Power Rankings: Colts replace Cowboys as second in command
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With two weeks left in the regular season, we're back to normal in the Power Rankings. The Patriots are No. 1. The Colts are No. 2.
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And everybody else is an afterthought.
The Cowboys' loss to the Eagles on Sunday gave voters a chance to return the Colts to that second spot, and seven of our eight voters took the bait. Hashmarks blogger Matt Mosley was the lone dissenter, as he checked off the Packers at No. 2, with the Colts at No. 3 ahead of the Cowboys.
"Brett Favre has bounced back from an injury like you knew he would, and Ryan Grant has emerged as one of the most consistent runners in the league," Mosley said. "The Cowboys should've lost the past two games and I think the Packers would beat the Colts on a neutral field -- such as the one in Glendale [site of Super Bowl XLII]."
That leaves us with the next question: With the Packers and Cowboys now having identical 12-2 records, would anybody else put Green Bay ahead of Dallas, despite the Cowboys' win in that NFC showdown three weeks ago? Joining Mosley was Mike Sando, who rated Green Bay at No. 3 behind Indy.
In fact, Sando dropped the Cowboys all the way down to No. 6 behind the Jags and Chargers.
"The Cowboys' performance against Philadelphia, coupled with their injury situation, opened the door for some of the other top teams," Sando said. "Green Bay, Jacksonville and San Diego had already closed the gap. Each was considerably more impressive than Dallas in Week 15."
Meanwhile, down at the bottom end of the food chain, the Dolphins' first win this season opened the door for some voters to move them up from the 32 spot. Scouts Inc.'s Jeremy Green was one of three who did -- and he replaced Miami with its beaten foe, the Ravens, a chilling reminder of just how far Baltimore has dropped since its 13-3 season of a year ago.
Green said his decision was based not simply on the Ravens losing to a previously winless team but "the ugly fashion in which it occurred by letting a team with little to no big-play capability make that kind of play in overtime to lose the game.
"Do I think the Ravens are the better football team? Yes, but I have ranked Miami at No. 32 all season and this team has continued to fight and play hard every single week. I thought [Dolphins defensive end] Jason Taylor might appreciate someone out there for at least one week saying his team is not the worst in football."
So how would you rank the Colts, Packers, Cowboys, Dolphins and the 28 other teams after Week 15? Click here to access SportsNation's ranking tool.
BIGGEST RISE: Houston Texans from 19th to 15th. BIGGEST DROP: Seattle Seahawks from 6th to 10th; Denver Broncos from 15th to 19th.
(Editor's note: LW indicates each team's ranking last week.)
| 2007 Power Rankings: Week 16 | ||||
| RK (LW) | TEAM | REC | COMMENT | |
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1 (1) | Patriots | 14-0-0 | So, are wet weather and windy conditions the kryptonite for the Pats' offense? It looked that way with a season-low 20 points Sunday. But even a subpar Tom Brady doesn't make mistakes that can put his team in harm's way (we're looking at you, Romo). |
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2 (3) | Colts | 12-2-0 | Becoming the first team to produce five consecutive seasons of 12 or more wins wasn't as easy as expected against the Raiders. Their five-year total of 62 wins is the second highest during that span. The best? Look up one spot. |
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3 (2) | Cowboys | 12-2-0 | Nope, not gonna do it. Not gonna call out the girlfriend-who-must-not-be-named as the reason for Tony Romo's struggles on Sunday. But the Cowboys need to be a little alarmed about how they've played lately. Last thing they want is Lambeau in January. |
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4 (4) | Packers | 12-2-0 | If the Packers win at Chicago on Sunday, they'll finish the regular season with a 7-1 road record, their best mark since 1941. With some help, the Packers might not have to play another game on the road until the Super Bowl in Arizona. |
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5 (5) | Jaguars | 10-4-0 | Props to the Jags' offense, which has produced 400 or more yards in four consecutive games, the longest streak in franchise history. More props for doing it Sunday against the league's top-ranked defense and in poor weather conditions. |
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6 (7) | Chargers | 9-5-0 | Two wins would seal the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs for the Chargers. And why is that important? Because it means they wouldn't have to face the Patriots until the conference championship. |
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7 (10) | Browns | 9-5-0 | The Browns should win their last two games (Cincy, SF) to go 11-5. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, the Steelers also finish with a couple of patsies (St. Louis, Baltimore). But no one in Cleveland will complain about the wild card. |
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8 (8) | Steelers | 9-5-0 | That the Steelers are 9-5 probably is about what we expected at this point. But their 7-2 start raised expectations, and that has made the past few weeks a little troubling. "We've stumbled of late. So be it," head coach Mike Tomlin said. |
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9 (11) | Buccaneers | 9-5-0 | Now that the Bucs have scored the first touchdown via kickoff return after 32 years and 1,865 attempts, we can concentrate on the club's next drought: days since anyone has referred to injured RB Cadillac Williams by his given name, Carnell. |
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10 (6) | Seahawks | 9-5-0 | When the Seahawks reached the Super Bowl two years ago, they averaged 153.6 rushing yards per game. This season? A 93.4-yard average. "Numbers speak for themselves. I don't have to talk about how different it is," RB Shaun Alexander told the P-I. |
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11 (12) | Vikings | 8-6-0 | Are the Vikes a legitimately scary team or just fortunate to win five straight against mostly below-.500 teams? Wide receiver Bobby Wade told the Star Tribune that "other teams are going to have to take us seriously." |
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12 (9) | Giants | 9-5-0 | Sunday's loss leaves the G-Men in a much more precarious spot, playoffwise, than they would've liked. Yes, they can still clinch with one more win, but let's face it -- it's not gonna happen in Game No. 16 (vs. Pats). That makes the game at Buffalo huge. |
