Week Eleven NFL Power Rankings
Courtesy of
TrevRogers.com
1 (1) Indianapolis Colts (9-0)
With last week's win over the Houston Texans, the Colts arein great position going into the stretch. They really only needone or two more wins to clinch a playoff spot, and three or fourwins should give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs.This week's game against the Bengals will pit them up againstanother great team, and it'll be interesting to see if they cancontinue their streak.
2 (2) Seattle Seahawks (7-2)
Oh so close to locking up their division. Isthere any player playing better than Shawn Alexander right now?I don't think so. As long as he can keep going, Seattle is goingto be difficult - if not impossible - to stop. That's a scarythought for the rest of the NFC heading down the stretch.
3 (3) Cincinnati Bengals (7-2)
Their first test this season against the Steelersand they failed, now they have a second test, only this is thetop ranked Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals have to leave it allon the line if they want to even think about catching the Colts(not going to happen), and not only that, but to stay with Pittsburghin the race for the division. The Bengals have a chance to winagainst the Colts, but the crowd needs to be LOUD.
4 (6) Carolina Panthers (7-2)
They absolutely obliterated the Jets in the fourthquarter, but that wasn't much of a surprise. This team can winlate games, and that's a very valuable quality heading into thestretch. They're like New England in that respect - if you don'tput them away, they'll bite you. A huge NFC match up this weekagainst Chicago will give us a very good idea of just how talentedthis team is.
5 (4) Denver Broncos (7-2)
They didn't drop because of the way they've beenplaying, but rather Carolina just played too well to be denied.However, this team could make some noise, and will have a chanceto regain some ground when they play the Jets this week. Theyhave a valuable lead in the AFC West, and they'll need it as theChargers are coming on strong. They won't have to worry aboutthe Chiefs - they're done.
6 (8) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2)
Well they can win without Roethlisberger - butis that something you want to have to do consistently? Even withouthim they're still a playoff team, but they're definitely not aSuper Bowl team. Baltimore may cause some problems this week,and if they don't have Roethlisberger back next week the Coltsare going to give them their third loss of the season.
7 (5) New York Giants (6-3)
What a terrible time to slip up, and againstMinnesota of all teams. Eli Manning and the Giants have to bebetter if they want to be taken seriously, especially with Dallasaiming for the division title. A win this week against the PhiladelphiaEagles would be a huge boost to their confidence.
8 (7) San Diego Chargers (5-4)
Heading off the bye-week they've got a date againstthe Buffalo Bills, who will likely have J.P. Losman start. I doubtBuffalo could win this game with either quarterback, but the Chargersstill have to play well. If San Diego can't win, they risk slippingout of the AFC West race.
9 (11) Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3)
Watch out for this team. If you want to lookahead to the playoffs, in the AFC the one team you definitelydon't want to play is the Jags. They completely annihilated theRavens last week, and they've flew under the radar most of theway - the perfect combination for an early playoff exit for someunlucky opponent.
10 (10) Dallas Cowboys (6-3)
If this team played a full 60 minutes they'dprobably be the best team in the NFC. However, that concept hasyet to sink through to them, and until it does, they're goingto have a tough time doing anywhere in January. Meanwhile, they'rein a fight for their lives with the Giants for the NFC East title.
11 (9) Atlanta Falcons (6-3)
Against Green Bay? Green Bay? The Falcons pickedthe worst possible time to lose, allowing Tampa Bay to catch themand Carolina to pass them. This week's game against the Bucs isalmost a must-win, as the loser will likely be too far back tocatch the Panthers for the NFC South, unless Carolina loses ofcourse.
12 (13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)
Chris Simms can win games with his arms - andthat's good news, since Carnell 'Cadillac' Williams can't seemto win them with his legs. Opposition could be in trouble if JonGruden can get both parts of the offense clicking at once. They'llbe in even more trouble if Monte Kiffin can get this defense workingagain.
13 (12) Chicago Bears (6-3)
The Bears get a chance to prove that they'rea legitimate NFC contender this week, not just the benefactorsof a terrible division. They should be able to give Carolina someproblems, but their offense just isn't good enough - I don't seethem keeping up with the Panthers. This team will be great twoyears down the road if management doesn't screw up, all the piecesare in place. As for now, they're still "also-rans".
14 (23) Buffalo Bills (4-5)
The fact that the Bill jumped 9 spots in oneweek shows you just how close every team in the middle of thepack is ranked. Nonetheless, it was great to see J. P. Losmanthrowing touchdown passes, something the Bills will need if theywant to stay in the division race and catch New England. San Diegois going to be a tough team to beat though.
15 (14) Washington Redskins (5-4)
Did they get robbed? Maybe. Maybe the ball wasover the line, maybe it wasn't. However, you can't blame the losson that one play. They had four quarters to stop the Bucs, andthey couldn't do it. The first three quarters is the reason theylost, not just the fourth. If you have a chance to put the gameaway - you take advantage. The Redskins didn't, and because ofthat, they lost.
