We had a tie, a few blowouts and more than our share of injuries this week.
Week 10 may prove to be the week everything changed, or it might just be an aberration.
1. Houston: I finally get to drop Atlanta out of the top spot. Â Nice job traveling to Chicago and proving they can play defense, and on a sloppy field.
2. Chicago: Of course the question now becomes how healthy is Jay Cutler? Â With the Niners, the Vikings twice, and Seattle in the next four they are going to need him.
3. Atlanta: Starting to show the fatigue of winning a lot of games late.
4. Green Bay: Their stretch of tough games starts now too. Â Will the loss of Clay Matthews put the final nail in that defenses coffin for a few weeks?
5. Giants: The bye comes a week late. A 6-game schedule remaining consists of Green Bay, N.O., Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Atlanta. Can they win 4 of these?
6. New England: Playing just well enough to win and finding ways to protect their secondary.
7. San Fran: Losing Alex Smith may be the most unimportant injury for any team this week. Â We will see how good a coach Harbaugh is going forward.
8. Denver: Peyton delivering on his promise.
9. Seattle: Nice dismantling of The Jets. But that’s really not that difficult a task.
10.Pittsburgh: Losing Big Ben for three weeks when two of those weeks include games against Baltimore could prove fatal.
11. Baltimore: Time to prove you can play against a big boy defense.  Let’s see what you really got.
12. Tampa: This up and down team continues to move up and down the rankings. Â With the NFC so wide open at this point, they are still in the mix.
13. Cincy: Made a nice statement against a tired Giants team, but the real tests remain ahead in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
14. Minnesota: They seem to have righted the ship. Let’s see if they can stay consistent.
15. Dallas: Again with the wide open NFC, they have climbed back into a race for a wild card spot.
Here is where we start to look at playoff possibilities, and eliminate teams from consideration.
NFC: Atlanta, Giants, Chicago, Green Bay, San Fran, Seattle, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis and Arizona are all still looking for playoff spots. Â However everyone from Tampa on down needs to think they have to win 5 of the next 7.
AFC: Houston, Baltimore, New England, Denver, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh are in great shape at the moment. San Diego, Miami, Cincy and Tennessee are in a battle for their lives, but one of them will make the playoffs under the current scenario.  Pittsburgh and Big Ben’s injury could be the key to the playoff hopes of a few of these teams.
Gone: The Jets, Oakland, Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Carolina, Washington and Philadelphia.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @tufdan.Â
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