NFL Power Ranking teams in the top 10 are supposed to be built to win big games and in that respect, the Denver Broncos moved back into the upper class after a brief stint in the minors. Baltimore is getting oh so close but wins against a Pittsburgh team being run by Dennis Dixon and without Troy Polamalu have to be graded accordingly.
Overall, top 11 teams went 8-3 straight-up and four of these teams played each other so someone had to lose!
The biggest shakeup this week was in the middle of the pack and speaking of the Pack, they’re not done yet. Don’t count the Tennessee Titans out, either.
NFL Power Ratings for Week 13
1. New Orleans Saints – Special teams and defense have both seen the light in the Big Easy and this team just gets better. Darren Sharper starting to look like free agent signing of the year. Beating New England on Monday night was another big test they passed easily.
2. Indianapolis Colts – Most dangerous team in the league right until the final whistle. One away from tying New England’s all-time win record of 21-straight regular season wins.
3. Minnesota Vikings – MVP talks are starting for Favre and the way things are going, the mayor of Minneapolis should probably start packing up his desk.
4. New England Patriots – Playing away from home is starting to look like a weakness for Belichick and crew. Miami, Buffalo and Houston: Take notice.
5. Cincinnati Bengals – Proving that Oakland was only a small lapse, Bengals are back on target. Beating Cleveland is not grounds for a promotion, however. RB Benson returns this week vs. Detroit.
6. Dallas Cowboys – Sad-sack opponent helps Dallas add to its overrated November numbers. Note: Cowboys were 4-1 straight-up last month vs. opponents with combined record of 24-31 (.436).
7. San Diego Chargers – Saw what the Broncos could do on Thanksgiving Night vs. G-Men and responded with a 40-buger vs. a division rival. Any questions?
8. Philadelphia Eagles – Lack of finish in Philadelphia starting to become a real concern. Once again, why was Michael Vick brought in here?
9. Pittsburgh Steelers – Ben Roethlisberger saga turning into a bad episode of Days of our Lives this week. Early prediction: Steelers will be the NFL’s Hard Knocks team for 2010.
10. Denver Broncos – Relegated to second place in the AFC West for the first time this year and Thursday we got to see how the Broncos would respond. Thanks to an overzealous cameraman, we were also able to hear Josh McDaniels’ thoughts on the subject!
11. Baltimore Ravens – Line movement was the story of the game against Pittsburgh and the first one (Baltimore -2.5) was much more accurate. OT win added to the list of phenomenal Sunday Nighters this year (Giants at Cowboys, Patriots at Colts…).
12. Arizona Cardinals – Latest victim of the resurgent Vince Young. Super Bowl losers do not have a good record the following year (71-100-2 ATS since 1999). Cards are starting to fade.
13. Green Bay Packers – Impossible to gauge impact of injuries on defense against woeful Lions squad. Week 13 Monday Night Football vs. Baltimore will be a day of reckoning.
14. Houston Texans – All style, no substance. You would think coach Kubiak would know better by now.
15. Jacksonville Jaguars – After the 41-0 blip in Seattle the Jags went on a 4-1 tear; the only loss coming against the Titans. Houston comes to Florida in Week 13 and these ratings will likely be different following that contest.
16. Miami Dolphins – An off-game against a bad squad is okay now and then but not when it’s divisional. Fish get break with Pats also losing.
17. Tennessee Titans – Mental errors at the end of the first-half were shades of a potential collapse for Vince Young. Instead, he inspires fifth-straight Titan power rating jump of the season.
18. New York Giants – Eli Manning’s problems with his foot are starting to look like the kind of thing that will cost his team a trip to the playoffs this year. Look for David Carr to finish this season as the starter.
19. Atlanta Falcons – Falcons offense is falling apart and it looks like this team will have to start planning for next year. Matt Ryan has already been ruled out for game against Philly.
20. San Francisco 49ers – At one point vs. the Jaguars Mike Singletary was between the hash marks attempting to call a timeout. Don’t ever question depth of Niners at linebacker.
21. New York Jets – Mark Sanchez has tweaked his left knee and given the state of this season we should expect the Jets’ run-game to start dominating the offensive playcalling.
22. Carolina Panthers – If you believe that handicapping turnovers is impossible to do you may want to cross the Panthers off your list each week of games to bet on.
23. Washington Redskins – Fantasy alert for next season! Remember Quinton Ganther as a bench running back; seriously. Behind 3rd stringer Rock Cartwright the second year Ganther averaged 6.4 RYPC vs. Philadelphia.
24. Seattle Seahawks – Good for you Seattle, you’ve now outscored the Rams 55-17 this year. Too bad Seattle is -65 net points against all other opponents.
25. Chicago Bears – Sounds like a lot of fingers in the Windy City starting to point at Jay Cutler. Do they not remember how bad Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton were?
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Should have won straight-up vs. Atlanta but seven-straight goal line stops in final minutes are asking a bit much.
27. St. Louis Rams – Spagnuolo sets new record for home losses as first year Rams head coach.
28. Buffalo Bills – Bills blowout Dolphins; Terrell Owens is happy again. Maybe Ralph Wilson should save a few million and just name Perry Fewell the new coach.
29. Kansas City Chiefs – Chiefs are home for three-straight starting this week vs. Denver, Buffalo and Cleveland. Given history of success in December at Arrowhead it may not be a bad idea to just play ON Kansas City all three weeks.
30. Oakland Raiders – If there was a stat for consistently having at least one good play on every drive the Raiders would actually rate fairly well.
31. Detroit Lions – Toughness aside, when do say enough is enough and sit the future of your franchise down before he gets killed.
32. Cleveland Browns – Cleveland will occupy this spot until they can win another game. It wouldn’t be right to move them ahead of the Lions, now would it?
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