Touchdown Dance: NFL Power Rankings & Week 8 Review

They don't play conventional Despite having way too many afternoon games and no Sunday night game this weekend in the NFL did provide some nice entertainment as usual. The league now only has two undefeated teams, one form each conference. Along with a couple of teams that notched their first victory for the year. The NFC's best have separated themselves more than the AFC where their is a jumble of good teams vying to be known as the best in the conference. Here is the NFL Power Rankings as we see them at Touchdown Dance and the how the teams arrived there.

1. New Orleans Saints (7-0) (-) The Saints just keep on marching up and down the field against whomever defense lines up against them. The injury to Sederick Ellis looks to have impacted the run defense already with Michael Turner running for over 150 yards, but what team in the league can keep pace with the Saints offense?
2. Minnesota Vikings (7-1) (3) The Vikings went into Lambeau for another Favre circus and beat up on their top competition in the NFC North. The defense looked dominate in the first half, but as like most of the season came out lackluster in the 2nd. Favre and the offense looked very good all game long much like they have all season. The Vikings get to bask in their glory as the watch all te other teams while on the bye this weekend.
3. Indianapolis Colts (7-0) (2) The Colts of a running game is going to cost them later in the year, but with Peyton Manning the Colts can go as far as anyone in the AFC.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) (5) The Steelers come out of the bye up one spot going into a tougher than once thought battle against Denver in Week nine. The Steelers will face a tough test in the Mile High City.
5. Denver Broncos (6-1) (4) No one expected them to get to (6-0) in the first place so a tough loss on the road against a must win team in the Ravens doesn't have the Broncos falling to far.
6. New England Patriots (5-2) (-) The Patriots went into the bye with its offense hitting on all cylinders. Lets see how they fair this week as the Wildcat crazy Dolphins come to town.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) (10) Still a little inconsistent on offense, but took it to the Giants early and the defense has looked better the last couple of weeks. The Eagles are slowly creeping back up the charts after the embarrassing loss to the Raiders. The team faces another tough test when they face the Cowboys in Philly on Sunday night.
8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) (-) Coming out of the bye after giving the Bears a beat down before their mini-vacation the Bengals face another tough test when the Ravens come to the Queen City looking for revenge. This game will go along ways to tell us if the Bengals are contenders or pretenders.
9. Baltimore Ravens (4-3) (-) The Ravens looked to right the ship as far as their defense goes as they put a licking on the Broncos. With the offense playing consistently the Ravens can get right back into the AFC North race if the defense plays like last week.
10. Houston Texans (5-3) (14) Have they finally arrived? It sure looks like it with consistent play for the last three weeks. The win in Buffalo wasn't pretty, but they found a way to get the job down. Unfortunately, they lost a big play guy in Owen Daniels for the season to an ACL injury.
11. Dallas Cowboys (5-2) (16) The Cowboys have found the old version of Tony Romo and he looks to be even better. Romo's mistake free football has lead the resurgence of the Cowboys to the tie for the NFC East. This week will be the toughest test in awhile as they travel to Philly to play the Eagles.
12. NY Giants (5-3) (7) The Giants have hit the tough part in their schedule have yet to be up to the task. The team looks lost both on offense and defense, but has too much talent to fall off to far. After the bad loss to the Eagles, the Giants go back home to play another underachiever in the San Diego Chargers.
13. Atlanta Falcons (4-3) (11) It's happened, Matt Ryan has lost two games in a row since coming into the league last season. This week it was a tough loss to NFC South division leader Saints. The Falcons look to get back on track as the Redskins visit the Georgia Dome this weekend.
14. Miami Dolphins (3-4) (19) They don't play conventional NFL offense and haven't won their 3 games conventionally. Whether it be the Wildcat offense, the defense and this weeks special teams. The Dolphins are a tough team to put away and always play tough. Ted Ginn beat the NY Jets with his legs this weekend, but the Dolphins will need all three phases to create a win in Foxboro this weekend.
15. Green Bay (4-3) (12) When you can't block you usually don't win. So the Packers will be up and down all season. This weekend the Packers and Aaron Rodgers took a beating in the first half from the Vikings. The defense is still a work in progress and will help contribute to the Packers inconsistency for the rest of the year.
