NFL Week 15 Power Rankings

NFL Week 15 Power Rankings

Awful

32. Detroit Lions 0-13: Absolutely the worst overall team in the NFL. Their strongest area of the game has been the passing game, and their quarterback is Daunte Culpepper. That’s saying something if the best part of your team is led by a Raiders castoff.

31. Cincinnati Bengals 1-11: Their once great offense has been diminished to a running game full of unsuccessful castoffs and Ryan Fitzpatrick getting knocked to the ground every time he takes a snap. It’s no wonder Chad Johnson wants out.

30. St. Louis Rams 2-11: They look like they mailed the season in weeks ago. Right now they look like they are playing for the #1 draft pick, and they likely are. The only problem is that they already won 2 games, and the Bengals and Lions might not combine to win that many.

Better luck next year

29. Seattle Seahawks 2-11: I don’t know why Matt Hasselbeck came back this season. He has no good receivers and the team is going nowhere, but down. He should have just stayed injured, to prevent further injury. It’s a shame that Mike Holmgren’s final season has come to this.

28. Kansas City Chiefs 2-11: At least they’re trying. They don’t have the most talent, but they could easily have 4 or 5 wins, if it wasn’t for some bad luck, and they have a good young quarterback in Tyler Thigpen, a real diamond in the rough. If they can keep motivated during a tough season like this, they’ve got great hope for the future. I hate to say it, but Herm Edwards has done a good coaching job, even if he’ll likely lose his job after the season.

27. Oakland Raiders 3-10: Allow me to crown the Raiders the league’s most inconsistent team. One week they beat the Broncos, then they lose to the Chiefs, and get destroyed by the Chargers. Hey, at least it’s better that what they were 2 years ago, most consistently awful. It’s progress.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars 4-9: Allow me to take a quote from Bill Simmons, “If this blog were Jack Del Rio, the Jags would have already stopped listening.” That is so true. This team has talent, they just have no chemistry or respect for their young coach. Even Fred Taylor, who is supposed to be their veteran leader, thinks they suck.

Looking forward to a top ten draft pick

25. Cleveland Browns 4-9: Remember when quarterback issues meant that they had too many quarterbacks and couldn’t choose one. It’s funny how things change. Now they have no quarterback, due to injuries. Ken Dorsey is the starter and had a 49.6 rating last week. They need to trade either Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn, preferably Anderson because Quinn is the younger one, and put all of their faith in Quinn, rather than flip flopping. They’d have a new quarterback, new running back, with Jamal Lewis on his way out, and likely new coach. Use a mid round draft pick on a backup for Quinn and keep Dorsey as the 3rd guy.

24. Green Bay Packers 5-8: I honestly am stumped at what happened to this team. Aaron Rodgers has a great line in front of him, a decent duo of backs, and a solid defense, and Rodgers himself hasn’t played so bad, though he’s no Brett Favre, and yet they are 5-8. I would guess it’s a combination of bad luck, high expectations, and last year being a fluke, but that’s just a guess.

23. San Francisco 49ers 5-8: If it wasn’t for that whole pants dropping incident, Mike Singletary is a great coach. His discipline and offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s creativity combine very well. Just think, if it wasn’t for a last second loss to Arizona, this team would be 6-7, 1 game back of the Arizona Cardinals for first, holding a 2-0 tiebreaker over the Cards.

Probably not a playoff team

22. San Diego Chargers 5-8: The Chargers are probably the most disappointing team in terms of talent turning into wins. They’ve had a lot of tough close losses. A lot of that has to do with Coach Norv Turner, who will unfortunately be back next year. However, I think this team still has good players and a solid future. Although, despite not yet being officially eliminated, this team isn’t going anywhere this year

21. Buffalo Bills 6-7: This team will join the short list of 4-0 teams that did not go on to make the playoffs. It really has been a tale of two seasons for them. They’ve had their Super Bowl dark horse caliber season and their awful caliber season.

Making some noise

20. Houston Texans 6-7: They’ve been highly inconsistent this year, but when Matt Schaub plays they are very good. They aren’t as good as many thought they were before the season, but if Schaub can stay healthy and this team improves on defense via the draft or free agency, they could be an 8 win or better team.

19. New Orleans Saints 7-6: Drew Brees should win MVP this season. He is on pace to have the best season of any quarterback ever in terms of stats. Its not his fault the defense can’t stop anyone.

Close, but no cigar

18. Washington Redskins 7-6: The Redskins have had a good season, but it looks like that Baltimore loss was the nail in the coffin. They just aren’t as good as Dallas, Atlanta, and Philly, all of whom they’d have to beat out to win the 2nd and final wild card.

17. Philadelphia Eagles 7-5: The Eagles got a big win over the Giants and are 2-0 in two big games since the Donovan McNabb/Andy Reid mini quarrel in the Baltimore game. The Eagles have a way of finishing strong, so I wouldn’t count them out quite yet, even though they don’t appear to be in a strong position to make the playoffs.

