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NFL Power Rankings 2014: The Denver Broncos sit atop the mountain in Week 9

Many of last week's top teams went down for the count this week, which means some major reshuffling is in order this week. The one constant? The Denver Broncos.
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Another glorious week in football began with a Denver Broncos blowout win over the San Diego Chargers, so why wouldn't the rest of the week be glorious? The best team in football won handily again and are now 5-1 against playoff and/or 10-win teams from a year ago. Not bad, gentlemen.

In other games, we saw the Dallas Cowboys struggle against their own division rival in the Washington Redskins and on Sunday, it was a blowout extravaganza, with eight double-digit victories earned. This was tough due to a ton of "contenders" losing this week, but that's the NFL for you.

Check out last week's rankings and tell me how wrong or stupid I was. At the end of the day, the Broncos are best today! A special thanks to the Mile High Report community for helping me ensure only the best GIFs are used up in here.

RNK
TEAM
INSTANT ANALYSIS

1

Denver Broncos

Record 6-1. Yet another in a growing stream of complete games by the Denver Broncos has be hoping against hope that the streak continues at least for one more game. Tom Brady is playing like a possessed madman, but then again, so is Peyton Manning. A win on the road in New England will go a long way in convincing me this team is miles ahead of the one that nearly ran the table in 2013. Next Sunday, I want to witness ...

2

New England Patriots

Record 6-2. Tom Brady haters go into even deeper hiding after last week. The New England Patriots now have a chance to actually take control of their own destiny in the AFC by bringing down Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos at home. Home is a place they never seem to lose too. God I want this Broncos win so bad.

3

Arizona Cardinals

Record 6-1. Carson Palmer put up 329 yards against the Eagles to help lift the Arizona Cardinals to a touchdown in the final minutes. Palmer had both an 80 yard touchdown pass in this game and a game-clinching 75 yard touchdown pass. Crazy.

4

Dallas Cowboys

Record 6-2. Tony Romo couldn't stand having a backup quarterback get in there be successful, so he forced his way back into the lineup and promptly lost the game for the Dallas Cowboys. Brandon Weeden went 4/6 for 69 yards and a touchdown, but that didn't matter to Jerry Jones. You can thank him and Romo for this loss, Cowboys fans.

5

Philadelphia Eagles

Record 5-2. Finally, we got to see the Philadelphia Eagles match up against a quality opponent and they left a lot to be desired. Nick Foles put up 411 yards, but a late goal line stand by the Arizona Cardinals spelled defeat for the Eagles.

6

Green Bay Packers

Record 5-3. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers just got buzz-sawed. Fortunately, they get the Bears at home after their Bye next week. I know the Packers have already dropped a game to the Lions, but I guess I believe a little more in Rodgers than I do in Stafford. For now anyway...

7

Detroit Lions

Record 6-2. Somehow the Detroit Lions keep snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with yet another amazing come from behind victory. This time they did in internationally. I keep saying I don't believe in this team, but at 6-2 it is hard not to start to at least tentatively believing in this team.

8

Indianapolis Colts

Record 5-3. It appears the Indianapolis Colts fell asleep at the wheel on Sunday Night Football. They shut a team out the week before, then let the Pittsburgh Steelers drop 51 on them? Sheesh. Did Andrew Luck even play?

9

Seattle Seahawks

Record 4-3. Peter King is right to say that the Seattle Seahawks are not out of the woods just yet. The defending Super Bowl Champions have several chinks showing in their once Legion of Boom armor and teams are now exploiting those weaknesses like there is no tomorrow. It's gotten so bad that players are blaming the referees for not letting them "play". Of course, they mean cheat. Cheaters.

10

Cincinnati Bengals

Record 4-2-1. Thank you Cincinnati Bengals for finally showing up again. With A.J. Green, this team has a very unreliable offense. The defense was playing elite at one point, but now is merely pedestrian. As far as I am concerned, the AFC North is wide open halfway through the season. And by wide I mean, any of the teams in this division could win it.

11

Baltimore Ravens

Record 5-3. Joe Flacco watched his Baltimore Ravens defense crumble in the face of an Andy Dalton passing attack and probably watched his teams chances of winning the AFC North crumble along with it. The Ravens are 0-2 against the Bengals.

12

Miami Dolphins

Record 4-3. The Miami Dolphins play hard and its starting to translate into wins for them. Looking at the standings in the AFC and there are a plethora of teams on pace for 9-10 wins this season. It's going to be a very interesting December in the AFC.

13

San Diego Chargers

Record 5-3. Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers tried to keep pace with the best team in football, but it just proved to be too tall of a task. The third ranked passing defense was shredded by the Broncos in a route that could have been worse than it was. The Chargers are still a good football team and will definitely compete for a playoff spot come December. I just want to see more of Mr. Poutyface.

