2007 NFL Week 9 Barometer

Week 8 saw the rise of the New Orleans offense and the Giants’ win streak hit six games. The Saints scored 31 points in a rout of the San Francisco 49ers. Drew Brees, Marques Colston, and Reggie Bush looked like they did last year. The Giants started the season with a couple of losses, but have now improved to 6-2. They are battling the Cowboys for that NFC East title. See how the resurgence of the Saints offense and the Giants’ win streak affected their rankings this week!

After each week of the NFL season, several active Cafe members get together and rank the 32 NFL teams from first to worst. The Barometer is an average of the rankings submitted by these members. To maintain consistency, the high and low scores have been removed.

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	J a s o n	B a n d i t	M a d a s	s L i m	P m o n e y	W a C o u g	L e S w i p r e	t r e a t	J o e l	K n a p p
1 (1)		New England	1.4	1	2	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	1
It’s funny how when LT called them classless he caught grief. I guess it took a little time for the Patriots to show their true colors to everyone else.
2 (2)		Indianapolis	1.5	2	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	2	1
It’s starting to look like next week’s game against the Patriots will be a better game than whatever the Superbowl matchup ends up being.
3 (3)		Dallas	3.1	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	3
Coming off a bye, the Cowboys head into Philly for an NFC East showdown.
4 (4)		Pittsburgh	4.6	4	5	4	4	6	4	5	5	4	6
The Steelers just hand the ball to Willie Parker and watch the wins pile up.
5 (5)		Green Bay	5.3	6	6	5	5	4	6	4	6	6	4
The gunslinger throws for 331 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including an 82-yarder in overtime, to beat the Broncos on Monday night. More importantly, did the Pack find a running game? That could be a huge change moving forward.
6 (7)		San Diego	5.6	5	3	6	7	7	5	7	3	5	10
The Chargers have found themselves again. They are playing like the contenders they were and head into Minnesota this week. It should be a fun game to watch with the best two running backs in the league playing.
7 (6)		NY Giants	6.5	7	7	7	6	5	7	6	7	7	5
The Giants didn’t seem to try very hard to beat Miami. They almost let the Dolphins get back into the game a couple of times. I think they were looking forward to the bye week.
8 (9)		Jacksonville	8.4	8	9	9	8	9	11	8	8	8	8
Jacksonville took down the Buccaneers in a close one. This week they take on the Saints, who seems to have found their offense again.
9 (10)		Tennessee	9.3	9	8	8	15	10	10	9	9	11	7
The Titans barely made it by the Raiders this week. At least LenDale White is really looking like a solid NFL running back.
10 (12)		Detroit	9.9	11	10	10	9	8	9	11	11	10	9
Detroit can score points. There is no question about that. They held the Bears to a solitary touchdown. That is less of a statement about the Lions defense than it is an indictment of the Bears anemic offense.
11 (8)		Washington	11.9	10	12	17	13	11	12	10	10	9	17
They dropped three spots this week after losing to the Pats. There is no shame in losing to the Patriots, they are a very good team.
12 (13)		Seattle	12.1	13	18	12	11	12	8	13	12	13	11
The Seahawks took the week off. This week they will have their hands full trying to stop Braylon Edwards and the Browns’ offense.
13 (11)		Baltimore	13.4	12	17	11	14	18	13	12	14	12	13
Finally! Baltimore actually faces a tough opponent this week. If they can beat Pittsburgh on Monday night I will start believing in this team.
14 (14)		Tampa Bay	14.6	15	14	18	10	14	14	18	13	17	12
I thought the Bucs were going to hold on to win this week but Jacksonville just wanted it more. I expect them to rebound against the Cardinals.
15 (19)		Cleveland	15.1	14	11	22	12	13	15	17	17	19	14
The Browns are actually playing well on offense. In the NFC they might have a chance. Unfortunately, they play in the good conference.
16 (15)		Carolina	15.8	16	16	13	18	15	19	14	16	16	15
The Panthers can’t keep any quarterbacks healthy. If I were a free agent quarterback I wouldn’t even accept a contract form them. It’s almost a guaranteed injury waiting to happen.
17 (17)		Kansas City	16.1	17	13	15	17	17	18	15	18	14	16
They had won four out of five games going into their bye week. Did the bye week cool them down or will they continue their hot streak against the Packers?
18 (16)		Denver	16.4	18	15	19	16	16	16	16	15	15	24
Denver has had an incredibly tough schedule so far. I think they are a good team that just hasn’t had the ball bounce their way yet. At 3-4 they are certainly not out of contention by any means. It can only get easier from here.
19 (22)		Philadelphia	19.6	20	20	16	22	20	20	20	21	18	18
The Eagles lost to the Bears and beat the Vikings. I just don’t get that.
20 (24)		New Orleans	20.4	23	19	14	19	22	17	22	22	22	20
Drew Brees had a great game and connected with Colston three times for touchdowns. Has the offense found itself? Should we expect these types of numbers from here on out?
21 (18)		Houston	20.5	19	23	20	20	19	23	19	19	26	21
Is there a position on the Houston offense that isn’t prone to injury this year? They are 1-5 since losing Andre Johnson.
22 (21)		Arizona	20.9	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	23	19
Warner should be ready to go this week. With all their offensive weapons fairly healthy, the Bucs will have their hands full this week.
23 (20)		Chicago	23.1	22	24	26	24	23	22	23	25	20	22
The Bears lost to Detroit, their division rival, on Sunday. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. At least they can’t lose this week.
24 (26)		Buffalo	24.1	24	22	24	25	25	24	24	26	24	23
The Bills have found a way to get the ball to Lee Evans again. This week they play a defenseless Bengals team. Lee shouldn’t have any problem scoring on them.
25 (23)		Cincinnati	25.1	27	25	23	23	24	25	26	24	27	27
The Bengals lost to Pittsburgh, which isn’t embarrassing because the Steelers have a good team. Their lack of defense has led them to only 2 wins. I guess a good offense isn’t always the best defense.
26 (25)		Minnesota	25.3	25	26	25	27	26	27	25	23	21	25
If they only had a quarterback and a coach that knew how to call plays.
27 (27)		Oakland	26.5	26	27	27	26	27	26	27	27	25	26
The Raiders couldn’t muster up enough offense to beat the Titans. Maybe they will have better luck against the Texans.
28 (28)		San Francisco	28.3	28	28	30	28	28	30	28	28	28	28
The 49ers have not looked good this year, but if there is a team they can get back on track against, it might be the Falcons.
29 (29)		NY Jets	29.1	29	30	28	29	29	28	30	29	29	30
Mangenius has lead his team to a 1-7 start. Make that 1-8 once the Redskins take out their pent up aggression from last week on them.
30 (30)		Atlanta	29.5	30	29	29	30	30	29	29	30	30	29
The Falcons took the week off. Hopefully Petrino read this last week and will get Norwood more touches. They need to get the ball in the hands of players that can make things happen.
31 (31)		St. Louis	31.1	31	31	31	32	31	31	31	31	31	32
Steven Jackson looked like a beast in his return, that is until he started hurting again. He should be back in full form after the bye week.
32 (32)		Miami	31.9	32	32	32	31	32	32	32	32	32	31
Miami may be turning to rookie quarterback John Beck now that the season is all but lost. Smart move. I just hope they get at least 1 win this year.

Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen!

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