Seahawks unanimous No. 1

The Seattle Seahawks were a unanimous choice Tuesday for the top spot in the AP Pro32 power rankings, and their opponent on Monday night, New Orleans, came in second.

Seattle remained first in the voting by a 12-member panel that regularly covers the league, but improved from seven first-place votes to sweeping all of them. The Seahawks did so even though they were idle last week.

They host the Saints in prime time this week, with New Orleans jumping from fourth to second place. Seattle earned 384 points in the voting, and New Orleans got 368.

“The Monday night matchup against the Saints is so tasty, it doesn’t need any extra hype,” said Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune. “Many QBs have been psyched out playing in noisy Seattle. Drew Brees isn’t on that list.”

There’s also a new team at the bottom of the rankings, Houston. The Texans lost to Jacksonville last Sunday, which drops them to 32nd and moves the Jaguars out of the cellar for the first time this season to 30th overall.

“After 15 weeks of the 2012 season, the Texans were 12-2 and holding down the top seed in the AFC playoff bracket,” noted Rich Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News. “Since that time, including playoffs, they have won only three of their next 12 games. They own the worst record in the AFC at 2-9.”

Denver and New England tied for third with 349 points.