NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Updated 2015 Regular-Season Standings

Consider NFL's Week 8 "statement week" for Super Bowl contenders residing in the AFC.

The New England Patriots shot down the improving Miami Dolphins 36-7 last Thursday, the Denver Broncos manhandled Aaron Rodgers and the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers 29-10 and the Cincinnati Bengals went into Pittsburgh and spoiled Ben Roethlisberger's return from injury in a 16-10 win over the Steelers.

All three teams remain unbeaten and proved their mettle in Week 8. Therefore, they occupy the top three spots in the power rankings below.

But how about the rest of the league? We'll sort through the other 29 squads, then briefly discuss three teams that have been falling in the rankings over the past couple of weeks.

Rank	Team	Record
1	New England Patriots	7-0
2	Denver Broncos	7-0
3	Cincinnati Bengals	7-0
4	Green Bay Packers	6-1
5	Carolina Panthers	7-0
6	Arizona Cardinals	6-2
7	Minnesota Vikings	5-2
8	Seattle Seahawks	4-4
9	St. Louis Rams	4-3
10	Atlanta Falcons	6-2
11	New Orleans Saints	4-4
12	Oakland Raiders	4-3
13	New York Jets	4-3
14	New York Giants	4-4
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	4-4
16	Philadelphia Eagles	3-4
17	Buffalo Bills	3-4
18	Kansas City Chiefs	3-5
19	Miami Dolphins	3-4
20	Washington Redskins	3-4
21	Indianapolis Colts	3-5
22	Dallas Cowboys	2-5
23	San Diego Chargers	2-6
24	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3-4
25	Baltimore Ravens	2-6
26	Houston Texans	3-5
27	Cleveland Browns	2-6
28	Chicago Bears	2-5
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	2-5
30	Tennessee Titans	1-6
31	San Francisco 49ers	2-6
32	Detroit Lions	1-7

Falling Teams

Atlanta Falcons (No. 10)

The Falcons have looked like a different football team over the last three games, and not in a good way. Atlanta has lost two of its last three games, falling from a perfect 5-0 to a solid 6-2.

What have been the problems for the Falcons? Turnovers and penalties.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

In the team's last four games, it has given the ball to the other team a whopping 12 times and only taken the ball away from the opposition four times. Keep in mind, the squad only had two turnovers in its first four contests and had eight takeaways on the defensive side of the ball.

Penalty-wise, the Falcons have 10 more infractions than their opponents on the season, and those have resulted in 552 yards lost, 209 more than the opposition.

Not only do those turnovers and penalties objectively hurt the team in terms of possession and field position, but they are huge momentum-killers.

Atlanta also has yet to play a team with a winning record, so the team will have to clean its play up before facing the 7-0 Carolina Panthers twice in its final eight games.

New York Jets (No. 13)

With starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and his backup, Geno Smith, both down with injuries, the Jets are currently looking for a short-term option who can manage the game for them with minimal turnovers.

Per Bleacher Report's NFL Insider Jason Cole, New York isn't interested in free agent Ryan Mallett, but there are several veteran signal-callers the team might trade for.

Unfortunately, the Jets' vaunted defense is starting to show cracks at the wrong time. It has allowed 64 points over the last two games and has dropped to third in defensive yards allowed per game and 12th in points allowed per game. Giving up 30 points to the Patriots isn't good, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Letting the Oakland Raiders put up 34 points, however, is inexcusable.

Is it possible that opponents are starting to understand how to counteract New York's blitzing defense? If so, the 4-3 Jets are unlikely to grab a playoff spot.

Tennessee Titans (No. 30)

Remember when the Titans blew out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 42-14 on the road in Week 1 thanks to Marcus Mariota's historic debut?

Yeah, so that's a distant memory for 1-6 Tennessee now.

While Mariota's had a solid rookie year in general, he had gradually regressed before an MCL sprain sidelined him during a Week 6 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Backup Zach Mettenberger has stepped in for the past two-plus games and has registered a comically low total quarterback rating of 14.8.

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press/Associated Press

Combine that with a sputtering running game that hasn't cracked 100 yards since Week 2 and an OK, but not great, defense ranked just 14th in points allowed per game, and you have just a bad football team.

The good news is Mariota is expected to practice this week and could play against the New Orleans Saints Sunday, per the Tennessean's Jason Wolf. His return can't come fast enough for the Titans.