NFL Week 9 Power Rankings: The Six Best Teams in Each Conference

Let's face it: no one cares who the 27th-ranked team in the NFL is. OK, sure, fans of bad teams want to pick as high in the draft as possible, but consensus doesn't get you the top pick, so I'm not going to waste your time—or mine—trying to figure out if the Cardinals are slightly less-bad than their terrible record indicates.

Instead, let's talk about the top six teams in each conference, since they're the only ones anyone is arguing about anyway.  

6 AFC: Houston Texans

This sounds crazy, but unlike anyone else on the AFC side of this list, the Houston Texans haven't looked bad against a bad team. They smashed the Colts, they handled the Dolphins and Jaguars by two scores apiece and their losses have all come against quality teams: the Ravens, Raiders (again, at the time) and Saints. 

Their quality wins came against Pittsburgh and Tennessee, the latter of which coming in blowout fashion. I know the Titans are fringe, but they're on the cusp, and have some impressive victories of their own, so to hammer them the way Houston did absolutely means something.

But their schedule is pretty light, so No. 6 is as high as they go.

6 NFC: Philadelphia Eagles

Man, the top of the NFC is stacked. There are a couple surprise teams, but everybody seems legit. Even the Eagles, who are finally starting to look like the team they were promised to be following the truncated free agency period after the lockout.

So long as they don't turn the ball over, they're going to be very hard to stop. They'll have to answer questions about Vick's ability to stay on the field, and the offensive line's ability to keep Vick on his feet against premier rushing defenses...but thanks to a relatively soft schedule the rest of the way—five of their remaining nine games are against struggling teams—I don't think they'll have to answer those questions until Wild Card Weekend.  

5 AFC: Cincinnati Bengals

This was a tough pick. They stop the run and they have a wunderkind quarterback (who no one is talking about, thanks to all the press dedicated to that once and future third-string quarterback in Denver), two very important elements to winning in the NFL, and especially the playoffs.

They don't run the ball particularly well, however, and four of their remaining games are against the Steelers and the Ravens. The good news is that they play up to the competition—as Buffalo and San Francisco can attest—so I think they're going to be in the playoff picture for the rest of the year, even in a division as brutal as the AFC North.  

5 NFC: New Orleans Saints

I honestly don't know what to make of the Saints. They started the year with a shootout loss at Green Bay that had everyone believing they just witnessed an NFC Championship Game preview. They followed up with wins against Chicago and Houston—but things have gotten weird since then.

A tight contest against the Panthers preceded a head-scratching loss to a beatable Bucs team, and a 62-7 throttling of the disinterested Colts preceded an inexcusable blowout loss in St. Louis (the game was not as close as the score indicates).

So who are the New Orleans Saints?

Well...I don't know. But I do know they have Drew Brees and enough weapons to make a legitimate playoff run once they get in. And they will get in.

Right?  

4 AFC: Baltimore Ravens

Let me hear your collective groans. I'm not fazed. Unfortunately for Ravens fans, whining about this isn't going to make that offense more consistent. And before you dust off that old chestnut “Defense wins championships,” let me direct you to your nearest calendar: in 2011, defense is nice, but hamstrung by a lousy set of rules. In today's NFL, you have to be elite on the offensive side of the ball to win.

Luckily, the Ravens are prolific...sometimes. As much as I enjoyed their comeback against the Cardinals, it marked the second week in a row their offense was handled by a bottom-feeding team. Their late surge will make some forget that ineptitude, but I won't be among those with convenient amnesia.  

4 NFC: New York Giants

In a season with so many enigma teams, perhaps none are so hard to reckon as the Giants. Their opening day loss to the Redskins had New Yorkers ready to leap from the nearest skyscraper, and I'm pretty sure some of them jumped after the Seattle loss—but there's hope, thanks to quality wins over the Eagles and Bills.

Tight contests like the one against the lowly Dolphins will likely result in Pepto shortages on both sides of the river, and the law of averages says they can't sustain winning when they do so by the skin of their proverbial teeth. At some point, the “real” Giants are going to have to show up.

Thankfully, they have Eli Manning, who happens to be playing the best ball of his career. I don't know if that will be enough for a long stay in the NFC playoffs, but I think it will be enough to get them there.  

3 AFC: New England Patriots

Woah! The Pats in third? What gives?

I'll tell you what gives: their secondary. (Cue rimshot)

They haven't given up that many more points than the rest of the teams in the AFC East, but it's enough to put them in the bottom half of the conference, and they really are atrocious against the pass.

Before you Ravens fans start pounding the keys in protest of my logic here, I'm not trying to have it both ways; I know the Pats offense is ridiculous, and they can score with anyone, but as the Steelers showed Sunday, there are ways to slow their roll. Man coverage (if you have the corners to do it) really messes with Brady's pretty little head, and if the Pats need to win without putting up 25 points, they aren't going to look so unbeatable.  

3 NFC: Detroit Lions

It's surreal to even write this, considering how long the Lions were down (and how down they were), but I had better get used to it, because this Detroit team is here to stay. Ndomukong Suh anchors a defense tied for the league lead in forced turnovers, and is third in sacks. Add to their outstanding production an attitude reminiscent of 60s tough-guy gridiron football, and Detroit fans have themselves one scary team.

So why only third?

Even with a prolific passing game, their inability to run the ball is troubling. However, playing in a dome means the elements won't adversely affect their air attack in the deep winter months, so it's not a deal-breaker. They can't stop the run, either, and that's a lot more troubling.

Also troubling are their pair of losses, which came in back-to-back fashion. A close loss to the 49ers is nothing to be ashamed of, but the loss to Atlanta bugs me (more on the Falcons later). To me, that loss looked like a young team not knowing how to handle adversity, and folding under the pressure of having to bounce back from a tough loss.

