Testaverde Touchdown: NFL Power Poll, Week 9

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Notes
1 (1)		8-0	Another week, the same Falcons story. They play a hard fought game, the game stays close pretty much all the way to the end, the Falcons make enough plays to come out on top, and the nation collectively shrugs. In our defense, what is Atlanta's signature victory? Houston throttled Baltimore. The 49ers tok down the Packers and emasculated the Bills and Jets in back-to-back weeks. Chicago's defense has manhandled almost everyone. Atlanta's best win is...a 13 point victory over the imploding Eagles. So no, Maximus Ryan, we're not entertained yet.
2 (2)		7-1	Houston really hasn't had to break a sweat this season. They've had a couple of close wins, but neither has really been in doubt. Their loss to Green Bay was also out of hand pretty quickly. That makes this week's game with the Bears very interesting. It should be close for much of the game...unless the Texans defense can turn Jay Cutler into Captain Turnover.
3 (4)		6-2	Not much to say about the 49ers. The defense is still great, Frank Gore looks great, and Alex Smith seems to be getting better each week.
4 (5)		7-1	This is getting ridiculous. The defense is averaging a tocuhdown a game. And the Jay Cutler-Brandon Marshall connection is heating up? That's just not fair to the rest of the league. On the flipside, their schedule is about to get a LOT tougher (.409 in the first half, .613 in the second half).
5 (3)		6-3	A troublesome showing for the Giants. They were simply dominated in the battle of wills with the Steelers in the second half of their game. The offense, and Eli Manning specifically, needs to get on track soon. Luckily, there doesn't appear to be any threat among the other 3 teams in the division.
6 (6)		6-3	The good news: Green Bay looks good, and Aaron Rodgers seems to have his swagger back. The bad news: the team is getting just decimated by injuries. The good news: the last time that happened they won the Super Bowl.
7 (7)		5-3	With the Patriots coming off a bye and all but a mortal lock to win this weekend (they're playing the Bills), let's look a little farther ahead. Currently there are 2 teams ahead of the Patriots in the AFC playoff standings. When was the last time the Patriots played a road playoff game? The answer comes a little later in the poll.
8 (8)		5-3	The defense is starting to get its legs under it. Add that to a running-on-all-cylinders Peyton Manning and you're looking at a very tough out come playoff time.
9 (11)		5-3	As I wrote on Tuesday, Pittsburgh's defense is all of a sudden stopping people again. That has to be very worrisome for the rest of the AFC, especially Baltimore, who figured they had a stranglehold on that division just a few weeks ago.
10 (9)		6-2	What is this team's identity now? It's not their defense anymore, as age and injuries have robbed that unit of any semblance of dominance. It's not their offense, as Flacco has regressed back to the same mediocre QB he's always been after a solid first month.
11 (10)		5-4	Reason for hope: Russell Wilson is looking less and less like a rookie each week, his learning curve is practically asymptotic. Reason for pessimism: The defense, which looked elite in the first month, has looked pretty ordinary in the last month. The run defense, especially, has been gashed repeatedly.
12 (14)		5-3	How can you not be impressed by Andrew Luck? Or Chuck Pagano? Or the entire Colts staff for keeping things rolling without Pagano? Or the entire Colts team? Oh, and by the way, the answer to the Patriots question above? January 21, 2007, the 38-34 come-from-ahead loss in the AFC Championship game to the Colts.
13 (15)		4-4	Detroit finally seems to be getting its mojo back. Unfortunately, they have the hardest remaining schedule remaining. Their remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of .714.
14 (13)		4-4	At the beginning of the season most had Miami pegged as easily the last place team in the AFC East. Now we're 9 weeks into the season, and Miami is the only credible threat to the Patriots at just one game back of the division leaders.
15 (12)		5-4	This team was rolling along with a very delicate balance of Adrian Peterson, defense, and just enough of a passing game. In the last couple of weeks the defense has taken a big step back, the passing game has collapsed, and Peterson just can't do it all himself.
16 (21)		4-4	It took him about 1.25 seasons, but Josh Freeman is finally building on his big 2010 and continuing his maturation process into a potential franchise QB.
17 (17)		3-5	This team may get the best results relative to the talent on the roster of anyone in the NFL. At worst they're top 3. That's quite a testament to Jeff Fisher.
18 (23)		3-5	New Orleans got back to their defensive roots against Philadelphia: pressure, pressure, and more pressure. It helped that the Eagles were down to backups at 4 of their 5 offensive line positions.
19 (22)		4-4	Even what ended up being a blowout win over the hapless Chiefs doesn't really make you feel any better about this team. There is still something very wrong with Phillip Rivers, and at some point you just have to accept that he's not the same guy who set the league afire a few years ago.
20 (19)		3-5	Dallas has this down to a science. They are in almost every game in the 4th quarter, and yet they continually find a way to lose. Teams frequently talk about having to learn to win, so that when they're in a pressure, late-game situation, they can make the plays necessary to win. Dallas has learned to lose. No matter what is required, someone on the Cowboys will step down and make the plays necessary to lose the game.
21 (20)		4-5	That 4-0 start feels like 3 seasons ago, doesn't it?
22 (16)		3-5	Just an abysmal atmosphere surrounding this team. Hard to tell who's more to blame, the players for not making plays, or the coaching staff for not putting the players in the best position to make those plays.
23 (24)		3-5	The Jets may believe Mark Sanchez is the best quarterback on the roster (and he probably is), but it has to be clear that he's not going to lead this team anywhere of significance. Not this year, and likely not ever. He's a complimentary piece, that's it. With that known, why not overhaul your offense and see what Tim Tebow can do leading the single wing? It got the Broncos to the playoffs last year.
24 (25)		3-5	This team just keeps going backwards. It's a team that desperately needs some leaders to step up and say the current effort isn't good enough, and that everyone needs to give more to get out of their funk.
25 (18)		3-6	The poor record was expected. More concerning is the fact that the offense looks substantially less dynamic these last few weeks. Is the league catching up to RG3? It happened with Cam Newton last year about this point of the season.
26 (26)		3-5	Buffalo kept it close for a half, but this isn't Cleveland or St. Louis, there are no moral victories in Buffalo. This team spent way too much money over the last 1.5 seasons to settle for keeping the game tight for a half.
27 (28)		2-7	I know the record isn't great, and the playoffs are a pipe dream, but Cleveland fans have to respect the effort this team is giving week-in and week-out. With so little offensive skill talent, that Cleveland has been so close in so many games is a testament to their heart.
28 (27)		3-6	The Matt Hasselbeck veteran magic seems to be wearing off.
29 (29)		3-5	Classic Carson Palmer: 414 yards and 4 TDs…but 3 interceptions. In fairness, they did ask Palmer to throw it 61 times. Where on earth did the running game go?
30 (30)		2-6	Carolina has quietly held Dallas to 19 points, the Bears to 16 offensive points, and Washington to 13 points. Cam still has miles of improvement to go, but at least the defense has righted the ship.
31 (32)		1-7	Not sure why the NFL decided to subject England to this team for one game in each of the next three years.
32 (31)		1-7	Well, apparently it is possible to out-Norv Norv and out-Rivers Phillip Rivers. Who knew?