Patriots No. 1 in Bettors' Poll

However, with just a point and a half separating the top 5, it doesn't take much to have teams trade positions in the composite power ratings of Teddy "Covers" Sevransky of sportsmemo.com, Sal Selvaggio of madduxsports.com and yours truly, Dave Tuley. The Patriots' 59-24 dismantling of the Indianapolis Colts was the most impressive win of the weekend (though some argument could come from the San Francisco area with the 49ers' 32-7 rout of the Chicago Bears, with both teams playing backup quarterbacks). But what also helped them rise to the top was the Houston Texans' struggle to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars as a 15.5-point favorite before finally prevailing 43-37 in overtime.

We fell short of calling our No. 1 ranking a jinx last week, but if the Patriots don't come through as a 6-point favorite at the New York Jets on Thanksgiving night, we might have to wear the scarlet letter "J."

To see the Vegas handicappers' power ratings of all 32 NFL teams, plus where the value is in the early lines this week, become an ESPN Insider today.

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Dave Tuley

ESPN Insider

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Dave Tuley has covered the Las Vegas race and sports book scene since 1998 and runs his own website, ViewFromVegas.com.