NFL Power Rankings: Rams Upset The Saints, Monday Night Overtime Thriller

Week 8 in the NFL started with plenty of potential for upsets, but only one actually occurred. Both the Dolphins and the Cardinals gave up halftime leads only to see themselves sink further into the doldrums of the league. The power rankings will still be looking at a major shift this week. 

Let's jump into it. As always, LW= Last Week's Ranking. 

1. Green Bay Packers (7-0) (LW: 1): The Packers are still the cream of the crop. Still undefeated, they head to San Diego to take on the struggling Chargers next week. 

2. San Francisco 49ers (6-1) (LW: 4): The 49ers have a legitimate defense with a stellar running back in Frank Gore. The NFC West is all but wrapped up at this point. 

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) (LW: 5): Tom Brady came into Heinz Field with a 6-1 all time record... Well, make that 6-2 now. Great win for the Steelers as they really exposed the weak defense of the Pats. 

4. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) (LW: 6): The biggest comeback in Ravens history moves them up two spots in this week's rankings. Joe Flacco kept finding Anquan Boldin as they picked on a young Cardinals secondary. 

5. Buffalo Bills (5-2) (LW: 7): The Bills defeated a terrible Redskins, holding starting running back Ryan Torain to only 14 rushing yards. They were 0-3 when playing in Toronto prior to yesterday. 

6. New Orleans Saints (5-3) (LW: 3): I am absolutely convinced that the Saints giving the Rams their first win of the season was a complete fluke. Drew Brees did not look like himself and they had no run game to compliment him. 

7. New England Patriots (5-2) (LW: 2): The Patriots move to second place in the AFC East after losing to the Steelers. Their defense looked absolutely atrocious, but keep in mind that they do have some key players that are currently injured. Their offense is still as explosive as ever. 

8. Detroit Lions (6-2) (LW: 8): The Lions fail to move up this week because they did what they were supposed to do- they beat Tim Tebow. 

9. Houston Texans (5-3) (LW: 9): With the absence of Andre Johnson, Arian Foster has really stepped up his game. If anyone thought last season was a lucky one for him, they were fooling themselves. 

10. New York Giants (5-2) (LW: 11): They never should have been down in the first place, but great comeback win for Eli Manning and the G-Men. 

11. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) (LW: 12): The Bengals are vying with the Bills (and maybe the Lions) for surprise team of the first half of the NFL season. Andy Dalton looks like he will be a good one. 

12. Oakland Raiders (4-3) (LW: 13): The Raiders were on their bye this week. I am sure their fans are looking forward to seeing how much of the playbook Carson Palmer has learned over this break and seeing what he can do to redeem his poor start. 

13. San Diego Chargers (4-3) (LW: 10): The Chargers were turnover machines in last night's loss to the bearded Todd Haley and his Chiefs. The most costly one came when Philip Rivers fumbled the snap when his team was already in field goal range with only around a minute to go in the game. What a disaster. Oh, and they get the Packers at home next week. 

14. New York Jets (4-3) (LW: 14): A bye week for the Jets should do them some good because they have to travel to Buffalo to take on the division leading Bills next week. 

15. Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) (LW: 22): I really don't know how confident I feel about moving the Iggles up seven spots, but this team looked like the team we thought they would be on Sunday night. Michael Vick was healthy and the Andy Reid lead Eagles are still the bye week masters. 

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) (LW: 15): The Bucs had their bye this week as well. They go in to the Big Easy (New Orleans) next week to test the Saints. It's probably not a good thing that they just lost to the Rams; they'll be coming out with a force against a division rival. 

17. Atlanta Falcons (4-3) (LW: 16): Another bye team. They get a freebie against the Colts next week. 

18. Chicago Bears (4-3) (LW: 17): All of the middle of the pack teams apparently had their byes this week. Coming back from London with a victory, the Bears seem to have found some stability and a way to protect Jay Cutler long enough for him to throw the ball. They travel to Philadelphia next weekend for Monday Night Football. 

19. Tennessee Titans (4-3) (LW: 20): Chris Johnson still refuses to live up to his recent payday, racking up only 34 yards on 14 rushing attempts against the hopeless Colts. If he doesn't improve soon, Javon Ringer could start taking more and more of his snaps away. 

20. Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) (LW: 23): You have gotta give it up for the Chiefs. They have no business being in a division race after starting 0-3 and sustaining several injuries, including one to star running back Jamaal Charles. Yet, they are there and they may just be a worthy opponent for the rest of the season. 

21. Dallas Cowboys (3-4) (LW: 18): The Cowboys' defense looked incompetent from the beginning of the game against the Eagles. They were unable to establish the run game with DeMarco Murray because they were playing while down throughout the entire game. They get a bit of a reprieve next week when they host Seattle. 

22. Cleveland Browns (3-4) (LW: 21): The Browns had to travel west to take on the potent 49ers. It was not surprise that they lost, but now both Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty are injured. If one of them cannot recover by next week's game against Houston, they will have to turn to journeyman Chris Ogbonnaya to carry the rock. 

23. Washington Redskins (3-4) (LW: 19): Seriously, what happened to all of the talk that the Redskins were going to win the division. The NFC East is a really fun story line this year. Both Rex Grossman and John Beck are terrible quarterbacks and one would have to think that Mike Shanahan and Co. are looking at quarterback prospects in the 2012 draft already. 

24. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) (LW: 24): How this team could beat the Ravens, but come out so flat agains the Texans is beyond me. To top off the loss, Blaine Gabbert sustained a rib injury during the game. That's not good news for a team lacking any sort of QB depth. 

25. Minnesota Vikings (2-6) (LW: 28): The battle between Christian Ponder and Cam Newton was a fun one, but Minnesota proved to be the better team this time around. Adrian Peterson is now being featured in the passing game as well, leading the Vikes in receptions with 5. The guy just does it all. 

26. Carolina Panthers (2-6) (LW: 25): Cam Newton was better than Ponder and if Olindo Mare wouldn't have missed a chip shot field goal in the final minute, the results of this game might be different. This team just struggles to close out games, but that is a product of having so much youth on the field. 

27. Seattle Seahawks (2-5) (LW: 26): The 12th man was not able to help the 'Hawks overcome the swarming defense of the Bengals. They have not registered a touchdown in the past two weeks, so really, they're making every defense look capable at this point. 

28. St. Louis Rams (1-6) (LW: 30): Woo hoo! The Rams are on the board and have officially withdrawn their name from the Andrew Luck hat. Way to go. Steven Jackson won't be able to rush for 150 yards every week, but he's off to a good start. They are expected to get Sam Bradford back this week as well when they travel to Glendale to play the Cards. 

29. Denver Broncos (2-5) (LW: 27): When will John Fox finally end the cruel joke of playing Tim Tebow? Just go back to Kyle Orton; Broncos fans, you were wrong. Tebow stinks. 

30. Arizona Cardinals (1-6) (LW: 29): The Cardinals managed to let the Ravens come back from a 21 point deficit to win on a last second field goal. Congrats, Cards! You have all but guaranteed a top five selection in the draft again. 

31. Miami Dolphins (0-7) (LW: 32): The Dolphins actually lead a game... On the road... Against a decent team. But it was only an illusion. Don't worry 'Fins fans, you are still in prime position to land you know who. 

32. Indianapolis Colts (0-8) (LW: 31): At least the Cards and Dolphins were actually in their games... The Colts never even had a chance.