According to this morning’s batch of NFL power rankings, the Atlanta Falcons will welcome one of the NFL’s best teams on Thursday night. The Baltimore Ravens are ranked first, second, or third in every set of week 10 rankings that’s come out so far. Yesterday, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King started us off with his top fifteen, featuring the Ravens at the top, the New York Giants topping the NFC, and the Falcons at seventh:
You should be able to enjoy a clutch late win over your upstart division rivals for a while. "No 24-hour rule this week,‘’ coach Mike Smith announced after the game. "Two hours.’’ Falcons host the first Thursday night game of the year (not including the Saints-Vikes opener) against Baltimore, and the Falcons coaches had to get to work Sunday night on the game plan.
Boston’s WEEI also has the Ravens first, with the New York Jets staying ahead of the Giants despite two straight very ugly games against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. East coast bias! No, wait. AFC East bias! Yes, they have the New England Patriots ahead of the Falcons, with the Birds taking sixth:
Aside from the Patriots, one could make an argument that the Falcons are the best home team in football. Matt Ryan doesn’t lose in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons are proving they are a Super Bowl contender each week. Atlanta’s D stepped up in the closing minutes to make a game saving goal line stop and solidify first-place in the NFC South. Football fans can look forward to Thursday night in which the Ravens will travel to Atlanta for what should be a great game.
Still don’t get the apparently widespread perception that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would’ve won Sunday’s game if they’d converted that fourth-and-short. The Falcons would’ve gotten the ball back with well over two minutes, needing only a field goal and armed with Roddy White. Sounds very doable to me. Anyway.
The equally Patriot-friendly, but far more specific-sounding, NE Patriots Draft has the Pats fifth, with the Falcons fifth in the NFC behind the Giants, Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles. So much for AFC dominance. NFL News World loves the Eagles, ranking Michael Vick and company fourth and the Falcons seventh.