It was “beatdown” Sunday in the NFL as those expected to win, for the most part, were winners in a dominant fashion. In fact, for the first time in NFL history, there remain 3 undefeated teams after the Week 7 mark. That’s probably not as surprising as the fact that there are 12 teams with two wins or less, including three without a single win at all. Check this out. The bottom six teams have a combined 3-37 record for the season.

There was one exception on Sunday for the “upper echelon” teams – the Falcons were jacked up by Dallas, as the Cowboys try to continue their 180-degree turn since Austin City Miles showed up on the offensive scene. Not to mention a pretty impressive cameo by the Dallas defense.

Three undefeated teams remain now in the NFL, and with Minnesota falling there’s a new #1 team in the NFL Power Rankings for Week 8. Check out who it is below:

1.(3) New Orleans (6-0) – This is perhaps the best team in the NFL right now, and certainly in the NFC. Down 24-3 with a few seconds left in the first half of a Miami throttling, Drew Brees talked coach Sean Payton out of a FG with :05 left and took it into the endzone on a leaping QB sneak to cut the lead to 24-10. That ignited the Saints, and so did the pick-6 TD at the start of the second half, which saw New Orleans outscore Miami 43-10 from the last few seconds of the first half until the final gun.

Amazing comeback in supremely austere conditions, especially considering that the Saints coaching staff seemingly REFUSED to run the ball with any seriousness until the middle of the 3rd quarter. And give the defense of New Orleans huge props. They held the Dolphins to 10 points in the second half and 14 of the entire 27 came off of turnovers.

2.(2) Indianapolis (6-0) – The Colts don’t vault into the top spot mainly on the basis of St. Louis being, well, not all that good. Miami is a better team and the Saints won on the road (as did Indy, I might add) but I’m going to give the edge to the Saints for this week. Depth issues as they relate to injuries still have me reluctant to put Indy on top. But the Colts showed how you deal with “lesser” talent by jumpin out to a very early 14-3 lead and never looking back, even when both Reggie Wayne and Donald Brown went out of the game in the first half with injuries.

Hank Baskett stepped in for the remainder of the first half and Joe Addai assumed most of the load the rest of the game, racking up a 42-6 whipping of the Rams. Sure the Colts saw Stephen Jackson run for over 100 yards – but who cares – the Rams didn’t put up any TD’s on the Indy defense all day, including rookie Jacob Lacey’s 35 yard pick-6 in the 3rd quarter. Next up for Indy is a home game with the 49ers.

3.(4) Denver (5-0) – BYE

4.(1) Minnesota (6-1) – An excruciating loss when you consider the Vikings did nearly everything it needed to do in order to win on the road in Pittsburgh. The only thing they didn’t do? Score inside the red zone in the final quarter. In the zone three times, thrice came away empty handed – and two of those times allowed a turnover to be turned into a touchdown. The phantom tripping call on the Vikes negated an apparent TD in the fourth, which didn’t help, but it was the two mistakes that Pittsburgh ran back for TD’s that really killed Minnesota. Well, that and a couple of lapses in the Viking secondary too.

5.(9) Pittsburgh (5-2) – Two late fourth quarter returns for TD’s by the defense (a la James Harrison in the Super Bowl) give the Steelers a hard-fought victory over a team many felt were overrated and softer than Pittsburgh. Niether is true and while the Vikings The Steelers still have issues with their running game, as Mendenhall cannot hang onto the ball and Mewelde Moore is nothing more than a stop-gap measure. No one wonder Big Ben is throwing more this year than ever before.

6.(5) New York Giants (5-2) – After the previous weeks debacle in the Dome against the Saints, the Giants responded by, well, providing Giants fans with another debacle. Eli Manning threw 3 iNT’s as he was continually harrassed by a hounding Cardinal defense. The NY defense couldn’t hold down the Cardinal offense in the 3rd quarter, when they gave up two TD’s and found themselves on the short end of a 27-14 score.

7.(7) Cincinnati (5-2) – If anyone thought this was just another game for Cedric Benson, I’m sure they had their mind changed in the first half of the game with the Bears. Benson said all the politically correct things in the postgame interviews as well, but we know better, don’t we? Over 100 yards rushing and a 31-3 lead going into the break was all the evidence needed to know Cedric had a chip on his shoulder and the Bengals are back in form after that loss to the Texans.

8.(8) New England (5-2) – Jolly good show fellas whipping up on the lowly Bucs in Wembley. New England played in Ole England and was never threatened, racking up a few less points than they did against Tennessee. Hope the crowd was as pleased with this lopsided matchup as the Commish wants to pretend they did. I suggest we send St. Louis and Oakland next year.

9.(15) Dallas (4-2) – Where has that defense been all year? And Tony Romo wasn’t as woeful as usual, hitting his new #1 target Austin Miles for two scores as the ‘Boys put the hurting on Atlanta. Next up are the Seahawks which should give Dallas two in a row prior to a big game in Philly November 8th.

10.(6) Atlanta (4-2) – Started out looking like the Falcons were going to maul Dallas, jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead and then driving for another. Then the wheels came off and turnovers led to points for the Cowboys and that was that. The Falcons blew a big chance to keep the pressure on the Saints and now must travel to New Orleans next week in a big showdown.

11.(10) N.Y. Jets (3-3) – Mark Sanchez and the Jets bounce back from a 3-game losing streak by torching the Raiders 38-0. Probably felt good to get in a scrimmage game before buckling down for a divisional rematch with Miami next Sunday. The reason I say scrimmage game is that I swear I saw Mark Sanchez munching on a hotdog between offensive series. Had to drop the Jets out of the top 10 even though they won, in order to make room for some teams with better records and momentum.

