The NFL Blog: 2010 Power Rankings (After Week 13)

Power Rankings After Week 13

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

-Previous week’s rankings in parenthesis;

Patriots State their Case. For several weeks the Patriots, Jets, Ravens, and Steelers had made up a 4-team block at the top of my rankings. Even though the teams would face off against each other last week, I did not anticipate the block being broken or any of the 4 teams rising above the others. Both of those things did indeed happen, however, following the startling events of Monday night.

The Patriots were already my number 1 team, but their performance on MNF was impressive enough to make them the obvious top team in the league. The Jets performed so badly on the big stage that they have fallen out of that 4-team block for now. The Jets were the only team to fall more than 3 spots this week, as they dropped 5 spots from #3 to #8.

In contrast to the Patriots massacre of the Jets, the Ravens-Steelers battle on Sunday night played out just as we suspected it would. It was a hard hitting, low scoring affair, which eventually turned on a huge play by Troy Polamalu in the final minutes. The Steelers got the victory, 13-10, to split the season series. Baltimore moved down a spot in my rankings this week from 2nd to 3rd, while Pittsburgh moved up 2 spots from #4 to #2.

Depth in the NFC. While the top 3 spots in my rankings were again occupied by AFC teams this week, 6 of the final 7 spots in the top 10 were occupied by NFC teams. Philly moved up a spot to 4th, followed by the Falcons at #5, the Packers at #6, and the Saints at #7, with each team climbing a spot in the rankings this week. After the #8 Jets, the Bears moved up 2 spots to take 9th, and the Giants moved up 3 spots to finish out the top 10.

An Electrifying, Stunning Development (Holy Toledo?). A little inside, I know. But anyway, the team making the biggest move up the ranks this week was the Oakland Raiders. In a weekend full of stunning events, the Raiders pulled off the biggest. After getting blown out in consecutive weeks, the Raiders went into San Diego and outmanned the Chargers, 28-13, snapping San Diego’s 4-game win streak.

Coming into the year, the Raiders had lost 13 in a row to the Chargers, but with Sunday’s shocking win they completed a sweep of the season series. They need to win only 1 of their final 4 games to end the 7-year skid of double digit losses. Oakland was the only team to climb more than 3 spots in my rankings this week, jumping 6 spots from #24 to #18.

Bottom Feeders. The last 7 spots in my rankings were occupied by the same teams this week, although Denver and Carolina swapped places, with the Broncos moving up a spot from 31st to 30th, and the Panthers falling from 30th to 31st. Carolina blew a 14-0 lead against fellow bottom feeder Seattle, while the Broncos hung tough against the Chiefs. Then the Broncos made the decision to fire Josh McDaniels which is certainly a step in the right direction.