Power Rankings: Colts, Chargers, Jags do the jumble

Updated Nov. 13

Isn't it amazing sometimes how quickly fortunes change in the NFL?

It's part of what makes the game so great.

After some bumps in the road, how will Jeff Saturday and the Colts respond? (Getty Images)

Take the Indianapolis Colts. A week ago Sunday, they were 10 minutes away from being crowned the league's best at the halfway point. They had a 10-point lead on the New England Patriots in the halfway Super Bowl, but watched as Tom Brady rallied his team to stay unbeaten.

Then the Colts, a beaten-down, injury-battered team, go on the road and lose at San Diego, a game in which Peyton Manning morphed into a turnover machine. So here we are 10 days later, and the Colts have issues and two losses.

They played without six starters against the Chargers, including key weapons Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark, and now they get the news that Dwight Freeney, their premier pass rusher, could miss a month with a foot injury.

So in 10 days they went from owning the conference to having a one-game lead over Jacksonville and Tennessee in the AFC South -- although it's really 1 1/2 since they've already defeated both -- and wondering who will suit up for this week's game with Kansas City.

If the playoffs started today, the Colts would be the third seed in the AFC, behind the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's why they're behind both in the CBS Sports.com Power Rankings. The Colts fall from the second spot to the fifth spot this week.

While the Colts' status has changed for the worse in a week, the Chargers and the Jacksonville Jaguars have gone the other way in a seven-day period.

The Chargers were coming off an embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings in which Adrian Peterson ran over them like a kid stomping on a welcome mat. They re-grouped enough to hold on in that wild game Sunday night to get to 5-4 in the division. They do still have issues -- where is the passing game? -- but they sure feel better than they did a little over a week ago.

What about the Jaguars? They were blown out by the New Orleans Saints a week ago Sunday and had to deal with the arrests of two players, their owner coming down hard with a statement that he won't tolerate that behavior anymore and defensive tackle Marcus Stroud getting suspended for four games for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Not only that, they were playing the third game of a three-game road trip against a good division rival with a backup quarterback. So all they do is go into Tennessee and dominate the Titans in an upset victory to get to 6-3.

Three teams, one week, and proof again how quickly your status can change in the NFL, whether for the good or the bad.