Shutdown Corner presents the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		If he had been facing, for example, the number eight quarterback on this list, Bill Belichick may have punted on that 4th and 2 Sunday night. He wasn't, though. He was facing the number one quarterback, and he knew that guy was going to score from anywhere on the field.
2. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		This week, Favre became your NFL leader in quarterback rating. In a year where we're blessed with five different quarterbacks with a rating of 100 or better, Favre stands at the top. He's thrown 285 passes, and just three of them have been intercepted. Favre might be asked to do a little bit less than most guys on this list (he's 16th in the league in pass attempts), and he might be in the most quarterback-friendly situation in the league, but he's been close to perfect. Wrangler sales are even up.
3. Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots
		Brady made some tremendous throws in a losing effort on Sunday night. He didn't get the win, but he did play well enough to continue his rise towards the top of these rankings, where he belongs. He's been over 300 yards in his last four games, which isn't something he hadn't done since Week 1.
4. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		Saints fans are going to be mad at me, but I'm afraid it had to be done. Through his first five games, Drew Brees threw for 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Over his last four games, Brees has six touchdowns and seven interceptions. That's not good, and I'm afraid it mandates a slide in the rankings. His yardage totals and completion percentages have still been awesome, but to stay in the top two, I'm afraid we need a better TD-to-INT ratio.
5. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		Schaub rises a spot, even on his bye week, because it wasn't a particularly great week for the best quarterbacks in the league. But now, after everyone's had their bye week, let's check and see where Schaub ranks in some key statistical categories. He's third in yards passing (behind Manning and Brady) and tied for fifth in touchdowns (behind Manning, Brady, Brees and Kurt Warner(notes)). Not at all shabby.
6. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		A brutal week drops Benjamin a few spots: He was 20-of-40 for 174 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. In a huge game for the Steelers, he came up with a quarterback rating (51.5) fewer than 10 points away from JaMarcus Russell's(notes) (43.6). That's not what you're looking for.
7. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		It was a very solid week for Rivers, who faced an Eagles defense that ranks fifth in the league in opposing quarterback rating. He went 20-of-25 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. This will be the fourth straight week where Rivers checks in at number seven.
8. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		A good, but not great effort from Rodgers against the Cowboys: 25-of-36, one touchdown, no picks, and just 189 yards. Not good enough to move him up the list, but not bad enough to move him down. He's been sacked 12 more times than anyone else in the league, and more than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees combined. Dallas got him four times.
9. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
		Welcome, Kurt! I'd still like to see more consistency from you, but two consecutive phenomenal weeks will get you in the mix. Over his last two weeks, Warner's thrown seven touchdowns against zero interceptions. If he has another good game this week, it'll mark the first time all year he's strung three quality games together. He's playing the Rams, too, so it's not exactly a tall order.
10. Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles
		The 450 yards against San Diego were really nice, but would have been nicer if a few more of them had come in the red zone. Again, I'd like to see some more consistency. Really, it was a three-way toss-up here between McNabb, Romo and Palmer, so I thought I'd go with the guy coming off the best week. I'd consider McNabb's grip on the 10th spot very, very tenuous.
Noses pressed against the glass: Carson Palmer(notes), Cincinnati Bengals Tony Romo(notes), Dallas Cowboys

It's a bad time to come up short, roster-wise. Not only is Philip Rivers(notes) lighting up the NFL with big, fast receivers Vincent Jackson(notes) and Malcom Floyd(notes) and tight end Antonio Gates(notes) (Legedu Naanee(notes), who sees favorable matchups with all the attention on the stars, could be in for a big day if the replacements can't hold up), the Chargers have also gone away from the balanced attack they had when LaDanian Tomlinson was at his peak to a more aerial-intensive attack. Through Week 9, only the Arizona Cardinals have run the ball fewer times than the Chargers' 182, and no team is worse per carry than their 3.1 -- that's over a yard below the NFL average of 4.2. The Eagles will be challenged by Rivers and his pals when they hit the field in sunny Southern California, but there's one thing head coach Andy Reid and chief playcaller Marty Mornhinweg could do to stem the tide -- run the ball!

The Chargers' primary weakness is their run defense. Without nose tackle Jamal Williams(notes), San Diego has allowed 4.29 yards per carry overall, and 5.11 up the middle. Reid and Mornhinweg generally prefer to throw the ball at a 60/40 clip at the very least, but they should consider putting the triad of Brian Westbrook(notes), LeSean McCoy(notes) and Leonard Weaver(notes) on the front burner and controlling the clock. The best way to stop Rivers and the Chargers from blowing up all over Philly's defense is to keep them off the field altogether.

Cedric Benson(notes), Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals

Philip Rivers(notes), Quarterback, San Diego Chargers. On the road, against a desperate team, trailing by six points, 2:05 on the clock, one timeout, 80 yards to go. Rivers didn't even need the timeout. To that point, the meaningless yet much-ballyhooed Rivers vs. Eli Manning(notes) matchup was, statistically, going Eli's way, but with the last drive, Rivers left his stamp on the proceedings. With :21 on the clock, Vincent Jackson(notes) got open in the corner of the endzone, and Rivers dropped the ball into his breadbasket for the go-ahead score.

Josh Freeman(notes), Quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the week leading up to his first NFL start, Josh Freeman had been a little fountain of confidence. He proclaimed that he was "radiating swagger," and I admired the young fellow's moxie, but assumed that he'd be getting drubbed on Sunday nonetheless. Freeman's 14-of-31 statline wasn't spectacular, but the three touchdowns and one interception were, for a rookie in his first start, kind of amazing. The swagger was there, too. It wasn't just talk. Bucco Bruce inspires normal men to great things.

Dwight Freeney(notes), Defensive End, Indianapolis Colts. With the Colts having lost about half their starting defense to injury this week, and the explosive and desperately hungry Texans coming to town, I thought this week was set up perfectly for the Colts' regular-season winning streak to be snapped. And while Peyton Manning(notes) was his usual excellent self, and Dallas Clark(notes) caught what seemed like 824 passes, it was the patchwork defense that won this game. Indy held the Texans to 17, their lowest scoring output since Week 1. If you'd have told me before the game that the Colts would score 20 in this one, I'd have never thought they'e emerge victorious.

Chris Johnson, Running Back, Tennessee Titans. Well hello, winning streak. It's one thing to beat the Jaguars at home. It's quite another to go on the road and beat a solid 49ers team. Vince "The Ultimate Winner" Young is getting most of the credit for it, and he deserves it, but don't forget to save some spotlight for Chris Johnson, too. He's been a beast in both victories.