Most of our top ten from last week held serve this around with the exception of the San Francisco 49ers who suffered a shock loss to the Arizona Cardinals. It may seem like just a a bump in the road for that team, but really it could have significant impact on their playoff picture. They're in either way, but that loss put them even with New Orleans and could mean the difference between a bye or a first round game against a team like Detroit. Plus, no bye likely means that San Fran will have to head to New Orleans if they win in the first round.
So as the national media focuses on the race to get in the postseason over these next couple weeks, don't sleep on the playoff positioning for those teams that are already in.
With that, onto the week 15 power ranks.
1) Green Bay Packers - Lost Greg Jennings for the rest of the regular season, but it's hard to think that will affect their offense all that much. LW (1)
2) New England Patriots - You really have to wonder how the Pats will fare in the playoffs with a defense this bad? LW (2)
3) New Orleans Saints - It was encouraging to see the Saints defense step up and make a stop to win a game. (LW 3)
4) Baltimore Ravens - If they can win in San Diego this week, they've got a legit shot at running the table. (LW 4)
5) Houston Texans - The Texans have clinched a playoff spot for the first time ever... and they did it with a 3rd string QB at the helm. (LW 7)
6) Pittsburgh Steelers - They'll be in San Fran next Monday night for a tough, must win game to keep pace with Baltimore... but they'll be doing it without James Harrison. (LW 6)
7) San Francisco 49ers - The Niners lost a surprise game to Arizona this week, which coupled with a New Orleans win has dented their hopes of a first round bye. (LW 5)
8) Denver Broncos - "Marion Barber time" is evidently the opposite of "Tebow Time." (LW 8)
9) New York Jets - The Jets have been on quite a roll over the past three weeks, however they haven't faced a team with a winning record. (LW 10)
10) Detroit Lions - 10 penalties for 76 yards on Sunday. Still the most undisciplined team in the NFL. (LW 14)
11) Atlanta Falcons - Atlanta was helped by Chicago and Dallas losing. I still find this team very hard to trust. (LW 12)
12) New York Giants - Got a big road win in Dallas to claim a share of the NFC East lead. Reality is though that this is a team that's a game above .500 and 1-4 over their last five. (LW 16)
13) Dallas Cowboys - Dallas has now lost two straight and their lead in the NFC East is gone. (LW 9)
14) Tennessee Titans - Lost a tough game against New Orleans, but still just a game out in the wildcard. (LW 11)
15) Chicago Bears - I don't care how complex Mike Martz's offense apparently is, there's no way Donovan McNabb would not be better than Caleb Hanie right now. (LW 13)
16) Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals are still in with a shot at the playoffs, but another loss to an AFC contender means hurts their conference record which could be important with tiebreakers. (LW 17)
17) Oakland Raiders - Only a game out of a playoff spot, but it really doesn't feel like a playoff team. (LW 15)
18) Seattle Seahawks - Seattle is 4-1 over their last five. If they'd only avoided one or two of those earlier losses they might actually be legitimately in the playoff hunt. (LW 18)
19) San Diego Chargers - Chargers are playing better, but it may be too little, too late as Denver just can't seem to lose. (LW 22)
20) Philadelphia Eagles - Super dim playoff hopes got a shot in the arm with a win and a Dallas loss. Still need to win out and get Dallas & NYG to lose two of their last three. (LW 24)
21) Buffalo Bills - The Bills have now lost six straight since giving Ryan Fitzpatrick that big, new contract. (LW 19)
22) Arizona Cardinals - After Kevin Kolb was injured early, John Skleton led a win over division rival San Fran. QB controversy in Arizona? (LW 20)
23) Miami Dolphins - Miami's strong run play ended with a trouncing at the hand of the Eagles that cost Tony Sparano his job. (LW 21)
24) Kansas City Chiefs - Todd Haley joins Tony Sparano & Jack Del Rio in their attempt to raise the national unemployment rate. (LW 23)
25) Washington Redskins - After being mathematically eliminated from the postseason, it has to be all about positioning for that QB now. (LW 25)
26) Jacksonville Jaguars - Scored 41 points this week and still have the 5th lowest scoring offense in the NFL. Encouraging game for them though. (LW 30)
27) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa has now lost seven straight, the second longest streak in the NFL. (LW 26)
28) Carolina Panthers - Blew a 16 point first half lead to the Falcons. It's hard to call this an up and coming team when there doesn't appear to be an actual good core. (LW 27)
29) Cleveland Browns - Just a shockingly bad offense, which doesn't reflect well on Pat Shurmur, who is an offensive coach. They currently pick at #6 in the draft, would they take a QB? (LW 28)
30) Minnesota Vikings - Joe Webb replaced the poor Christian Ponder and nearly led his team to a win against Detroit. Are Vikes fans thinking he could be the QB of the future? (LW 29)
31) St. Louis Rams - Last week, the Rams had the worst offense in the NFL scoring only 11.7 points per game. This week they're up to 11.8! Improvement! (LW 31)
32) Indianapolis Colts - They don't need to go 0-3 to get the #1 pick, but they probably will. Week 17 against the Jags is the biggest threat to their perfect losing season. (LW 32)