The Kansas City Chiefs are on top of the Associated Press power poll.
They had to share first place in the AP Pro32 rankings with the Seattle Seahawks, though, despite being the NFL’s last undefeated team.
The Chiefs and Seahawks each had 369 points from the 12-member panel, with the Chiefs getting six first-place votes and the Seahawks four.
The Denver Broncos took the other two and came in a close third with 360 points.
The Seahawks, who topped the Chiefs 378-367 in the previous poll, struggled through their game at St. Louis on Monday and pulled out a 14-9 victory to improve to 7-1.
“It was an ugly road win against Rams, but a win is a win. Can’t wait for Percy Harvin to show up,” wrote Fox editorial consultant John Czarnecki, referring to the recovering wide receiver who is due back soon from a hip injury.
The Chiefs weren’t all that much more impressive at home, beating the Cleveland Browns 23-17, but the same logic applies to them.
“When you are the only undefeated team, it doesn’t matter how it looks,” said ESPN analyst Herm Edwards.
The only other team with one loss or fewer, the New Orleans Saints, finished fourth.
“Big props to new coordinator Rob Ryan for solving chronic defensive woes,” wrote Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.
Some skepticism of the Saints lingers, though. They play at the New York Jets on Sunday.
“New Orleans can score 30-plus points at home against any team,” said Pat Kirwan, an analyst for Sirius XM satellite radio and CBSSports.com “Let’s see how they do on the road this week when the Ryan brothers face off in New York. The Saints average 23 points a game away from New Orleans.”
The Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers were tied for the fifth spot. Rounding out the top 10: the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots and Detroit Lions. The Lions captured some attention, moving up from 12th, with their 31-30 comeback victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
“The Lions have the best passing attack in the NFC, the best this side of the Rockies, in fact. Now Matthew Stafford gets to rest his arm on a bye week,” wrote Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News.
There were plenty of major movers. The New York Giants climbed from 29th to 22nd, the Oakland Raiders rose from 28th to 18th, the Arizona Cardinals soared from 24th to 16th, and the Carolina Panthers jumped from 16th to 12th.
Even the winless Jacksonville Jaguars got a little love, sort of. They got two votes for 31st, instead of the usual unanimous last place finish. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the other team yet to record a victory, are one spot ahead of them.
Said Newsday’s Bob Glauber of the Buccaneers: “They have a look of a team tired of its coach and each other.”