14

San Francisco 49ers

Record 4-3. The San Francisco 49ers had a Bye Week this week AND are coming off a loss to the Denver Broncos, so they are obviously not the best team in the league. That is all.

15

Kansas City Chiefs

Record 4-3. Look out San Diego, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing like the Chiefs that started the season 9-0 in 2013. I'm sorry, I just made myself laugh. Did you laugh too? I thought so.

16

Buffalo Bills

Record 5-3. Kyle Orton and the Buffalo Bills might just win 10 games this year. And they might do it without C.J. Spiller or Fred Jackson. What?! It begs the question ... Just how much better would this team be with Tim Tebow. HA! J/K people. J/K.

17

New Orleans Saints

Record 3-4. Drew Brees got some of his mojo back going 27/32 for 311 yards and three touchdown passes, but the biggest reason for the New Orleans Saints success was Mark Ingram dropping 172 yards rushing on 24 carries. The NFC South is completely up for grabs and is just waiting for a team to start playing well. So far, its looking like the Saints.

18

Pittsburgh Steelers

Record 5-3. Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot of pride and having former players and coaches calling out their heart was just what the doctor Mike Tomlin ordered. All they did was go out and play to their fullest potential, but I seriously doubt this teams ability to be consistent.

19

Cleveland Browns

Record 4-3. Yeah, so the entire AFC North is in the playoff hunt halfway through the season. The Cleveland Browns are at the bottom of that pecking order, but only by a half game. They can seize this opportunity by beating the rest of the division rivals in the second half of the season.

20

Carolina Panthers

Record 3-4-1. Cam Newton is regressing and his negative demeanor is back as well. The Carolina Panthers have a great defense and should be winning a lot of games, but Newton is traveling dangerously into "draft bust" territory.

21

Houston Texans

Record 4-4. The Houston Texans have an elite defense and a good running attack. Ryan Fitzpatrick is fairly average though, which means .500 is right where I would expect a team like this to be in a league that demands elite quarterback play to be successful. J.J. Watt is a freak though.

22

Washington Redskins

Record 3-5. The Washington Redskins went down into Dallas and put a surprise beating on the formerly 6-1 Cowboys. Colt McCoy got to show the NFL he could play quarterback in the NFL and the Redskins stopped the bleeding long enough to bring back their franchise quarterback next week. We'll see if Robert Griffin III can keep the momentum going.

23

Chicago Bears

Record 3-5. I'm actually going to defend Jay Cutler today, even though he screwed me over once again as I stupidly picked the Chicago Bears last week. Yeah, I'm a freaking moron. Anyway, back to Cutler. He is now getting compared to Jeff George, which might be accurate, but at the same time, two turnovers shouldn't equate to FIFTY-ONE POINTS. Seriously, start blaming your flucking defense and watch these games Bears fans, WATCH THEM.

24

New York Giants

Record 3-4. The New York Giants had a Bye Week, so I have no reason to "analyze" anything here. Move along...

25

St. Louis Rams

Record 2-5. Will the real St. Louis Rams please stand up? You are either good or your a bad, you cannot be both.

26

Minnesota Vikings

Record 3-5. It certainly looks as though the Minnesota Vikings have righted the ship to a point, but without Adrian Peterson they are not going to win too many more games this year. Teddy Bridgewater looks like he has the right stuff for this league.

27

Atlanta Falcons

Record 2-6. Okay, now I feel bad for Mike Smith. You could see it in his eyes at the end of that game that he knew his days with the Atlanta Falcons are over. It wasn't defeat I saw in his eyes either, it was genuine sadness. The Falcons are nearly as big of a mess as the Bears.

28

Tennessee Titans

Record 2-6. The Tennessee Titans may have discovered their replacement for the oft-injured Jake Locker in Zach Mettenberger whose trial by fire included a 27/41 for 299 yards and two touchdowns and an interception. That's impressive considering the Titans put up a pathetic 36 yards rushing. Not bad rookie.

29

Jacksonville Jaguars

Record 1-7. Blake Bortles had a really rough day again. I still believe in him, but its going to continue to be a long year for the rookie. The Jacksonville Jaguars have poor talent across nearly all positions. Will they even win another game?

30

Oakland Raiders

Record 0-7. It's strange, but the Oakland Raiders are not as bad as their record states. They are competing and playing hard with Derek Carr under center, but they can't seem to figure out how to win football games. That's going to come though. It's only a matter of time.

31

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Record 1-6. The experts pounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason as a legitimate playoff contender is almost as laughable as my prediction that the Dallas Cowboys would be one of the worst teams in the league. Still, feel free to laugh at both of us.

32

New York Jets

Record 1-7. The New York Jets are probably the worst team in football right now. At least the Oakland Raiders have a promising young quarterback to give them hope for the future. The Jets only have the promise of continued horrible general management. And I have a response to Eric Decker's comments about the Jets "not being a bad football team".