Last week’s top team, the Jets, had a bye in Week 7, and despite having New England creep up and tie them for the division lead, they held them off for the #1 spot in the power rankings. The Patriots moved up to #2 after getting a pretty close win in San Diego, moving back the Steelers and Titans, who each fell a spot despite winning this week as well. The Falcons also held on to the #5 spot after winning a crazy game over Cincinnati.
On the bottom side, the Panthers won the clash of the titans between #30 San Francisco and #32 Carolina, moving them all the way up to #30, while the 49ers are now #31, with the only winless team, Buffalo, at #32. The Cowboys horrible season is continuing, and another terrible loss leaves them at #27. The only team to escape the bottom 5 this week was Cleveland, who got a shocking win at New Orleans. The team that replaced them shouldn’t be too surprising. If you lose by 45 points at home to the 2010 Raiders, you probably belong in the bottom 5, and that’s why the Broncos are #29. This sets up a HUGE international game in London tomorrow between 2-5 #29 Denver and 1-6 #31 San Francisco, just what the NFL needs to expand globally.
This week’s biggest gainers were Oakland, who went crazy last week and jumped 10 spots, and Cleveland, who got a very impressive win and jumped 9 spots. The biggest losers were 2 teams that just couldn’t stop turning the ball over, the Bears, who fell 7 spots, and the Saints, who fell 6.
Since the ranks were fairly stable this week, maybe its time to start up the playoff projection based on the ranks:
NFC
First Round Byes: #5 Falcons, #7 Giants
#12 Eagles @ #10 Seahawks
#9 Redskins @ #15 Packers
Top 5 Out: #14 Buccaneers, #16 Saints, #18 Bears, #19 Rams, #23 Vikings
AFC
First Round Byes: #1 Jets, #3 Steelers
#6 Colts @ #4 Titans
#2 Patriots @ #11 Chiefs
Top 5 Out: #8 Ravens, #13 Texans, #17 Raiders, #20 Browns, #21 Bengals
Here are the full ranks:
1. Jets – 83.34 – Even
2. Patriots – 77.21 – +2
3. Steelers – 77.10 – -1
4. Titans – 74.92 – -1
5. Falcons – 68.55 – Even
6. Colts – 68.35 – Even
7. Giants – 65.32 – +1
8. Ravens – 64.01 – +1
9. Redskins – 62.59 – +5
10. Seahawks – 62.26 – +5
11. Chiefs – 61.16 – +2
12. Eagles – 57.11 – -5
13. Texans – 56.37 – -1
14. Buccaneers – 55.08 – +3
15. Packers – 52.51 – +5
16. Saints – 49.62 – -6
17. Raiders – 48.08 – +10
18. Bears – 46.99 – -7
19. Rams – 46.28 – -3
20. Browns – 42.88 – +9
21. Bengals – 40.78 – -3
22. Dolphins – 40.54 – -3
23. Vikings – 39.40 – -1
24. Jaguars – 37.46 – -1
25. Cardinals – 36.95 – -4
26. Chargers – 36.90 – -2
27. Lions – 34.87 – -1
28. Cowboys – 32.48 – Even
29. Broncos – 31.81 – -4
30. Panthers – 26.88 – +2
31. 49ers – 23.42 – -1
32. Bills – 19.08 – -1
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