss off? First the Seahawks, now the pissed-off Broncos? Yikes!
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