Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The NFL Blog: 2012 Power Rankings (After Week 14)



Power Rankings After Week 14

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

Comments: It was another week of significant change in my power rankings. That’s hardly surprising coming off of what at least felt like the craziest week of the NFL season so far. 

26 of 32 spots in my rankings experienced change this week (up from 24 of 32 the week before). 14 teams moved up in the rankings, while 12 teams moved down. Of the 14 teams climbing in the rankings, only 4 moved up more than 1 spot. Of the 12 teams falling in the rankings, 6 dropped by more than 1 spot. 

The Redskins made the biggest move up the rankings this week following their thrilling victory over the Ravens in OT. Unfortunately for the Skins, RGIII suffered a knee injury in the process. The good news for the Skins is that the injury isn’t season-ending and Washington has been playing well in all areas, not just at QB. The Skins moved up 6 spots in my rankings this week from #15 to #9. 

The Bucs took the biggest fall in the rankings this week. Tampa lost their third straight game on Sunday, this time losing at home to the struggling Eagles on the last play of the ball game. Tampa Bay dropped 5 spots in my power rankings this week from #8 to #13. 

It should be clear by now that I have no idea who the best team in football is. I’m starting to suspect that there really is no clear #1 team. But somebody has to be #1 in the power rankings, and the New England Patriots are my top team this week; the fourth different team to hold the #1 position over the last four weeks. The Houston Texans held the top spot last week, but on Monday night the Patriots steamrolled the Texans, 42-14. 

I moved New England up 5 spots in the rankings this week from #6 to #1. I dropped the Texans 4 spots in the rankings from #1 to #5. The Texans spent just 1 week at the top of the rankings. New England is my #1 team for the first time since Week 1. 

I also have a new team at the opposite end of the rankings. It seemed odd for me to take the #32 team in the rankings and move them up 2 spots following a 13-point loss at home, but that’s exactly what I did this week with the Raiders. I moved Oakland up 2 spots from #32 to #30, ending their two week stay at the bottom of the rankings. 

The team taking Oakland's place at the bottom of my power rankings this week began the year 4-0, beating Seattle, the Patriots on the road, the Eagles, and the Dolphins. However, the Arizona Cardinals have since lost 9 in a row, including Sunday’s game in Seattle, which wasn’t so much a game as it was a 3-and-a –half hour massacre. The Cards lost 58-0, and they fell 2 spots this week from #30 to #32, taking over the bottom spot in my rankings for the first time this season. 

Every team in the league has played 13 games, so logically there should not be any teams at .500. However, thanks to the Rams’ inability to get out of their own way in OT several weeks ago, we do have 1 team which is technically at .500. The Rams are 6-6-1 and are my #19 team. 

The other 31 teams are split between teams with winning records and teams with losing records. There are currently 16 teams above .500 and 15 teams below .500. The Bucs (6-7) are my highest ranked team with a losing record at #13. The Cowboys (7-6) are my lowest ranked team with a winning record at #17. 

2 teams entered week 14 with just 1 loss, but both the Texans and Falcons lost, so there are no remaining 1-loss teams in the NFL. Houston (#5) and Atlanta (#6) are now the league’s only remaining 2-loss teams. There are also 2 teams remaining with only 2 wins on the season: Jacksonville (#28) and Kansas City (#31).




No comments: