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Top NFC teams face big November tests
Four teams are unbeaten at home this season. Four teams are unbeaten on the road. The Patriots, of course, are the only team that fits both categories.
But now that we've got the Pats-Colts battle-to-end-all-battles out of our system (at least until the AFC title game), let's turn our attention to some other top teams, specifically those in the NFC.
That's why we mentioned the unbeaten splits. The Cowboys and Packers are each 4-0 on the road, while the Lions are 4-0 at home. Not so surprising, those three teams, along with the Giants, make up the NFC's contingent in the top 10 of this week's rankings.
Those perfect marks could all end soon, however. The Cowboys face their biggest road challenge to date Sunday at the Meadowlands, as the Giants are the NFC's hottest team with a six-game winning streak. The next week, New York gets a crack at handing the Lions their first home loss. Obviously, this is a big two-week stretch for the Giants and their playoff hopes.
Meanwhile, the Packers play their next two at Lambeau before hitting the road with back-to-back Thursday games at Detroit (on Thanksgiving) and Dallas (Nov. 29). Anybody outside Wisconsin thinking the Pack will be 6-0 on the road?
In essence, November will give us a sneak preview of the NFC playoffs. By the end of this month, we'll have a better understanding of which teams will be lining up to be annihilated in play in Super Bowl XLII.
So how would you rank the teams after Week 9? Click here to access SportsNation's ranking tool.
BIGGEST RISE: New Orleans Saints from 19th to 11th.
BIGGEST DROP: Denver Broncos from 16th to 25th.
1 (1) Patriots 9-0-0 Once the Pats hit 15-0, Bill Belichick may face a tough decision vs. the Giants: Whether to risk Tom Brady's health against the league's fierciest pass rush, on the road and against a team that could have a playoff spot on the line.
2 (2) Colts 7-1-0 In terms of Sunday's loss to the Pats ... the Colts played good enough to not be discouraged, bad enough to not be satisfied and were injured enough (no Marvin Harrison, no Tony Ugoh) to think the outcome will be different in January.
3 (3) Cowboys 7-1-0 Go ahead and reserve a playoff spot for the Cowboys. For the 10th time in franchise history, the Cowboys have started the season 7-1. On those previous nine occasions, they never missed the playoffs. And three times, they won the Super Bowl.
4 (6) Steelers 6-2-0 Until Monday's breakout game against the Ravens, Steelers LB James Harrison probably was best known for body-slamming a Cleveland Browns fan who had gotten loose on the field two years ago. Check it out on YouTube.
5 (4) Packers 7-1-0 Former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson says Mike McCarthy should be the NFL's coach of the year, citing the Packers' improved defense and their sparkling road record (9-3) since McCarthy's arrival. A few fans in Detroit might disagree.
6 (5) Giants 6-2-0 The Giants fashioned their six-game win streak against opponents with a combined record of 13-36. Now it gets more difficult. Their second-half opponents have a combined mark of 40-25, starting with Sunday's showdown against the Cowboys.
7 (9) Titans 6-2-0 LenDale White this season: 670 yards rushing/receiving, 5 TDs. Former USC teammate Reggie Bush in New Orleans: 711 yards rushing/ receiving, 5 TDs. White was the 45th overall pick in '06; Bush was 2nd. Hey, we're just saying ...
8 (10) Lions 6-2-0 It's been 10 years since the Lions scored more than the 44 points they posted in beating the Broncos. But head coach Rod Marinelli thinks there's room to improve. "Offensively, I still believe the best is ahead of us," he told the Free Press.
9 (13) Browns 5-3-0 The next two weeks are critical for the Browns' playoff chances. If they can beat division foes the Steelers and Ravens, their schedule is extremely favorable in the final six weeks, facing opponents with a combined record of 16-34.
10 (8) Jaguars 5-3-0 What started as a bad weekend (two players arrested) ended just as bad. The Jags allowed 538 yards in losing to the Saints -- the most yards allowed by a Jacksonville defense in the franchise's 184 games.
11 (19) Saints 4-4-0 Expect the Saints to make the playoffs. Why? Not only are they on a roll (four straight wins) but consider their second-half schedule: Five of their eight opponents are either last or tied for last in their respective divisions.
12 (15) Commanders 5-3-0 In their previous three games, the Commanders rushed for a combined 214 yards. In beating the Jets on Sunday, they rushed for 296 yards. Tough to tell if the ground game is back when the opponent is so bad.
13 (17) Buccaneers 5-4-0 Due to their numerous injuries, Bucs practices have become little more than a chance to walk through the playbook. "We really don't have enough players ... to service a full-fledged practice," Jon Gruden told the Tampa Tribune.
14 (7) Chargers 4-4-0 Just when we thought the Chargers were back in form, they get lit up by the sub-.500 Vikings. All of which means that we don't really know what to expect out of San Diego. A tough five-game stretch, starting with Indy, should tell us.
15 (11) Chiefs 4-4-0 The Chiefs may not have Larry Johnson anytime soon, meaning Priest Holmes is the main weapon in the backfield. But the players know not to expect the Priest of old. Rookie Kolby Smith, who has yet carry the ball, will need to step up.
16 (12) Seahawks 4-4-0 The word out of Seattle is that Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren plans to return to his more pass-oriented roots since his team stinks at running it. But will it be a big change? The Hawks are already throwing it 57 percent of the time.
17 (14) Ravens 4-4-0 Have we officially reached rock-bottom in the Brian Billick era? The 38-7 loss at Pittsburgh was the Ravens' worst defeat in the 136 games Billick has coached in Baltimore. "I wouldn't begin to know how to characterize this," he said.
18 (22) Bills 4-4-0 For the first time in five years, the Bills are .500 at the midway point of the season. And the 479 yards of offense Sunday was the team's highest total in five years. Anybody else thinking the AFC East might have two playoff teams this season?
19 (18) Panthers 4-4-0 Poor David Carr. Twice a year during his days as Houston's QB, the Titans treated him mercilessly. Now in Carolina, Carr received the same treatment Sunday, getting sacked seven times in a 20-7 loss at Tennessee.
20 (24) Texans 4-5-0 Sage Rosenfels has thrown seven TD passes this season ... all in the fourth quarter. He also has a fourth-quarter passer rating of 128.9 and a third-down passer rating of 118.6. Evidently, Rosenfels just likes to arrive late to the party.
21 (21) Cardinals 3-5-0 For the second time in 24 games with the Cardinals, RB Edgerrin James finished with 15 yards rushing. Unlike the previous time, when he had just four carries, it actually took him nine attempts vs. the Bucs to reach that paltry total.
22 (20) Eagles 3-5-0 While noting that 'nothing is guaranteed,' Andy Reid said QB Donovan McNabb will continue to start ahead of rookie Kevin Kolb. 'It's easy to point fingers at one guy, but I don't think that's where we're at right now,' Reid said.
23 (26) Vikings 3-5-0 No truth to the rumor that Vikings management is planning to send gift baskets and thank-you notes to the Raiders, Lions, Browns, Bucs, Cardinals and Commanders. Those are the six teams that passed on Adrian Peterson last April.
24 (23) Bears 3-5-0 How important are turnovers? Last year during their 13-3 season, the Bears were a plus-8 in turnovers. This year? A minus-10, second-worst in the NFC to the Rams (minus-12). The Bears are on pace to commit 46 turnovers this season.
25 (16) Broncos 3-5-0 Dark days indeed in Denver. The Broncos have lost games by 38 and 37 points in the past month. 'I've been embarrassed a couple times this year,' coach Mike Shanahan said. The good news? Denver's only a game out of first in the AFC West.
26 (25) Bengals 2-6-0 For the first time in Marvin Lewis' tenure, the Bengals are four games under .500. And they're one of just five teams who've yet to win on the road this season. "We're not a very good football team," QB Carson Palmer told the Cincy Enquirer.
27 (27) Raiders 2-6-0 It wasn't for lack of distance that Sebastian Janikowski missed a 64-yard field goal attempt that would've set a new NFL record. The ball hit halfway up the right upright. "It would have went 74 yards or so," he told the Oakland Tribune.
28 (29) Falcons 2-6-0 Fullback Ovie Mughelli scored 69 touchdowns at his high school in South Carolina and 13 more in college at Wake Forest. But until Sunday's win over the 49ers, he had never scored in the NFL. Now he has, thanks to a 1-yard run.
29 (28) 49ers 2-6-0 It's always troubling when a young player regresses -- especially if he's your QB. A year ago, Alex Smith finished with a 74.8 passer rating on a 58.1 completion rate. This year: 57.6 rating (last in the league) and 49.7 completion rate.
30 (30) Jets 1-8-0 QB Kellen Clemens generally received favorable reviews in his first game after taking over for Chad Pennington. He put the Jets in a position to win, and his third-down passing numbers were solid (9 of 12 for 104 yards).
31 (31) Rams 0-8-0 So what do players on an 0-8 team do on a bye week? Get out of town as fast as possible. Even more surprising, they came back. 'It doesn't really matter what the record is, you don't throw the towel in,' TE Randy McMichael told the Post-Dispatch.
32 (32) Dolphins 0-8-0 Cam Cameron says keeping Cleo Lemon as the starting QB gives his team the "best opportunity to win." And yet Lemon is splitting practice reps with John Beck. Wouldn't Lemon be better prepared with more reps? It all sounds fishy.
Four teams are unbeaten at home this season. Four teams are unbeaten on the road. The Patriots, of course, are the only team that fits both categories.
But now that we've got the Pats-Colts battle-to-end-all-battles out of our system (at least until the AFC title game), let's turn our attention to some other top teams, specifically those in the NFC.
That's why we mentioned the unbeaten splits. The Cowboys and Packers are each 4-0 on the road, while the Lions are 4-0 at home. Not so surprising, those three teams, along with the Giants, make up the NFC's contingent in the top 10 of this week's rankings.
Those perfect marks could all end soon, however. The Cowboys face their biggest road challenge to date Sunday at the Meadowlands, as the Giants are the NFC's hottest team with a six-game winning streak. The next week, New York gets a crack at handing the Lions their first home loss. Obviously, this is a big two-week stretch for the Giants and their playoff hopes.
Meanwhile, the Packers play their next two at Lambeau before hitting the road with back-to-back Thursday games at Detroit (on Thanksgiving) and Dallas (Nov. 29). Anybody outside Wisconsin thinking the Pack will be 6-0 on the road?
In essence, November will give us a sneak preview of the NFC playoffs. By the end of this month, we'll have a better understanding of which teams will be lining up to be annihilated in play in Super Bowl XLII.
So how would you rank the teams after Week 9? Click here to access SportsNation's ranking tool.
BIGGEST RISE: New Orleans Saints from 19th to 11th.
BIGGEST DROP: Denver Broncos from 16th to 25th.
