NFL Power Rankings: Oakland Raiders and Sunday's Biggest Losers

With the exception of the ongoing Sunday nighter between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, another Sunday of NFL football is in the books.

That means it's time to rearrange the Power Rankings and see where we stand as we speed towards Week 15.

Take a look around, and you'll notice there were plenty of surprises on Sunday. Some teams came out ahead because of these surprises, but the teams on the other end obviously didn't make out so well.

It's those teams that I want to focus on. They had a chance to prove something, but they fell flat, and have fallen down a few pegs in my power rankings as a result.

Let's take a look at four teams in particular.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 29)

The Buccaneers had a golden opportunity to snap their six-game losing streak on Sunday, as they were taking their show on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars and their nonexistent offense.

To beat the Jaguars, all the Bucs had to do was hold onto the football and contain Maurice Jones-Drew.

They did neither. The Jags notched touchdowns on two fumble recoveries, and got four more touchdowns courtesy of MJD. He ran for two, and added two more in the air, saving Blaine Gabbert from yet another poor performance.

I keep thinking that the Bucs can't possibly get any worse, but getting blown out by a team as bad as the Jags is about as bad as it gets. The Bucs were 4-2 at one point, but now they look ticketed for a top five draft pick.

Wherever they end up, the Bucs will deserve to be there. They've been awful.

Chicago Bears (No. 17)

The Bears should have beaten the Broncos on Sunday, which of course is to say that they should have been the team to prove that Tim Tebow is not infallible.

The Bears failed miserably in this regard. They had the Broncos dead to rights in the fourth quarter, and let them score 10 points in a span of just over two minutes. Things were looking good in overtime too, but the Bears ultimately gave the game away to Denver.

I guess I should say that Marion Barber gave the game away to the Broncos. It was his fumble in overtime that set the Broncos up for the game-winning field goal, and he set them up for a game-tying drive in the fourth quarter when he foolishly ran out of bounds when the Bears were trying to kill clock.

After his performance, the Bears should have a good idea just how good Matt Forte is. They should also miss him that much more.

Oakland Raiders (No. 15)

The Raiders weren't going to beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. However, the Raiders could have at least given the Packers a fight, thus proving that they belong in the AFC playoff race.

But alas, the Silver and Black embarrassed themselves. Carson Palmer threw four interceptions, and the Raiders' defense looked utterly helpless against Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay's offense. It was an embarrassing loss from start to finish.

It could also prove to be a season-crippling loss. After back-to-back blowout losses against Miami and Green Bay, the Raiders' collective confidence has to be hanging by a thread, and it doesn't help that they have to look up and watch the Broncos running away with the AFC West.

In all likelihood, the Raiders will have to win out to have a shot at the playoffs. Given what we've seen from them in the last two weeks, that might be a fool's hope.

Cincinnati Bengals (No. 12)

The only thing the Bengals haven't done this season is prove that they can beat the good teams. It looked like they were finally going to do just that against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

That is, until the Bengals let themselves get beat by the greenest rookie quarterback in the NFL. T.J. Yates threw for 300 yards and connected with Kevin Walter for a game-winning touchdown pass with two seconds left on the clock.

While there's no shame in losing a game like this, the Bengals have made it virtually impossible to believe that they are one of the NFL's elite teams. They were in that discussion for a few weeks, but no longer.

Now, the Bengals are just another team.

Zachary D. Rymer's Week 15 Power Rankings

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