Sources/Basis from my rankings come from a weekly rankings spreadsheet I have maintained the past couple of years, which can be found here: nflteampowerranks2011.
Week 13 Rankings
Clay Matthews and the unbeaten Green Bay Packers sit atop the NFL world for yet another week.
1. Green Bay Packers: 11-0 (Last Week: 1) It’s really starting to look like they may never lose again.
2. New England Patriots: 8-3 (Last Week: 3) Brady and the offense are clicking; teams are being forced to pick their poison between stopping Gronkowski and stopping Welker, and the D makes the plays when it needs to, as Belichick defenses seem to have an uncanny ability to do.
3. New Orleans Saints: 8-3 (Last Week: 5) The dismantling of the Giants last night at the hands of Drew Brees was a reminder of just how legitimate a Super Bowl contender this team really is.
4. Baltimore Ravens: 8-3 (Last Week: 6) A solid Thanksgiving performance against another strong team. The Ravens show all the signs of a team poised to go deep into the playoffs, but the offense still seems to be capable of showing great inconsistency.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers: 8-3 (Last Week: 7) This team isn’t missing a beat despite its terrible offensive line. They’ve only lost three times, twice to the Ravens, and they continue to look like a sure bet for the postseason.
6. San Francisco 49ers: 9-2 (Last Week: 2) Just when I decide to give the Niners their due and put them at #2, where their record would indicate they belong, they go and validate all my doubts by failing to get anything going on offense against what is really one of the only legitimately strong teams they have faced this year. Jim Harbaugh has this bunch playing with chips on their shoulders, but until I see them beat some good teams and not just the bottom-feeders in the NFC West, I can’t see them as anything more than a one-and-done in the playoffs.
7. Atlanta Falcons: 7-4 (Last Week: 9) Starting to peak at just the right time, and, to be honest, this is a group that, given their defeat at home with the #1 seed in last year’s postseason, is probably perfectly content to glide into the playoffs under the radar.
8. Houston Texans: 8-3 (Last Week: 4) Yeah, this team was probably rated too high last week. However, they were definitely too high after this week, where they managed to hold out against the Jags despite losing quarterback #2 Matt Leinert and being forced to turn to no-name rookie T.J. Yates. This team is probably too far along in too weak a division to not make the playoffs, but I have serious doubts that even a running game as good as this one can hold up this passing attack for long.
9. Dallas Cowboys: 7-4 (Last Week: 11) Survived a tough Thanksgiving matchup against an inspired Miami team. With the Saints destruction of the Giants on Monday night, the NFC East suddenly looks like theirs to lose.
10. Cincinnati Bengals: 7-4 (Last Week: 13) Time to start giving Cinci their due; despite all reasoning and sensibility to the contrary, Andy Dalton and A.J. Green are absolutely on fire, the defense is solid as one could hope for, and the Bengals look more and more the part of a playoff team each week.
11. Oakland Raiders: 7-4 (Last Week: 12) This is a hot, hot ballclub right now, and the scariest part is that they have been doing it all without Darren McFadden.
12. Detroit Lions: 7-4 (Last Week: 10) A disgraceful penalty from Ndamukong Suh turned a close, hard-fought loss into an embarrassing one. With Suh suspended for two games, the Lions are going to have to fight to keep the long-anticipated playoff hopes of the Detroit faithful alive until his return, despite an offense that is beginning to sputter and a defense that was already over-matched everywhere but with the pass rush.
13. Denver Broncos: 6-5 (Last Week: 14) Anyone who still doesn’t believe that Tim Tebow can’t win in this league, under the right system, surrounded by the right people, given the right circumstances, is living in denial. Period. How scary-good will this kid be if he ever learns to pass with real consistency? How scary-good will he be once he finally plays a whole game the way he plays the game’s final drive?
14. New York Jets: 6-5 (Last Week: 15) This is still a dangerous team loaded with talent that has a real dark horse shot at the postseason even still. However, the room for error has vanished, and it’s put-up-or-shut-up time for Rex Ryan’s would-be perennial Super Bowl champions.
15. Tennessee Titans: 6-5 (Last Week: 17) There’s the Chris Johnson we’ve been waiting for all year! Still, how much of the success on the ground had to do with Munchak calling out his offensive line and Johnson stepping up to the plate, and how much had to do with the Bucs’ 31-st ranked run D?
16. New York Giants: 6-5 (Last Week: 16) Drew Brees showed why he is Drew Brees last night, but he also showed how pillow-soft this once-proud Giants D seems to have become, especially in the secondary. They still have a real good chance to win the division, but any top quarterback will pick this team apart playing the way they have. The return of Ahmad Bradshaw should help stabilize the running game, and Eli has certainly been doing everything he can. Still, it might not be enough, and Tom Coughlin’s job likely rides on this team’s ability to get to the postseason.
