NFL Week 15 Power Rankings: Patriots Dominate, Vikings Move, Who's No. 1?
The NFL Power Rankings are starting to look more like the playoff picture now, but things aren't quite settled yet.
The Patriots and Falcons continue to roll, the Jets' slide now reaches two games and the Eagles play tough for four quarters, edging out the Dallas Cowboys.
Some bad teams got worse, some good teams got better. The Top 10 definitely got shaken up yesterday, but not in ways you may expect.
How will this week's action affect the power rankings? Click on to find out.
The Bottom Two
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32. Carolina Panthers: Everyone thought the Bills were the worst team in the league coming into the season, but the Carolina Panthers decided they weren't going to tolerate being disrespected like that.
31. Cincinnati Bengals: I'm one of the few who predicted the Bengals' 2009 season was a fluke. Despite everything that happened last year, Marvin Lewis still is the coach, Mike Brown still is the owner and Carson Palmer isn't the quarterback he used to be.
One Step Up from the Bottom
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30. Denver Broncos: Other than Champ Bailey, there isn't much for the Broncos to celebrate right now. Kyle Orton appears to have packed it in, and that goes for pretty much everyone else on the team right now.
29. Washington Redskins: The Redskins couldn't even execute an extra point try when the game was on the line this week. Albert Haynesworth may be gone, but this team continues to be very bad.
Actually Showing Improvement
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28. Buffalo Bills: The Bills won another game, effectively removing them from the Andrew Luck sweepstakes unless something major happens before the draft.
27. San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers came to life against the Seahawks yesterday. The question is if they can stay alive for three more weeks.
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Playing Out the String
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26. Tennessee Titans: The Titans' once promising season is now over, and Jeff Fisher may be looking for a new job because owner Bud Adams likes emotionally unstable quarterbacks who crumble at the first sign of trouble.
25. Detroit Lions: If the Lions can win with Drew Stanton, they're better than the Titans and the Bills.
Scrambling for Answers
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24. Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings probably are going to lose tonight, but at least they don't have to shovel snow today.
23. Seattle Seahawks: This team would be ranked lower, but that's how bad the rest of the league is.
No Clear Direction
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22. Cleveland Browns: No game plan, no adjustments, no offense and no answers. That pretty much sums up the Cleveland Browns in 2010. It's looking more and more like you can go ahead and start printing your "Welcome Jon Gruden" signs in Cleveland.
21. Houston Texans: The Texans probably are going to lose to Baltimore tonight, but that's nothing to be ashamed of this year. I'm sure Matt Schaub and the offense will look good. Let's see if the defense can show up two weeks in a row.
20. Arizona Cardinals
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Last Week: 27
What?!?!?
Yes, the Cardinals jump seven spots because they actually looked like they cared yesterday, and John Skelton showed a pulse behind center. The Cardinals' season ended weeks ago, so now you're seeing guys playing for jobs next year.
It's not much, but at least it's something.
19. St. Louis Rams
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Last Week: 20
Despite losing, the Rams gain a spot because of all the bad football going on around them. Plus, despite the loss, the Rams still probably are going to win the NFC West.
18. Oakland Raiders
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Last Week: 13
The Oakland Raiders squandered yet another chance to climb back into the playoff race yesterday, and it turns out that was their last chance. Sorry, Raiders fans, the math does not lie.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Last Week: 15
The Bucs may have won, but there was too much other movement around them, and the Saints won as well, dropping them two spots.
The Bucs are a pretty good team, but it's looking more and more like they're the team that's going to get screwed by the NFC West winner and miss the playoffs because of an inferior team.
16. Dallas Cowboys
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Last Week: 19
Remember, these are power rankings, not a look at the playoff picture. Right now I believe Dallas could beat just about every team ranked below them; that's how much they've turned things around in Dallas.
I ranked the Cowboys at the bottom under Wade Phillips and took a lot of heat for it, but I wasn't wrong. Jason Garrett is showing just how good this team could've been.
