NFL Power Rankings Week 17: Each Team's Worst Moment of the 2011 Season

With most of Week 16 in the books, there's just one week left in what has once again been a wildly exhilarating season in the NFL.

Like with anything involving people, teams have their ups and their downs through the course of a year.

Some teams have had more downs than ups, and vice versa, but in the end they've all had a down moment.

That's what we'll be focusing on today in this version of the NFL Power Rankings. Enjoy.

32. St. Louis Rams

It's tough to pick one bad moment when a team is 2-13, but when Cowboys' rookie running back DeMarco Murray took off for a 91-yard touchdown run in the teams' Week 7 matchup, the Rams' embarrassment had only begun.

Murray would finish the day with 253 yards rushing and one touchdown in the Cowboys 34-7 romp over the Rams.

31. Indianapolis Colts

The worst moment of the Colts' season could be yet to come if they finish off the season on a three-game winning streak, effectively taking them out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

However, keeping teams' worst moments limited to this season alone, I would say Indianapolis' worst moment was when good old boy Kerry Collins came trotting out to start the season at quarterback.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Boy, what went wrong this year in Tampa Bay? The Bucs started the season out with a 3-1 record, and then they played the San Francisco 49ers.

The Buccaneers were treated to a can of whoop ass, as the 49ers won handily 48-3. The moment when things went wrong was at kickoff. 

29. Minnesota Vikings

Poor, poor Adrian Peterson. That ACL and MCL tear this week does not bode well for the Vikings next season, but things went wrong when new head coach Leslie Frazier and Co. decided to ignore their eyes.

Donovan McNabb's days as a starter in this league are over, and when he finished opening day against the San Diego Chargers with 39 yards passing, we all knew it for sure.

28. Cleveland Browns

Madden 12 cover boy, Peyton Hillis, has had a tumultuous season after his breakout year in 2010-11.

But in Week 3, when he sat out with strep throat and flu-like symptoms and word spread that it was a negotiating tactic in his ongoing contract dispute, the Dawg Pound was none too proud.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars ruined their season with the inexplicable cutting of David Garrard right before the season started.

The decision ended up being the final nail in the coffin for Jack Del Rio's head-coaching career in Jacksonville, signifying a vast overestimation of the talent levels of Josh McCown and Blaine Gabbert.

26. Washington Redskins

The Redskins are a team in rebuilding mode, so things never appeared to be too promising for them this season, however a bit of second-guessing is what makes up their worst moment of the year.

When Mike Shanahan decided to bench Rex Grossman in favor of John Beck, he came to realize the offense became a lot more limited with Beck's addiction to checking down.

Three weeks later Beck was back on the bench, and the vertical passing game was once again part of the team's repertoire.

25. Buffalo Bills

I'm going to go against something I wrote earlier, limiting myself to things that affect this season, and say that the Bills' decision to sign Ryan Fitzpatrick to a six-year contract extension is the Bills' worst moment of the season.

First, even if Fitzpatrick didn't prove to be completely ineffective in cold-weather games, negotiating a contract with him when they did was foolish.

$59 million? Wait a few more weeks, and that contract could have possibly been cut in half.

24. Carolina Panthers

Not much has gone wrong for Carolina in 2011. After finishing with the worst record in the league last season, they have drafted their superstar quarterback of the future, and things look great.

What could be considered the worst moment is the back-to-back injuries to linebackers Jon Beason and Thomas Davis, weakening an already porous defense.

23. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 2, first quarter, third-and-four at the Detroit 18, gain of three...goodbye, Jamaal Charles.

22. Miami Dolphins

There isn't exactly a worst moment for the Dolphins, they simply seemed to start the season late.

Their defense, ranked top five in 2010-11, started terribly, Chad Henne continued to prove that he is not the quarterback of the future and Reggie Bush still wasn't quite ready to become No. 1.

21. Arizona Cardinals

Week 8 saw the Cardinals returning from their bye week to play the Baltimore Ravens. Despite having a 21-6 lead at halftime, a poor performance in the second half led to 27-30 loss.

If that weren't tough enough, during the game, QB Kevin Kolb injured his toe, and after the game, it was announced that he was suffering from a serious turf toe and would miss the next four games.

20. Chicago Bears

Heading into Week 11, the Bears were 6-3 and primed for a trip to the playoffs. 

Following Week 11, they were 7-3 but were minus starting quarterback Jay Cutler due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand.

