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

Enjoy Thanksgiving

Enjoy your Turkey.

If you are looking to fill up on sports today (and are from Minnesota, perhaps if you went to Purdue) before the mindless consumption of fowl tomorrow, then you have options!
On right now Purdue vs Boston College on ESPN2.
At 7 on FSN its the Timberwolves vs the Suns and on KSTC the Wild vs the Stars (bad blood!).
At 730 on the Big Ten Network, how about the Gophers versus Eastern Washington, huh? Surely, this glut of sports will prepare you for tomorrow's glut of gluttony.