Rick McGlothlin, Drafttek Senior Writer

Whewwwwwweeeeee that was a wild one at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts pull off an improbable victory at the “Drama in the Drum”. while all the pundits and armchair QB’s discuss the Bellicheck decision to go for it on fourth down on their own 28 yardline.

Meantime, check out the amazing turnaround of the guys in orange and black. The Cincinnati Bengals are in command of the AFC North division and continue to shock the NFL with their 7th win in 9 outings.How about that first loss on the deflection to Denver’s Brandon Stokely? Looks even larger now than it did a month ago.

And if THAT wasn’t enough, the tundra wasn’t frozen, but the ‘Boys certainly looked awfully frigid as Green Bay pounded Dallas at Lambeau – nearly shutting them out altogether. This will certainly give new life to the Giants, and help keep the Eagles hanging around after their pasting at the hands of the charging San Diego Chargers.

The top ten is getting topsy turvy, while quite a few teams still hang by their figurative fingernails to a playoff spot. Here’s a check of Mac’s NFL Power Rankings for Week Eleven, prior to what should be a yawner on Monday Night Football.

1.(1) New Orleans (9-0) – Much, much closer than anyone could’ve imagined. Reggie Bush with an excellent game to help push the Saints over the top. New Orleans definitely missed Sharper and Greer and they almost turned the ball over one too many times and allowed St. Louis to edge much too close to a huge upset.
2.(2) Indianapolis (9-0) – With no running game to speak of, rookie wideouts dropping key passes and numerous injuries to the defense, it’s a wonder the game was as close as it was and that it turned into the “Drama in the Drum”. Colts win a wild one and remain undefeated.

3.(3) Minnesota (8-1) – Couldn’t quite shrug off the Lions as easily as expected, but then pulled away in the 4th quarter for the win. Adrian Peterson gave Favre a rest from climactic game-winning TD drives, even though he still threw for a gob of yardage and a TD.
4.(4) Cincinnati (7-2) – GREAT Scott! As in RB Bernard Scott. The rookie filled in admirably for the injured Cedric Benson while the Bengals D put the clamps on Pittsburgh in the steel city. Bengals have swept season series from Pittsburgh for first time since 1998. And they’ve also swept season series from Ravens. Bengals now need to only beat Browns for an entire, tidy AFC North sweep.
5.(5) Pittsburgh (6-3) – Polamalu goes down in first half with injury and the Steelers lose the ballgame.Not sure of the exact record, but when Troy is out of the game, Pittsburgh isn’t above .500 in winning percentage. No touchdowns and only 4 field goals in the game.
6.(7) New England (6-3) – Brady came out firing on all cylinders in the first half and the defense stymied the running-less Colts. Until the end. The fourth down call by Bellicheck is one that will go down in football lore. Certainly ruined a solid night from Brady and rookie OT Sebastian Vollmer who gave Dwight Freeney fits most of the night. I’m just curious that IF you’re going to try and go for a first down in that situation, why not go to your #1 target – the big man – Randy Moss? Wierd. On a side note, I will be very interested to see how Roger Goodell deals with the Robotron security bozo who tossed a cameraman out of the way while Bellicheck made his way off the field last night. Classy.

7.(11) San Diego (6-3) – Rivers lights up the Philly defense while getting solid effort in the running game from LT. The Chargers are nearly unbeatable at home and with the young wideouts starting to gain more and more experience, and QB and receivers getting more familiar with one another, San Diego could be extremely dangerous for years to come.

8.(12) Arizona (6-3) – Up and down Kurt Warner was all upside after spotting Seattle a 14-0 lead.

9. (6) Denver (6-3) – Orton does what everyone says he couldn’t: Throw long for TD’s. Then goes out with injury. Broncos have now lost three straight and have allowed the Chargers to join them in first place in the West.

10. (8) Dallas (6-3) – Wait a second, it’s not December yet? What gives?

11.(9) Atlanta (5-4) – The Dirty Birds lose Michael Turner to an injury and then lose to division rival Carolina.

12.(10) Philadelphia (5-4) – Not sure what it is about traveling to the west coast, but Mc5 and the Eagles aren’t very good at it. Well, except for that 450 yard passing part.

13.(13) New York Giants (5-4) – BYE

14.(14) Houston (5-4) – BYE

15.(15) Baltimore (5-4) – Ugly win, but a win nonetheless.  No scoring  (against Cleveland?) in the first half?

16.(22) Jacksonville (5-4) – Still a sliver of a thread that the Jags are hanging by for a potential playoff berth.

17.(17) Green Bay (5-4) – Stunning win after two glaring failures in back-to-back weeks.

18.(17) San Francisco (4-5) – Big win over the Bears at home helps keep the slim playoff hopes alive.

19.(20) Miami (4-5) – Ronnie Brown gets hurt and goes out of the game, Chad Henne tosses an INT that gives Tampa the lead late, but redeems himself by driving the Dolphins into FG position (with a big thank you to Ricky Williams) and the win.

21.(21) Carolina (4-5) – Two solid games in back to back weeks within their division, and this time they finish off their opponent for the “W”.

22.(16) N.Y. Jets (4-5) – That’ll pretty much do it for the playoff hunt this seasonfor the Jets. 5 losses in a row now for the New Yorkers.

23.(19) Chicago (4-5) – Those calls for Lovie’s head were just an over-reaction. They should be calling for Ron Turner’s.

24.(27) Tennessee (3-6) – Three starts for VY, three victories. Wonder what would’ve happened had he been inserted as the starter about 3 games ago?

25.(23) Seattle (3-6) – Jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and then just fell apart.

26.(25) Washington (3-6) – Scored over 17 points for the first time all season and used long, time-consuming drives to keep Denver off the field.

27.(25) Buffalo (3-6) – I’m really not up to trying to explain what is happening with the Bills. However, the word I keep thinking of is tumultuous.  

28.(28) Kansas City (2-7) – Held on to win when rookie Heyward-Bey made the fatal mistake of missing a perfect pass inside KC terroritory. Terrific job by RB Jamaal Charles who scored once and tallied over 100 yards.

29.(26) Oakland (2-7) – Jamarcus Russell gets a seat on the bench and Grabowski almost pulls off the miracle comeback.

30.(29) St. Louis ( 1-8) – Gave the unbeaten Saints all they wanted and save for the clock-management fiasco on the last drive, did well all day.

31.(30) Detroit (1-8) – The team withstood the challenge and kept it close until the 4th quarter. Not good for a win, but good for experience.

32.(31) Tampa Bay (1-8) – Almost pulled off the shocker for the second week in a row. Josh Freeman has giving the offense a boost.

32.(32) Cleveland (1-8) – The new Browns get shut out by the old Browns at the same place the old Browns played.