NFL Power Rankings Week 12: The Most Beatable Division Leaders

It would be pretty awesome if each of the NFL's eight divisions were equally competitive, but I'm afraid that's just not how things work. Some divisions are strong, and some are not so strong.

The same is true of the teams leading these divisions. All eight are superior NFL teams, but some are better than others. The teams that are less superior stand a good chance of being beaten on any given Sunday.

Of the eight division leaders in the NFL, there are four that I would classify as being truly "beatable." Let's discuss them, shall we?

New Orleans Saints (No. 3)

As you can tell, I'm a big believer in the Saints. No doubt some of you think I have them a bit over-ranked, but let's just say I have a special place in my heart for Drew Brees and his overseer, Sean Payton.

But heck, even I realize that the Saints aren't exactly Fort Knox. Their defense is a bend-but-don't-break unit, and that pretty much means Brees needs to be awesome every single week.

More often than not, Brees is awesome. But in New Orleans' last two losses, he's balanced five interceptions with just two touchdown passes. If you can force him into making a couple of mistakes, you're going to put the Saints against the ropes.

It's easier said than done, but it can be done.

New England Patriots (No. 4)

You can accuse me of over-ranking the Patriots too if you want, but we can both agree that the Pats have looked pretty darn good in their last two games. Tom Brady has looked much more like himself, and the defense has looked much-improved.

I have no problem buying the first part, but the second part is an illusion.

Indeed, it's pretty easy to look good defensively when you're going up against the likes of Mark Sanchez and Tyler Palko. Bill Belichick could use a bunch of geriatrics in his secondary and get the same results against those two.

I'll warn you right here and now that this illusion is likely going to hold for the rest of the season. The Patriots are through the tough part of their schedule, and the teams they'll be facing the rest of the way don't scare the daylights out of them from an offensive perspective.

Once the Pats get into the playoffs, that's when things will get real again.

Dallas Cowboys (No. 12)

The NFC East is not the worst division in the league (hello, NFC West), but it might be the most mediocre. There are no elite teams in the division, nor are there any teams that might be elite in the coming weeks.

For now, the Cowboys will have to do. They've won three in a row, and their record within the division gives them the edge over the New York Giants.

But don't let that fool you. This Cowboys team is just as flawed as all the other Cowboys teams we've seen recently.

The tricky part is that it's actually kind of hard to pinpoint Dallas' biggest shortcoming. You want to pin it all on Tony Romo, but he's been pretty darn good this year. You want to point out flaws on the defensive side of the ball, but the unit works quite well as a whole.

The Cowboys' problem, I think, is one of reliability—something they don't have a lot of.

Disaster can strike at any moment with this team, and it can strike anywhere. To beat them, all you have to do is have patience.

Oakland Raiders (No. 11)

When the Raiders play mistake-free football, they're nearly impossible to beat.

There's just one problem: the Raiders don't play mistake-free football. They shoot themselves in the foot with penalties more often than any team in the league, which, if you believe the peanut gallery, is the fault of the refs.

It's not, of course. The Raiders are a wild bunch, and that happens to get them in trouble sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good football team that can beat anybody on any day. The problem is that they're just as likely to beat themselves instead.

Zachary D. Rymer's Week 12 Power Rankings

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