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The Ultimate Source for your Ph.D. in Pigskin |
Week Twelve Power Rankings Well, since all of the favorites won in the "key games" of last week, there wasn't too much change except for two teams: Indianapolis and St. Louis. The Colts dropped six spots because of getting crushed by the Chargers at home. I'm a little late to the party, but you can see that they are just not the same. I think age, free agency, and the loss of much of the coaching staff is finally taking a toll. I moved the Rams up five because they won they're first road game and I'm beginning to think that they're a little better than I've given them credit for.
Obviously, the games to
watch this week are Pittsburgh-Baltimore and Jets-Pats. However, they
don't matter much in regards to movement in the rankings. I can't see
any of them dropping significantly from losing against top-tier
opponents. Instead, I think Houston-Philadelphia, Chicago-Detroit,
Buffalo-Minnesota, Atlanta-Tampa Bay, and Dallas-Indianapolis could
really make a mess of things.
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| 1 |
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New England |
9-2 |
ESPN has computer simulations for everything, and usually, I think they're stupid. However, this week's said that the winner of Jets-Pats has an 80% chance of winning the AFC East. |
| 2 |
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New York Jets | 9-2 | Not only do I agree, but I think the loser might as well start packing for an early road trip in January and plan on playing three games to get to the Super Bowl. |
| 3 |
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Pittsburgh | 8-3 | With Ben Roethlisberger's ankle looking very, very iffy, and that piss-poor performance against Buffalo, I see very little chance of them beating Baltimore. |
| 4 |
 |
New Orleans | 8-3 | I wasn't particularly impressed with their lackluster showing on Thanksgiving, but they are still a little wounded, and with every passing week, they're getting healthier. |
| 5 |
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Atlanta | 9-2 | Believe it or not, I'm still wary of this team. They're not impressive in their wins, and they have difficulty putting teams away, which doesn't work well in the postseason. |
| 6 |
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Baltimore | 8-3 | Think about it, seeds one, two, five, and six will probably be decided this week. I can't think of the last time there were two more important games in the AFC in one week. |
| 7 |
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San Diego | 6-5 | With Pats-Jets, Steelers-Ravens, the Chargers have to be happy. Big, late season, physical games for each of them, which they're slowly but surely getting it all together. |
| 8 |
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Philadelphia | 7-4 | Andy Reid has to be concerned about the hits Mike Vick is taking. He's doing a great job of keeping his eyes downfield, but he's not the biggest guy in the world, either. |
| 9 |
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New York Giants | 7-4 | You just never know what you're going to get from the Giants from week-to-week. Much of the time, they look like nobody will be them in the postseason, but then other times..... |
| 10 |
 |
Green Bay | 7-4 | I didn't penalize them too much, because they should have won in Atlanta. But, that loss was huge. They're a much better team at home, and no one wants to go to Lambeau in January. |
| 11 |
 |
Chicago | 8-3 | I thought the Bears' defense was overrated until I saw the number the did on Mike Vick and the Eagles. They're for real, and as long as Jay Cutler is playing well, they can beat anyone. |
| 12 |
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Indianapolis | 6-5 | Before the season, I thought the Colts had one more year before the window closed. Hell, if the rest of the division wasn't falling over it's own feet, they'd probably be in last place. |
| 13 |
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Kansas City | 7-4 | They've only played three teams this year with a winning record, but Todd Haley and Scott Pioli deserve a ton of credit for winning more games this year than the previous two combined. |
| 14 |
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Tampa Bay | 7-4 | Every time I want to give this team the ol' "great college try" routine, they do something to keep me thinking that they could sneak into the postseason. |
| 15 |
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Jacksonville | 6-5 | Blowing an 11-point lead on the road in a game that they were dominating very well could have cost them the division. Their remaining schedule is tough, and I don't think they'll get to 9-7. |
| 16 |
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Houston | 5-6 | Sorry Texans' fans, but I give this team no credit for beating a rookie quarterback out of Florida Atlantic making his first NFL start. And no, I don't care that it was a shutout. |
| 17 |
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Miami | 6-5 | No doubt about it, this is an entirely different team with Chad Henne at the helm. It's just too bad they're too far out of the division and wild card to see what he could do in the playoffs. |
| 18 |
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Tennessee | 5-6 | Wow Jeff Fisher, you better hope that Kerry Collins gets back soon, or you're done even in a division where 9-7 might win it. |
| 19 |
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Cleveland | 4-7 | Wow Eric Mangini, you better hope that Colt McCoy gets back soon, or you won't finish ahead of Cincinnati in the NFC North. Yes, Jake Delhomme is just that bad. |
| 20 |
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Oakland | 5-6 | Al Davis can say what he wants about who he believes in and all that crap, but Oakland needs to get a real quarterback. I don't care who it is, but they have to address it this offseason. |
| 21 |
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Minnesota | 4-7 | With the Giants, Bears, and Eagles coming up in weeks 14-16, Leslie Frazier can do a lot towards making sure he's the head coach in 2011....well, if there is one. |
| 22 |
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Washington | 5-6 | You know you're season is lost when you lose at home to a team who hadn't won on the road this year (Vikings) and is the only one in the league with more internal issues than you. |
| 23 |
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Dallas | 3-8 | I can't believe this is the same team that lost by a combined score of 80-24 to the Jags and Pack. Barring a ridiculous meltdown, I think Garrett has earned the head coaching job. |
| 24 |
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San Francisco | 4-7 | I just can't move them ahead of some of the preceding teams because they still haven't beaten a good team. However, a good showing against Green Bay and I'll reconsider. |
| 25 |
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St. Louis | 5-6 | If you look at the remaining schedules in the NFC West, there is no way that the division winner will be better than 7-9. It will come down to the 49ers-Rams week 16 game. |
| 26 |
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Buffalo | 2-9 | Actually, I should have moved them up after almost beating the Steelers. If you watched the game, you could make a good case that they should have won that game. |
| 27 |
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Cincinnati | 2-9 | I don't mean to gloat, but how did anyone think the Bengals were going to be a playoff team? Hell, I thought I was being generous at 7-9. |
| 28 |
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Detroit | 2-9 | In the first half, they gave the Pats all they could handle. In the second half, they reverted to the old Lions. It would be nice to see what they could do with a full season from Matt Stafford. |
| 29 |
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Seattle | 5-6 | The Seahawks are the poster child for any other team in the NFL winning 10 games if they played in the NFC West. How they've won five games is beyond me. |
| 30 |
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Denver | 3-8 | Since he didn't get rid of Josh McDaniels after the Spygate II scandal, it looks like Pat Bowlen around for another year. If I were a Broncos' fan, I would be absolutely furious. |
| 31 |
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Arizona | 3-8 | I don't understand the uproar over Derek Anderson "smiling" when the Cards were getting killed. Haven't any of you had such a bad day where you couldn't do anything but laugh? |
| 32 |
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Carolina | 1-10 | I can just see Jerry Richardson in his home last Sunday saying, "whew, that was a little too close, guys. Don't you realize that Andrew Luck is the new goal for this year?" |
