NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Eagles Loss Shakes Things Up, Who's No. 1?
Just like Cortland Finnegan and Andre Johnson brawling on the field on Sunday, this week's fight for the top spot in the power rankings could get ugly.
The Eagles have held the top spot the last few weeks, but a loss to the Chicago Bears knocks them out for now.
The Texans rise with a win, and the Monday night game between Arizona and San Francisco will have absolutely no bearing on today's ranking. Win or lose, both teams are terrible.
So that's about it for Week 12 of the NFL—let's see how the chips fell.
The Bottom Two
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32. Carolina Panthers: They put up a good fight against Cleveland, but they're still 1-10.
31. Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals don't know what's going on, so I don't expect them to be able to fix what's wrong any time soon.
One Step Up from the Bottom
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30. Arizona Cardinals: Win or lose, the Cardinals have no quarterback, no solid running back and the defense is awful. Plus, they play in the NFC West.
29. San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers have options at quarterback now, but it doesn't mean anything if no one on the sidelines can get their act together. Plus, they play in the NFC West.
Scrambling for Answers
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28. Denver Broncos: The Broncos are floundering on the field, being charged with cheating off the field, and they just lost to an NFC West team. Yeah, things are pretty bad in Denver.
27. Buffalo Bills: Third straight loss in overtime for the suffering franchise keeps the Bills from being much higher on this list. Nothing is going their way this year.
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Stuck in Limbo
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26. Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings won a game, but there still are no real answers for the team going forward at this point, or whether they can string a few wins together.
25. Detroit Lions: The Lions put on a good show for one half, but the Patriots came out in the second half and showed everyone why the Lions still are rebuilding.
Going in Different Directions
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24. Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks continue to not play well, which is no surprise since they're an NFC West team.
23. Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys definitely are improving, but the loss to New Orleans was a tough one since it looked for a little bit like the Cowboys were going to pull a miracle out of their hat.
Season on the Brink
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22. Tennessee Titans: The team came down to starting Rusty Smith and got shut out by Houston. This team was ranked No. 1 at one point in October. Now their season is just about over.
21. St. Louis Rams: They beat Denver, for what that's worth anymore, but the Rams very well could end up in the playoffs the way the NFC West is.
20. Cleveland Browns
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Last Week: 23
The Browns finally won a close game, but the defense still hasn't remembered how to tackle, and Jake Delhomme was pretty bad in his first game back from injury. It took all 60 minutes and a "Doink!" off the uprights for the Browns to win.
This just shows you how bad the rest of the teams below the Browns are right now.
19. Washington Redskins
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Last Week: 17
The Redskins continue to play inconsistent football and lose games they should win. The Vikings just fired their head coach, and Brett Favre is not exactly the Brett Favre the league used to fear on Sundays.
18. Oakland Raiders
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Last Week: 15
The Raiders still have no answer at quarterback as Bruce Gradkowski got injured again, meaning it'll probably be Jason Campbell starting next week. Meanwhile, what looked like a team coming together now looks like the "same old" Raiders again.
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
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Last Week: 16
The Jags fall another spot after losing to the Giants. The Jags are a hard team to rank because they hardly ever dominate their opponents, often winning on miracle finishes, but they stay in all their games.
16. Houston Texans
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Last Week: 21
The Texans defense finally showed up for a game, but the Titans weren't exactly starting their best guy under center this week. Still, the Texans showed some fight, literally, and dominated the Titans in a 20-0 shutout.
15. Miami Dolphins
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Last Week: 22
With a win over the Raiders, the Dolphins gained back a lot of their respectability. Chad Henne played well, and the Dolphins climb a bit in the rankings.
14. Indianapolis Colts
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Last Week: 10
The Colts are in trouble. They've got injuries all over the place, and Peyton Manning no longer seems to be getting the breaks he used to. Two of his four picks came from his arm being hit as he threw, and his third should've been called back due to pass interference.
Bottom line is the Colts are in danger of missing the playoffs this year.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Last Week: 12
The Bucs just couldn't hold it together in the fourth quarter like they usually do against the Ravens, but a poor first half got them in a bad position. The Bucs are 0-4 against teams with winning records, and that could drop them as December progresses.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers
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Last Week: 6
The Steelers may have won the game, but I don't think anyone in Pittsburgh is calling that a victory. The Steelers looked flat and sloppy and needed one of the worst drops of the year in overtime to get the win.
At least their new kicker, Shaun Suisham, seems reliable.
11. Chicago Bears
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Last Week: 14
The Bears got their best win of the season Sunday over Philadelphia. The Bears stunned the Eagles, and many analysts (like myself) thought this would be a victory for the Eagles.
The Bears offense looked about as good as it looked all year. Combined with their powerful defense, the Bears were deserving victors.
10. Kansas City Chiefs
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Last Week: 13
The Chiefs are looking more and more like they're going to earn "Most Improved Team of the Year" honors. The blowout of Seattle was confirmation the Chiefs are going places.
9. Green Bay Packers
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Last Week: 5
A tough loss to the Falcons drops the Packers a few spots, but don't expect them to fall out of the Top 10 anytime soon. The Packers will rebound.
8. New Orleans Saints
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Last Week: 8
The Saints remain static in the rankings after almost letting the Cowboys win the game. That game was too close for the Saints to gain any traction in the rankings.
7. Philadelphia Eagles
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Last Week: 1
The Eagles take a real hit in the rankings after losing to the Chicago Bears. But the Eagles rallied and almost came back, so they stay in the Top 10.
The Eagles still are one of the best NFC teams, but the loss to the Bears hurt.
6. San Diego Chargers
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Last Week: 11
As much as the Titans have fallen in the rankings over the last month, the Chargers have risen.
The Chargers are making their now-customary second-half surge, and the decisive win over the Colts cements their place in the Top 10 this week.
5. New York Giants
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Last Week: 9
The Giants rebounded after two straight losses with a win over the Jaguars, something a lot of teams have a hard time doing. The Giants have been a little inconsistent over the last month, but yesterday's victory was a step in the right direction.
4. Baltimore Ravens
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Last Week: 7
With a win over the Buccaneers, the Ravens move back up into the Top Five, and next week's showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers determines who will have the lead in the division and who will be hoping to get a Wild Card.
3. Atlanta Falcons
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Last Week: 4
With the win over Green Bay, the Falcons become the best team in the NFC, for now. The Falcons have put together a great season so far, and the NFC looks like it's going to come down to the Falcons, Packers, Giants and Eagles at this point.
2. New England Patriots
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Last Week: 3
The Patriots move up one spot with their win in Detroit and the Eagles' loss. They would be No. 1, but there's another team occupying that spot. The battle for No. 1 happens this Monday night.
Click on to see who is No.1, but I think you can figure it out at this point.
1. New York Jets
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Last Week: 2
The Jets win and move into the No. 1 position with the Eagles' loss and the Jets' previous win over the New England Patriots.
The teams meet up again this week for control of the AFC East, and the winner will claim the Power Rankings crown.
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