The NFL Blog: 2009 Week 13 Power Rankings

Power Rankings After Week 13

1. Indianapolis 12-0 (1st)
2. New Orleans 12-0 (3rd)
3. Minnesota 10-2 (2nd)
4. San Diego 9-3 (4th)
5. Cincinnati 9-3 (5th)
6. Philadelphia 8-4 (11th)
7. Baltimore 6-6 (8th)
8. Dallas 8-4 (9th)
9. Tennessee 5-7 (10th)
10. Arizona 8-4 (12th)
11. Denver 8-4 (13th)
12. New England 7-5 (6th)
13. New York Giants 7-5 (14th)
14. Pittsburgh 6-6 (7th)
15. Green Bay 8-4 (17th)
16. Atlanta 6-6 (15th)
17. New York Jets 6-6 (19th)
18. Miami 6-6 (20th)
19. Jacksonville 7-5 (21st)
20. Houston 5-7 (16th)
21. San Francisco 5-7 (18th)
22. Washington 3-9 (24th)
23. Carolina 5-7 (22nd)
24. Buffalo 4-8 (23rd)
25. Seattle 5-7 (27th)
26. Oakland 4-8 (28th)
27. Chicago 5-7 (25th)
28. Kansas City 3-9 (26th)
29. St. Louis 1-11 (29th)
30. Cleveland 1-11 (30th)
31. Tampa Bay 1-11 (31st)
32. Detroit 2-10 (32nd)

-Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis;

Big 3 Shaken: Of the 3 teams that have separated themselves above the rest in the NFL this season—Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Minnesota—only the Colts made it through week 13 without a hitch. The Saints won but they were extremely fortunate to do so, needing a gift missed field goal among many other things to come from behind and beat the Redskins in overtime. The Vikings were beaten soundly on the road by the Cardinals on Sunday night. I moved the Saints ahead of the Vikings into 2nd place but Minnesota is still clearly among the big 3.

Moving Up: The only team climbing more than 2 spots in my rankings this week was Philly. The Eagles destroyed the short-handed Falcons in Atlanta last Sunday without a number of key players. Philadelphia climbed 5 places in my rankings this week from 11th to 6th.

Going Down: There were 4 teams taking significant dives in my rankings this week. I dropped the Niners 3 spots from 18th to 21st after they were unable to pull out a much needed road win against the Seahawks. The Texans proved yet again that they are not quite good enough to contend, as they fell to the Jags on the road. I dropped Houston 4 spots in my rankings from 16th to 20th. The Patriots suffered another puzzling road defeat on Sunday, this time losing to the Dolphins. New England tumbled 6 spots in my rankings from 6th all the way to 12th. The team making the biggest nose dive in my rankings this week was Pittsburgh. The Steelers lost their 4th consecutive game last week--this time with Big Ben in the lineup—and this was by far the most shocking. In perhaps the most stunning outcome of the season so far, the Steelers blew a lead late and fell to the Raiders at home. The Steelers fell 7 places in my rankings this week, dropping from 7th all the way to 14th.

The Divide: Things are perhaps more muddled now than ever, with the Big 3 looking shaky, a number of contenders falling out of contention, a number of pretenders looking like de facto contenders, and basically the entire league dealing with injuries.