Friday, December 12, 2008

The NFL Blog: Power Rankings (After Week 14)

Power Rankings After Week 14

1. New York Giants 11-2 (1st)
2. Pittsburgh 10-3 (2nd)
3. Tennessee 12-1 (3rd)
4. Indianapolis 9-4 (6th)
5. Baltimore 9-4 (7th)
6. Carolina 10-3 (NR)
7. Tampa Bay 9-4 (5th)
8. Philadelphia 7-5-1 (NR)

-Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis;

Out: New York Jets (4th), Dallas (8th);


Explanation: A week after no team fell out of my rankings, things got back to normal this week as a pair of teams dropped out of my top 8. I suppose my rankings would be a bit controversial, as I decided not to move the G-Men out of 1st place, despite the fact that they lost badly at home to the Eagles and they are dealing with injuries and distractions.
My reasoning is that I’m willing to give the Giants one bad game every 2 months. I think perhaps things would be different if they weren’t so far ahead of everyone else in the NFC. Right now, I still think they are the NFL’s top team, so they’re my #1 team for the 3rd straight week. My number 2 and 3 teams stayed the same this week. The Steelers got a dramatic come from behind win over the Cowboys at home to go to 10-3 on the season, and Pittsburgh is 2nd in my rankings for the second week in a row. The #3 team in my top 8 for the third week in a row is the Titans, who beat Cleveland at home to go to 12-1 on the season. The New York Jets had been the #4 team in my rankings, but after they lost to the Niners last week for their second embarrassing defeat in a row, I dropped the Jets all the way out of my top 8 this week. Just 2 weeks after jumping from out of my rankings all the way to 2nd, the Jets are gone from my top 8. Moving up 2 spots from 6th to take the Jets’ place in the number 4 slot this week are the Indianapolis Colts, who crushed the Bengals last Sunday for their 6th win in a row to get to 9-4. The Tampa Bay Bucs had been the #5 team in my top 8 but they got run over by the Panthers on Monday night to fall to 9-4 on the year. Moving up 2 spots from 7th to take Tampa’s place in the number 5 slot this week are the Baltimore Ravens, who won easily over the Redskins on Sunday night to get to 9-4 on the season. There is a new team in the #6 slot this week and that is the Carolina Panthers, who won convincingly over the Bucs at home on Monday night to go to 10-3 on the year and jump back into my rankings after 2 weeks out. I decided to drop the Bucs 2 spots in my rankings from 5th to 7th place. The final spot in my top 8 had been held by the Cowboys in the previous 2 editions of my power rankings but after their collapse in Pittsburgh in week 14 I decided to drop them out. Taking their place in the 8th spot this week are the Philadelphia Eagles, who got a huge road win over the Giants last week to get to 7-5-1 on the year. The Eagles are back in my rankings after a 3 week hiatus.

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