NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Focus on the Atlanta Falcons

At my site—www.GuysNation.com—I do a weekly power ranking of all 32 NFL teams.  It's a hugely subjective process in which I try to account for a team's strength of schedule, margin of victory, good wins and bad losses.

Where do the Atlanta Falcons currently rank?

They have a fairly good resume.  Week 1's loss in Pittsburgh isn't too harmful to their cause, as it was the beginning of the year and the game was played on the Steelers' home turf.  With the Steelers still firmly in the Top 10 all season (spending part of it in the top five), a narrow loss there actually looks decent on the record as one of the Falcons' two losses.

The other loss on the Falcons' record is also not terrible, as the Eagles have shown that they are capable of looking unstoppable, and as that game was played in Philly, it's understandable that Atlanta could have some troubles there.

Where the wins are concerned, the drubbing of the Cardinals looks decent, but no one thinks Arizona is a contender this year.  Beating the Saints in New Orleans actually looks better than the Cardinals game, given that division road games are tough spots. 

Only beating the 49ers by two when the game was played in Georgia is a slight disappointment.  The wins over Cleveland and Cincinnati were decent, but neither of the Ohio squads are in the top half of the league right now.  Beating Tampa Bay in Georgia is a win that the Falcons have to have if they're going to be a playoff team.

The best win for the Falcons to date would have to be their victory over Baltimore in Week 10.  With Baltimore being a top five team, that victory certainly helped cement Atlanta's argument for being a top five team as well.

The win against the Rams in St Louis was good, but the true test was Week 12 against the Packers.  Beating Green Bay was a huge boost to their resume, but let's keep things in perspective here:  the game was IN Atlanta and the margin of victory was only three points.  Las Vegas odds makers give points in favor of EACH home team on the NFL schedule (before weighing other factors), so that game would've been closer (in the eyes of Vegas) on a neutral field.

Some folks (including ESPN) say that the Falcons should be ranked in the top spot, ahead of the Patriots.  Do I agree?  Either way, you get my perspective.

For the complete rankings and analysis, check out the article on my website, www.GuysNation.com! Unlike Power Rankings you see elsewhere, your comments could help persuade me to rank your team better after Week 13!

You'll also probably enjoy a poll regarding the selection of the No. 2 team in the NFC!