NFL Week 15 Power Rankings

2010 NFL Football Power Ratings

Each week during the heart of the NFL season, and once or twice during the NFL Preseason, we’ll gather the troops around the roundtable and hash out the NFL Power rankings. We check out the stats, looks at the records, and, most importantly, we take a close, close look at the heart of each team.

We encourage you to come back each week and see how the NFL Power Rankings have changed.

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The firing of Josh McDaniels brings to mind the old story about the old coach, the new coach and three envelopes (if you’ve heard it, go right to the rankings).

The old coach had just been fired and was walking out of his office just as the new guy was coming in. As the old coach exited, he handed the new coach three envelopes. On the outside of Envelope No. 1 he had written: “If things go bad, open me.” On the outside of No. 2 it said, “If things go really bad, open me.” And Envelope 3 said, “Open me when things are really, really bad.”

The new coach put the envelopes in his desk drawer and didn’t think about them again until the team lost its next three games. He opened up the first envelope and inside was a piece of paper with the words “Blame the media” on it.

The coach then ripped the media for its criticism of him and the team, but it had no effect and the club dropped three more. Media intensity only increased, so he reached into the desk, grabbed Envelope No. 2 and opened it. Inside was a piece of paper with the words “Blame me” written on it. The new guy took the advice and tore into the previous coach for his unimaginative play-calling, lousy drafts and everything else he could think of.

All that produced was more defeats, and things were getting pretty grim when he finally reached into the desk, grabbed the third and final envelope and opened it. On the piece of paper were three words:

“Prepare three envelopes.”

To the rankings:

1. New England Patriots (1) – Five straight games without a turnover.
2. Atlanta Falcons (2) – Seemed to be more interest in this team when Michael Vick was in town.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (3) – What’s with all those empty seats in Pittsburgh? They’re not used to bad weather in western Pennsylvania?
4. New Orleans Saints (4) –Not that they need any more help, but Pierre Thomas only strengthens the offense, and gives the Saints another option if Reggie Bush can’t figure out a way to hold on to the ball.
5. Philadelphia Eagles (8) – DeSean Jackson is fast. Agreed. Sometimes he is damn near impossible to cover. Agreed. He’s also a jackass. Agreed?
6. Baltimore Ravens (10) – Judging from the second half against Houston, it might be time to think about a defense-centric draft come next April.
7. New York Giants (9) – How do you think those airport employees in Kansas City liked dealing with Tom Coughlin for about 16 hours?
8. New York Jets (7) – So you think that strength coach tripped that Dolphins player to take the heat off Rex Ryan?
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (13) – To paraphrase Dennis Green, the Jaguars aren’t who were thought they were.
10. San Diego Chargers (12) – We had the Chargers buried a few weeks ago. Oops.
11. Chicago Bears (5) – Now the Bears know how those Patriots felt in Super Bowl XX back in 1986.
12. Green Bay Packers (6) – Any more questions about why quarterbacks get so much money and are protected by officials?
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (17) – Couldn’t set up much better for TB over the next few weeks with Detroit and Seattle coming to Florida.
14. Indianapolis Colts (15) – Things might be a tad bit different if Joseph Addai had been able to stay healthy. Donald Brown was supposedly brought in to light a fire under Addai, but it hasn’t quite worked out.
15. Kansas City Chiefs (11) – Shame that appendix surgery forced the Chiefs to play the Chargers without Matt Cassel. Like Randy Moss, an appendix serves no purpose.
16. Miami Dolphins (21) – I’ll take decent teams without average quarterbacks who never seem to get better for $500, Alex.
17. St. Louis Rams (14) – They may have been exposed big-time by the Saints last weekend, but the Rams are a solid 9-4 ATS this season.
18. Oakland Raiders (16) – Maybe he wasn’t ready and maybe he was just buried on the bench too long, but Darren McFadden finally looks like he’s the real deal.
19. Houston Texans (23) – I think this franchise was jinxed in 2000, when the unimaginative nickname was chosen (interestingly, NFL Properties played a large role in choosing the name). Among the rejected names were Apollos, Bobcats, Stallion, Toros and Wildcatters.



20. Tennessee Titans (26) – Did you also get the feeling that the Titans played the final few minutes on that Indy game last week just trying to make the score close? They sure took their time on that final drive, guaranteeing that they wouldn’t get the ball back.
21. Dallas Cowboys (18) – Jerry Jones is a high-profile guy, but do we really need video replays of him shaking the hands of Cowboy players after touchdowns?
22. Cleveland Browns (19) – Last Sunday was a reminder of why the NFL is so great. The Browns, who destroyed the Patriots a few weeks ago, lose to one of the worst teams in the league.
23. Buffalo Bills (25) – A few weeks back owner Ralph Wilson said the Bills would spend the offseason looking for a starting quarterback. On Sunday coach Chan Gailey said Ryan Fitzpatrick has the job. Guys – get back to us when you make up your minds.
24. Seattle Seahawks (20) – Hasselbeck is still the guy in Seattle, but five turnovers (four INTs and a fumble) last week against San Francisco pretty much guaranteed that the Seahawks will bring someone in to camp to challenge him next summer.
25. Minnesota Vikings (22) – Don’t minimize Percy Harvin’s headaches. Anyone who lives with them knows how difficult life can be.
26. Detroit Lions (28) – Lions fans can laugh out loud if and when Packers fans say Sunday’s victory was tainted by that concussion suffered by Aaron Rodgers.
27. Washington Redskins (27) – Never a good sign when your team starts to invent ways to lose. When it’s on a botched extra point, it’s time to toss things out and lighten the plane.
28. San Francisco 49ers (24) – Is this the year that a 7-9 team will win a division title?
29. Arizona Cardinals (32) – Posterizing the Broncos was good for the soul, but the Cardinals know that they have to start bringing in more talent than they let leave town.
30. Cincinnati Bengals (31) – Two wins and 13 losses since the Bengals decided to play it safe and mail it in in Week 17 vs. the Jets last season.
31. Denver Broncos (29) – Beyond taking in a steady paycheck, can anyone explain why John Elway wants anything to do with this franchise?
32. Carolina Panthers (30) – The final weeks of the season must seem like a 12-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Comment on the Power Rankings below, or as always hit us with your pregame NFL picks and predictions…

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Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel writer from Massachusetts.