15. Miami Dolphins
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Last Week: 18
It wasn't pretty, but the Dolphins pulled a win out against the Jets, who all of a sudden look very bad and nowhere near the playoff juggernaut they were a few weeks ago.
The Dolphins still have a long way to go, but the fact they pulled it together and kept the lead says a lot about Tony Sparano's team.
14. Green Bay Packers
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Last Week: 8
Without Aaron Rodgers, this team apparently is a cellar dweller, so they take a huge tumble in the rankings as their playoff hopes took a serious hit. Now head coach Mike McCarthy has to figure out what he's going to do if Rodgers can't play.
13. Chicago Bears
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Last Week: 10
Bears fans aren't going to like this, so I'll tell them the same thing I told Dallas Cowboy fans in September and early October: Start winning some meaningful games, and maybe I'll start believing your team is legitimate.
Don't tell me about the Bears' record. Look at how soft the schedule is, and look at how the Bears performed at home against a true NFL powerhouse team.
The prosecution rests.
12. Kansas City Chiefs
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Last Week: 11
Yesterday was just an ugly day for the Chiefs. Without Matt Cassel, it was like a junior college team on the field. They're getting a bit of a pass this week because of Cassel's emergency appendectomy, but this game should raise all kinds of red flags for the Chiefs' coaching staff.
11. San Diego Chargers
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Last Week: 14
It's tough ranking the Chargers and the Chiefs because you never know which team you're going to get from week to week anymore.
That being said, the Chargers beat down the Chiefs yesterday, so they have to get an edge in the power rankings.
10. Indianapolis Colts
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Last Week: 16
And with one win, the Colts are right back in the thick of things. Peyton Manning found his mojo, and it's a tight race between the Colts and the Jaguars to see who gets the division.
9. New York Jets
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Last Week: 3
One more loss and the Jets might be staying home for the playoffs. The losses to the Dolphins and the Patriots in a six-day span have put the Jets in a tight spot most of the fans and team probably didn't think possible on Dec. 2.
But the reality is the Patriots exposed a lot of holes in the Jets' schemes, and the Dolphins continued to exploit those holes.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars
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Last Week: 12
The Jaguars may not be the most surprising team of the 2010 season, but they're definitely in that conversation.
Everyone knew how good Maurice Jones-Drew was, but David Garrard keeps having above average games and makes more good decisions than bad ones.
7. New Orleans Saints
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Last Week: 9
The Saints continue to improve, beating the St. Louis Rams. The Saints would be ranked higher, but there are a lot of good teams they have to fight through first.
6. Baltimore Ravens
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Last Week: 7
The Ravens most likely will beat the Texans tonight, but if they lose, they can be dropped out of the Top 10.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
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Last Week: 5
The Steelers remain static in the rankings after beating the hapless Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers needed a lot of help from Carson Palmer to get the 23-7 victory, but a win is a win.
4. New York Giants
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Last Week: 4
The Giants probably will win tonight, but they remain static in the rankings because the Vikings just aren't a real quality opponent. At this point in the rankings, quality matters.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
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Last Week: 7
The Eagles took on a Dallas Cowboys team nobody wants to play now. The Eagles played tough, Michael Vick took some shots and they held on for the 30-27 victory.
2. Atlanta Falcons
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Last Week: 2
The Falcons remain in the No. 2 spot, and it's not a surprise given how yesterday's games went.
The Falcons beat the Panthers, the worst team in the league right now, and that's what they were supposed to do.
So who's No. 1? I don't think that will be a difficult guess. Click on to find out...
1. New England Patriots
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Last Week: 1
The Patriots continue to peak at the right time. They destroyed the Jets and the Bears in a six-day span, and there just doesn't appear to be anyone or anything that can stop them at this point.
The Patriots don't care what your record is, they don't care what kind of talent your team has and they don't care if there's a blizzard during the game. The Patriots will tear your team apart and make everyone from the fans to the owner wonder how they could've thought they even belonged on the same field as the Patriots.
*Special note: I am NOT a New England fan. I simply speak the hard truth.
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