The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept pace with the New Orleans Saints for the top spot in the NFC South with their 16-13 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, and though two other power rankings have the Bucs on the verge of climbing into the NFL's top 10, Pete Prisco of CBS is slightly less impressed. Prisco, CBS's Senior NFL Columnist, names Tampa Bay as the league's 15th-best team at this point in the young season in his power rankings.
Prisco, who ranked Tampa Bay 18th last week, says the Bucs' victory "serves notice to the NFC South that they will be a factor in the division race." On the flip side, he dropped the Falcons from 8th the 16th following the game, which may indicate he believes the game says more about Atlanta than it does about Tampa Bay.
The Bucs have a great opportunity to move up even more in the power rankings next Monday, when they host the winless Indianapolis Colts. Prisco ranks Indy 30th of the league's 32 teams.