As Ryan mentioned, yesterday was another tough day. As a relatively new father, my thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by this tragedy.
So let’s try to find a little bit of an escape with Power Ranks. The Patriots dominating win over the Texans, coupled with a loss by the Falcons, brought the former 11-1 teams down to earth a little. The Patriots are the new #1. I knew we hadn’t seen the last of the miserable Belichick snow picture this year. The Texans fell to #2, while the Broncos, who are quietly 10-3, move up to #3. The Falcons fell to #4, and the 49ers moved up to #5 and have a showdown with New England this weekend. Below the top 5, there are a lot of teams several points back but bunched up (Seattle, Green Bay, Washington, NY Giants, Baltimore)
On a side note, the Browns are surprisingly #13, and are going to show up as a playoff team below, which is very unlikely to happen. Just remember that these ranks are supposed to show who is the best right now, not all season, and the Browns have won 3 and played well on defense to move them up.
On the low end, the Eagles long-awaited win moved them up 3 spots, pushing down the Jaguars, Raiders, and Chiefs.
This week’s biggest gainer were the above mentioned Browns. The biggest losers were the Ravens, who are sinking out of the race for a bye and the Saints, who got a fork stuck in their season by the Giants.
Playoff Projections
NFC
1st Round Byes: #4 Falcons, #5 49ers
#9 Giants @ #7 Packers
#6 Seahawks @ #8 Redskins
Top 5 Out: #12 Bears, #15 Rams, #16 Cowboys, #17 Buccaneers, #18 Vikings
AFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Patriots, #2 Texans
#13 Browns @ #3 Broncos
#11 Bengals @ #10 Ravens
Top 5 Out: #14 Colts, #19 Jets, #20 Steelers, #22 Chargers, #23 Bills
| Week 14 | |||
| 1 | NE | 80.09 | 1 |
| 2 | HOU | 76.77 | -1 |
| 3 | DEN | 73.89 | 2 |
| 4 | ATL | 72.52 | -1 |
| 5 | SF | 70.27 | 2 |
| 6 | SEA | 66.92 | 3 |
| 7 | GB | 66.77 | 1 |
| 8 | WAS | 66.1 | 3 |
| 9 | NYG | 65.24 | 3 |
| 10 | BAL | 64.32 | -6 |
| 11 | CIN | 59.89 | -5 |
| 12 | CHI | 58.45 | -2 |
| 13 | CLE | 54.72 | 6 |
| 14 | IND | 53.36 | 0 |
| 15 | STL | 52.47 | 2 |
| 16 | DAL | 52.07 | 0 |
| 17 | TB | 49.69 | -4 |
| 18 | MIN | 48.88 | 2 |
| 19 | NYJ | 48.64 | 3 |
| 20 | PIT | 44.00 | -5 |
| 21 | CAR | 42.31 | 4 |
| 22 | SD | 40.37 | 4 |
| 23 | BUF | 39.90 | -2 |
| 24 | NO | 39.74 | -6 |
| 25 | MIA | 36.16 | -2 |
| 26 | DET | 31.99 | 1 |
| 27 | AZ | 30.79 | -3 |
| 28 | TEN | 30.22 | 0 |
| 29 | PHI | 28.39 | 3 |
| 30 | JAX | 27.54 | -1 |
| 31 | OAK | 19.97 | -1 |
| 32 | KC | 19.64 | -1 |
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