By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer
I know power rankings are incredibly cliché, but I’ve never done them before and figured I would give it a shot. Now I’m never quite sure what ‘power rankings’ actually mean, but my way of looking at it is taking two teams and deciding whom I would favor in a neutral setting, then ranking the favorite ahead of the underdog. So while the Saints have been impressive this year, there is no way I would favor them over the reeling Steelers. Without further adieu. . .
32. Oakland Raiders
0-16 anyone?
31. Tennessee Titans
The Titans v. Colts result was the most shocking score of the season. The Titans are still awful.
30. Houston Texans
29. Green Bay Packers
28. Cleveland Browns
27. Miami Dolphins
Harrington or Culpepper? Who cares.
26. San Francisco 49ers
Easily the most promising team going forward in this bottom tier.
25. Detroit Lions
24. Buffalo Bills
23. Arizona Cardinals
Matt Leinart looked pretty good, but he’s still a rookie and losing Fitz hurts. Humm, maybe ’07 will be their year.
22. New York Jets
The Jets have been surprisingly competent this season (the Jacksonville debacle notwithstanding), but I can’t put them any higher than this.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20. Washington Redskins
19. Kansas City Chiefs
18. New Orleans Saints
The Saints are a great story, but they are not making the playoffs.
17. Minnesota Vikings
16. St. Louis Rams
The Rams have only played one impressive game, their first week win over the Broncos.
15. Baltimore Ravens
14. Dallas Cowboys
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are struggling mightily, but I still wouldn’t bet against them versus the majority of teams in the league.
12. New York Giants
11. Atlanta Falcons
10. San Diego Chargers
Marty took the kid gloves off Rivers, and he looked good.
9. Carolina Panthers
8. Denver Broncos
This ranking will drop if the Broncos don’t impress this evening like I expect them to.
7. Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb looks unstoppable, but the defense needs some work.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
5. Seattle Seahawks
Who needs Hutchinson when you have the best #4 receiver in all of football?
4. Cincinnati Bengals
3. New England Patriots
2. Chicago Bears
Wow. The Bears are pretty good. They still need to prove themselves on the road, although they may not have to in the playoffs.
1. Indianapolis Colts
This may seem indefensible after the Colts looked terrible beating the Titans at home, but I’m still taking the Colts over any team in the NFL in a neutral environment. I would put the Bears at -3 at home against the Colts and the Colts at -4 at home against the Bears.
Dalton Says: I actually like these rankings, as mine wouldn’t differ much at all. I think Kansas City is better than most realize, while I’m still not buying the Rams or Ravens. Something is clearly wrong with Ben Roethlisberger, but I refuse to count Pittsburgh out. The San Diego Chargers are legit. While the Bears are undeniably the NFC’s best team right now, and Seattle the likely No. 2 seed, it wouldn’t shock me if one of Atlanta/New York Giants/Philadelphia ends up going to the Super Bowl. Although winning in Soldier Field come December might be close to impossible.
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