19. San Diego Chargers

After five weeks the San Diego Chargers were 4-1, their only loss coming at the hands of a white-hot Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

During the bye, Philip Rivers welcomed the birth of his sixth child. In turn, the Chargers gave birth to six consecutive losses.

18. Philadelphia Eagles

Dream Team?...Pssh, please. You all know the rest of the story.

17. Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks let one slip away in Week 16, and it cost them any hope of making the playoffs. The Seahawks saw a remarkable turnaround to their season behind a suddenly resurgent Marshawn Lynch.

But after holding multiple leads over the division-rival San Francisco 49ers, they still managed to lose the game.

16. Oakland Raiders

When Jason Campbell broke his collarbone in a game against the Cleveland Browns, he essentially ended his time in Oakland and allowed the Raiders' management to do what they do best.

The Raiders ended up mortgaging their future for a quarterback who is essentially the same thing they had in Campbell for potentially two first-round draft picks.

15. Tennessee Titans

The Titans' offense has lacked the big-play ability they expected to have from Chris Johnson.

But with Johnson being a shell of his former self this entire season, wide receiver Kenny Britt was the only guy providing an offensive spark. Then he tore his ACL and MCL...The End.

14. New York Jets

With the New York Jets' playoff hopes slipping away, it's easy to see when the worst moment of the season was for them.

Every single time Rex Ryan opens his mouth. Seems like every time Ryan tries to sensationalize a game his team has shrunk under the pressure.

13. Denver Broncos

Hindsight is 20/20, but what took so long for "Tebow Time?"

12. Dallas Cowboys

In Week 13 the Cowboys had clawed their way into field goal range in a tight matchup against the upstart Arizona Cardinals.

With the game tied at 13 apiece, Jason Garrett sent his field goal unit onto the field and then, oddly enough, called a timeout to ice his own kicker. The rest is in the video.

11. New York Giants

The Giants' Week 9 win over the New England Patriots, eerily similar to the two teams' wildly exciting 2007 Super Bowl, was both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, the game was once again exhilarating, but the Giants may have placed to much stock into it. New York dropped its next four games.

10. Cincinnati Bengals

Can you really say there was a worst moment when your team drafted both a starting quarterback and wide receiver of the future?

9. Detroit Lions

There's nothing like being on national TV during a national holiday, playing the reigning Super Bowl champions...and your star defensive player decides to pull an Albert Haynesworth.

This could have just as easily been Jim Schwartz's post-49ers game eruption, but Suh's egregious act brought a cloud of negative attention to a team trying to make its first postseason appearance in years. 

8. Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons have an explosive offense, mostly because of veteran receiver Roddy White.

When rookie Julio Jones started the season looking like a polished professional, the sky was the limit for this offense. Then the injury bug made him one of the most unreliable options in the league.

7. Houston Texans

Since Matt Schaub went down to injury in Week 10, the Texans' average points per game has dropped by 10.

Worst moment of the season being his injury? Bingo.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers have a chance to win their division, but losing both games against the rival Baltimore Ravens hurts.

In Week 1, it was the Ravens' Super Bowl but losing in Week 9 ended the Steelers' four-game winning streak.

5. Baltimore Ravens

Their worst moment becomes moments, because it seems like every time the Ravens win a BIG game they follow it up with a stinker against lesser competition.

Case in point: Lose Week 2 to the Titans after beating the Steelers, lose Week 7 to the Jags after beating the Texans and losing in Week 10 to Seattle after once again beating the Steelers.

4. New England Patriots

Remember that Pats/Giants game that was oddly reminiscent of the two teams' 2007 Super Bowl? Well, it also marked the first time the New England Patriots lost back-to-back games in four years.

Boohoo, Patriot fans.

3. San Francisco 49ers

Looking back, if the San Francisco 49ers lose the No. 2 seed to the New Orleans Saints for the playoffs, we can all point to Week 14.

San Francisco jumped out to a 19-7 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals but failed to hang on for the victory.

2. New Orleans Saints

The Saints have some head-scratching defeats to the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but otherwise have all the looks of an elite football club.

Bye-bye Dan Marino's most passing yards in a season record.

1. Green Bay Packers

It's just about impossible to find a worst moment for the Packers this season. Even their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, ruining any hopes of a perfect season, is probably good news.

But, what the heck, let's call that loss the worst moment so far.