Luckily, the got some medicine in the form of Tim Tebow's Denver Nuggets (hey, they might as well be the Nuggets; both are playing the same amount of quality football right now), but before I put them in either of the top two spots in the NFC, I need to see what they do going forward. A Bears team playing better than the last time they met will be a good litmus test.  

2 AFC: Buffalo Bills

I know many people will say San Francisco is the surprise story of 2011, but for my money, the Bills, and their cast of 5^th round-and-lower draft picks, Division III success stories, and undrafted starters, take the cake.

The Bills have quality wins over the Patriots, Oakland (they were good at the time), and Philadelphia. Actually, considering that Kansas City is on a four-game winning streak, and sharing first place with two other teams, I think you could actually make a case that the Chiefs are a quality win as well. After all, they're 4-1 against everybody outside of Buffalo and Detroit. 

Their defense is a problem, however. The classic Bills teams of the 90s employed a “Bend-but-don't-Break” system, which did just enough to allow Jim Kelly's K-Gun offense to win games. This year's team uses a less-traditional “Break-but-don't-Explode” method, which allows teams to rack up 450-plus yards and 21 points per game. 

Not exactly a blueprint for success, but as the Bills have already shown this season, their offense more than makes up for their porous D. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson are putting up career years, even with a patchwork offensive line and a receiver corps so thinned by injury that running back CJ Spiller and the Swiss Army Knife of the NFL, Brad Smith, are taking a ton of snaps spread out wide. 

But as with any power ranking, the Bills' hold on the No. 2 spot is tenuous, and their game against the Jets this Sunday will go a long way towards proving, one way or the other, what the Bills are really made of.

No. 2 NFC: San Francisco 49ers

Did anyone see this coming?

It isn't just the fact that the 49ers are good again—better than good, actually—it's the fact that Alex Smith is still their quarterback, and that he's performing like they always thought he could. For what he's done with Smith alone, Jim Harbaugh is the runaway favorite for Coach of the Year (though Chan Gailey needs some consideration), but there's so much more to this San Francisco team than just the quarterback. How about early season MVP talk for Frank Gore?

They run the ball, they pass with efficiency, they give up the fewest points in the league, and they haven't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. This club is built for sustained success, and you're going to see that played out over the rest of the regular season, and deep into the playoffs.

They beat who they're supposed to—Seattle, Tampa in a drubbing, Cleveland—and they find a way to win against teams like Detroit and Philadelphia. Their lone loss came back in Week 2 against the Cowboys, but I can't really hold it against them; the Cowboys are the best bad team in football!

So why aren't they No. 1?  

1 NFC: Green Bay Packers

That's why.

Do I even need to get into this? OK, for the sake of staying honest: Their offense is amazing, Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in football, you can't beat them in a shootout, etc..

Oh, and we're going into Week 9 and they haven't lost yet.

There. Enough said.  

1 AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger is having the best season of his career, and Mike Wallace is maybe the most exciting wideout in the AFC, but uneven play as a unit this season had me questioning their status as an elite team.

But their handling of the Patriots Sunday was enough to make me a believer. Alright, so maybe it took me until today to admit the Steelers are better than the Bills (for now), but it's a truth I couldn't avoid forever. 

Their uneven play to begin the season is disturbing, but something's changed in the Steel City, and the same Pittsburgh Steelers team we were calling old suddenly looks young. But before you head off to Pennsylvania looking for the fountain of youth, understand that the Steelers look younger because they actually are young. Key injuries on the defense—and matchup changes made over the weeks--have forced the defending AFC champions to rotate in younger bodies, and the results have been palpable. 

Knocking off a team that has owned them in the Tom Brady era isn't something you can just dismiss as inconsequential, even though the Pats are weaker defensively than they've been in years. The Steelers made a statement Sunday, and I don't expect them to slow down going forward. 

(NFC) Missed the Cut: Atlanta Falcons

I like Matt Ryan, I like Julio Jones and I like what the Falcons can do on offense when they're rolling. Unfortunately for them, Atlanta hasn't shown me enough to include them in my top six. 

Bad losses to Chicago and Tampa really trouble me, and the fact that the Seahawks played them so close scares me. Yes, I understand that on any given Sunday, any team can play well against any other team, but the combination of that game plus the bad losses really makes me want to sell their stock.

It isn't just their resume, of course; they don't really have the highest-powered offense in the world, and Matt Ryan has looked human. His completion percentage has always been modest (he's never been better than 62.5 percent for a season), but last year he threw 28 touchdowns against only nine interceptions, taking, what I thought, was a real step forward. This year, however, he's already thrown eight picks, and with nine touchdowns so far, he isn't exactly on pace to shatter last year's personal best.

(AFC) Missed the Cut: Kansas City Chiefs

After getting their tails handed to them in consecutive weeks to start the season, the Chiefs have looked like a different team. They lost a squeaker to the Chargers in Week 3, and haven't lost since--and that includes a retribution win over those same Bolts. 

But I can't bring myself to get on the bandwagon. Not yet. 

Granted, losing to the Bills and Lions isn't a deal-breaker, but the Chiefs didn't show up to either game. I have trouble with blowout losses, because they either mean you weren't prepared for the game, or you folded after getting down a couple of scores. Neither option speaks well of your team.

Their loss to the Chargers was fine, but their "comeback" win this past Sunday wouldn't have happened if only Phillip Rivers hadn't fumbled that snap. You can't really get excited about winning in dramatic fashion thanks to the unforced turnovers of the other team. 

The Chiefs have a rough road ahead, however, and picking up a win or two against the likes of Green Bay, New England and Pittsburgh would certainly make me take a second look.