The NFL Blog: 2009 Week 17 Power Rankings

Power Rankings After Week 17

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

-Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis;

Going Up: Only one team rose more than 2 spots in my final power rankings. The Packers crushed Arizona on the road to finish the season having won 7 of their final 8 games. I moved Green Bay up 4 spots in my rankings from 11th to 7th.

Going Down: While only one team made a major climb in my final rankings, 5 teams fell at least 3 spots this week. The Eagles came into the final week of the season red hot and with a chance to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs, but Philly was dominated in Dallas by the Cowboys, 24-0. I dropped the Eagles 3 spots in my final rankings from 3rd to 6th. The Bengals didn’t have much to play for against the Jets but they looked awful in losing 37-0. I’ve been losing regard for the Bungals for a few weeks now. They finished the season losing 3 of their final 4 games. I dropped Cinci 3 spots in my final rankings from 8th to 11th. I also dropped the Patriots 3 spots this week, as they lost to the Texans by 7 on the road. But I did not drop the Patriots because they lost the game; I dropped them because they lost the leading receiver in the NFL—Wes Welker—for the rest of the season. If anyone knows how to overcome injury it is the Patriots but I just don’t see how this injury will prove anything less than devastating for them. I dropped New England 3 spots in my final rankings from 7th to 10th. Was anyone all that surprised that the Broncos finished off their annual choke job by losing to KC at home by 20 points? The sorry Broncos fell 4 spots in my final rankings from 13th to 17th. Finally, the team taking the biggest fall in my final rankings was the New York Giants, who quit on the season before they were ever eliminated. The G-Men followed up their 41-9 loss to the Panthers by laying down and taking a 44-7 beat down at the hands of the Vikings. New York was outscored 85-16 in their final two games and they fell 5 spots in my final rankings, dropping from 21st all the way to 26th.

Parity Rules: There was a point in the season during which the 32 NFL teams could be easily divided into three distinct groups: the good, the bad, and the ordinary. Now that the regular season has ended things have blended together and there is seemingly little difference between the teams at the top and the bottom of the league. The Colts, Saints, and Vikings seemed to be a cut above the rest of the NFL for much of the season but none of those teams finished the season #1 in my power rankings. Of the 20 teams that did not reach the NFL playoffs, the Titans finished highest in my final rankings at 12th. The only team to make the playoffs that did not finish in my top 12 was the Jets, who finished ranked 16th.

The Top Teams: 6 teams held the top spot in my rankings at one point during the regular season. The team ranked #1 most often during the season was the Colts, who were the top team in 6 of my 18 sets of rankings (preseason and 17 weeks of the regular season). New England was my preseason #1 and the Steelers held the top spot after week 1. The Giants were the #1 team from week 2 through week 5, holding the top spot for 4 weeks. The Saints also had a 4 week run at #1 from week 6 through week 9. The Colts then held the top spot for 6 straight weeks from week 10 through week 15. Finally, the Chargers held the top spot for the last 2 weeks of the regular season, finishing the year as my top team in the NFL. No team that lost the #1 ranking ever regained the top spot. I was surprised when I went back and discovered that the Vikings were never ranked #1.

The Bottom Teams: Just as 6 different teams held the top spot in my rankings at one point during the season, 6 different teams also held the very last spot in my rankings for at least 1 week. The Chiefs were my preseason #32. KC was supplanted in the bottom spot after week 1 by the Rams. The Lions took over the coveted #32 spot in my rankings in week 2 and Detroit would be ranked last for more weeks than any other team this year. The Lions were ranked 32nd in 9 of 18 sets of rankings, including 5 straight from week 6 through week 10. The Browns were ranked last in weeks 3 and 4. Tampa Bay ended the Lions 5 week stretch at #32 in week 11. Detroit retook the bottom spot in week 12 and went on another 3 week run before the Seahawks dropped to 32nd in week 15. Seattle held the bottom spot for 2 weeks before the Rams regained the 32nd ranking in week 17 to finish the regular season as my worst team in the NFL. St. Louis had the 2nd most weeks at #32 during the year behind the Lions, claiming the bottom spot for 3 weeks.