How about a little power ranking knowledge for the week?


RANK
1

7-2 PATRIOTS
2

Will keep this short and sweet. The way Tom Brady is playing -- and the way the secondary has been performing over the past few weeks -- methinks New England could beat any team in the league. Not feeling so bad about my preseason Super Bowl pick now. (Midseason, too.)



RANK
2

7-1 CARDINALS


From the "Did you know?" department ... Did you know the last time the Cardinals went this deep in the season with the league's best record was 1966, when they were 7-1-1 after Week 9? This was before bye weeks. But you know, fans love byes so much, we could never go back.



RANK
3

6-2 BRONCOS
2

Obviously the Broncos had to drop, given what happened in New England. Peyton Manning hasn't pressed that hard since the Super Bowl, and to put it candidly, it showed. The run game has been completely absent in Denver's two losses: 36 yards in Seattle, 43 on Sunday. Manning or no Manning, you still have to be able to run in spots to win it all. #situationalfootball.



RANK
4

6-2 EAGLES


Kudos to Mark Sanchez, who capitalized on a second opportunity after a well-publicized failure with his initial team. The list of NFL players who struggled at their first stop but managed to carry on successfully in other cities includes numerous Hall of Fame and Hall of Very Good quarterbacks: Len Dawson, Earl Morrall, Billy Kilmer, Steve Young and Rich Gannon, to name a few.



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