NFL Power Rankings: Week 12

1. (1) Green Bay Packers (10-0) – The Packers at least looked HUMAN this Sunday when the Buccaneers ran Blount through nearly their entire defense, but they are still undefeated. Rodgers continues to have a remarkable season despite throwing his 4^th INT of the year…SHAME!  

2. (2) San Francisco 49ers (9-1) – Once again Alex Smith led this tough 49er team to a victory over their division rival. It may not look pretty, but they are winning games week in and week out. The Har-Bowl should show what this team is all about on Thanksgiving night.   

3. (3) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3) – The Steelers bye came at the perfect time as it gave Big Ben time to rest his thumb injury. They are beginning to look like the Steelers we all know and love, well…know at least…as this season progresses on.

4. (4) New Orleans Saints (7-3) – The Saints will be fresh off of their bye feeling good about that 4^th and 1 OT stand they had against their biggest threat in their division. The only question going forward is the play of the defense.

5. (5) New England Patriots (7-3) – Brady and the Pats continue to get work done as usual. Just when you want to count them out they start smashing teams like the Jets and Chiefs. You can never count out a team with Tom Brady under center, no matter how bad the defense is.

6. (8) Baltimore Ravens (7-3) – The Ravens fought a tough battle against the Bengals without their Hall of Fame MLB Ray Lewis and found a way to come away with the victory. Good football teams find ways to win, and that’s exactly what they did. Another nasty battle is facing the Ravens on Thanksgiving night when history is made in the Har-Bowl!

7. (6) Chicago Bears (7-3) – The Bears picked up another impressive win against the Chargers this week pushing their winning streak to 5 games. But they lost their QB Jay Cutler for an extended period of time. If any team is able to overcome this type of injury, it’s the Bears due to their solid defense and great running game.

8. (7) Houston Texans (7-3) – One good thing about the Texans having this late bye is that Matt Lienart got more reps and time to get familiar with this offense. The Texans may have lost Matt Schaub for the year, but it looks like they will be getting Andre Johnson back this weekend. That will alleviate some of the pressure facing Matt Lienart for the rest of the season.

9. (10) Atlanta Falcons (6-4) – The Falcons survived a scare from rookie QB Jake Locker of the Titans. With Julio Jones out, Roddy White stepped up and showed what he brings to the table. With Turner, Gonzalez, Jones and White this offense is as good as any when clicking.

10. (11) Dallas Cowboys (6-4) – Tony Romo and the Cowboys continue to roll as they too survive an overtime scare against the Redskins. If Romo continues to play at this level, I expect the Cowboys to win the NFC East over the New York Giants.

11. (12) Detroit Lions (7-3) – The Lions had another impressive 2^nd half comeback this weekend but it could be a cause for concern. If you get behind on a team like Green Bay or Chicago, they aren’t going to let you back in the game. 

12. (9) New York Giants (6-4) – Just when I was ready to crown Eli as ELIte, he goes and loses to the Philadelphia Heat, I mean Miami Eagles, you get my point. The Giants need to get Ahmad Bradshaw back for the stretch run for the NFC East crown with the Dallas Cowboys.

13. (15) Oakland Raiders (6-4) – DA RAIDERS look to be back and rolling with Carson Palmer manning the ship! Their offense is explosive and the defense is playing great, all of this without their biggest weapon, RUN DMC!

14. (14) Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) – The Bengals had possibly the most rough two weeks of the entire NFL season when they had to play the Steelers and Ravens back to back. They fought hard and nearly won both games, which is impressive to me especially with this young core on offense. 

15. (20) Philadelphia Eagles (4-6) – Desean Jackson came back off of his vacation and proved to be just as childish as ever. But Vince Young led the Eagles to an impressive victory over the Giants. Personally, I think he should be starting because all he did in Tennessee is win games and this team has much more talent than his former team could ever dream of. Late season push?

16. (21) Denver Broncos (5-5) – Tim Tebow is now 4-1, what else can I say? This kid is finding ways to will this team to victory. I can’t wait to see him in action this weekend to see if he can’t lead these Broncos to an above .500 record!

17. (13) New York Jets (5-5) – Rex Ryan and the Jets fall victim to the phenomenon we know as Tim Tebow! With the Patriots beginning to pull away, the Jets are still very much a player in the wildcard if they get their act together this week.

18. (16) Tennessee Titans (5-5) – Matt Hasselbeck got hurt which at first seemed like a bad thing but actually turned out good as Jake Locker stepped in and didn’t skip a beat. I don’t think there is any reason for the Titans to wait to start this kid, he can win them games and possibly take them to the playoffs with the Texans losing Matt Schaub. 

19. (19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) – The Buccaneers finally got back to playing Buccaneer football by pounding Lagarrette Blount straight through the entire Packers defense, literally. Even though they lost they showed good signs of the team we knew last year.

20. (18) San Diego Chargers (4-6) – Yet again Phillip Rivers leads his team straight to a loss. He is turning the ball over like he is Ryan Leaf and they will not win any games until he fixes it. I guess he has too many weapons on offense that he is confusing himself?

21. (24) Seattle Seahawks (4-6) – The Seahawks won a game they were supposed to win this week, congratulations. If Marshawn Lynch can continue to pound the ball, this team could be a threat to teams trying to secure playoff spots late in the year.

22. (28) Miami Dolphins (3-7) – The Dolphins are surging! 3 straight wins with the most recent being a smashing of the Bills by a score of 35-8. Matt Moore and Reggie Bush seem to be working their UCLA and USC magic down in Miami.

23. (17) Buffalo Bills (5-5) – The Bills have not only come back down to earth, they have crash landed. The Dolphins absolutely dominated this team that looked so strong early in the year. What happened to Ryan Fitzpatrick and all the turnovers forced on defense?

24. (30) Cleveland Browns (4-6) – One week after handing the Rams a victory, the Browns did the exact same thing to the Jaguars except the Jaguars politely gave the win back to the Browns. This is a good football team that is making very poor mistakes, could very well be above .500.

25. (29) Washington Redskins (3-7) – The Redskins nearly pulled off a huge upset against a very hot Dallas Cowboys team. What concerns me is after the game having your starting WR and CB talking about how bad they are playing and asking to be cut, what’s going on in DC?

26. (22) Kansas City Chiefs (4-6) – The Chiefs played the Patriots well for 15 minutes, and then got absolutely crushed. To their defense they were without Matt Cassel, not to mention Jamal Charles or Eric Berry, but they continue to be a very inconsistent football team. 

27. (23) Arizona Cardinals (3-7) – John Skelton went from dethroning Kevin Kolb to losing his job in half a game against the 49ers. The only bright spots on this team right now are Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson, who got burned by Michael Crabtree all day actually.

28. (26) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) – The Jaguars were basically handed the game by Cleveland and decided that they didn’t want the victory. This is another team that proves to be way too inconsistent on a weekly basis.

29. (25) Minnesota Vikings (2-8) – Just as everything seemed to begin clicking in Minnesota; Adrian Peterson suffered a high ankle sprain that will keep him out at least one week. I hope he is back soon because I feel this team has a lot of potential, just a very tough division to play in.  

30. (27) Carolina Panthers (2-8) – The Panthers came out hot against the Lions, but then they died down very, very quickly. Cam Newton was inaccurate all day and the Lions basically did whatever they wanted to the Carolina defense.

31. (31) St. Louis Rams (2-8) – The Rams don’t escape with a win this week as the Seahawks handled their business. Sam Bradford just doesn’t look the same despite having much more talent at the WR position this year.

32. (32) Indianapolis Colts (0-10) – Good news everyone, the Colts didn’t lose this week!!!