Power Rankings Tuesday: Not Much Change for the Colts

The Colts notched a win this weekend in a come-from behind victory over the Cleveland Browns 25-24, but in doing so their top-ranked offense didn't look that great for much of the game.  Ultimately, a win is a win and the Colts improved to 9-4 on the year, but how will others in the media see a game that was pretty ugly for much of the contest?  Let's take a weekly look at the power rankings:

ESPN ranks the Colts sixth, which is the same spot that they had the team last week:

Andrew Luck is now 9-2 in his career in December/January games, including an active four-game win streak. Sunday's win clinches Indy's 14th winning season in the past 16 years.

NFL.com's Elliot Harrison ranked the Colts fifth, also the same spot he had them a week ago:

Andrew Luck's career continues to parallel that of John Elway, with Luck committing multiple turnovers before overcoming his own mistakes late. The third-year pro displayed incredible resilience once again in leading the Colts to a comeback victory over the Browns. At the same time, perhaps the highlight shows of the world could point out that Luck's turnovers were what put Indy in the position of having to come from behind in the first place. The Colts' defense, on the other hand, was solid for both halves in Cleveland.

CBS's Pat Kirwan ranks the Colts ninth, a drop of three spots from a week ago:

Colts (6): It's just hard to beat Andrew Luck and teams have to play for 60 minutes against the comeback kid. Their two-game lead over the Texans should be enough to win the division and hold down the No. 3 seed. The win over the Bengals earlier in the season will help keep them out of the No. 4 seed.

CBS's Pete Prisco ranks the Colts at number eight, up one spot from last week:

As long as Andrew Luck is chucking it around, the Colts can come back on anybody. They can lock up the division by beating the Texans this week.

Shutdown Corner's Frank Schwab has the Colts ranked fifth, a jump of one spot from last week:

At some point in the second half, once it was clear that Mike Pettine wasn't going to pull Brian Hoyer (likely under the flawed notion that he couldn't make that move because the Browns had the lead), everyone knew that Andrew Luck was going to win the game at the end, right?

FOX Sports ranks the Colts eighth, down one spot from last week:

The Colts have morphed into a one-dimensional offense and this puts too much pressure on their offensive line. The defense is simply not generating enough pressure on the edge or the interior.

The Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King has the Colts ranked seventh, a drop of one spot from a week ago:

7. Indianapolis (9-4). When the Colts clinch the AFC South in a week or two, this 25-24 win over Cleveland is the game Chuck Pagano will think of when he says to his staff, "Guys, it's a good thing the games are 60 minutes long."

SB Nation's Danny Kelly ranks the Colts sixth, the same spot he had them last week.  Bleeding Green Nation's Brandon Lee Gowton ranks the Colts fifth, up one spot from a week ago.

5) Indianapolis Colts (LW: 6) - Squeaked out a close win in Cleveland but got the job done. Indianapolis has taken advantage of a recent soft schedule.

So in the end, the Colts really didn't change much in this week's power rankings.  In the nine that we looked at, they are ranked an average of sixth, which is the exact same as last week.  After an ugly win, that's probably fair.  We don't want to overlook an impressive performance by the defense, but a bad performance by the offense overshadowed that.  Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, and the offense got it done when it mattered, however, and Luck engineered the ninth fourth quarter comeback and twelfth game-winning drive of his short career so far in the last-minute win over the Browns.