NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Eagles, Falcons, Steelers Win, So Who's No. 1?
The NFL Power Rankings are becoming more cutthroat as the season progresses, and we have last week's No. 1 and No. 2 teams fighting it out for the No. 1 spot.
The Jets were No. 1 last week, getting a slight edge over the Patriots because of the victory in Week 2. But the Steelers have put themselves back in the mix with a win over the Ravens, and the Falcons continue their dominance in the NFC.
The bottom hasn't changed so much, but the Titans now find themselves a lot closer to it than they were a month ago.
So, beginning with the worst, here's a look at this week's power rankings.
The Bottom Two
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32. Carolina Panthers: The Panthers continue to flounder, and their hold on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft becomes more secure with every loss.
31. Cincinnati Bengals: If any team can wrestle the No. 1 pick away from the Panthers this year, it's the Bengals. They find new ways to lose games every week.
One Step Up From the Bottom
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30. San Francisco 49ers: The wheels are coming off the wagon here, and a coaching change seems to be a near-certainty at this point.
29. Buffalo Bills: Despite their record, they tend to be in most of their games, but last week's loss in overtime may have broken their spirit.
No Hope in Sight
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28. Denver Broncos: Kyle Orton can't even have a good game anymore, Josh McDaniels is on the hot seat and the defense allowed only 10 points to the Chiefs and still lost.
27. Arizona Cardinals: John Skelton finally saw some action while Derek Anderson got benched yet again. Except Max Hall is injured now, making the Cardinals quarterback situation no different, really.
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Scrambling for Answers
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26. Detroit Lions: The Lions are better than last year, but Matthew Stafford is still injured and the Lions still are losing a bunch of games.
25. Tennessee Titans: How the mighty have fallen. In six weeks, the Titans went from being a top-five team to a bottom-dweller. Injuries and in-fighting are the two biggest reasons for this. But the losing also has a lot to do with their low ranking.
Stuck in Limbo
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24. Washington Redskins: Mike Shanahan has a team with no direction, no plan and no consistency at skill positions. This team is a mess.
23. Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings dominated the Buffalo Bills and lost Brett Favre to injury. While this raised the team a few spots in the rankings, I'm not sure either benchmark bodes well for anybody.
No Good Answers
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22. Houston Texans: With the loss to the Eagles, the Texans' season is pretty much over. The defense made a decent showing, and it was their first showing in weeks, which is why the Texans are this low.
21. Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks beat the Panthers and still have a share of the NFC West lead, for whatever that's worth.
20. St. Louis Rams
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Last Week: 21
The Rams remain at .500 and share the division lead with the Seattle Seahawks. Statistically, NFL.com gives them a slight edge over the Seahawks, so they get a slight edge in the power rankings.
19. Dallas Cowboys
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Last Week: 23
The Dallas Cowboys now are ranked higher than they've been all season, and when you beat Peyton Manning and the Colts, even if it's the junior varsity version, that earns you some points.
The Cowboys have rallied behind Jason Garrett and are starting to look like the great team Jerry Jones thought he had three months ago.
18. Miami Dolphins
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Last Week: 15
The Dolphins can't win at home, and even when they're given opportunities, they blow it. The Dolphins now are pretty much out of the playoff hunt, and get to decide if they're going to draft a quarterback in the first round next spring.
17. Cleveland Browns
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Last Week: 20
With two last-minute victories, the Cleveland Browns now are winning close games, which is preferable to how the outcomes were prior to the last few weeks. If the Browns had won every game they blew in the fourth quarter this year, their record would be 10-2 right now.
It's mind-boggling what a few plays can do to a season.
By the way, Colt McCoy was injured, but there's your quarterback of the future, Cleveland.
16. Indianapolis Colts
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Last Week: 14
Injuries and bad personnel decisions have brought the Colts to what most teams term a "rebuilding year." The playoffs still are a possibility, but that shrinks with every interception Peyton Manning throws.
Manning is trying to do everything in the absence of most of the offense, but he's learning one man can't do it all between the lines.
