Power Rankings After Week 13
1. Green Bay 12-0 (1st)
2. New Orleans 9-3 (2nd)
3. San Francisco 10-2 (3rd)
4. Pittsburgh 9-3 (4th)
5. New England 9-3 (5th)
6. Baltimore 9-3 (6th)
7. New York Jets 7-5 (7th)
8. New York Giants 6-6 (10th)
9. Dallas 7-5 (8th)
10. Houston 9-3 (13th)
11. Detroit 7-5 (9th)
12. Atlanta 7-5 (11th)
13. Chicago 7-5 (12th)
14. Tennessee 7-5 (17th)
15. Miami 4-8 (18th)
16. Denver 7-5 (21st)
17. Cincinnati 7-5 (14th)
18. Oakland 7-5 (15th)
19. Philadelphia 4-8 (16th)
20. Arizona 5-7 (20th)
21. San Diego 5-7 (22nd)
22. Carolina 4-8 (26th)
23. Kansas City 5-7 (24th)
24. Seattle 5-7 (28th)
25. Buffalo 5-7 (19th)
26. Tampa Bay 4-8 (23rd)
27. Cleveland 4-8 (25th)
28. Washington 4-8 (27th)
29. Jacksonville 3-9 (29th)
30. Minnesota 2-10 (30th)
31. St. Louis 2-10 (31st)
32. Indianapolis 0-12 (32nd)
-Previous week’s rankings in parenthesis;
11th Hour of Perfection? The Green Bay Packers remain by far the #1 team in the NFL. The Pack went on the road and fought off the Giants last Sunday to move to 12-0 on the season. They are my #1 team for the 11th straight week.
The Packers may take a shot at 16-0. My first reaction to Sunday’s close call (38-35 win) was that teams seem to be getting closer and closer. I don’t mean to say that teams are closing the gap between themselves and the Packers. What I mean is that Green Bay seems to be coming closer and closer to losing.
But when I went back and looked over their entire season, I found that wasn’t really true. If you go all the way back to the opening game of the season on that first Thursday night, they had to win an all out shootout against the Saints, 42-34. The next week they only won by 7 over Carolina. In week 5 they fell down 14-0 on the road against the Falcons on Sunday night. The week before their bye they saw the Vikings make a late run against them. The week after their bye it was the Chargers who made a late push. Since then they had basically won handedly until this last Sunday.
So their season really isn’t as similar to New England’s 2007 season as I thought. Either way, the Packers are on a different level from the rest of the contenders. They have been all season.
The Luckiest 0-12 Team Ever? The Colts are to the bottom of the NFL what the Packers are to the top. They are by far and away the worst team in football.
The Colts were an inconceivable 20.5 point underdog at New England last week. They trailed 31-3 at the start of the 4th quarter and then scored 21 meaningless. The 31-24 final score was the single most misleading final score I have ever come across.
They are now 0-12 and they are the #32 team in my rankings for the 6th straight week. The incredibly tricky and awkward Peyton Manning/Andrew Luck situation is no longer a matter of “if”; it is most certainly a matter of “when.”
Changes. After 13 weeks we are still trying to figure things out in between the Packers and the Colts. There were changes in 20 of 32 spots in my rankings this week. 9 teams moved up the rankings, while 11 teams moved down. Of the 9 teams going up in the rankings, 7 moved up at least 2 spots. Of the 11 teams going in the other direction, 7 fell off at least 2 spots.
The Risers. Three different teams climbed more than 3 spots in my rankings this week. The Seahawks stopped the Eagles on Thursday to get to 5-7 and they rose 4 spots in my rankings this week from #28 to #24. Carolina beat Tampa by 19 points on the road for their 4th win of the season. I moved the Panthers up 4 spots from #26 to #22.
And then there is the unstoppable force, also known as Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were without their star defensive rookie Von Miller on Sunday but they managed to beat the Vikings in Minnesota anyway, this time winning a high scoring battle. Denver is now 7-5 on the year. The Broncos made the biggest jump of any team this week, rising 5 spots from #21 to #16 in my rankings.
Freefall. Poor Buffalo. Their feel-good season has turned into a nightmare. The Bills lost their 5th straight game on Sunday, this time falling at home to the Tennessee Titans. They are now 5-7 on the year after starting off 4-1. The Bills fell 6 spots in my rankings this week from #19 to #25.
Other Notes. The #1 Green Bay Packers remain the last undefeated team in the NFL at 12-0. The #32 Indianapolis Colts remain the only winless team in the NFL at 0-12…The Dolphins are my highest ranked team with a losing record at #15. Not only are they below .500, they are4-8, but I’d pick them to beat 17 of the 32 teams in the league at this point. Miami whipped the Oakland Raiders last week. Speaking of the Silver and Black, they are 7-5 and are my lowest ranked team with a winning record at #18. I still can’t figure out if they are any good...The 6-6 New York Giants are my #8 team and they are currently the only team in the NFL with a .500 record.
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