16. Arizona Cardinals (4-3) (13) Was it a payback loss handed out by the Carolina Panthers or is this Cardinals team just mediocre. Kurt Warner had a very bad game and injuries haven't helped, but the team will have to regroup fast as they travel to Chicago this weekend.
17. NY Jets (4-4) (15) I'm sure the special teams unit of the Jets will be facing some tackling drills this week during practice. The Jets special teams single handily cost the Jets a win against the Dolphins. The Jets will have time to reflect their lack of success lately being on the bye this week.
18. San Diego (4-3) (-) The underachievers crawled back over .500 and thanks to the Ravens a game closer to the Broncos for the AFC West division lead. With that said the Chargers looked lackluster against a bad Raiders team. They'll take whatever they can get right now though. The team travels to the East coast to face the Giants. Not an easy trip for any West coast team.
19. San Francisco 49ers (3-4) (17) The played a tough game against the undefeated Colts this weekend in Indianapolis, but came up short just like the week before. The 49ers defense is better than most, but the lack of offense will keep them fighting mediocrity all season long.
20. Chicago Bears (4-3) (-) Investing in a franchise quarterback doesn't do you very good if you can't block anyone. Cutler took a ton of abuse from a very bad Browns team. The defense was solid, but the Browns can make a high school defense look decent.
21. Carolina Panthers (3-4) (24) The Panthers finally found a winning formula. Don't let Jake Delhomme pass the ball and hand it continually to your two very good running backs. The defense played very well this weekend coming up with 6 turnovers against the Cardinals. The hole the dug themselves will be too much to climb out of to get back in the NFC payoff picture.
22. Tennessee Titans (1-7) (26) Was the change in quarterback the reason to pick up their first victory, probably not. What it was, was facing a bad Jaguars team and the commitment to the run. Chris Johnson was a beast this weekend and may prove to be the formula for the Titans to get back to respectability.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) (22) The Jaguars gave the Titans their first victory with the lack of a passing game and inability to tackle in space. The Jaguars could get back on the winning track as the Chiefs come to town this weekend.
24. Seattle Seahawks (2-5) (23) The injuries at the offensive line would handcuff most teams in the NFL, but the Seahawks had hopes that some returning injured defensive players would help which they didn't in Dallas this past Sunday. The team has the talent to pull out big wins, but the injuries will cost this team more losses. They have a winnable game this weekend as the Lions invade Qwest Field.
25. Buffalo Bills (2-5) (21) Another team decimated by injuries, but even more so by a very disappointing offense. The Bills will compete in every game, but just doesn't have the horses to stay competitive for four quarters. The Bills get a break from losing as they rest their injuries during the bye week.
26. Washington Redskins (2-5) (27) The Redskins defense is really pretty good, but just not good enough to make up for that horrible offense. Will see if new offensive play caller Sherm Lewis can lead the Redskins offense to the endzone as they travel to Georgia to face the Falcons on Sunday.
27. Oakland Raiders (2-6) (28) Despite having the worst quarterback in the league this team does play tough, but you have to when you have Tom Cable as your head coach or he might punch you in the face. He'll have plenty of time to abuse others as the Raiders sit around on the bye this weekend.
28. Kansas City Chiefs (1-6) (29) The Chiefs come out of the bye with no Larry Johnson and big questions about the moves they have made thus far in the Scott Pioli/Todd Haley era. They have a winnable game this weekend as they travel to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars.
29. St. Louis Rams (1-7) (30) The finally got it, a win. Steven Jackson is the best player on the worst team in the league. Other than that the Rams don;t have much to hang their hat on in the victory over the Lions. The Rams will have a chance to bask in the glory of the win as they get the bye.
30. Detroit Lions (1-6) (25) Though the Lions took the loss to the Rams they did have good new as Matt Stafford made it back to the field after a few weeks off due to a knee injury. They may not have many more wins on the schedule, but at least they're better than last year.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-7) (-) What usually happens when you are this bad, you go through quarterbacks like water. This week against the Packers the Bucs will debut rookie quarterback Josh Freeman. The Bucs could be the next team to go win less for a whole season.
32. Cleveland Browns (1-7) (-) You really have to be a moron to stick with a quarterback as bad as Derek Anderson, but then again we are talking about Eric Manmoron. The Browns team is as big as mess as any team in the league. From the owner all the way down to the last guy on the practice squad.