Week 15 has passed and it was probably the most exciting week of the season considering we had most of the ranked teams playing in crucial top-flight battles. So that only means one thing – Power Ranking changes! It’s about time!
28 – Philadelphia Eagles – This team has completely fallen apart after high hopes this off-season. Andy Reid is coaching his last games as Eagles head coach, and Michael Vick will soon be a free agent. They are so bad, the team has already thrown in the towel and begun the rebuilding process.
29 – Oakland Raiders – Finally ended that losing streak. No time for celebration though, as they were at home facing the Kansas City Chiefs. However, when a basement team picks up a win it usually leads to a ranking jump! Expect the Raiders to go back to their losing ways because that win was not convincing in any way, shape or form.
30 – Detroit Lions – The league’s new losing streak title holder at six losses in a row. They got embarrassed 38-10 @ Arizona, which called for a ranking trade with those same Cardinals.
31 – Jacksonville Jaguars – Basically, losing to Miami isn’t as embarrassing as losing to Oakland, so they remain one-up on K.C. The Jags play New England next with the Pats coming off a loss, this is going to be UGLY.
32 – Kansas City Chiefs – They couldn’t score on the Raiders… crickets …. 2-14 is their final record.
Ah man, I’m glad that’s over. Talk about painful. Now we can talk about the big guns, and some big battles had major influences on playoff races. There were some major battles that had huge impact on the rankings. Let’s talk!
5- Houston Texans – Most would be suprised to see them fifth considering they will have home field for the playoffs, but I think their easy schedule helped hide a lot of flaws. They beat Denver back in week three before the Broncos got their game together. They beat Baltimore and Chicago while both teams had key injuries. Other then that they had no competition at all, and when they faced New England and Green Bay they got beat down badly. I don’t see them getting passed the AFC Championship game. Great season though!
4 – New England Patriots – The loss on Sunday night to San Francisco is a legit loss, but it now looks like they lost that second place bye to the Denver Broncos. Not only that, it looks like they will end up playing round two in Denver @ Mile High Stadium to play the league’s hottest team. Basically they will be playing their biggest games on the road. But everyone knows the Pats are forever dangerous.
3 – San Francisco 49ers – Beating the Patriots in New England is pretty much the most impressive victory in football, but I’m sure everyone feels that they hung on by a thread after giving up 24 4th quarter points. The 49ers still need better quarterbacking to be the best. I know the weather was bad, but three dropped snaps is terrible. Didn’t see Brady drop any!
2 – Denver Broncos – We all knew when Peyton came riding in to Denver things would be interesting. It looks like everyone is clicking with Peyton’s offense, and that has sparked the Broncos in what is now 9 straight wins, and 7 out of the 9 wins have been 30+ points! They have a good defense too – it’s tough to beat a team that scores 30 points and has a good defense!
1 – Atlanta Falcons – How do you beat a team that scores 30 points and has a good defense? Just ask the Falcons, they always find a way to win! Just when everyone wanted to write them off after last week’s loss, the Dirty Birds go out and smash the New York Football Giants to pieces 34-0! So maybe my rankings are good for something! They are 7-0 at the Georgia Dome where they should be all playoff-long before heading to the Super Dome in New Orleans.
That was a crazy week of football! Im starting to write off the Ravens and getting less confident in the Giants. But the Pack are really heating up. If they can snake home field advantage over San Francisco we could see them in the NFC Championship game. My crystal ball tells me it will be Green Bay @ SF with the winner travelling to Atlanta, and New England @ Denver with the winner heading to Houston.
photo credit: Monica’s Dad via photopin cc
