Week Eight NFL Divisional Power Rankings

Week Seven of the NFL Season saw a continuation in the balance created last week for prestige amongst the divisions.  Several weeks ago, it looked like the NFC East was far and away the best division in the NFL.  Now there are several divisions that have a legitimate claim to the crown.

The NFC East went 2-1 on the weekend in non-divisional games, but did so unimpressively.  The Giants survived a struggling 49er squad and the Redskins nearly handed the game to the Browns in the final minutes.  And of course the Cowboys endured a severe beating at the hands of the St. Louis Rams. 

The Rams, who were beaten by the Eagles and Giants in the first two weeks of the season by a combined score of 79-16, have defeated the other two NFC East teams in the last two weeks to earn their first victories of the season.

The NFC South had only one non-divisional game this week, and the Buccaneers soundly defeated the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.

The AFC South posted a 2-1 record behind victories from the Titans over the Chiefs and the Texans over the Lions, but suffered a severe blow to their division prestige when the Colts were blown out by the Packers by a score of 34-14.

The only other conference currently with a winning record in non-divisional games is the AFC East.  They recorded two very impressive wins this weekend as the Bills defeated the Chargers and the Patriots annihilated the Broncos, but also had two highly disappointing losses to finish the week with a 2-2 record.  The Jets fell to the Raiders and the Dolphins lost to the Ravens.

Here are the updating conference standings for non-divisional games heading into week seven (Rank, Team, Record, Average Margin):

1.  NFC East:  13-5 (7.72)

2.  NFC South:  12-5 (7.35)

3.  AFC South:  9-5 (2.64)

4.  AFC East:  11-7 (2.39)

5.  AFC North:  5-8 (-0.54)

6.  NFC North:  6-11 (-1.88)

7.  NFC West:  6-13 (-7.79)

8.  AFC West:  5-11 (-8.31)

The NFC East and NFC South are just about even on the season, with only an extra win separating the NFC East.  The two Western divisions continue to be the worst divisions in the NFL this year.

Some of the key non-divisional pairings for Week Eight to look forward to are:

Cowboys vs. Buccaneers

Redskins vs. Lions

Eagles vs. Falcons

Giants vs. Steelers

Panthers vs. Cardinals

Saints vs. Chargers

Texans vs. Bengals

Jaguars vs. Browns

Patriots vs. Rams

Jets vs. Chiefs

There are two games this week that match an NFC East team against an NFC South team, the two top divisions in the rankings.  If one division can sweep these two games, it would nearly solidify them the top spot in the rankings for next week.  The Cowboys will be looking to rebound from several disappointing performances to defeat the streaking Buccaneers, and the Eagles and Falcons both coming off of a bye week should provide a very interesting outcome.

The AFC South and AFC East both have only two non-divisional games this week, and both games look very winnable for these conferences. 

The Giants look to have the toughest game of the week out of the teams in the top-rated conferences as they take on the Steelers in a match up of two 5-1 teams.  The Saints also have a tough game ahead against the Chargers in London, England, and they will have to play without the services of injured running back Reggie Bush.