NFL Power Rankings: Which Teams Are Already Guaranteed to Miss Playoffs?

Okay, so the playoff picture is becoming more clear as to who's contending/pretending.

That said, we know teams like Miami, Indy, Denver, St. Louis, Arizona, Jacksonville and Carolina (among many others) are out of playoff contention.

There's no need to address them, but here are three teams already guaranteed to miss the postseason despite their current situation.

New York Jets (3-3)

To begin, they're in the AFC East and although the Jets are only one game back of Buffalo, they are missing the postseason in 2011.

New England is too strong, Buffalo has too much confidence and the No. 6 seed is going to be between Pittsburgh, San Diego/Oakland and Tennessee/Houston.

New York has significantly underachieved thus far, and only having a solid pass defense isn't getting them into the playoffs. The offense is bad (No. 23 pass, No. 31 rush) and the rush defense (No. 28) is just as bad.

Simply not good enough to compete, even in their own division.

Atlanta Falcons (3-3)

Much like the Jets, the Falcons are not only underachieving, but simply aren't good enough to compete within their own division.

Sure, they're a few steps ahead of Carolina (who isn't) and they have a lot of trouble winning on the road, let alone playing a full game (as evidence against Green Bay).

Only the rush defense is good (ranked No. 8), but that's because everyone throws on them (pass defense No. 27). Although the offense is respectable, QB Matt Ryan and company don't have enough consistency and firepower to carry the defense all season.

Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)

This is where I hope I'm wrong, because the Bengals have a top-10 defense to go with a solid offense.

The only problem: they have yet to play either Baltimore or Pittsburgh, and we saw how bad they can be in the loss to Denver (Broncos' only win, by the way).

Playing consistently at a high level is the only issue, but they are getting better.

With the Carson Palmer trade, Cincinnati is going to be very good for the next five or six years (at least), and they should finish 2011 9-7 or 10-6, but just miss out on the postseason.

Week 7 NFL Power Rankings (LW = Last Week's Rank)

1. Green Bay Packers (6-0) (LW 1)	17. Dallas Cowboys (2-3) (LW 15)
2. Baltimore Ravens (4-1) (LW 4)	18. Tennessee Titans (3-2) (LW 18)
3. New England Patriots (5-1) (LW 5)	19. Atlanta Falcons (3-3) (LW 20)
4. New Orleans Saints (4-2) (LW 2)	20. Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) (LW 24)
5. San Francisco 49ers (5-1) (LW 11)	21. Washington Redskins (3-2) (LW 16)
6. Detroit Lions (5-1) (LW 3)	22. Seattle Seahawks (2-3) (LW 21)
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) (LW 9)	23. Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) (LW 23)
8. San Diego Chargers (4-1) (LW 7)	24. Carolina Panthers (1-5) (LW 22)
9. Oakland Raiders (4-2) (LW 10)	25. Minnesota Vikings (1-5) (LW 25)
10. New York Giants (4-2) (LW 12)	26. Arizona Cardinals (1-4) (LW 28)
11. Buffalo Bills (4-2) (LW 6)	27. Denver Broncos (1-4) (LW 29)
12. Houston Texans (3-3) (LW 8)	28. Cleveland Browns (2-3) (LW 26)
13. Chicago Bears (3-3) (LW 13)	29. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) (LW 27)
14. New York Jets (3-3) (LW 14)	30. St. Louis Rams (0-5) (LW 30)
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) (LW 19)	31. Indianapolis Colts (0-6) (LW 31)
16. Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) (LW 17)	32. Miami Dolphins (0-5) (LW 32)

Be sure to check out John on Bleacher Report. 

And, you can follow him on Twitter @ Sportswriter27.