Week 9
RICK GOSSELIN (Dallas Morning News)
1. Atlanta—The Falcons are already in the house with a perfect 4-0 record against the AFC.
2. Houston—The Texans have one of the NFL's best rushing attacks with Arian Foster but have lost only one fumble all season. Houston has committed a league-low six turnovers.
3. San Francisco—The 49ers have held four of their last five opponents without a touchdown.
4. New York Giants—The Giants lead the NFL with 24 takeaways, including a league-best 16 interceptions. New York intercepted only 20 passes all of last season on the way to an NFL title.
5. Chicago—The addition of Brandon Marshall hasn't given quarterback Jay Cutler or the offense the jump the Bears had hoped. Chicago ranks 30th in the NFL in passing this season.
6. Baltimore—The Ravens offense is controlling the ball for barely 26 minutes per game. That puts too much pressure on a Ray Lewis-less defense.
7. New England—The Patriots are one of four teams with byes this week along with the Jets, 49ers and Rams.
8. Green Bay—The Packers lead the NFL with 26 sacks.
9. Denver—The top 10 defense of the Broncos has taken a hit with the loss of middle linebacker Joe Mays with a fractured leg.
10. Pittsburgh—Let's hope the Steelers retire the throwback uniforms they
wore last weekend. Those were throwaway uniforms, a poor use of stripes.11. Minnesota—Unheralded outside linebacker Chad Greenway of the Vikings leads the NFL in tackles with 81.
12. Miami—With a new coach and a new quarterback, the Dolphins have emerged as a wild-card playoff contender.
13. Indianapolis—Andrew Luck completed 71.3 percent of his passes last season at Stanford. But he's finding tighter windows in the NFL, where he is completing just 55.6 percent of his passes as a rookie.
14. Arizona—The Cardinals opened the season with four consecutive victories. Now they've suffered four consecutive losses to reach .500.
15. Detroit—The Lions rank second in the NFL in offense and ninth in defense but have just a 3-4 record and last place in the NFC North to show for it.
16. Seattle—If the 4-4 Seahawks are to make a playoff push, it will come in the next two weeks with home games against Minnesota and the Jets—two teams as offensively-challenged as the Seattle.
17. Dallas—Quarterback Tony Romo leads the NFL with 13 interceptions. He threw only 10 all of last season. And he still has nine games remaining in 2012.
18. Tampa Bay—QB Josh Freeman has been hot since the bye. He threw five TD passes in the four games before the bye—but has six TD passes in the two games since the bye, including a 300- and 400-yard game.
19. Cincinnati—The Bengals have a three-game losing streak and a quarterback in a sophomore slump. Andy Dalton has committed seven turnovers in those last three games.
20. Philadelphia—Is a quarterback change on the horizon for the fading Eagles? Rookie Nick Foles waits in the wings.
21. Buffalo—The bye week allowed DE Mario Williams to have surgery on his wrist. The Bills are 15-8 coming off byes.
22. Oakland—The Raiders don't have a wideout in the top 60 in the NFL in receiving. Oakland is in dire need of plays on the flank.
23. Washington—The Redskins have allowed a league-high 19 touchdown passes this season. They miss their Pro Bowl pass rusher Brian Orakpo.
24. San Diego—Despite an offense with QB Philip Rivers and TE Antonio Gates, the Chargers have not scored a touchdown in their last six quarters.
25. Tennessee—The Titans have allowed a league-high 257 points. That's an average of 32 points per game—way too much pressure to put on a Tennessee offense operating with a backup quarterback.
26. New Orleans—How bad is the Saints defense—50 yards worse than anyone else in the league. The Saints are allowing 474 yards per game.
27. New York Jets—Mark Sanchez has a passer efficiency rating of 72.8. That's worse than rookie NFL starters Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill and Andrew Luck.
28. Cleveland—The Browns are one of only three teams that has not won on the road yet this season along with the Panthers and Rams. Cleveland has the worst road record of the three at 0-4.
29. St. Louis—The Rams are the worst team in the NFC West at 3-4, yet remain unbeaten in the division at 2-0.
30. Carolina—The Panthers have lost five in a row. The last four have been by five points or less: Chicago (1), Dallas (5), Seattle (4) and Atlanta (2).
31. Kansas City—Remember when Arrowhead Stadium offered the Chiefs the best homefield advantage in the NFL? Hapless KC is 0-4 at home this season. The Chiefs and the Jaguars are the only two teams that have not won at home this season.
32. Jacksonville—If you can't rush the passer in the NFL, you're cooked. The Jaguars have the worst pass rush in the league with just seven sacks through seven games.
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