Week 9 Power Rankings: 7 & 8

7 (3). New England Patriots (5-3)
What a fall from grace! The past fortnight has been a hellishly humiliating time for Bill Belichick’s soft defence and suddenly unsynchronised offense. Losing to the Steelers is a forgivable slip-up given the team’s pedigree, but the Giants?

Again?

It seems Tom Coughlin has Brady’s number. The defence utilised in the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl upset and the schemes employed on Sunday really bamboozle the New England hero. At times, especially in the first half, he looked decidedly average, and although able to break the coverage in the second and give his team the lead with a minute and a half left on the clock, his counterpart – Eli manning, you know the guy? – coolly drove the Giants downfield and tossed the winning TD with a handful of seconds left of the game.


Reminiscent of Super Bowl XLI. Lets hope the wheels don’t fall of completely. The Pats need to bounce back; never more so now they’ve fallen into a 3-way tie with Buffalo and a surging New York Jets.


8. Houston Texans (6-3)
One of only 2 non-movers in the top 12 this week, the Texans won to keep the pressure on the uninspiring Titans. If the Colts lose one more game (that would make a total of 10 losses this season), they will officially relinquish their crown to the heir presumptive, who will try and hold-off what will no doubt be legendary charges from booth the Jags and Titans, who will both want to buy in to a much reduced title.

The Texans have one foot in the playoffs and wholly deserve to be ranked as the fourth best AFC team and are a good shout for 3rd, maybe even 1st or 2nd seed.


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