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13 (13) | Titans | 8-6-0 | In the last four games, opponents are converting 53.8 percent of their third downs (35 of 65) while the Titans are converting just 30.6 percent (15 of 49). Tennessee will need to improve on both fronts to retain any playoff hope. |
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14 (16) | Saints | 7-7-0 | To give themselves the best shot of returning to the playoffs, the Saints need to win out (and hope for some help). First up: the Eagles at home. "It's a one-week season," offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb told the T-P. |
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15 (19) | Texans | 7-7-0 | We can forgive Mario Williams for his hula dance sack celebration. But Ron Dayne going with the Heisman pose following a TD run Thursday? Evidently, Ron's still partying like it's 1999 (when he actually won the Heisman). |
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16 (17) | Redskins | 7-7-0 | The loss of LB Rocky McIntosh to two torn ligaments is another cruel development for the Redskins, whose season will be on the line Sunday at Minnesota. Veteran Randall Godfrey may be called on to fill in. |
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17 (14) | Bills | 7-7-0 | Let's see, after being shut out in winter conditions in Cleveland, things went from bad to worse for the Bills when their charter plane got stuck in the mud, forcing the team to take a caravan of five buses back home. |
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18 (21) | Eagles | 6-8-0 | Fifteen teams currently have losing records, but only one has outscored its opponents -- the Eagles, with a point differential of plus-13 (281 to 268). Meanwhile, two 9-5 teams (Browns, Giants) have lesser differentials. |
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19 (15) | Broncos | 6-8-0 | See what Champ Bailey said after the blowout loss to Houston? "A team like this beating us by 18 points ... it's uncalled for. It should never happen," he said. So should losing five of eight games this season by a combined 125 points. |
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20 (18) | Cardinals | 6-8-0 | Since moving to Arizona 20 years ago, the Cardinals have finished .500 or better just twice. So despite two straight losses that leave them out of the playoffs, the Cards still have something to accomplish. And yes, it's a thin motivation. |
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21 (24) | Panthers | 6-8-0 | QB Matt Moore was impressive in his first start, and he should play even better this week against the Cowboys, a team that Moore knows well -- he spent training camp with them before being waived before the opener. |
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22 (20) | Lions | 6-8-0 | Damien Woody told the F-P that "a professional football team shouldn't give up 50 points. That's something that happens in college. And we've done it twice." If nothing else, the Lions win this year's award for Biggest Tease After 6-2 Start. |
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23 (22) | Bengals | 5-9-0 | On Saturday, Carson Palmer threw his 100th career TD pass, T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught a franchise-record 101st pass this season and at least 10 media members used the word "underachievers" to describe the team after another loss. |
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24 (23) | Bears | 5-9-0 | That the Bears missed the playoffs after losing in the Super Bowl the previous season is no surprise -- they're the sixth team in the past seven years to succumb to the "Loser's Jinx." Of course, having a shaky QB situation doesn't help. |
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25 (26) | Raiders | 4-10-0 | Justin Fargas has nearly as many yards this season (1,009) as he had in his first four seasons combined (1,016). And all but 43 of those 1,009 yards have come in 10 games scattered throughout the year. Nice to see Huggy Bear's kid break out. |
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26 (27) | Chiefs | 4-10-0 | We weren't in Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday -- evidently, not many of you were -- but those who were say the fans are getting restless, even hostile. "There are going to be a lot of changes around here next year," guard John Welbourn said. |
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27 (25) | Ravens | 4-10-0 | Didn't think you could feel worse after coming so close to knocking off the Patriots? Well, try losing to the previously winless Dolphins. Wonder if owner Steve Bisciotti would like a do-over on that whole another-year-for-Billick thing. |
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28 (31) | 49ers | 4-10-0 | Hey, look, someone woke up the 49ers' offense. Actually, that someone was third-string QB Shaun Hill, who managed to put a 20 spot on the scoreboard -- just the third time this season the 49ers have scored 20 or more points. |
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29 (28) | Rams | 3-11-0 | Memo to the NFL: The Rams would like you to eliminate the third and fourth quarters. This season, the Rams have been outscored 217-76 in the second half. In 10 of their 14 games, they've been held to three points or less after halftime. |
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30 (29) | Jets | 3-11-0 | Head coach Eric Mangini is being a bit vague on which quarterback he'll start this week, probably because neither option seems to have much upside. Evidently, the Kellen Clemens Show hasn't exactly thrilled him. |
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31 (30) | Falcons | 3-11-0 | This is what completing 4 of 15 passes for 34 yards and two interceptions turns into: a 0.0 passer rating. Chris Redman's play at quarterback didn't exactly give Emmitt Thomas much of a chance to win his debut as interim coach. |
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32 (32) | Dolphins | 1-13-0 | For the record, we never thought the Dolphins were the worst team ever in NFL history, even before they beat the Ravens ... but that doesn't mean they'll stay within 30 points of the Patriots on Sunday. |
| Glossary |
| TG - Tim Graham (AFC East); JW - James Walker (AFC North); PK - Paul Kuharsky (AFC South); BW - Bill Williamson (AFC West); MM - Matt Mosley (NFC East); KS - Kevin Seifert (NFC North); PY - Pat Yasinskas (NFC South); MS - Mike Sando (NFC West) |
