NFL Power Rankings: Middle of the Pack Teams Guaranteed for Breakout Wins

The NFL has three tiers of teams. The first tier are the elite teams like Pittsburgh, Green Bay and New England. The third tier are the bottom feeders like Carolina, Minnesota and Indianapolis, while the second tier has a number of teams that are ready to bust out for a big push for the playoffs. 

Teams like the Oakland Raiders have played games where they’ve looked like playoff contenders while having games where they looked awful. 

Despite a 1-2 record since adding quarterback Carson Palmer, this Raiders team has looked a lot better. In Palmer’s two starts, he has led the team to 24 points per game. In those two games, the Raiders have played without their starting running back, Darren McFadden. 

In their next four games, the Raiders have to travel for three of them. The road has actually benefited them, as they are 3-1 compared to 2-3 at home. 

Their road trip has the Raiders playing two teams currently with losing records in the 2-8 Minnesota Vikings and the 2-7 Miami Dolphins. Both of these teams have offenses that rank 23rd and 24 in points per game. 

Their lone home game during this stretch is against a Chicago Bears team that ranks No. 29 in passing defense. By that game, Palmer will have established a great connection with his receivers while getting a healthy McFadden back in their lineup. 

During that stretch of games, the Raiders will win three of four, putting them at least two games ahead in the AFC West.

The New York Jets are just like the Raiders in that they are 5-4 and ready to break out. 

They did suffer a bad loss last week to the New England Patriots, a loss that had their head coach Rex Ryan give a frustrated postgame press conference. During the press conference, he tore into his team, hinting that maybe he should guarantee that they will not make the postseason. 

That’s exactly what the Jets will do going forward; as when he said they were dead back in ’09, they won their final two games and made the playoffs. 

Take a look at the Jets' next four games. Three of those four games are against sub-.500 teams. The Jets have two road games at Denver (4-5) and at Washington (3-6). Both games have the Jets playing awful offenses, with the Broncos and their inability to pass, and the Redskins with their inability to do anything on offense. 

While the road games are all but guaranteed wins, their home games are just as easy. They host Buffalo, a team they manhandled two weeks ago in Buffalo, 27-11, and Kansas City. That Chiefs game will be their fourth win in a row, with the Jets defense destroying whatever backup quarterback the Chiefs have playing in that game. 

Like these two AFC teams, the Cowboys of the NFC will break out of the middle of the pack. 

They currently are at 5-4 and have uncovered a phenomenal running game led by rookie DeMarco Murray. Murray has led this sudden surge of wins in three of their last four games. 

Now, with their next three coming against Washington, Miami and Arizona, all sub .500 teams, they will continue this torrid pace. In those three games, their opponents all have defenses that rank in the bottom half of the NFL in passing or rushing defense, with two of those teams (Washington and Arizona) coming in at 18th and 21st in defending the run. 

The Cowboys will win their next three while continuing their chase of the first-place New York Giants in the NFC East division. 

These three teams all are 5-4 after nine games in their season. However, after these next games, they will all move away from the middle of the pack and up near the NFL’s elite. 

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T.J. McAloon's 2011 NFL Power Rankings

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