12.(17) Arizona (4-2) – Solid defense, by a team that usually has the offense carry it to victory, was the story in the victory over the Giants. Kurt Warner threw for 3 TD’s and the normally moribund Cardinal running game gave Arizona a lift when it needed, and lifted the Cardinals to their 4th win on the season.

13.(16) Green Bay (4-2) – Aaron Rodgers had a chance to tune-up for the big rematch next week with Brett Favre and the Vikings. Rodgers peppered Cleveland for 246 yards and three TD’s behind a leaky offensive line. Ryan Grant showed up against the Browns as well, tallying 134 yards and a TD on 27 carries. Hey, did you hear who was coming to Lambeau next week?

14.(11) Baltimore (3-3) – BYE

15.(13) Philadelphia (4-2) – The Eagles get just what the doctor ordered – a shot of Redskins, neat. After jumping on them to the tune of 17-0, Philly just toyed with them the rest of the night the way a cat does with a dying, defenseless cricket.  The Eagles certainly didn’t pacify any concerns by whipping up on Washington, especially with the debacle in Oakland still fresh in everyone’s mind. But a “W” is a good start.

16.(19) Houston (4-3) – Steve Slaton looked like his former dangerous self, while Matt Schaub threw his 15th and 16th TD passes of the year. Surprisingly, Schaub leads the NFL in passing yardage with 2,074 and he helped the Texans take apart San Francisco early, then held on for dear life. during a wild comeback by the 49ers and QB Alex Smith. Up 21-0 at the half, Houston looked like it would coast the remainder of the game until Smith began his unlikely assault. TE Owen Daniels had a solid day as well piling up 123 yards receiving and a TD, while the Texans lost stellar wideout Andre Johnson to an unspecified injury.

17.(14) San Francisco (3-3) – Getting smoked by Houston 21-0, Mike Singletary pushes the “Eject” button on Shaun Hill. In comes Alex Smith (Yeah, THAT Alex Smith) who promptly tosses three TD’s bringing the 49ers to the brink of an improbable comeback win. Ultimately he fell just a bit short as the Niners have now dropped two in a row and must travel to Indianapolis next Sunday.

18.(18) San Diego (3-3) – Like shooting fish in a barrel. That’s what it looked like in Kansas City. At times it looked like the fish were shooting themselves too. They’ll get possibly more fish in a barrel opportunity next week when the Raiders visit.

19.(12) Chicago (3-3) – The coaching staff and front office got their egos bruised in this one, and it seemed like an NFL team – for the second time in two weeks – laid down. And of course it never helps matters when your QB throws three INT’s behind a power-packed running game that amassed 35 yards on the ground. Bet they could’ve used Cedric Benson in this game. Of note: The Bears have three wins on the season vs Seattle and Detroit, plus the upset of Pittsburgh. Their 3 losses have come to Green Bay, Cincinnati and Atlanta. Notice a trend there? Correct, the win against Pittsburgh can now officially be labeled a fluke.

20.(20) Miami (2-4) – Best 2-4 team in the league. Tough way to lose at home. Again. Nearly a repeat performance of their Monday Night loss to Indianapolis, except the Dolphins only were up on Indy by as many as 7 points. Against New Orleans, they led 24-3 just a few seconds away from halftime. Then IT Happened. The IT was a 43 point Saints onslaught that the Dolphins could not contain. They still had a chance to win it on a final drive ( as they did with Indy) but shot themselves in the foot with penalties, dropped passes and a final pick-6.

21.(21) Jacksonville (3-3) BYE

22.(23) Seattle (2-4) – BYE

23.(22) Carolina (2-4) – What the hell was that Carolina?

24.(25) Buffalo (3-4) – Clearly the most illogical 3-4 team in the league. So clueless is this Bills’ squad that they actually beat a better Carolina team by eleven points – and that doesn’t include Delhomme. (Which is probably why the Bills won the game.)

25.(26) Oakland (2-5) – One week they’re world-beaters and the next week back to being atrocious. And you know it’s really, really bad when you replace Jamarcus Russell with what’s-his-kowski-name. Fortunately for Oakland, there’s no one with a better record after this point – so they stay where they are in the rankings.

26.(24) Washington (2-5) – B-29.       O-17.       N-44.     G9.  There’s a reason that spells BONG, instead of BINGO, because I think that’s what owner Daniel Snyder was utilizing in making his latest group of decisions regarding his franchise.  Former bingo caller turned Redskin play caller sure made all the difference, didn’t he ? I realize it was only his first game with total play-calling duties, but didn’t the Raiders – the freakin Raiders – score 13 against them last week?  Surely the Skins have more offensive talent than Oakland, no?

27.(27) Kansas City (1-6) – Probably the most inept game KC has played thus far this season.

28.(28) Detroit (1-5) – BYE

29.(29) Cleveland (1-6) – The Packers would’ve spanked the Browns even without the threat of flu.

30.(30) Tampa Bay (0-7) – The Bucs get a gift of European travel for the price of a butt-whipping. Fair trade to some, I’m sure.

31.(31) St. Louis ( 0-7) – St. Louis is in desperate need of some offensive playmakers. Among a whole bunch of other things. But the defense is doing a pretty admirable job under the circumstances.

32.(26) Tennessee (0-6) – This just in to our studios: HUGE upset in Tennessee, as the Titans are dropped by the Bye Week, 27-0. Yeah, that was a bit uncalled for, wasn’t it?