NFL Power Poll, Veteran's Day

Now that every team has had a bye, we are officially in the gearing-up-for-the-playoffs or trying-to-build-for-next-year stage of the season. Some teams are still teetering between the two, but they will mostly be sorted out by the end of the month.

This is the point in the season when you hear the phrase, "You are who you are." There are some exceptions to that, too, but generally, breaks have evened out by now and teams have played enough variety of personnel and schemes to identify strengths and weaknesses.

The rest of page one of this article will be the contenders; only the top two are elite. Page two will have the pretenders, teams that will compete for the playoffs and have the potential to upset someone once there, but don't have enough to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Page three will have the seriously flawed teams and page four the just plain awful.

1. The New York Giants have more quality wins than the Tennessee Titans and are more well-balanced, more experienced.
2. The Tennessee Titans showed they could win through the air if a defense overcommits to stopping the run, and they are built for playoff football with that running game and defense.
3. It was a tough call for the third spot, but I decided to overlook this last week because the Pittsburgh Steelers were without Willie Parker, among other players; they are the most battle-tested team in the league.
4. Because they lost to the Steelers, I could not put the Washington Offensively Named Ones any higher than fourth, and they have a questionable-at-best offense until Clinton Portis is healthy.
5. I know the Carolina Panthers are 7-2, but the best team they have beaten is the Atlanta Falcons. On the other hand, if before the season you had predicted that would statement be true this late in the year, one would think the Panthers might have only one win.
6. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not been consistent enough to be ranked higher, but I still believe they are the best team in the NFC South; at 6-3, I just couldn't rank them higher than Carolina.
7. Considering the main change in this roster was rookie quarterback Joe Flacco (who I said would be the best quarterback in the draft—I just thought it would take longer), I would say Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh deserves coach of the year so far.
8. The New England Patriots are a hard team to figure, but having lost Adelius Thomas, they will be a little easier to figure out.
9. New York Jets fans are finding out what Packers fans felt like for years—one week Brett Favre throws six touchdowns, then a couple weeks later he has a string of four games in which he throws more interceptions than touchdowns. Welcome to the roller coaster that is the most talented, least disciplined quarterback in NFL history.
10. I still do not fully believe in the Atlanta Falcons. They're definitely solid after adding Michael Turner and rookie Matt Ryan, who is better than could be expected, but it doesn't add up on paper and maybe few have figured them out yet.
11. The Arizona Cardinals have the most prolific offense in the league, but they almost lost at home to the San Francisco Forty-Niners...the San Francisco Forty-Niners!
12. Getting Tony Romo back makes the Dallas Cowboys contenders, but he may not be 100 percent, Plus, they have yet to be a cohesive, focused, and consistent team and are seriously lacking at cornerback.
13. The Philadelphia Eagles are a team looking for an identity, and it seems to me that Andy Reid has just never mastered play-calling to this team's strengths. For years the Eagles pass on every play and expose their franchise quarterback to countless hits and injuries, now Reid thinks Brian Westbrook is Christian Okoye. (Google him, kids!)
14. Without Kyle Orton, the Chicago Bears have no chance of being much of anything, but he will be back soon enough for them to get ready for the playoffs.
15. Just when I start to believe in the Buffalo Bills, they show me why I was reluctant to. If you lose three straight games in this division, you are not for real.
16. On paper, the Miami Dolphins look more than just flawed, which means that I was wrong about one or more assumptions I made about them before the season. It turns out that either Tony Sporano was not hired just to be Bill Parcell's lackey, the game has not passed Parcells by, or this roster has talent that previous coaches couldn't tap.
17. After getting players like uber-safety Bob Sanders back from injury and beating the Steelers, we have to think the Indianapolis Colts are back from the dead.
18. Barely beating the Packers at home was necessary after five straight losses to their rivals, but not impressive. The bottom line is that the Minnesota Vikings lack the mettle of even a champion of this division and any semblance of a passing game.
19. After losing Nick Barnett from an already decimated defense that can't stop the run when they know it's coming, you can stick a fork in the Green Bay Packers...they're done. But if you blame it on Aaron Rodgers, you better be willing to take a shot from me.
20. The New Orleans Saints have such a great passing offense that they can be competitive in games with that defense, but it is not a recipe for success in big games.
21. No one can figure out the San Diego Chargers, but they would be running out of time to get their rushing offense going if they were in any other division.
22. I guess I can stop calling the Denver Broncos the most overrated team in the league...anyone that rates them high while they rely on a back the Detroit Lions cut is a fool, especially with no defense.
23. The Jacksonville Jaguars made a statement last week: "We will not be beaten by two winless teams in a row." That's quite a fall from the statement they wanted to be making in November.
24. You have to hand it to them: The Cleveland Browns find creative ways to fall apart, from dropped passes to staph infections to apparently quitting on their teammates with the game very much in reach.
25. The Houston Texans are the only team in the league that is easy to figure out: I am unbeaten in my predictions on their games.
26. This was not what Mike Holmgren had in mind for his swan song, but injuries have compounded the depleting talent on the Seattle Seahawks roster, and if I was Jim Mora Jr., I would be looking for greener pastures. (Is there a greener city than Seattle?)
27. The San Francisco Forty-Niners have a game in the palm of their hands and make that call to end it? You know a roll-out gives you options, right? You know you have an elite back you could have had run the ball, right?
28. I have to put the Oakland Raiders next since they have a good defense and the potential to run the ball well. But we all know they will be bottom quarter of the league as long as Al Davis is in charge, and if Jim Harbaugh can be persuaded away from Stanford, he doesn't belong at such a respected institution of higher learning.
29. The St. Louis Rams proved last week their wins over NFC East contenders in Washington and at home against Dallas were flukes. Maybe Brett Favre was taking out his frustrations from that six-interception playoff game against the Rams a few years ago.
30. I said it before and I will say it again: The Kansas City Chiefs may not have helped their ability to win by suspending star running back Larry Johnson, but they sure gained my respect. Plus, they weren't going to the playoffs anyway, so they might as well set a tone for locker rooms in seasons to come to avoid a Dallas-level disruption.
31. The Cincinnati Bengals are without Carson Palmer, and with their one asset gone, they will not win again until the last game of the year (Chiefs), if then. Maybe they should have done to Chad Johnson (I don't placate childish pleas for attention like his name change) what Kansas City did to Larry Johnson.
32. I actually believe the Detroit Lions might do it. They have games left against all three division opponents, but play the weakest (the Packers) on the road. They play only teams with winning records until the last two weeks of the season. Then they get the Saints at home, who I believe will not only have a winning record by then but be competing for a playoff birth. They finish with the Packers at Lambeau, and the Lions lack the one thing that is key to beating the Packers, a running game.

(I started this article on Veteran's Day. I want to thank all veterans, particularly those who served in war time, and especially those in combat, for their service to this country. You were willing to put your country before the instinct of self-preservation, and I salute you!)