NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 12

Remember how last week I mentioned how lopsided the Thanksgiving games were, at least from a power rankings point of view? Well, 5 of the 6 teams that played on Thanksgiving are either in the top 5 or bottom 5. The 3 winners, the Jets, the Patriots, and the Saints, are now ranked #2, 3, and 4, respectively, while the Lions lost pushed them back into the bottom 5 at #29, and the Bengals remained at #30. The other Thanksgiving team, the Cowboys, are #25.

I also realized that I failed to mention last week that we had a #1 vs. #2 battle when the Falcons played the Packers. The Falcons got the win, and remained as the #1 ranked team while the Packers fell all the way to #7 for losing. The Eagles also fell out of the top 5 for losing to the Bears last week, moving down to #8, while the Bears moved up to #6 (these ranks do not count the Eagles win last night).

On the bottom side, the Vikings escaped the bottom 5 by beating Washington, and were replaced by Detroit, as mentioned above. Everyone else in the bottom 5 lost and stayed put.

The biggest gainer this week were the Dolphins, who moved up 6 spots by beating the Raiders and are hanging in there for a playoff spot in the AFC. The Texans and Vikings also moved up 5 spots. The biggest losers were the Titans, who looked terrible with Rusty Smith at QB. They fell 7 spots and would be out of the playoff race if the AFC South wasn't suddenly so mediocre. The Packers, Buccaneers, and Redskins each also dropped 5 spots.

Playoff Projections
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #6 Bears
#7 Packers @ #8 Eagles
#4 Saints @ #19 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Buccaneers, #13 Giants, #20 49ers, #23 Redskins, #24 Vikings

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Jets, #5 Steelers
#10 Ravens @ #9 Chargers
#3 Patriots @ #15 Colts
Top 5 Out: #11 Chiefs, #14 Dolphins, #16 Browns, #17 Raiders, #18 Jaguars

Here are the full ranks:
1. Falcons - 81.56 - Even
2. Jets - 79.61 - +1
3. Patriots - 73.41 - +1
4. Saints - 71.87 - +4
5. Steelers - 71.38 - +1
6. Bears - 70.53 - +4
7. Packers - 69.76 - -5
8. Eagles - 67.93 - -3
9. Chargers - 65.93 - +4
10. Ravens - 65.16 - -1
11. Chiefs - 61.05 - +1
12. Buccaneers - 58.50 - -5
13. Giants - 53.47 - +3
14. Dolphins - 50.73 - +6
15. Colts - 49.55 - -4
16. Browns - 47.83 - +3
17. Raiders - 46.91 - -3
18. Jaguars - 46.39 - -1
19. Rams - 45.94 - +2
20. 49ers - 44.20 - +4
21. Texans - 44.17 - +5
22. Titans - 43.36 - -7
23. Redskins - 41.74 - -5
24. Vikings - 37.24 - +5
25. Cowboys - 36.54 - -3
26. Seahawks - 36.52 - -3
27. Bills - 34.11 - Even
28. Broncos - 30.74 - Even
29. Lions - 30.09 - -4
30. Bengals - 24.54 - Even
31. Cardinals - 18.82 - Even
32. Panthers - 17.90 - Even