NFL Week 9 Rankings

The Fab Five

1. Saints (8-0): The last two weeks, The Saints have shown their resilience coming from behind in both games to stay undefeated. Don't expect them to have to come from behind against the hapless Rams though.

2. Colts (8-0): The Colts jump above the inactive Vikings this week. They were really tested by the Texans, and I'm still not sure they would beat Minnesota head-to-head, but they are still unbeaten. We are going to know a lot more about the Colts after their showdown with the Pats on Sunday night.

3. Vikings (7-1): Brett Favre didn't look like he needed a bye week to rest his reconstructed shoulder, but he got it nonetheless. Last season that shoulder was the reason his form dipped in the second half and Jets season fell apart. Favre's continued good health will be almost as important as winning games for Minnesota in the next two months.

4. Steelers (6-2): Getting Troy Polamalu back from injury has been huge for the Steelers defense, which looked to be getting back to its stiffling best against the Broncos. The Steelers jump ahead of the Patriots this week due to the fact that after all, they are the defending Superbowl champions.

5. Patriots (6-2): The Patriots will probably never again be the football-game-winning machine they were in 2007, but they have been getting better and better as the season wears on. Just like for the Colts, Sunday night will huge in forging this Patriots team's identity.

The Fat Five:

32. Browns (1-7): Cleveland falls to the bottom of the pile this week. Disarray on the management side of things, poor performances on the field, this Browns team might sit here for a while.

31. Lions (1-7): Matthew Stafford had his worst game as a Lion against the Seahawks, throwing 5 picks, and making a lot of poor decisions. Detroit also blew a 17 point lead against an average NFL team, and only scored 3 points in the last three quarters. Now they travel to Minnesota where Stafford will face a physical defense and the best defensive end in football right now, Jared Allen.

30. Chiefs (1-7): This is a rebuilding young team who played the Jaguars close last week. Interesting game against Oakland coming up, one that the Chiefs have a realistic chance of winning. Unlike some of the other teams in the bottom five, this is a team going in the right direction.

29. Rams (1-7): St Louis have only beaten the Lions this year, and that was the easiest game on their schedule this year. Time to start looking at next year's draft prospects...

28. Buccaneers (1-7): Tampa Bay jump up four spots this week on the strength of their comeback win against Green Bay. Coach Raheem Morris came out and heaped a lot of praise on rookie quarterback Josh Freeman after his performance in his first NFL start. The question is: can Freeman continue to perform as people start expect more from him?