Top 3 remain the same in AP Pro32 rankings

SIMMI BUTTAR
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 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 and 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.

Newsday’s Bob Glauber sees the prime-time game as a big chance for the Bengals to a make 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 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 round 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,” Tampa Tribune’s Ira Kaufman 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 on Tuesday. Sparano had a 29-32 record as head coach in Miami from 2008-11. The Raiders have a bye this week and will look for their first win Oct. 12 against San Diego.

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AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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