The Pittsburgh Steelers 37-19 win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday night must have been very impressive to those responsible for formulating the ESPN.com power rankings as the black and gold jumped up eight spots this week after dropping seven spots the previous week following their Thursday night loss in Week 2 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Despite now being listed as the 11th best team in the NFL, according to ESPN.com, the Steelers are still ranked one spot below the Panthers, who dropped four spots this week thanks to Pittsburgh running all over them to the tune of 264 yards.
The Steelers weren’t the only team to climb eight spots in the weekly power rankings, however, as the Atlanta Falcons matched that jump with their 56-14 win Thursday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Steelers will host the Buccaneers Sunday at Heinz Field and they opened as eight point favorites over the winless team, who look to get several key players back from injury this week.
The Buccaneers might, however, be forced to start backup quarterback Mike Glennon against the Steelers as starter Josh McCown is currently nursing a thumb injury that he sustained during the loss to the Falcons.
