It was a bloodbath in week 15 for the AFC 's elite. The Ravens and Steelers were both blown out, the Texans came crashing back to earth, the Jets were humiliated in Philly and "Tebow Time" finally ran out. The only AFC contender to walk out of the weekend victorious was the New England Patriots.
In the NFC, it was almost the opposite. The top team, Green Bay, was beaten but contenders like San Fran, Atlanta, Detoit, New Orleans and Dallas all got big wins. It's been interesting to see the balance of power swing back and forth so liberally this year between the two conferences.
With that, onto the week 16 power rankings.
1) Green Bay Packers - There's a reason only two teams have ever made it through the regular season undefeated. It's really hard to do and most of the time, a team will lose a fluke game. That's what happened to the Pack. However, the injuries to the offensive line are a real concern. LW (1)
2) New England Patriots - They walked into Denver and just stomped all over the Tebowmentum. LW (2)
3) New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees is only one below average game away from breaking Dan Marino's single season yards record. (LW 3)
4) San Francisco 49ers - Got back on track with a defensive dismantling of the Steelers. (LW 7)
5) Baltimore Ravens - They can take solace in the fact that they aren't the only AFC North leader to get blown out this week. (LW 4)
6) Houston Texans - You mean continuing to win with your 3rd QB isn't sustainable? Shocker. (LW 5)
7) Pittsburgh Steelers - The lights went on Pittsburgh Monday night... but at least the Ravens lost as well. (LW 6)
8) Atlanta Falcons - Blowout win over the Jags has all but guaranteed them a wildcard spot. Now they travel to New Orleans next week to show whether they can do anything in the postseason when they get there. (LW 11)
9) Detroit Lions - Another great comeback win for Detroit, but the leagues' most undisciplined team still tried to shoot themselves in the foot with 9 penalties for 72 yards. (LW 10)
10) Dallas Cowboys - They got almost a freebie win against a Bucs team that has given up. Things get tougher next week with a rejuvenated Eagles squad coming to town. (LW 13)
11) Denver Broncos - "Tebow Time" apparently now includes running 26 yards in the wrong direction and taking a sack. (LW 8)
12) New York Jets - It was an ugly trip to Philly for the Jets, who now must regroup and face another team coming off an ugly loss that they happen to share a stadium with. (LW 9)
13) Cincinnati Bengals - The Jets blowout loss in Philly was big for the Bengals, who are now tied at 8-6 for the final playoff spot in the AFC. They do lose the tiebreaker however. (LW 16)
14) San Diego Chargers - Three straight wins have San Diego a game out in the AFC West, however they finish the year with two straight road games. (LW 19)
15) New York Giants - Giants in full collapse mode now having lost 5 of their last 6. It was a truly embarrassing effort against the Redskins. (LW 12)
16) Oakland Raiders - Denver's loss means that Oakland is only a game out of the AFC West lead and they've got two home games left. (LW 17)
17) Seattle Seahawks - A long shot for the playoffs, but they would scare anyone if they did happen to sneak in. (LW 18)
18) Arizona Cardinals - John Skelton leads yet another win for Arizona. At this point, it would be hard to justify benching him for Kevin Kolb when the Cardinals big money offseason acquisition heals. (LW 22)
19) Philadelphia Eagles - The Eagles have crushed teams two weeks in a row. Still can't quite tell if they're just playing spoiler or whether they might actually steal the NFC East. (LW 20)
20) Tennessee Titans - Tennessee gets the distinction of being the only team to lose the hapless Colts. (LW 14)
21) Chicago Bears - Four straight losses for the Bears, who without Jay Cutler have all but played themselves out of what looked like a sure wildcard spot only a month ago. (LW 15)
22) Miami Dolphins - Reggie Bush's renaissance season hit a high note as he rushed for 203 yards. (LW 23)
23) Kansas City Chiefs - Anyone else think the celebration after beating the Packers was a little excessive? (LW 24)
24) Washington Redskins - Watching the game Sunday, you would have thought that it was the Redskins who were fighting for their playoff lives. They aren't, but they did play really hard. (LW 25)
25) Buffalo Bills - The Bills have now lost seven straight since giving Ryan Fitzpatrick that big, new contract. Since putting pen to ink on the $59 million deal, he's thrown 12 picks and just 8 TDs in 7 games (LW 21)
26) Carolina Panthers - The fumblerooskie had to be the highlight of the weekend. (LW 28)
27) Cleveland Browns - Even with an extra quarter to play, they couldn't break 20 points on offense. (LW 29)
28) Jacksonville Jaguars - They'll have a shot at one of the top QBs in this draft. Do they pull the trigger and give up on Blaine Gabbert already? (LW 26)
29) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa didn't even show up in Dallas. They've now lost 8 straight, which is the longest streak in the NFL. (LW 27)
30) Minnesota Vikings - Completely dominated by the Saints and Jared Allen lost his NFL sack lead in the process. (LW 30)
31) Indianapolis Colts - Peter King said on Sunday Night Football that Jim Caldwell may have saved his job with their first win on Sunday. Was he joking? (LW 32)
32) St. Louis Rams - Losers of five straight and at 11.9 points per game have the worst offense in the NFL. (LW 31)