16. Miami Dolphins 8-5: They have surprised the world and now sit in the middle of a tight AFC East race. They could very well win the division, but I see them, as well as New England and the Jets, winning 10 games. However, their loss will be to the Jets, which will lose them the tiebreaker, and force them into the Wild Card race, which I also see them losing. They’ve had a hell of a run though.

15. Atlanta Falcons 8-5: Speaking of hell of a run, the other team that finished in the bottom 3 last year and now is in the middle of a playoff race is 8-5 Atlanta (sorry St. Louis). However, like the Dolphins, I see the Falcons falling up just short, losing the Wild Card tie breaker to Dallas, by way of worse conference record.

On the playoff bubble

14. Chicago Bears 7-6: The Bears are in good position. They don’t have to deal with the Wild Card, they could still easily win their division, despite being 7-6, with Minnesota only 1 game away and without their wall for the rest of the season due to suspension. However, Chicago should come up short as the Vikings make due without both Williamses.

13. New England Patriots 8-5: With the Dolphins losing the division by way of tiebreaker, it would just be up to New England and the New York Jets. However, the Pats are not in a favorable position, with the Jets just needing a win over the Bills to at least nullify the 2nd tiebreaker. With the first one already nullified by the season series split, it would go to the 3rd tiebreaker, which the Jets currently own.

12. Minnesota Vikings 8-5: They might have some trouble stopping the run in the coming weeks, but with a one game division lead and the best running back alive, the Vikings are in very favorable position.

11. New York Jets 8-5: As I said before, the Jets are in the driver’s seat in the AFC East, especially since, sticking with car metaphor, the man steering their team is Brett Favre. He’ll turn it on at the end of the season to help them avenge 2 straight losses and win two of three, if not sweep, a fairly easy 3 game stretch. The real Jets are the ones that won in Tennessee, not the ones that lost in Oakland and San Francisco.

Playoffs and maybe more

10. Denver Broncos 8-5: With a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way, the Broncos, needing only one win to clinch the division, look to be in position to get back to the playoffs. However, once there, they may have some issues defending the run, which is could seriously hurt them come playoff time.

9. Arizona Cardinals 8-5: The Cardinals have clinched their first playoff berth in over a decade. They have a good shot to show, in the playoffs, that they deserve to be there and didn’t just get in because of a weak schedule and no interdivision competition. However, losses against the Giants and Eagles could be signs that this team will struggle come playoff time.

8. Dallas Cowboys 8-5: The Cowboys look to be in good position to make the playoffs and with one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Tony Romo, they are definitely the team no one wants to face in the playoffs. However, as the Pittsburgh game showed, they still have a way of choking under pressure. Plus, if Marion Barber’s injury is serious, they risk becoming one dimensional which could be the death of them.

Dark horses

7. Baltimore Ravens 8-5: I’m not going to say they are as good as they were when they won in 2000. However, their grind it out NFC style of play is going to be an advantage come playoff time in the relatively pass happy AFC. The biggest question with them is, can Joe Flacco lead this team from behind, in the clutch, in the playoffs. So far, he hasn’t proven that that will be something he can do.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-4: For the first time in a while, Tampa’s defense looked vulnerable last week against the Panthers. However, that is what the Panthers’ running game will do to you. They shouldn’t worry about making the playoffs, they will make them. However, they need to prove they can stop running games like the Giants’ and the Panthers’ in the playoffs. They might not be a true contender like two those teams mentioned, but they are still a very solid football team that can surprise some.

5. Indianapolis Colts: 9-4: They got hot at the right time. They have 5 straight wins and could make it 8 by the end of the season, seeing as they have a fairly weak schedule. No one is going to want to face Peyton and the Colts when they are on a roll like that come playoff time. This has to be a scary team.
Elite runner ups

4. Pittsburgh Steelers 10-3: They proved in the Dallas game, once again, that they can win even it isn’t pretty. They aren’t a true grind it out them, because their offense revolves around their quarterback making a lot of throws, but the fact that they can win in so many different ways has to scare some teams.

3. Carolina Panthers 10-3: They got a huge win this week and are knocking on the door of becoming the favorite in the NFC. Their upcoming game against the Giants, week 16, will be huge for both sides, especially Carolina. That is a very winnable game for the Panthers seeing as the Giants are missing a certain 6-5 wide receiver with a hole in his leg.

2. New York Giants 11-2: They didn’t look good this week. They are missing Plaxico and their receiving crew looks subpar at best. They looked slightly distracted as well. However, this team is a machine. They will get through it and get back to winning football games. Philly will be a huge wake up call for them and I expect them to beat Carolina week 16 and reassert their dominance. This is the NFC favorite, if not the NFL favorite.

1. Tennessee Titans 12-1: The Giants are good, but you can’t deny that fact that this team wins games. They play playoff style football every week, with their strong defense and grind it out backs. They should be able to beat any team they face. Now it’s just a matter of going out and doing it.