NFL Power Rankings: Where Experts Ranked the Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens clearly did not impress anyone on Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even on the road, the Ravens were a near consensus favorite in that game.

At the end of the game, they looked like a team that might struggle to make the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

You can take a look below at my rankings—I didn't drop the Ravens too much. They were No. 3 going into the week, while they are No. 5 now.

There are a few reasons for this. The Lions, Chargers and Raiders were all in a position to jump Baltimore this week, but looked nearly as bad as the Ravens did.

As for the Steelers, you will notice one thing. Unless there is a full game between two teams, I don't put any team ahead of another who has beaten them. I know that that was just the first week of the year and it was in Baltimore. But for now, the Ravens have earned the right to be ahead of the Steelers.

However, there is always room for disagreement. So, let's take a look at how others see the Ravens after this week.

First, we have ESPN. I do disagree with them a lot, though the top of the rankings are pretty similar. They do rank the Steelers ahead of the Ravens, which I just can't do.

Not only did the Ravens beat the Steelers handily, but Pittsburgh is leaving me significantly unimpressed this year. Don't get me wrong—they will make the playoffs. But some of the magic that I've seen from the Steelers in past seasons just isn't there this year.

Pittsburgh has certainly not done enough to make that leap over a team who has beaten them. With consecutive games against the Patriots and Ravens, we'll soon get a better grasp on whether or not Pittsburgh is a true top-five (or better) team.

ESPN's ranking of the top six went right in line with Brian Billick of Fox Sports. Billick had the following to say about his former team:

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"The Ravens should have learned their lesson in Week 2, when they overlooked the struggling Titans. Once again, it didn't look like this offense was mentally prepared for a physical football game."

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I generally agree with that sentiment. The Ravens also just play dumb football sometimes.

I am not talking about the ever-changing hitting rules that lead to penalties that didn't used to be there. No, physical teams like the Ravens will always look a little worse in the early season.

But things like late hits well after a play is over are just a sign of a team that isn't very disciplined. That's not an era thing—that's just a team playing stupid, undisciplined football.

But I also don't want to overrate what happened last night. In the Super Bowl era, we've had one Super Bowl Champion finish a season undefeated and one other team that lost the Super Bowl after an undefeated season.

That means that teams are generally losing a few games to teams that just aren't that good. It happens in the NFL.

Lastly, let's take a look at how Mark Maske of the Washington Post ranked the Ravens. He had them at No. 2 in last week's poll, but came back with a No. 8 ranking this week.

Maske's poll actually deviates quite a lot from the others. He's a lot more impressed with the Bengals and Giants than I am. Both teams are coming off of a bye week and need to do more before they're worthy of being ranked over the Ravens.

Now, if you think what you saw on Monday is going to become a trend, then the Ravens are about to nosedive. I am not at that point yet, although I am questioning how viable an option Baltimore is for the Super Bowl.

Playoff teams are going to score a lot more than the Jaguars did on Monday. If the Ravens play like this in the postseason, they will not have the ball at the end with a chance to win the game.

For now, I am willing to chalk up last night to one bad game—nothing more.

But if things don't change in Baltimore, they will be significantly down these rankings in future weeks. More importantly, they will be out of the playoffs.

Michael Dixon's Week 8 NFL Power Rankings

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