My NFL Week 14 Power Rankings

My NFL Week 14 Power Rankings
M.D. Wright
12.2.08

Not much has changed since last week. A couple of the middle of the road teams moved up, a few teams that were ranked high are moving down. The bottom 12 still suck and there's no real movement there.

1. New York Football Giants. This is not going to change anymore this year unless all the overkill in the media about P. Burress somehow screws with their chemistry. I don't see that happening.

2. Tennessee Titans. I will respect them 100% if they finish this season with one loss. I honestly see them losing their last two games. But for now, this is where they belong.

3. Indianapolis Colts. I know the Steelers ran through the Patriots, but I still see question marks with the play of B. Roethlisberger. I DON'T with P. Manning. Plus the Colts' defense is playing better.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers. I put them here for now, but if they finish up without a loss, they will jump to #2.

5. Baltimore Ravens. People are sleeping on them. Maybe it was the blowout losses to the Colts and Giants, but aside from those and the ref-aided loss to TEN and the heartbreaker to MIA, where else have they looked iffy? The only real headscratcher was the Colts game, because the Colts weren't playing particularly well up until that point. However, the Colts HAVE played better and more consistently since then, so even that loss does not look bad.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I still do not like this team and I wonder how they're even getting it done.

7. Carolina Panthers. They're like the stock market -- especially J. Delhomme in the past 4-5 weeks. However, unlike the Market, they are WINNING.

8. Atlanta Falcons. I don't care what anyone says. "Matty Ice" is getting it done, M. Turner and R. White are having career years -- so is M. Jenkins. Oh, and their defense isn't half bad, either.

9. New York Football Jets. Having watched the Jets up close for so long, I can't say I'm TOTALLY surprised by their loss Sunday, but it did still kind of catch me off guard with the way they had played in the weeks prior. Besides, Denver's offense is still potent -- it's their defense that isn't.

10. Arizona Cardinals. They can't win on the road, but I'm not putting Dallas ahead of them yet.

11. Dallas Cowboys. They won two games that they desperately needed to win (they're not in the playoffs if they began today), but they have PIT and NYG remaining on the docket. That would put them at (at least) 6 losses. You cannot afford that in the NFC this year. We will know what they are made of after playing the Giants at home.

12. Washington Redskins. They're reeling. BADLY.

13. Miami Dolphins. Hard to count them out or take them seriously as contenders right now.

14. Denver Broncos. Great offense. Terrible defense. They're only winning the AFC West this year because the Chargers were dead after Week 2.

15. New England Patriots. EXPOSED.

16. Philadelphia Eagles. The Iggles are like roaches. Have to hand it to them for being resilient.

17. Chicago Bears. Don't know what to make of their defense getting shredded the past few games, but you can't expect Orton to dig you out of the hole when you're spotting your opponent 10 points before your offense gets on the field good.

18. Minnesota Vikings. I would put them even lower, but they are 7-5 right now. They are losing their two starting defensive tackles for the remainder of the regular season. I am not big on Gloom and Doom, but the way it appears, they're going to need to at least split their remaining four games to win the NFC North. Without the Williamses, they won't be able to stop the Giants for the three quarters that the Giants starters will be in the game Week 17. That might be the killer for their season -- and sadly (unless you're a vapid Vikings fan) Brad Childress' job.

19. New Orleans Saints. So much for people who predict games on the premise of "they NEED to win this game, so I think they will". If the Saints EVER needed a win, it was Sunday, against a common opponent that they share with Dallas and Atlanta. They're done.

20. Green Bay Packers. Have teams caught onto what they do with Grant? Is their offensive line, with the shuffling that has been taking place of late, the culprit? Is it Rodgers, even though he's mostly played well, the INTs that he's thrown in their last three losses have directly contributed to their losses. Especially the New Orleans game last week. Good lord.

21. Buffalo Bills. Losing to SF = DONE. Wasted a 134 yard performance from M. Lynch.

22. Houston Texans. Their current motivation: 1) Stay out of the division basement. CHECK. 2) Finish strong and be the Colts' or Titans' doormat for another primetime game next season. PENDING. They have four weeks to "show and prove" as we used to say.

23. San Francisco 49ers. I think they will be a .500 team next year. They've played impressively at times under #50.

24. Cleveland Browns. This team is a disgrace. So much wasted talent and a clueless/puppet coach. I like Romeo Crennel. I just hate to see a team basically quit on their coach. And the injuries? Yikes.

25. San Diego Chargers. I don't think ANYONE saw a 4-8 start (and possibly 5-11/6-10 finish) coming from them -- nor Tomlinson going Shaun Alexander on us BEFORE he turned 30. Toe injury or not. I was one of the first on his bandwagon after that 406 yard rushing game that I watched live on ESPN back in the day -- now the media and fantasy football players are too late jumping off it. He's still my boy, though.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars. Same with them, although not to the same extent. I knew they'd miss Stroud more than they thought. Their free agents and draft picks aren't producing (yet) and their offensive line has been a M*A*S*H* unit all year; including the shooting of Richard Collier.

27. Oakland Raiders. They're feisty!

28. Kansas City Chiefs. So are they!

29. Seattle Seahawks. God bless Mike Holmgren.

30. St. Louis Rams. They keep saying how Haslett should keep his job. Wasn't his tenure in New Orleans just like this?

31. Cincinnati Bengals. I hope ol' Marv and OCHENTA Cinco have their bags packed...

32. Detroit Lions. Good Lord take the shoestrings out of Rod Marinelli's shoes and put him on 24-hr watch.