LAS VEGAS -- The New England Patriots (the 5-2 Super Bowl favorites) and Minnesota Vikings (the last undefeated team) remained Nos. 1-2 in the NFL Vegas Rankings this week, but the big news was the Pittsburgh Steelers dropping from No. 3 to a tie for 10th.
Pittsburgh lost 30-15 at Miami and Ben Roethlisberger went to the locker room but came back to finish the game. He had surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus and it's unclear how much time he's going to miss. Landry Jones will start in his place.
ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) only lowered the Steelers' rating by 2 points. Erin Rynning and I lowered them by a lot more and the average came out to a 4-point decrease.
Here's a look at the teams making the biggest moves up and down the rankings, and then we'll look for some Week 7 value plays (12-6 ATS so far this season) using this week's power ratings:
Note: The NFL Vegas Rankings are compiled by taking the average of the power ratings of ESPN Chalk handicappers, including Erin Rynning, yours truly and ESPN's Football Power Index, and are used to compare two teams as if they were to meet on a neutral field (after which most teams get 2.5 points for home-field advantage) and can be used to compare to the current point spread.
Movin' on up
The biggest increase in Week 6 came from two teams