Foxboro Blog Top 12: Week 6

There’s a new team on top of the rankings and for the first time in the history of this site’s Top 12, that team is the New England Patriots.  I think more long and hard about where I rank the Patriots than I do any other team.  I have to try and be fair and consistent, otherwise this entire rankings system becomes a joke.  I won’t deny that there’s some bias involved each week, but I don’t think anyone could look at this list at the moment and think I’m a homer who’s out of his mind.  I honestly believe this #1 ranking is more than well-deserved.

In other news, we welcome three new teams to the Top 12, Philadelphia, Tennessee, and Miami.  Leaving the list are the suddenly struggling Bears, the Redskins who respectably held their own against Indy, and the Packers, who can’t get by on their pre-season hype any longer.

Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
1		2	1	4-1	@ Chargers
		I had pretty much made up my mind last week that unless the Jets throttled Denver, the winner of the Pats/Ravens matchup would deserve the top slot.  New England pulled off a classic victory and for the first time in a long time, they showed flashes of the champion teams of old.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
2		3	1	4-2	vs. Bills
		It’s rare to move up a spot after a loss.  Honestly, though, that game could have easily gone either way.  If I’m going to promote the Patriots, it’s only fair to promote the Ravens who were this close to pulling off the first regular season win by a road team at Gillette since 2006.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
3		5	2	4-1	@ Dolphins
		A win at home against Cleveland won’t earn you much in my book.  I’m still not entirely sold on Pittsburgh, but some questionable performances by the teams above them account for their rise.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
4		1	3	5-1	Bye Week
		Win and drop three spots?  Before you call me a homer, remember this:  I dropped the Pats two spots after beating Buffalo in Week 3.  I also gave the Jets the benefit of the doubt three straight weeks in a row as the #1 team when they were far from the undisputed best. The bottom line is that the past two weeks, New York has been bailed out by Favre missing a wide open receiver and a fairly lame pass interference call.  A win is a win, but I don’t have to respect them for it.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
5		7	2	4-2	Bye Week
		It hasn’t been pretty, but the Colts are still winning games.  Don’t sleep on them.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
6		4	2	4-2	vs. Bengals
		That was a really ugly loss, and probably worthy of a bigger drop.  Also, in retrospect, they’ve had some less than convincing victories.  They did beat the Saints though, so I won’t drop them down past New Orleans just yet.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
7		10	3	3-2	vs. Browns
		For the first time this year, New Orleans played like the defending champs they are.  Will it continue?
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
8		8	0	4-2	@ Cowboys
		The G-Men don’t rise this week, but they’re quietly earning a lot of stock with me.  If they can avoid falling into the trap that is the flailing Cowboys, they could be due for a big rise next week.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
9		11	2	4-2	Bye Week
		Houston came dangerously close to losing to KC.  This team still seems a little schizo to me.  The upcoming bye week may be the only time this season where we know what to expect from them.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
10		N/A	N/A	4-2	@ Titans
		I’ve been flirting with the Eagles on this list for a couple of weeks now.  The QB uncertainty has kept them off the list.  Kevin Kolb’s big game against Atlanta erased any reasons I had to keep them off yet again.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
11		N/A	N/A	4-2	vs. Eagles
		Tennessee is playing some sneaky good football.  They could be the reason the Colts inexplicably miss out on the playoffs this year.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
12		N/A	N/A	4-2	vs. Steelers
		I wanted to put Miami back on the list, but that would have involved dropping last week’s #6 team, Green Bay, down seven slots to push them off the list.  That’s a little harsh given the Packers lost in overtime, not a blow-out.  The more I thought about it, though, Green Bay is in a tail spin, is currently .500, probably didnt’ deserve to be #6 last week anyway, and did just lose to the Dolphins.   Welcome back to the Top 12, Miami.