It was only a few short weeks ago that I was touting what imbalance there seemed to be in the NFL because it seemed as though most of the good team in the league were concentrated in the NFC. After this weekend, that no longer appears to be the case. NFC playoff contenders Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, New York & Chicago all suffered losses this weekend throwing the entire playoff picture into disarray and leaving us wondering if any of these teams are really any good?
And if there's any imbalance in the NFL, it's between the top 6 or so and everyone else. Once you get past #7 in this week's ranking, the next 10 teams are almost completely a toss up. I put the Broncos at the top of that heap, but if you said it was the Cowboys or Bears or Jets... you'd have a perfectly good argument. After that group, it's much the same for the rest of the league. It seems like everyone has either 7 wins or 7 losses.
With that, onto the week 14 power ranks.
1) Green Bay Packers - Did anyone not think Rodgers was going to lead them down the field for the win when they got the ball with about a minute left? LW (1)
2) New England Patriots - The score against the
Colts was closer than you might have guessed, but any December win is a good one.
LW (2)
3) New Orleans Saints - Scored 80 points in their last two games. (LW 3)
4) Baltimore Ravens - Ray Rice gave his fantasy owners an early gift with a 200+ yard rushing game.
(LW 7)
7) Houston Texans - Apparently it doesn't matter who plays QB, they just keep winning.
(LW 6)
8) Denver Broncos - Does it still count as "Tebow Time" when the defense leads the game winning drive? Does it matter?
(LW 14)
9) Dallas Cowboys - What a let down from Dallas this week losing to Arizona. They could have really opened up a lead in the NFC East with the Giants losing. (LW 8)
10) New York Jets - Have won two straight and are actually in a pretty good position for a wildcard.
(LW 13)
11) Tennessee Titans - They're very much alive in the AFC wildcard race.
(LW 17)
12) Atlanta Falcons - Just when you think Atlanta has it figured out and is ready to go on a roll, they throw in a stinker like this weekend.
(LW 9)
13) Chicago Bears - This team is in a real free for all with Caleb Hanie at QB and now they face the prospect of missing Matt Forte for a few games. (LW 10)
14) Detroit Lions - This is easily the most undisciplined team in the NFL and that reflect directly on their coach, Jim Schwartz.
(LW 11)
16) New York Giants - They were competitive against the best team in the NFL, but when you're in a free fall like the Giants, just being competitive isn't good enough. They've now lost four straight.
(LW 15)
17) Cincinnati Bengals - They've failed every test against the big dogs in their division. The humps they'll need to get over next year are colored black, silver & purple.
(LW 16)
18) Seattle Seahawks - Absolutely trounced the
Eagles on Thursday night and now get a virtual bye week as they don't play until Monday night.
(LW 21)
20) Arizona Cardinals - Continued their odd domination of the Cowboys with a win on Sunday.
(LW 25)
21) Miami Dolphins - I said Miami would win three more games this year. They only need to win two of their next four to make that a reality. They're
really playing well.
(LW 22)
22) San Diego Chargers - Chargers finally got a win, breaking their six game losing streak and looking really good doing it.
(LW 26)
23) Kansas City Chiefs - Maybe the unlikeliest end to a game this season when McCluster caught that hail mary.
(LW 27)
24) Philadelphia Eagles - Sitting at 4-8, they actually still have a shot at the NFC East, which should tell you something about the NFC East this year.
(LW 19)
25) Washington Redskins - Looks like they've lost Fred Davis and Trent Williams for the year thanks to multiple positive drug tests.
(LW 24)
26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Tampa has now lost six straight, the second longest streak in the NFL.
(LW 20)
27) Carolina Panthers - Cam Newton may have pulled back ahead of
Andy Dalton in the rookie of the year race.
(LW 29)
28) Cleveland Browns - Really can't throw or run the ball effectively. Just a terrible offense.
(LW 23)
29) Minnesota Vikings - Christian Ponder follows in Brett Favre's footsteps with a game losing INT of his own. (LW 30)
31) St. Louis Rams - Remember how I said the Jags were the worst offense in the NFL? The Rams may have a better argument, they are scoring a league low 11.7 points per game. (LW 31)
32) Indianapolis Colts - Credit to them for actually getting up to play their old rivals, the Pats. They lost, but they did fight.
(LW 32)
