2009: Year of the Offense (NFL Power Rankings Week 8)

As I watched the Saints beat the Falcons 35-27 on this past weeks MNF, I couldn't help think of 2008 Oklahoma football. The whole attitude of "We're gonna put up a ton of points, try to keep up." And not only that, but the fact that their defense forced 3 interceptions out of the usually efficient Matt Ryan. At the halfway point of the regular season, the Saints are, at least in my opinion, the definite front-runner for the Super Bowl.

On the other end of the ranking, the Rams (29 up from 32)finally got off the schnide, beating the almost equally bad Lions 17-10. So at least in terms of wins and losses, the '09 Rams are better than the '08 0-16 Lions. But they're still the Rams. Looking at their schedule, there's pretty much only one winnable game left (home vs. Seattle), so I would say you could pencil them in for a 2-14 season.

The Browns (32 down from 29) on the other hand, have an even easier remaining schedule than the Rams, but have about an equal chance of going 2-14. Of eight games remaining, four of them are against teams ranked 24th or below according to this weeks power rankings (@Det, @KC, v.Oak, v.Jax). Although I couldn't tell you which one it would come from (my guess would be the home against Oakland game), but can't be more than one win coming from these four. There offense can only be described as anemic. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan called a pretty good game against the Bears, allowing only 2 touchdowns in 5 red zone trips.

The Texans (11 up from 18 last week) are quietly 5-3 behind the 7-0 Colts, and if the season ended today, would have their first ever playoff appearance. It's really the definition of under the radar, with all the attention on Indy and Peyton Manning's MVP-type season. Matt Schaub is passing at a 66.4% clip, for 16 TD, 7 INT, and a 100.5 rating. Who is this 100.5 rating ahead of? Tom Brady (99.9), Tony Romo (96.8), Carson Palmer (89.2), and Eli Manning (86.4). I'm not sure Houston will be able to ride Schaub's arm all season, with a run game only posting 92.5 yards per game (28th in the NFL), but it will be interesting to watch.

The rest of the rankings:

Rank	Team	Last Week
1	Saints (7-0)	1
2	Colts (7-0)	2
3	Steelers (5-2)	4
4	Vikings (7-1)	5
5	Patriots (5-2)	6
6	Broncos (6-1)	3
7	Eagles (5-2)	10
8	Falcons (4-3)	7
9	Bengals (5-2)	8
10	Ravens (4-3)	12
11	Texans (5-3)	18
12	Giants (5-3)	9
13	Cowboys (5-2)	15
14	49ers (3-4)	14
15	Bears (4-3)	19
16	Cardinals (4-3)	11
17	Chargers (4-3)	17
18	Jets (4-4)	13
19	Packers (4-3)	16
20	Dolphins (3-4)	20
21	Panthers (3-4)	24
22	Bills (3-5)	21
23	Seahawks (2-5)	22
24	Jaguars (3-4)	23
25	Redskins (2-5)	25
26	Titans (1-6)	30
27	Chiefs (1-6)	27
28	Raiders (2-6)	26
29	Rams (1-7)	32
30	Lions (1-6)	28
31	Buccaneers (0-7)	31
32	Browns (1-7)	29