17. Chicago Bears: 7-4 (Last Week: 8 ) Caleb Hanie under center looks like he is poised to be the sudden downfall of an organization that is desperately and probably naively clinging to its playoff aspirations.
18. Philadelphia Eagles: 4-7 (Last Week: 18) Vince Young has looked really promising in these last couple starts, and let’s be real; no one REALLY expected them to beat New England anyways. Playoffs or not, this is still a team that is loaded with talent and can beat most anyone on the days they decide to get disciplined and put it all together.
19. Buffalo Bills: 5-6 (Last Week: 21) I’m wondering if the thought that MAYBE they might have jumped the gun in giving Ryan Ftizpatrick his payday so quickly has crossed the mind of anyone in Buffalo’s front office yet, and, if so, how often.
20. Carolina Panthers: 3-8 (Last Week: 23) As Cam Newton continues to develop, so too will this team’s chances of making a quick resurgence. Now, if they could only do something about the atrocious defense they’re playing, ranked last in the league.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-7 (Last Week: 22) This run defense is hurting an otherwise stellar secondary, and the receiving corps is absolutely horrendous. Maybe Raheem Morris is only cut out to coach safeties and corners, after all.
22. Washington Redskins: 4-7 (Last Week: 26) A nice win against a mediocre opponent but with a very shorthanded squad. The Redskins can hang defensively with most any team on any given day, and look like they could, as Shanahan had originally predicted, be a potential playoff contender for next year, assuming they draft well and young talent like Roy Helu, Fred Davis and Leonard Hankerson continue to develop accordingly.
23. San Diego Chargers: 4-7 (Last Week: 20) Philip Rivers has been inconsistent at best all year, and with Norv Turner’s games of back-and-back-and-forth between Ryan Mathews, Mike Tolbert and Curtis Brinkley, this team looks like it is missing the dynamic element of Darren Sproles something awful. I expect ol’ Norvy to be out the door by the start of next season.
24. Seattle Seahawks: 4-7 (Last Week: 19) I bet Pete Carroll is starting to miss the days when he could get any recruit he wanted and his USC Trojans dominated the Pac-10. This team is certainly not overloaded with talent, and the loss of Sidney Rice, maybe for the rest of the year, certainly doesn’t help.
25. Cleveland Browns: 4-7 (Last Week: 25) Now that Peyton Hillis appears to be back for good and the team as a whole is getting healthier, it’s time to see if this Browns team is on the cusp of turning a corner going into next year, or still in the early stages of a long rebuilding process.
26. Miami Dolphins: 3-8 (Last Week: 24) Brought back down to earth some after that tough loss to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Still, that gutsy performance coupled with the three-game winning streak that proceded may have just been enough to save Tony Sparano’s job for another year.
27. Kansas City Chiefs: 4-7 (Last Week: 30) They’re playing about as well as one could hope given all the key players they’ve lost, and Tamba Hali is playing absolutely out of his mind on the defensive side. The insertion of Kyle Orton into the lineup can only keep things moving in a positive direction.
28. Arizona Cardinals: 4-7 (Last Week: 27) Neither John Skelton nor Richard Bartel have any business starting games in the NFL. Cardinals fans just have to praythat, when he finally returns from injury, the same can’t be said for Kevin Kolb.
29. Minnesota Vikings: 2-9 (Last Week: 28) Remember when the biggest problem this team had was whether or not Brett Favre was going to come back and be the difference on their squad between a playoff contender and a Super Bowl contender? Doesn’t seem so long ago. Think Vikings fans miss the Brett Favre saga yet, obnoxious as it was? Me too.
30. St. Louis Rams: 2-9 (Last Week: 29) This team looks an absolute mess right now. Steven Jackson can’t get it going, Sam Bradford can’t do it all by himself with no one but Brandon Lloyd to throw to, and the team’s saving grace in its big 2nd win on Sunday was its kick return touchdown from a no-name guy who didn’t even have a job last week. No thanks.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-8 (Last Week: 31) So, let’s recap: the team’s falling apart, the owner is taking phone calls from anyone with a legitimate interest in buying his captain’s chair on this sinking ship, the head coach was fired this morning, and to top it all off, the GM who put this would-be reality show slopfest together was just resigned today to a new three-year deal. Anyone want a piece of this pie?
32. Indianapolis Colts: 0-11 (Last Week: 32) They truly are god-awful, but it still irks me, as it should everyone else, that they are going to get such a sweet prize as Andrew Luck for all their troubles of tanking it the year Peyton Manning sat out. It’s performances like the ones the Colts have been putting up that make me understand why the NBA does a lottery.
