The NFL regular season has reached the midway point and not without some surprises.  Who would have thought that the Kansas City Chiefs would be the league’s lone undefeated team at 8-0?  Equally as surprising, the Steelers, Texans, and Falcons are near the bottom of the NFL pile after being widely predicted to make a run at their respective division titles.  I guess that’s why they play the games!  A team has never won the Super Bowl without showing up and playing the games.  Below are my top five power rankings for Week 9.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

1.  Kansas City Chiefs  8-0

The Chiefs struggled late in the game against the Browns, but ultimately did what good teams do – they win ugly.  In every championship season, winning teams will gut out some ugly wins and barely escape with the victory.  But in the NFL a win is a win regardless of what it looks like.

2.  Denver Broncos  7-1

Peyton Manning has finally shown signs of being human lately.  He is also beginning to show his age.  In the last few weeks his health has been the subject of much debate.  No one can argue his Hall of Fame career or unbelievable season to date, but the retirement party is clearly on the horizon for Peyton.  Meanwhile, the return of Von Miller has certainly strengthened the defense for their second half run.

3.  Seattle Seahawks  7-1

Speaking of winning ugly…  The Seahawks had a gut check week much like the Chiefs did.   They went into St. Louis to play a bad team who recently lost their starting quarterback.  The Rams reached out to Brett Favre last week but he turned down the opportunity to return for what would have truly been a spectacle.  Things must be bad when you start calling senior citizen centers in search of a starting QB.  Everyone expected a blowout in Edward Jones Stadium.  Everyone but the Rams that is.

4.  New Orleans Saints  6-1

The Saints are quietly putting up a great season.  They have battled late in a couple of games this season, but held on to get the win.  Drew Brees continues to just be a great quarterback and leader.  The Saints may be the team that no one wants to face in the play-offs especially in the Super Dome.

5.  3 way Tie:  Indianapolis 5-2, Cincinnati 6-2, and San Francisco 6-2

I don’t often list teams in a tie, in particular, a three-way tie.  However, a really good case could be made for each of these teams to be at number 5.  Andrew Luck has successfully lifted his team to the top shelf after replacing perhaps the greatest NFL quarterback of all time.  Meanwhile, the Bengals are red hot and look prepared to run away with their division.  If their offense begins to run smoothly with all of the parts in place the rest of the league had better look out.  And we can certainly make a case for the Niners whose only losses have come to two teams also in the top 5:  Indy and Seattle.  The Niners are looking dangerously tough recently and we had better plan to see them playing deep into the play-offs.

Mike Buckamneer