John Dudley’s Week 12 NFL Power Rankings
1. Seattle Seahawks (10 1; Last week: 2; beat Vikings, 41 20): Percy Harvin’s Seahawks debut and a ball hawking defense that forced four turnovers led Seattle to a 41 20 rout of the Vikings and into the top spot with the Chiefs suffering their first loss Vernon Davis Jersey of the season.
2. Denver Broncos (9 1; 3; beat Chiefs, 27 17): The Broncos gained the inside track on the AFC West title and home field advantage in the conference playoffs by holding off the Chiefs. More importantly, they kept Peyton Manning unscathed against one of the league’s nastiest defenses.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (9 1; 1; lost to Broncos, 27 17): Although it’s of little consequence, the Chiefs’ loss in Denver was closer than the score might indicate, leading to the possibility they could turn the tables at home in two weeks and re take control in the AFC West.
4. New Orleans Saints (8 2; 5; beat 49ers, 23 20): Rob Ryan’s new look Saints defense was on full display in Sunday’s win over the Niners, holding San Francisco to 196 total yards and 12 first downs. It wouldn’t have been nearly so close had New Orleans not turned it over three times.
5. Carolina Panthers (7 3; 6; beat Patriots, 24 20): Lots of people will be skeptical about the way Monday night’s game ended, and rightly so, but there’s no denying the Panthers are playing like a Super Bowl contender with six straight wins, including back to back over the 49ers and Patriots.
6. Indianapolis Colts (7 3; 9; beat Titans, 30 27): The Colts actually have been better on the road (4 1) than at home (3 2), which bodes well since they will play their three toughest remaining games (Arizona, Cincinnati and Kansas City) away from Lucas Oil Stadium.
7. New England Patriots (7 3; 4; lost to Panthers, 24 20): That was clearly pass interference on Rob Gronkowski on the final play of the MNF loss to Carolina. The blown call notwithstanding, Bill Belichick will seethe this week over watching Cam Newton drive the Panthers 83 yards on 13 plays Vernon Davis Womens Jersey on his defense near the end of the game for the winning touchdown.
8. Cincinnati Bengals (7 4; 10; beat Browns, 41 20): Just when it appeared the Bengals’ drive to the AFC North title was about to swerve right into the ditch, the Browns obliged with a flurry of turnovers and not the division race appears to be all but locked up.
9. San Francisco 49ers (6 4; 7; lost to Saints, 23 20): No way can the 49ers drop out of the top 10 given that they’ve lost back to back games by a total of four points to almost Justin Smith Youth Jersey certain playoff teams (Saints, Panthers). They’re by far the best six win team in the league.
10. Chicago Bears (6 4; 13; beat Ravens, 23 20 OT): Sunday’s weather weirdness required a special kind of focus for the Bears, who’ve had their share of adversity this season. Give first year coach Marc Trestman credit for keeping his team on task and in the playoff hunt.
11. Philadelphia Eagles (6 5; 15; beat Redskins, 24 16): The 2013 award for the team that, on any given Sunday, can blow out any opponent or be blown out by anyone goes to the Eagles. I don’t care if there are still six weeks to play.
12. Arizona Cardinals (6 4; 12; beat Jaguars, 27 14): Three straight wins have salvaged the Cardinals season, but with Indy, Philly, Seattle and San Francisco coming up in the stretch run they’ll need to step it up a few notches.
13. Detroit Lions (6 4; 8; lost to Steelers, 37 27): If coach Jim Schwartz loses his job at season’s end, it will be easy to point to his team’s second half collapse in Pittsburgh, the sort of meltdown that can wreck a team’s psyche for a long time.
14. Dallas Cowboys (5 5; 18; bye): Team Turmoil took a week off, presumably to seek therapy, before cranking it up for a finishing stretch that will either cement their status as an NFC playoff threat or cost some people their jobs, official49ersnflproshop.com/Nike-Mike-Iupati-Jersey.html starting with coach Jason Garrett.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (4 6; 20; beat Lions, 37 27): The Steelers have their work cut out for them to factor into the playoff picture, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that they have four division games remaining in a division that stinks.
