Panther's Perspective: NFL power rankings at the halfway point

The NFL regular season is now halfway over and for this week's Panther's Perspective, I'm going to rank who I think are the top ten teams in the league.

1.) Pittsburgh Steelers:  This one is easy.  The Steelers have the best defense in the league and Ben Roethlisberger is now getting back into the swing of things.  As long as Troy Polamalu can stay healthy and continue to lead the defense, it's hard to imagine the Steelers not having home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  The Steelers also proved that they can win without their two-time Super Champion quarterback.  The Steelers went 3-1 during Big Ben's 4-game suspension and have now learned to run the ball more effectively.

2.) New York Jets:  For as much heat as Rex Ryan and the Jets took during the offseason for being "overly confident," they have certainly backed it up on the field.  They currently stand at 5-2 and have had some impressive victories over the likes of the Patriots, Dolphins, Broncos, and Vikings.  Mark Sanchez hasn't been exciting, but he's been efficient.  And quite frankly, that's all he needs to be seeing how Ladainian Tomlinson has been running the ball well and seeing how their defense has been lights out.

3.) Indianapolis Colts:  The Colts haven't been the same "Greatest Show on Turf" team that they have been over the past few years, but they're still getting the job done.  They play in the toughest division in sports and are 4-2 in the standings (as of Sunday, October 31).  Manning has found a new favorite target in Austin Collie and if Joseph Addai can ever get it going, they're going to be a tough out.

4.) New England Patriots:  The Patriots' young secondary is slowly but surely getting better with each passing week and are learning on the fly.  Things haven't been as wide open for Wes Welker since the Moss trade, but Brandon Tate has become a legitimate deep threat.

5.) New York Giants:  After New York's 1-2 start, nobody thought Tom Coughlin was going to finish the year without getting fired.  But Eli Manning is starting to show that his Super Bowl upset of the Patriots a few years back wasn't a fluke.  The Giants defense has been getting after opposing quarterbacks and Ahmad Bradshaw is playing so well that he has taken the starting RB job away from Brandon Jacobs.

6.) Baltimore Ravens: The defense has made up for some of the inconsistencies of quarterback Joe Flacco; and if they want to make a deep playoff run, Flacco has to improve.

7.) Philadelphia Eagles:  Michael Vick has already been named as the starting quarterback for this week's game and will look to reignite the Eagles' offense.  If Vick can play like he did before he got injured a few week's back, it will be a battle right down to the wire with the Giants for the NFC East crown.

8.) Kansas City Chiefs:  One of the most surprising teams in the NFL this season and play in arguably the worst division in the NFL.  If San Diego doesn't get it together relatively quickly, the Chiefs could be playing their first home playoff game in a long time.

9.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  This may seem odd to have Tampa at nine, but they just keep winning.  They may be winning ugly, but they're 5-2 in one of the tougher divisions in the NFL.

10.) New Orleans:  The Saints haven't been able to pull of the same magic they were able to pull off last season but are still right in the thick of things in the mediocre NFC.