Finally, a picture not of the Saints!
Welcome to the Week 16 edition of the Cubicle GM NFL Power Rankings. Every Tuesday you can look forward to our composite rankings, as well as a bit of brief insight and analysis about each of the 32 teams.
The rankings are determined by taking the average of each of the contributors here at The Cube. For Week 16, we have rankings from five members of the Cubicle GM team, including me, Gideon, Mickey, Walker and Smokey. So remember, if you disagree with some portion of our rankings, be sure to check the individual rankings to find the culprit.
After being upset on Saturday by Dallas, the Saints are no longer undefeated and have finally fallen from the top spot in the rankings after 13 weeks at No. 1. Taking over are the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. The Chargers remain at No. 3 after winning their ninth straight contest, and the Vikings remain at No. 4 despite their loss to Carolina.
For the fourth straight week, only one team dropped out of the Top 10, as the Denver Broncos fell three spots to No. 12 after their surprising home loss to Oakland. Taking their spot were the Dallas Cowboys, who moved up three spots to No. 8 after taking down previously undefeated New Orleans.
The bottom six of Detroit, Kansas City, Oakland, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Cleveland changed for the first time in seven weeks, as Seattle dropped to No. 27 after their loss to Tampa Bay at home. Moving up was Oakland, who jumped two spots after their victory over Denver. Never fear though, St. Louis stayed put at the very bottom, holding that No. 32 spot for the 11th time this season.
After a relatively quiet week last week where just 19 teams moved at least one spot in the ranks, this week there were 24 teams changing places. However, similar to last week, only three moved at least three spots up or down.
The aforementioned Dallas Cowboys turned out to be the biggest positive mover this week, jumping three spots after defeating the Saints. The biggest downward movement was only three spots, as both the Broncos and Packers fell after tough last second losses on Sunday.
The disagreements among the rankers were the most they have been in some time, as there were 10 disagreements of exactly 7 spots in the rankings. Of those, eight involved our good pal Smokey.
New England Patriots (7) – Walker 6, Gideon 13
Arizona Cardinals (7) – Smokey 5, Gideon 12
Green Bay Packers (7) – Gideon 8, Smokey 15
Baltimore Ravens (7) – Gideon 6, Mickey / Walker 13
Denver Broncos (7) – Gideon 9, Smokey 16
Jacksonville Jaguars (7) – Smokey 13, Walker 20
Pittsburgh Steelers (7) – Smokey 12, Gideon 19
New York Jets (7) – Mickey 15, Smokey 22
Washington Redskins (7) – Smokey 21, Walker 28
Seattle Seahawks (7) – Walker 22, Smokey 29
On the divisional side, the AFC South remains at the top with an average score of 11.95, its highest of the season. The NFC East retained second place with an average score of 12.70. The bottom division remains the same for the 13th consecutive week and will likely stay that way for the rest of the year. The NFC West checks in with a 22.20 average score, miles behind second to last place NFC South, coming in with a score of 18.05.
As a reminder, you can check out all the backup data here. Without further ado, onto the rankings. As always, last week’s ranks are in parentheses.
1. Indianapolis Colts (2) – How about another NFL record for the Colts? Indy has now won 7 games this season when trailing in the 4th quarter.
2. New Orleans Saints (1) – The Saints’ quest for perfection ended at home on Saturday, but with the Vikings loss they can clinch home field in the NFC with one more victory.
3. San Diego Chargers (3) – The Chargers won their 9th straight game and wrapped up the AFC West for the fourth consecutive season.
4. Minnesota Vikings (4) – The Vikings could not capitalize on the Saints’ first loss of the year, as they suffered their third loss of the season (all on the road).
5. Philadelphia Eagles (6) – After hauling in six passes for 140 yards and a score in the Eagles’ win over San Francisco, DeSean Jackson now leads the league with a 19.4 yard per catch average.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (5) – Cincinnati played inspired football in the wake of tragedy on Sunday, but fell just short in their efforts to clinch the AFC North.