16. Miami Dolphins (5 5; 22; beat Chargers, 20 16): Somehow the Dolphins put it together and put aside the distraction of the Richie Incognito Jonathan Martin madness long enough to stun the Chargers, who can pretty much kiss their postseason hopes goodbye.
17. Buffalo Bills (4 7; 25; beat Jets, 37 14): Rookie QB EJ Manuel was as impressive in the wind Sunday as he was helpless in similar conditions a week earlier in Pittsburgh. The Bills are a work in progress, but first year Doug Marrone clearly has the team headed in the right direction.
18. New York Giants (4 6, 26; beat Packers, 27 13): Maybe this whole 0 6 start was the Giants’ way of challenging themselves to see just how deep a hole they could dig and still climb out and win the incredibly mediocre NFC East. So far, so good.
19. New York Jets (5 5; 11; lost to Bills, 37 14): Rex Ryan has done enough to deserve to come back in 2014, but if his Jets bosses disagree then one of his final acts as the team’s coach will be the decision to forgo team meetings on the eve of the Bills loss to take everyone to Dave Busters. Apparently that wasn’t in the operations manual.
20. Green Bay Packers (5 5; 14; lost to Giants, 27 13): The Packers have lost three straight once unthinkable and if they can’t pull out of their slide it won’t be worth trying to rush Aaron Rodgers back to try to salvage something from the season.
21. St. Louis Rams (4 6; 21; bye): Five the Rams’ remaining six games are against teams with winning records, including the 49ers and Seahawks on the road. That’s a make or break stretch. The money here is on break.
22. Cleveland Browns (4 6; 16; lost to Bengals, 41 20): With 45 minutes to play in Sunday’s game in Cincinnati, the Browns led 13 0 and appeared to be on their way to making things very interesting down the stretch in the AFC North. Then a 31 point second quarter happened, Justin Smith Red Jersey and it was back to playing for next year.
23. Baltimore Ravens (4 6; 17; lost to Bears, 23 20 OT): What is it with the Ravens? The power outage at the Super Bowl. The lighting delay before their season opener against the Broncos. And now the huge storm that interrupted their game in Chicago on Sunday. Sheesh.
24. San Diego Chargers (4 6; 19; lost to Dolphins, 20 16): How does a team with Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and the league’s fourth best passing offense losing three straight games two of them very winnable to sink out of the playoff chase? With the NFL’s No. 27 pass defense, for one thing.
25. Oakland Raiders (4 6; 29; beat Texans, 28 23): Repeat these words: Matt McGloin. Matt McGloin. Matt McGloin. They are the reason NFL scouting remains a highly imperfect science.
26. Tennessee Titans (4 6; 24; lost to Colts, 30 27): Now that their 3 1 start has turned into a train wreck, coach Mike Munchak can easily point to the loss of QB Jake Locker as a turning point of the season. But it still might not be enough to keep the Titans from making a coaching change.
27. Washington Redskins (3 7; 23; lost to Eagles, 24 16): Speaking of coaching changes, no seat is hotter than Mike Shanahan’s as the Redskins continue their mystifying spiral toward mediocrity since last season’s playoff loss to Seattle.
28. Minnesota Vikings (2 8; 27; lost to Seahawks, 41 20): Double misery for the Vikings was watching official49ersnflproshop.com/Nike-Patrick-Willis-Jersey.html their season sink a little deeper Sunday while listening to Percy Harvin talk about how happy he is to be in Seattle. Ouch.
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2 8; 31; beat Falcons, 41 28): If anything good ultimately comes out of the disastrous season for the Bucs, it could be QB Mike Glennon’s development and waiver wire pickup Bobby Rainey’s out of the blue emergence after Rainey ran wild on the Falcons on Sunday for 163 yards and three TDs.