NFL Week 8 Power Rankings: Colts made me eat my words (with hot sauce) as they soar to No. 1

The Indianapolis Colts made me eat my words.

With hot sauce.

On our Sunday night NFL recap show on CBS Sports HQ, I actually ate paper with hot sauce because of the Colts. During the show, I said I would eat my words for saying the Colts weren’t legitimate — something I’d said the past two weeks leading into Sunday’s dominant 38-24 victory over the Chargers.

So I did.

They brought me some hot sauce, I poured it on the paper and began to chew. I didn’t actually swallow it, but the point was made: The Colts are for real.

There, I said it.

If the Chargers were the proving game, as I said, they’ve proven it. More proof: They’re averaging 33.1 points per game, tops in the league.

They’ve scored 232 points in seven games. The Peyton Manning-led Colts teams never did that. The Daniel Jones-led Colts have done it. Amazing.

The Colts are 6-1 and up to the top spot in my Power Rankings this week, doing so with two MVP candidates. Jones is one with his resurgent year, but running back Jonathan Taylor makes it all go.

Taylor had three touchdowns against the Chargers — his third three-touchdown game of the season — and he leads the league with 11. He leads the league in rushing with 697 yards and is a good receiver in the passing game. Running backs don’t usually win MVPs in this era, but he’s in the conversation.

As for Jones, he is completing 71% of his passes, is fifth in the league in passing yards, has 10 touchdown passes and is averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. The Colts are hitting a lot of big plays.

The Indianapolis defense is improved, but it still has a way to go on the back end. New coordinator Lou Anarumo has done a nice job so far.

Like I said, the Colts are for real.

Now let me go wash the hot sauce out of my mouth.

Biggest Movers

Rk	Teams		Chg	Rcrd
1	Colts	They are an offensive machine right now. Shane Steichen is the clear leader for NFL Coach of the Year.	3	6-1-0
2	Chiefs	Patrick Mahomes has his receivers back, and the offense is dynamic again. The defense also came up big in the shutout of the Raiders.	9	4-3-0
3	Packers	They are 4-1-1, but we haven’t seen the best of this group. The pass rush showed up in a big way against the Cardinals.	1	4-1-1
4	Lions	What they did Monday night to the Buccaneers offense with a makeshift secondary was truly impressive. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs is special.	1	5-2-0
5	Buccaneers	The offense didn’t get it done against the Lions, and the injury issues continue to be a problem on that side of the ball. At 5-2, they still lead the NFC South.	4	5-2-0
6	Broncos	Rallying to beat the Giants is a good thing, but they have issues. Why do they start so slowly on offense?	—	5-2-0
7	Seahawks	That defense is getting nastier by the week. The pass rush is really good, and the offense hits a lot of big plays. They are playing well.	—	5-2-0
8	Rams	No Puka Nacua? No big deal. Matthew Stafford spread the ball around to the tune of five touchdown passes against the Jaguars. He’s in the MVP conversation.	—	5-2-0
9	Patriots	Coach and quarterback. That’s the equation for winning in this league. They have them in Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye.	—	5-2-0
10	Bills	The bye was much needed after two straight losses. Injuries have hurt the defense, but the offense needs to get the passing game cranked up down the field.	—	4-2-0
11	Eagles	Jalen Hurts showed against the Vikings that he can still throw it for big plays when needed. But they do need to get the running game going.	1	5-2-0
12	49ers	They are 5-2 and tied for the division lead. The defense came up big against the Falcons without stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, who are gone for the year.	3	5-2-0
13	Bears	Ben Johnson has turned this team into a physical group that can run the ball. They are 4-2 and in the thick of the division race after winning four straight.	4	4-2-0
14	Steelers	Their loss to the Bengals at home shows their 4-1 start was a little fraudulent. They have too much age on defense.	11	4-2-0
15	Chargers	The defense has issues after a fast start. Even Justin Herbert and 400 passing yards couldn’t overcome that against the Colts.	2	4-3-0
16	Vikings	The quarterback situation bears watching. It’s time to put J.J. McCarthy back in the lineup.	—	3-3-0
17	Falcons	Michael Penix Jr. is too inconsistent right now, which is why they are up and down. Now he’s also banged up after getting hit late Sunday night in the loss to the 49ers.	1	3-3-0
18	Cowboys	The offense is explosive and will be fun to watch all season. If the defense gets better, watch out for this group as a potential playoff team.	4	3-3-1
19	Commanders	If Jayden Daniels is out for any length of time, they have major problems. The defense is awful right now, which compounds the problem.	—	3-4-0
20	Jaguars	Two straight losses have them limping into their bye. The offense has all kinds of issues, and when the defense isn’t taking the ball away it’s ordinary.	6	4-3-0
21	Texans	It’s hard to win when your offensive line stinks. Theirs is awful. They have big-time problems considering the schedule left to play.	1	2-4-0
22	Panthers	They are 4-3 because of their physical style of football. It isn’t pretty, but it’s working. Bryce Young did get hurt Sunday, so that bears watching.	1	4-3-0
23	Ravens	As they come off the bye, their season might hinge on a victory this week over the Bears. How healthy is Lamar Jackson? Will he play?	—	1-5-0
24	Cardinals	They compete week in and week out, even without their starting quarterback. But isn’t it time to start winning some of those games?	—	2-5-0
25	Raiders	This is a horror show. Geno Smith is playing bad football and the defense isn’t good. Welcome back to the NFL, Pete Carroll.	—	2-5-0
26	Giants	Blowing a big lead in the loss to the Broncos will sting. But they have their quarterback of the future in Jaxson Dart.	—	2-5-0
27	Bengals	Beating the Steelers on the road gives them life in the division with two winnable games on deck. Joe Flacco to the rescue.	—	3-4-0
28	Browns	They beat the Dolphins with a nice game by rookie runner Quinshon Judkins and a strong defensive showing. But now they have the hot Patriots on the road.	—	2-5-0
29	Titans	Are they any better than they were a year ago? Nope. Cam Ward isn’t getting it done, but the roster around him isn’t very good.	—	1-6-0
30	Saints	Spencer Rattler came back to reality with his three-interception game in the loss to Chicago. Still, this is a season about deciding on the quarterback position.	—	1-6-0
31	Dolphins	The front office isn’t good, the coach is on his way out, the defense is terrible and the quarterback is struggling in a big way. Other than that, all is right.	—	1-6-0
32	Jets	At 0-7, with a quarterback benched, they need to start scouting the top passers for next year. They look to be on their way to the top pick.	—	0-7-0