16 (15) Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)
A rather pathetic performance against the Bills,and they'll need to do better to be taken seriously in the AFC.They should get an easy win this week against the Texans, andif they struggle at all, we'll know they're not for ready to bea contender.
17 (18) New England Patriots (5-4)
The good news is that they lead their division.The bad news is that their defense isn't showing up at all. Thegood news is their next opponent is New Orleans. As long as TomBrady is playing, the Patriots will have a chance in every game.However, at some point the defense has got to make a stand.
18 (17) Miami Dolphins (3-6)
They made a game of it against the Patriots,but weren't able to pull it off. They need to win this week againstCleveland, because 9-7 just won't make the playoffs in the AFC.They should be able to pull it off, but at this stage the playoffsare a bit of a stretch for the Dolphins.
19 (19) Philadelphia Eagles (4-5)
Is it T.O., is it the team, is it the coaches,is it injuries - just what is wrong with the Eagles? The onceproud franchise has been thrown into disarray, and it may takea while before they sort it out again. Maybe if they started torun the ball.
20 (16) Oakland Raiders (3-6)
They were doing ok for a while there, and thenthey got smacked back down by the Broncos. Every game now is amust win if they want to maintain their playoff hopes, and lookingat the rest of their schedule it doesn't look like it's goingto happen. Too bad - this team is better than their record.
21 (21) Detroit Lions (4-5)
Well, at least they can beat someone, even ifit is Arizona. It's better than not beating the Cardinals. Willthey duplicate the result this week against Dallas? Don't counton it. The Cowboys haven't played a full game all year, and Godforbid this is their coming out week.
22 (22) St. Louis Rams (4-5)
They're a long way from the Rams of 2001 - heck,they're a long way from the Rams of last year. The Seahawks absolutelydestroyed them, but they are the best team in the NFC. Maybe theycan be like Detroit and at the very least beat the Cardinals.
23 (20) Tennessee Titans (2-7)
Maybe the best 2-7 team the league has ever seen- take that for what it's worth. The Titans lost a host of closegames this year, and this week against the Jaguars may be anotherone of those. The Jags excel at winning close games - not somethingyou want to know if you're a Titans fan.
24 (27) Green Bay Packers (2-7)
The second best 2-7 team in football. They playedinspired against the Falcons, even though they may only be playingfor pride. The Packers will have to view this as a rebuildingseason, and hope that Favre doesn't retire. He's the only onewho's kept this team from going 0-9.
25 (25) Cleveland Browns (3-6)
This team will be good - but it'll take a while.They've got a good coaching staff, and that's the foundation fora solid team. It may be too late for this year, especially ifthey lose another game. Miami might be the team to knock themout of the playoffs, because whoever loses this game will undoubtedlybe done for the year.
26 (28) New Orleans Saints (2-7)
Too many things went wrong this year, and unfortunatelythey all went wrong at once. There aren't many teams that couldovercome this much adversity and still field a winning team. Allthey need is one more loss to finish off the season, and it'llcome this week against the Patriots.
27 (24) Baltimore Ravens (2-7)
You get blown out by Jacksonville, and then youget to play Pittsburgh? Ouch. At least they may be missing Roethlisberger,because if they're not this game could get ugly. Pittsburgh won'ttake the Ravens so lightly the second time around.
28 (26) New York Jets (2-7)
This team was supposed to be in the playoffsthis year, so just what happened? Well, when every quarterbackyou speak to gets injured, it's somewhat understandable. Do weconsider Chad Pennington a bust since he's so injury prone, oris this just an unbelievable streak of bad luck?
29 (29) Arizona Cardinals (2-7)
Most teams would love to play the Lions and theRams back to back, I mean it doesn't get much easier than thatright? I mean at the very least you should get a split, if you'reany sort of team at all. Now let's all watch as Arizona losesboth of them.
30 (30) Minnesota Vikings (4-5)
The Vikings were so far behind before it's verydifficult to move them out of the basement. Not to mention thatlast week's win was an anomaly, and something like that won'thappen again. Fortunately for them they have a chance to climbback to .500 this week against Green Bay.
31 (32) San Francisco 49ers (2-7)
Up next: Seattle Seahawks. The best team in theNFC vs. the worst team in the NFC - can we expect an upset? Theodds of the 49ers winning are the same as the odds of Paris Hiltonbeing taken seriously - it's just not going to happen. Strangelyenough, they've both had problems with "risky" videosin their recent past.
32 (31) Houston Texans (1-8)
They were nothing but a speed bump for the Colts,and now they'll try to be something more to the Kansas City Chiefs.You know your team is bad when other teams prefer playing youover having a bye-week.
Dave Shepard writes for
www.TrevRogers.com
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