7. New England Patriots (8) – Tom Brady had his lowest passing total since 2006 (115 yards), but it was enough for the Pats to beat the Bills and get closer to an AFC East crown.
8. Dallas Cowboys (11) – One of the keys to Dallas’ surprise victory was DeMarcus Ware, who left the Cowboys’ previous game on a stretcher only to return to record two key sacks and forced fumbles.
9. Arizona Cardinals (10) – Arizona didn’t look dominant in beating the Lions, but their win coupled with the San Francisco loss means the Cardinals repeat as NFC West champs.
10. Green Bay Packers (7) – The Packers held the Steelers running game in check (65 yards), but Ben Roethlisberger’s huge day (503 yards passing) was too much.
11. Baltimore Ravens (12) – The Ravens looked great on both sides of the ball on Sunday, but that isn’t tough to do when you play the Bears.
12. Denver Broncos (9) – The Broncos squandered a great chance to secure an AFC Wild Card spot by falling to Oakland at home.
13. Tennessee Titans (13) – Vince Young only completed 14 passes on Sunday, but 3 were for scores in Tennessee’s overtime win over Miami.
14. New York Giants (14) – Eli Manning completed 19 passes to 10 different receivers in the Giants’ blowout win over Washington on Monday night.
15. Jacksonville Jaguars (16) – David Garrard and the Jaguars went toe-to-toe with Manning and the Colts on Thursday night, but came up one possession short.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (18) – The Steelers did a re-enactment of last year’s Super Bowl winning drive, going 80 yards in the final two minutes before scoring the game-winning TD with no time on the clock.
17. Miami Dolphins (15) – The Dolphins overcame a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to send the game to OT, but fell short in a crucial game for their playoff chances.
18. Houston Texans (20) – It wasn’t pretty, but the Texans took down the Rams by a field goal in St. Louis.
19. New York Jets (17) – The Jets botched a field goal attempt, had one blocked and missed a third in a three-point loss to Atlanta.
20. Atlanta Falcons (19) – The Falcons were held out of the end zone for 58 ½ minutes on Sunday, but scored on fourth down late in the game to beat the Jets on the road.
21. Carolina Panthers (22) – Give a lot of credit to the Panthers defense in this one, as they blew by Minnesota’s offensive line for 4 sacks and 10 hits on the QB in their 26- victory.
22. San Francisco 49ers (21) – Vernon Davis was kept out of the end zone for the first time since Week 10 in the 49ers loss to the Eagles.
23. Washington Redskins (25) – The Giants outgained the Redskins by just 85 total yards on Monday Night, but were beaten by 33 on the scoreboard.
24. Buffalo Bills (25) – The Bills outgained the Patriots on Sunday, but committed 11 penalties for 124 yards in their 7-point loss.
25. Chicago Bears (23) – It would have been better if the Bears’ flight to Baltimore didn’t get in due to the weather, because then the team would have an excuse for not showing up to the game.
26. Oakland Raiders (28) – No that isn’t a typo, it really was JaMarcus Russell leading the Raiders on a game-winning touchdown drive in Denver.
27. Seattle Seahawks (26) – Just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse for the Seahawks, they lose to Tampa Bay at home by 17.
28. Cleveland Browns (27) – Is that a winning streak? The Browns got record days from KR/WR Josh Cribbs and RB Jerome Harrison in their win over Kansas City.
29. Detroit Lions (29) – Maurice Morris filled in nicely for the injured Kevin Smith, but the Lions fell one touchdown short after a 17-point comeback.
30. Kansas City Chiefs (30) – While the Chiefs lost yet again, they got another great day from running back Jamaal Charles, who put up 154 yards on 25 carries on Sunday.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31) – The Buccaneers defense looked like its former self on Sunday, forcing 5 turnovers in their second win of the season.
32. St. Louis Rams (32) – Despite battling a swine flu epidemic earlier in the week that caused a cancellation of practice, the Rams put up a fight against Houston on Sunday, only falling short by a field goal.
Blogged NFL Power Rankings: Week 16: – http://tinyurl.com/yc92dw5 #cubiclegm
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