NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Ranking All 12 Playoff Teams

The 2012 NFL playoffs are fast approaching. The lesser skirmishes have sorted out the power rankings for the larger battles still looming ahead. There are still contests ahead that will decide with finality who is in and who is out for the tournament, but as of now there are 12 teams that would go on if the playoffs started today.

The best teams always develop unique personalities that translate into the style of play they prefer. Some teams run like clockwork, using efficiency and timing to their advantage. Other teams run on brute force and physicality, using superior discipline and staunch will to pummel their opponent into submission.

Regardless of their modus operandi, each of these teams has shown an ability to rise above the competition and claim a spot on the mountaintop of playoff glory.

12. Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are in a bad spot for a team that is first in their division. They will make it into the tournament unless they completely fall apart, but a team that doesn't have a quarterback isn't going to make it past the first round of the playoffs.

Matt Leinart was going to have to save the season after Matt Schaub was lost for the season, but then Leinart got knocked out, too. Now the Texans are reportedly working out players like Jeff Garcia and Jake Delhomme, and it doesn't get any more desperate than that.

The Texans still have one of the best defenses in the NFL, and they still have two of the best running backs in the league, but if they are one-dimensional on offense in January, they will lose.

11. Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are benefiting from the debacle in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers were supposed to challenge the Falcons this season in the NFC South, but the young team has imploded this season.

I'm still not convinced the Falcons will even make it into the playoffs, but as of right now they would get in. 

The Falcons have been off-kilter all season long, and it remains to be seen if they can maintain any consistency from week to week.

Matt Ryan will need help from his offensive teammates in the running game if the Falcons expect to have any success in the postseason.

10. Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the real feel-good stories of the 2011 NFL season. The young team has taken to the leadership of young quarterback, Andy Dalton. Dalton deserves consideration for the NFL offensive ROY, as far as I'm concerned.

The Bengals are stingy on defense. The team is full of players most people wouldn't recognize, but they play well together. 

The trouble for the Bengals is that they haven't been able to establish a running game that scares anyone this season. Plus, they will likely be on the road for the duration of the playoffs. That is a terrible combination. 

9. Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears were blindsided a week ago with the news that quarterback Jay Cutler required surgery to repair a broken thumb on his throwing hand. The Bears were on a hot streak at the time, and they were surging to the playoffs with tremendous momentum.

Now it is Caleb Hanie's turn to run the Bears' offense, and his tenure got off to a bad start. Hanie threw three interceptions against the Oakland Raiders, and he looked tentative in the pocket.

It will be up to the coaches and the Bears' veteran defense to make this year a success.

8. Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys never fail to inspire drama, for better or worse. This season began with trouble, and there were the usual questions about whether the team should fire the head coach, Jason Garrett. Ah, to be a Cowboys fan.

The Cowboys are coming on strong as the season winds down towards the end. Tony Romo seems to have exercised whatever demons were torturing him earlier in the year, and he has been clutch lately with his decisions.

The Cowboys' defense is also starting to play better. DeMarcus Ware continues his dominant reign as the best pass-rushing linebacker in the NFL.

The Cowboys are dangerous, but they still have some weaknesses that better teams can/will exploit.

7. Oakland Raiders

This has been an exceptionally topsy-turvy year for the Oakland Raiders and their fans. Al Davis passed away, RIP. The team's starting quarterback, Jason Campbell, went down with a season-ending collarbone injury. Then, to top it all off, the team made what seemed to be a wild trade for Carson Palmer. The man hadn't played ball in over a year, and they gave away two high-round picks for his services.

Well, it seems that all of the drama is exactly what the Raiders needed to get everyone on the same page. Carson Palmer is starting to gel with his speedy young receivers, and the Raiders have one of the most devastating running games in the NFL.

Combined with a defense that is beginning to play as they should, with force and attitude, the Raiders are looking good for the final playoff push.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

After struggling to dispatch the lowly Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers are once again showing that they aren't as strong this season as they have been in the past.

The Steelers have lost twice this season to their younger divisional rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. They also lost to the Houston Texans. So far this season, the Steelers haven't showed an ability to get past the elite teams.

The Steelers are still dangerous, however. Ben Roethlisberger has two young speedy wide receivers that are tearing things up, and the Steelers are still one of the most feared defenses in the NFL.

They will be a force in the playoffs.

5. New England Patriots

The New England Patriots have been scorching teams all year long with one of the most potent offenses in the NFL. The problem was that they couldn't stop anyone, either. 

Bill Belichick has somehow figured out how to make this defense work, as usual. The pieces aren't standard, as usual. Wide receiver Julian Edelman has been moonlighting as a defensive back, a la Troy Brown, and he is actually quite good.

The Patriots are rounding into top form, and the team will surely be right there at the end, contending for another Super Bowl. 

4. New Orleans Saints

The Saints are quietly becoming a major force in the NFC. Gregg Williams, the team's defensive coordinator, has the defense back to their turnover-creating ways.

Drew Brees is also playing at the same kind of level he was when they won the Super Bowl. His new favorite target, second-year tight end Jimmy Graham, is allowing the offense to flourish in brand new ways.

Sean Peyton's brutal knee injury was a difficult thing to overcome in the middle of the season, but now the team is galvanized behind their injured leader, and I think they will challenge San Francisco for the No. 2 spot behind Green Bay in the NFC.

3. San Francisco 49ers

Defense wins championships, and the San Francisco 49ers have defense up the wazoo. Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Donte Whitner headline a talent-stacked group of defenders that are among the most complete in the NFL.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh brings a new confident attitude to the 49ers franchise that has resonated with the players and given them a belief in themselves that was previously lacking.

Harbaugh has also revitalized the broken career of Alex Smith, and the 49ers offense is very balanced. The team leads the NFL in turnover margins, with a plus-16 in that category. 

A team that doesn't turn the ball over and plays dominant defense is deadly in the NFL playoffs, and I believe the 49ers have all the tools to make it to Super Bowl XLVI. The question remains, though, whether the team can pull it all together or not.

2. Baltimore Ravens

Despite possessing one of the top three defenses in the NFL and one of the best young running backs, the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl aspirations will inevitably fall on the strong arm of Joe Flacco. 

The Ravens are committed to passing the ball. Flacco can be the best quarterback in the NFL one week and the worst the next. When he has protection, he throws the ball with pin-point accuracy, and he can throw one of the prettiest deep balls in the game.

The Ravens' defense at home is destructive, as the team's nine-sack performance against the 49ers indicated. They have been inconsistent, however, and have lost to some pretty bad teams.

Still, the Ravens are on a roll right now, and they are still getting better.

1. Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers. 11-0. Aaron Rodgers. Enough said.