NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Who Are the AFC Heavyweights?

The undefeated Green Bay Packers are the best team in the football right now. The New Orleans Saints' offensive eruption against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night opened some eyes to their prominence.

Add in the San Francisco 49ers' 5-1 start and the Detroit Lions' high-powered offensive attack, and you realize that after Week 7, the majority of NFL chatter is surrounding NFC clubs.

Which teams make up the AFC's elite?

New England Patriots

On the bye this week, we didn't hear much from the Patriots camps, then again we rarely do when they do have a game.

Tom Brady's numbers have tapered off a bit, but he's still playing at an MVP-level. More importantly, their running game has received a major boost from BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and their defense is slowly improving.

If they can continue to be balanced on offense and make the critical plays late on defense, they'll be in contention for the top spot in the AFC come playoff time.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens aren't paying attention to the new-school NFL that features hardly any defense, bad tackling and 50-plus passes from each quarterback.

Sure, Joe Flacco and Ray Rice have demonstrated the ability to score points, but their defense is what has carried them to their impressive 4-1 start.

And it has come from all the usual suspects—Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed are all dominating at their respective line of defense.

They should take care of a less-talented Jaguars team on Monday Night Football to keep pace with the Patriots at 5-1.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Following their 2-3 start, I thought the Steelers were experiencing another Super Bowl hangover. Their offensive line was ravished, they couldn't run the football and Big Ben was battling injury.

As we've seen in the past, they're proving all the early-season doubters wrong with a nice three-game winning streak.

Those victories came against the Titans, Jaguars and Cardinals.

So what?

Three-game win streaks aren't easy to come by in today's parity-filled NFL.

The Patriots come to town next week, then four of their next five are against divisional opponents.

Pittsburgh will surely be tested.

Week 8 Power Rankings

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