Foxboro Blog Top 12: Week 12

Stability is beginning to set in on the Top 12, and after twelve weeks of football, why shouldn’t it?  By now, we have a pretty good idea about what each team is made of.   Still, there’s stability, and then there’s stability.  An unprecedented 7 of 12 teams hold the exact same spot as they did last week.  This is even more surprisng when you consider that we had six of last week’s twelve teams going head-to-head.  We’ll see if things continue to hold firm as four of our top 5 AFC teams are facing off again in Week 13.  At some point, something’s got to give, right? 

This week’s big riser is the San Diego Chargers, who are racing up the board six spots after crushing the Colts on the road.  San Diego has won four straight and are looking more and more like the team everyone expected.  We have a three-way tie for this week’s big faller with the Steelers, Eagles, and Colts all dropping three spots each.  Leaving us this week is last week’s #12 team, the Buccaneers.  Replacing them is a team who’s looking like a threat to remain on the board for the remainder of the season, the Chicago Bears.

Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
1		1	N/A	9-2	vs. Jets
		You could make a case for Atlanta being the #1 team as they clearly downed a tougher NFC North opponent this past week.  However, the Patriots mission on Thanksgiving was simply to survive the awkward trap game to fight this coming Monday night.  The fact that they put up 45 points in the process is simply icing on the cake.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
2		2	N/A	9-2	@ Buccaneers
		Atlanta took some big steps towards the NFC’s #1 seed and an all-dome playoff run by beating the Packers. The only thing standing in their path are division rivals Tampa Bay and New Orleans.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
3		3	N/A	8-3	vs. Steelers
		Baltimore looked solid in their thumping of the Buccs.  A win this week will all but wrap up the NFC North and a bye-week.  It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
4		4	N/A	7-4	vs. 49ers
		I can’t fault Green Bay too much a last-second loss to the top team in the conference, especially when they might have won if not for an Aaron Rodgers fumble.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
5		11	6	6-5	vs. Raiders
		The Chargers are pulling their annual mid-season turn around.  They still need to take care of business with Oakland and KC, but all signs are pointing toward yet another AFC West title.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
6		6	N/A	9-2	@ Patriots
		To be fair, if the Jets hadn’t lucked out three weeks in a row against their bottom-feeding opponents, they’d be 6-5 just like San Diego.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
7		7	N/A	8-3	@ Bengals
		New Orleans has been locked at #7 for weeks now.  I thought they’d be moving up when they were pummeling Dallas, but then they let the Cowboys sneak right back in.  #7 it is, again.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
8		5	3	8-3	@ Baltimore
		The Steelers were a dropped pass away from losing to the Bills.  I have extremely little confidence in them as they head into Baltimore.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
9		9	N/A	8-3	@ Lions
		I’ll admit when I’m wrong.  I was totally sleeping on Chicago the past couple of weeks.  At 8-3, coming off a huge win against Philly, there’s no denying them any longer.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
10		10	N/A	7-4	vs. Redskins
		New York pulled off a gutsy win over Jacksonville and with it, pulled even with Philly for the NFC East lead.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
11		8	3	7-4	vs. Texans
		The Eagles got taken to the shed by Chicago.  Now it’s time for Vick to carve up Houston’s awful pass defense.
Ranking	Team	Last Week	Change	Record	Next Game
12		9	3	6-5	vs. Cowboys
		Putting the Colts in 12th, doesn’t seem right.  Yet at the same time, if the season ended today, they’d be out of the playoffs.