BetRepublic.com NFL Power Rankings Week 14

Any given Sunday was the case last week in the NFL, as the Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals all sent the mighty tumbling to the mat. And Washington probably should have beat the Saints, but the outcome of that game epitomizes the “day late, dollar short” story that will cap Jim Zorn’s short career once the season is over.

The Bengals strengthened their foothold in the top five of our rankings, but the next two weeks (at Minnesota, at San Diego) will show us Cincinnati’s real playoff potential.

Check BetRepublic.com for tons of free picks each week and our innovative sports betting TV show every day.

Week 14 NFL Power Rankings

1. New Orleans Saints –WR Robert Meachem averaging one TD per game in last five and the strip-score vs. Redskins was testament to mentality of Sean Payton’s team. There is no quit.

2. Indianapolis Colts – Key turnovers help Indy slam door on Titans win streak. Colts tie New England’s all-time win record of 21 wins.

3. Minnesota Vikings – Favre and Vikings defense look pedestrian in road loss; LB EJ Henderson’s leg is broken and he is done for the year.

4. New England Patriots – Playing away from home haunts Pats as team loses back-to-back for first time in 50 tries.

5. Cincinnati Bengals – Late score against Bengal prevent ruins ATS cover for Bengal backers but almost everything else was done right. Time of possession more than 38 minutes and if it hadn’t been Lions Cinci may jumped the Pats.

6. Philadelphia Eagles – Jeers turned into cheers as Andy Reid opens Michael Vicks playbook and sets offense on dominate-mode.

7. San Diego Chargers – Win over Browns not nearly as close as final score indicates. LT reached the 150 career TD mark this week faster than any other player in league history. That’s 15-straight December wins for the Bolts.

8. Arizona Cardinals – Captain Kurt getting his rally cap on as Cards play their game of the year.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers – HC Tomlin calling for changes but it’s starting to look like Steelers lack ability to backup his tough-talk. WR Hines Ward (hamstring) looking doubtful for Thursday night at Cleveland.

10. Denver Broncos – "Over" trend continues for Broncos in December at Arrowhead. 44 points is Denver’s highest point production since 2005.

11. Dallas Cowboys – December woes continue as the Boys get swept by G-Men. Forget pointing fingers at QB Romo, try looking at coverage teams that surrendered 165 return yards in one game.

12. Baltimore Ravens – Ravens still in hunt for Wild Card spot although you wouldn’t know it by way they played Monday Night vs. Packers.

13. Jacksonville Jaguars – Jaguars come away with another win! Quick, someone tell the city they have a team. Paid attendance was 42 079; real attendance looked more like 25 000.

14. Miami Dolphins – Chad Henne makes 52 attempts and racks up 335 yards to give Marino faithful upset of the year. Dolphins are 5-0 in December under Tony Sparano.

15. Green Bay Packers – WR Donald Driver having one of his better years and that is saying an awful lot; became tenth Packer with 50-plus TDs all-time in second quarter vs. Ravens.

16. Houston Texans – Anyone that started watching five minutes late must have done a double-take when they saw Rex Grossman throwing passes. Matt Schaub returned but honestly, did anyone expect Schaub to play more than 12 games this year?

17. Tennessee Titans – QB Young looked intimidated by Colts defense. Titans defenders made great tackles but problem is that they were making them after Indy had made big gains; too little too late.

18. New York Giants – Rumbling, stumbling; Giants didn’t get huge rushing yards but they got the ones that counted.

19. Atlanta Falcons – QB Matt Ryan could potentially return this week as 6-6 SU Falcs inch closer to falling off the edge of playoff hopefuls.

20. Carolina Panthers – Matt Moore breathes new life into Panthers offense and 5-7 SU Panthers are left wonder why it took an injury to make them consider benching Jake Delhomme in the first place.

21. New York Jets – Sanchez is starting to run out of knees but he still wants to start this week at Tampa Bay.

22. Washington Redskins – Stories of the one that got away will never be able to top the one from FedEx Field this weekend.

23. Seattle Seahawks – All the Seahawks could use are a little more power and some explosiveness in their run-game. Wonder how they feel watching Leonard Weaver run the rock with Philly?

24. San Francisco 49ers – Heartbreaking loss on the road starting to make run at NFC West title look like a fantasy.

25. Chicago Bears – If there was ever a reason for a false sense of security it was demonstrated Sunday in Chicago’s win over the Rams.

26. Oakland Raiders – It may not have been Kenny “The Snake” Stabler leading team past Terry Bradshaw but let’s give QB Gradkowski credit. Huge road win for Raiders in Gradkowski’s home town.

27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Patriots think they have problems winning on the road; Tampa has now lost eight-straight away from home.

28. Kansas City Chiefs – Back-to-back home games against Denver and Cleveland are what Todd Haley’s team needs to cap average, first step of rebuilding year. Look for value on Chiefs against two teams that actually rate lower on our power rating chart.

29. Buffalo Bills – Maybe the extra rest will have Buffalo ready to explode this week at Kansas City Bills have now played five-straight road games without breaking 20-point barrier.

30. St. Louis Rams – Even the Bears could stop this punchless team.

31. Detroit Lions – Stafford finally takes enough punishment to sit down and QB Culpepper actually didn’t look too bad. We should see him start this week at Baltimore.

32. Cleveland Browns – News flash: Jimmy Clausen is foregoing senior year and entering NFL draft. Just keep losing guys, it’s over.

Good luck betting on all of this week’s NFL games.