1. Pittsburgh Steelers (3; +2): Their defense is so good that their offense doesn't have to play well until the fourth quarter, which is exactly what's been happening.
2. Indianapolis Colts (4; +1): They have often looked nothing better than mediocre during this seven game win streak, but ... they have a seven game winning streak. They are the Steelers' main competition in the playoffs.
3. Carolina Panthers (6; +3): I didn't fully buy into them after last week because I wanted to see how they would respond from the game. They did it in amazing fashion. Steve Smith is a remarkable football player.
4. Tennessee Titans (2; -2): Are teams - finally - starting to figure out Kerry Collins? It certainly appears so. If the running game doesn't click for them, it won't matter how good their defense is.
5. New York Giants (1; -4): Without Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress, this team is not Super Bowl-bound. With Brandon Jacobs and without Plaxico Burress is yet to be fully seen.
6. Baltimore Ravens (5; -1): They have a game on Saturday night in Dallas, the last game ever to be played in Texas Stadium. If they lose that game, the sixth ranked team in these power rankings will most likely miss the playoffs. Meanwhile, the 17th is going to get a home game. Am I bitter? Possibly.
7. Miami Dolphins (8; +1): Well, slap them silly and call them the Colts. They can't win anything convincingly, but they're still winning. Im not sure anyones going to be scared of them come playoff time, though.
8. New England Patriots (9; +1): If the same Arizona and Dallas teams that showed up last Sunday show up this Sunday, then the Patriots are going to the playoffs.
9. Dallas Cowboys (13; +4): Who would have thought the defense would be carrying this team? They're playing very, very fast.
10. Minnesota Vikings (10; 0): It's long been said that if you run the ball and stop the run well, then you will have success in this league. That saying even has an asterisk next to it saying "even if Gus Frerotte and Tavaris Jackson are your quarterbacks."
11. Philadelphia Eagles (14; +3): Boy, what a great job their offensive line did on Monday night against Cleveland. I'm sitting here watching it, and they're just fundamentally sound.
12. Atlanta Falcons (15; +3): They won a game they absolutely had to have to win. If they win out, they will more than likely be in. And then it's really time to see what Matt Ryan is all about.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7; -6): If you can't stop the run, good luck in the NFC playoffs, especially considering a first round match-up against Adrian Peterson is certainly possible.
14. New York Jets (16; +2): If they get in the playoffs, they will scare whoever plays them, because they can beat anybody when they play well. They can also lose to anyone when they don't.
15. Chicago Bears (19; +4): Great, gutsy win by the Bears, who can only hope for the Vikings to falter this week at home against Atlanta.
16. Arizona Cardinals (11; -5): This team has absolutely packed it in for the season. Well, at least it looked like that against Arizona. They will need to turn it back on in the next few games; they can't go into the playoffs that cold.
17. Denver Broncos (12; -5): The weekly trip for the Broncos from 17 to 12 and back again. See my comment for the Jets.
18. Houston Texans (20; +2): What a fantastic story for the Texans. While other teams out of it have absolutely quit (see Packers), the Texans keep fighting hard. I never expected Steve Slaton to be so good, let alone in his rookie season.
19. New Orleans Saints (17; -2): A playoff-killing loss. When the defense isn't there, all of the offensive points are for nothing.
20. San Diego Chargers (24; +4): I can not believe that they can still make the playoffs. It's absolutely embarrassing for that division.
21. Washington Redskins (18; -3): Five weeks ago, Jim Zorn was a serious candidate for coach of the year. Now, it's 50-50 he makes it to next season. Hello, Bill Cowher?
22. Buffalo Bills (21; -1): Oh, things have gotten bad in Buffalo. They choked that game away in a big way. Marshawn Lynch is still running very hard, though.
23. San Francisco 49ers (22; -1): They obviously still need a lot of help in a lot of other areas, but can the Hill-Gore-Davis trio be a good NFL unit?
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (26; +2): I didn't see the game against Green Bay, but I saw the game against Chicago, so I know the way Jacksonville's been playing. I also know that I lost in m fantasy playoffs because Garrard and Jones-Drew combined for four touchdowns.
25. Green Bay Packers (23; -2): This defense should be positively ashamed of themselves. I'm still of the belief that this season is in no way, shape or form Brett Favre's or Aaron Rodgers's fault.
26. Cleveland Browns (25; -1): Joshua Cribbs is one of the best all-around football players in the NFL today, and I am neither kidding nor exaggerating. He can run, throw, catch, return, and is fantastic on special teams coverage. Every single team in the NFL would love this guy to be on their team.
27. Kansas City Chiefs (27; 0): Here's where all the rankings become stagnant. The bottom six teams could all get the number one draft pick in any other year.
28. Seattle Seahawks (28; 0): You expect me to have something intelligent to say about the Seattle Seahawks?
29. Oakland Raiders (29; 0): So much for "at least Oakland's defense has been playing hard."
30. Cincinnati Bengals (30; 0): One play I noted. Chad Ocho Cinco catches a pass across the middle and gets absolutely leveled by a member of the Redskins' secondary. The play didn't even count; it got taken back by a holding penalty. But Ocho Cinco got up and was fired up and in the defensive back's face. It was good to see a team have some sort of life.
31. St. Louis Rams (31; 0): I've been watching ESPN basically all day and I've yet to see anything about the Rams game. Did it even happen?
32. Detroit Lions (32; 0): Calvin Johnson is awesome. Period.
Division Rankings: The NFC East takes back the top spot, and the NFC West breaks the tie at the bottom to take last.
1. NFC East (average rank: 11.50)
2. NFC South (11.75)
3. AFC South (12.00)
4. AFC East (12.75)
5. AFC North (15.75)
6. NFC North (20.50)
7. AFC West (23.25)
8. NFC West (24.50)
3 comments:
if the skins are smart, they'll keep zorn. this happened a few years ago with schottenheimer, they fired him with a 8-8, which is around where the skins will finish. skins fans are freaking out, they should keep him, zorn is young and i'm sure he will improve. and i hate how good the afc is.
Me too, Tejada, me too. And if Bill Cowher says to the Redskins, "I want to coach for your team next year," they will pack Zorn's bags for him.
yes, the skins should keep zorn. but I think with Dannyboy at the helm he may get pissed and if Cowher shows ANY signs of interest, Snyder will make the move.
And it would be a travesty for the Ravens to not make the playoffs...while the Broncos would get a home game.
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