B&T Power Rankings Week 12
By Luke Sims
Welcome to the B&T Power Rankings. The place where we rank the teams on their record, front office actions, and overall craziness. Expect some arbitrary explanations, some in-depth analysis, and your fair share of surprises.
The Bears continue to drop, Von Miller makes Peyton happy, and the Ravens lose Ed Reed for one game. The playoff picture is all but set with just a few teams jostling for position, who is setting themselves up right?
Hate ‘em? Love ‘em? Agree? Disagree? Leave it in the comments.
#1 [1] . Houston Texans, 9-1: Nobody is as good as the Texans. The Jaguars game is a division aberration, nothing more.
#2 [3]. Denver Broncos, 7-3: Von Miller gives something Peyton Manning lacked most of his career in Indianapolis: a dependable defensive inspiration and leader. It will be tough to get past that defense and even if you do you still have Manning to contend with.
#3 [9]. San Francisco 49ers, 7-2-1: Colin Kaepernick has some skills. Alex Smith is the man in San Francisco, but keep your eye on the end of the season because this could be the beginning of something.
#4 [2]. Atlanta Falcons, 9-1: Defense wins championships and if any team can do what Arizona did and produce even a semi-competent offense then the Falcons will be bounced from the playoffs like usual.
#5 [5]. New England Patriots, 7-3: Tom Brady doesn’t need another rivalry with the Colts since he can’t seem to shake Peyton Manning no matter what color his jersey is. Andrew Luck will have to wait his turn.
#6 [4]. Green Bay Packers, 7-3: Five straight and Aaron Rodgers looks like the man we thought he was. They’re better than everyone else in the division and put the Lions in their place this week.
#7 [7]. Baltimore Ravens, 8-2: Losing Ed Reed for a game won’t be enough to knock them out of contention, but the Ravens can use every bit of momentum they can get.
#8 [11]. New York Giants, 6-4: The question for the end of the season will be if the Giants can keep the distance between them and their division foes. I say yes.
#9 [6]. Chicago Bears, 7-3: The Bears need to stop the bleeding right now. Lovie Smith needs to get creative and the defense needs to refocus.
#10 [8]. Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-4: Lacking Ben Roethlisberger may kill the Steelers’ dreams.
#11[12]. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-4: I’m not certain they make the playoffs, but the Bucs are going to make sure they’re in it until the end.
#12 [10]. Indianapolis Colts, 6-4: I’m not convinced that the Colts can beat other 6-4 and 5-5 teams, but the Patriots proved they definitely can’t hang with the big boys….yet.
#13 [13]. New Orleans Saints, 5-5: Turns out that an interim head coach is much better than an interim, interim head coach. Joe Vitt is doing wonders.
#14 [14]. Minnesota Vikings, 6-4: Will there be three NFC North teams in the playoffs or just two? The Vikings are in control of their destiny here.
#15 [16]. Cincinnati Bengals, 5-5: If Andy Dalton can continue to keep this offense motivated then the Bengals could be serious contenders in the end.
#16 [15]. Seattle Seahawks, 6-4: Can this team push into the playoffs? I think so. We’ll see how they do in the final stretch.
#17 [20]. Washington Redskins, 4-6: RGIII missed one pass this week. One. Andrew Luck is rightly garnering a lot of attention but the #2 pick isn’t half bad either.
#18 [17]. Dallas Cowboys, 5-5: Tony Romo may just prove his critics wrong by the end of the season.
#19 [22]. Arizona Cardinals, 4-6: The Cardinals came out fighting but didn’t have the offense to back up a very strong defensive performance. It was the best they’ve looked since starting 4-0.
#20 [18]. Detroit Lions, 4-6: There just isn’t any room for the Lions in the crowded NFC North. That was the second division loss in two weeks.
#21 [19]. Miami Dolphins, 4-6: Dolphins fans will be pleased when the team gets another high draft pick at the end of the year.
#22 [23]. Cleveland Browns, 2-8: They played Dallas tight but still lost. Strangely I’m still getting a really positive vibe out of the Browns.
#23 [21]. San Diego Chargers, 4-6: The Chargers are no longer a real contender in the AFC West.
#24 [27]. New York Jets, 4-6: Mark Sanchez looked more like the Sanchize than he has since week one…in a win over the hapless Rams.
#25 [23]. St. Louis Rams, 3-6-1: The Jets simply outplayed the Rams. It happens, especially when you’re still trying to come together as a team.
#26 [29]. Buffalo Bills, 4-6: The Bills won using multiple phases of the game…well just not the offense really.
#27 [25]. Tennessee Titans, 4-6: The Titans will continue with a lot of momentum next week against the Jaguars. Jake Locker could have a field day against the Jags’ defense.
#28 [26]. Philadelphia Eagles, 3-7: This whole team is going to be shook up after the season.
#29 [31]. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1-9: Who would have thought this team could compete like that? Chad Henne’s starting for the foreseeable future, we’ll see how that plays out.
#30 [28]. Carolina Panthers, 2-8: A tough loss for the Panthers. I’m just really unconvinced that Cam Newton is playing well enough for this team to have sustained success in some way.
#31 [30]. Oakland Raiders, 3-7: There was some momentum and hope for this team a few weeks back…
#32 [32]. Kansas City Chiefs, 1-9: The Chiefs don’t have anywhere to turn.