NEW YORK – There was no change in the top three spots in the latest AP Pro32 power rankings.
That’s hardly a surprise since the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos, respectively, all had byes last week.
Seattle again had nine first-place votes from the 12-member media panel that regularly covers the league.
The Seahawks will travel east to face Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
The Bengals will head to Foxborough, Massachusetts, for a Sunday night matchup with Tom Brady and the Patriots, who are coming off a 41-14 loss at Kansas City on Monday night. New England dropped from No. 7 to 13 in the poll after one of its worst losses in the Bill Belichick era.
“Things aren’t so terrific for Tom Brady, with New England fielding a leaky offensive line and no quality downfield threats,” Foxsports.com’s Alex Marvez said.
Bob Glauber of Newsday sees the prime-time game as a big chance for the Bengals to make a statement in the AFC.
“How good are the Bengals? After an impressive getaway and a well-earned bye, they get another crack at gaining national respect next Sunday night at the Patriots,” Glauber said.
Peyton Manning and the Broncos will return to action when they host the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals, who moved up one spot to No. 4.
“Big game this week against Denver,” ESPN’s Herm Edwards said of the Cardinals. “We’ll see just how good this team is. It’s an important test for Peyton Manning and Co. against a very good Arizona D this week.”
Philip Rivers is off to a fast start for San Diego, which moved up to No. 5.
“Of the NFL’s four-game starters, only two quarterbacks are completing better than 70 percent of their passes – Philip Rivers of the Chargers and Drew Brees of the Saints,” Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News said.
The Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts rounded out the top 10.
The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers each made big jumps in the poll. The Packers went from 17 to 11 after their 38-17 rout of the rival Bears.
And the Cowboys moved from 19 to 12 after DeMarco Murray led the way to a 38-17 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.
“Tony Romo finally has himself a dynamic run game to play with,” Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune said.
The league’s only two winless teams at 0-4, the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, occupied the bottom spots in the poll.
The Raiders fired coach Dennis Allen late Monday night and promoted offensive line coach Tony Sparano to interim coach Tuesday. Sparano had a 29-32 record as head coach in Miami from 2008 to 2011.
AP Pro 32
Power Rankings
Note: The Associated Press Pro32 NFL Power Rankings, as voted by a 12-member panel, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 30, total points based on 32 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 32nd-place vote, and previous ranking.
W L T Pts Pvs
1. Seattle Seahawks (9) 2 1 0 380 1
2. Cincinnati Bengals (3) 3 0 0 368 2
3. Denver Broncos 2 1 0 364 3
4. Arizona Cardinals 3 0 0 349 5
5. San Diego Chargers 3 1 0 339 6
6. Baltimore Ravens 3 1 0 310 9
7. Detroit Lions 3 1 0 298 10
8. Philadelphia Eagles 3 1 0 297 4
9. San Francisco 49ers 2 2 0 280 15
10. Indianapolis Colts 2 2 0 275 14
11. Green Bay Packers 2 2 0 266 17
12. Dallas Cowboys 3 1 0 259 19
13. New England Patriots 2 2 0 224 7
14. Kansas City Chiefs 2 2 0 223 22
15. Houston Texans 3 1 0 214 20
16. Chicago Bears 2 2 0 204 8
17. Carolina Panthers 2 2 0 185 12
17. Pittsburgh Steelers 2 2 0 185 11
19. New York Giants 2 2 0 181 25
20. Atlanta Falcons 2 2 0 151 13
21. New Orleans Saints 1 3 0 144 16
22. Miami Dolphins 2 2 0 140 26
23. Minnesota Vikings 2 2 0 134 28
24. Buffalo Bills 2 2 0 113 18
25. Cleveland Browns 1 2 0 93 23
26. New York Jets 1 3 0 88 21
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 3 0 66 31
28. Washington Redskins 1 3 0 65 23
29. St. Louis Rams 1 2 0 56 29
30. Tennessee Titans 1 3 0 49 27
31. Oakland Raiders 0 4 0 19 30
32. Jacksonville Jaguars 0 4 0 17 32
Voting Panel
John Czarnecki, Fox Sports
Tony Dungy, NBC Sports
Herm Edwards, ESPN
Bob Glauber, Newsday
Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning News
Ira Kaufman, Tampa Tribune
Pat Kirwan, SiriusXM NFL Radio/CBSSports.com
Jeff Legwold, ESPN/ESPN.com
Jenny Vrentas , Monday Morning Quarterback
Alex Marvez, Foxsports.com
Jim Miller, SiriusXM NFL Radio
Charean Williams, Fort Worth Star Telegram
Associated Press