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Last Week: 13
The Bucs are a tenacious team, but they don't fare well against teams with winning records. The Bucs' loss to the Falcons puts a serious crimp in their playoff aspirations, but there's enough time left for them to change their fortunes again.
14. San Diego Chargers
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Last Week: 6
The Chargers are masters of shooting themselves in the foot this season, and the loss to the Raiders not only seriously damages their ability to win the division, but their Wild Card hopes now are a lot more tenuous.
13. Oakland Raiders
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Last Week: 18
The Raiders kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Chargers this week, but losses early in the season still are haunting them. The Raiders can't afford to lose another game, and the Chiefs better beware.
12. Jacksonville Jaguars
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Last Week: 17
The Jaguars are the team that won't go away in the AFC. In fact, they now lead the AFC South, one game ahead of the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jaguars win by pounding Maurice Jones-Drew down your throat while David Garrard shows inconsistent flashes of greatness.
11. Kansas City Chiefs
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Last Week: 10
The Chiefs lose a spot in the rankings because even though they won, they only beat the Broncos 10-6. The offense just wasn't as potent as it should be, and after all the points they put on the board in the blowout loss a few weeks ago, this team looked kind of flat in what should have been a revenge game.
10. Chicago Bears
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Last Week: 11
The Bears get a win, but once again they needed help from the refs to beat the Detroit Lions. It wasn't at the level of the Week 1 call that took the game-winning touchdown away from the Lions, but still.
The Bears are making their own luck, so they're a top-10 team now, but needing help from the refs to beat the Lions twice this year isn't encouraging for a playoff run.
9. New Orleans Saints
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Last Week: 8
The Saints won, but they should've blown out the Bengals. Instead, they needed Pat Simms to have a complete brain fart to get the go-ahead score, and then Carson Palmer to forget how to manage a clock with less than 30 seconds left.
8. Green Bay Packers
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Last Week: 9
The Packers move up a spot by beating the San Francisco 49ers. And look at how snazzy those throwback uniforms are!
7. Baltimore Ravens
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Last Week: 4
The Ravens drop four spots with the loss to the Steelers on Sunday Night Football, but the Ravens are far from being out of the playoff race.
While their road to the playoffs may come via the Wild Card, the Ravens still are one of the best teams in the league.
6. Philadelphia Eagles
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Last Week: 7
The victory over the Texans moves the Eagles up another spot and closer to the top five. Michael Vick is proving he's very hard to contain, and the Eagles defense showed they could contain a great quarterback like Matt Schaub.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
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Last Week: 12
The Pittsburgh Steelers re-enter the top five with a hard win over the Baltimore Ravens. It's now the Steelers' division to lose, and they have to hope Roethlisberger's injuries heal, Heath Miller isn't too badly concussed and that Flozell Adams isn't slowed by the knee injury.
Yes, the Flozell comment was meant to be sarcastic.
4. New York Giants
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Last Week: 5
The Giants move up a spot with their win over the Redskins, although the Eagles technically have the lead in the division. With identical records, the division is tight, and these two teams meet on Dec. 19. The division very well could be decided there.
3. New York Jets
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Last Week: 1
Yes, I'm predicting the Jets lose tonight. Between Bill Belichick's tendency to not lose to the same team twice in one year and the injury to Jim Leonhard, the Pats have an edge this week.
But are the Patriots No. 1?
Click on to find out...
2. Atlanta Falcons
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Last Week: 3
The Falcons simply are the best team in the NFC right now, and they held off a very tenacious Buccaneers team on Sunday.
It's still a long road to the playoffs in the NFC South, but the Falcons are becoming tougher and tougher to beat.
1. New England Patriots
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Last Week: 2
It's been a long road to the top for the Patriots this year, but they finally made it. With a win over the New York Jets, the Patriots will be the unquestioned No. 1 team in the league, unless you're a Falcons fan.
Or unless they lose tonight, in which case I'll have to make some changes.
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