NFL

NFL Power Rankings: Giants Stay on Top

Posted Dec 11, 2008 12:00PM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NFL Power Rankings

Text SizeAAA
The Giants lost on Sunday, and with Plaxico Burress out, the offense had its worst game of the season.

So does that make me re-assess my opinion that the Giants are just fine without Burress? Not really. I still believe that the defending champions are fine at wide receiver, with Domenik Hixon, Amani Toomer, Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss. Eli Manning might not exactly be happy about the way Burress took himself out of the season, but he still has plenty of options available to him when he drops back and scans the field.

And, of course, they've got plenty of good players elsewhere. Which means that despite that loss, there's no change at the top of this week's NFL power rankings.

  • 1. Giants (11-2) | Previous Week: 1
    So what went wrong against the Eagles? For one thing, I think the Eagles are a better team than their record indicates (more on that later). But I also think that despite what everyone on the team said, the whole Burress mess was a distraction last week. They'll put the distraction behind them by the time the playoffs roll around, but last week it was a real issue.
  • 2. Steelers (10-3) | Prev.: 2
    Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward says he's looking forward to playing the Ravens, who allegedly have a bounty out on him. I just love the fact that the Ravens have had the toughest defense in football over the last decade, and yet they're all mad because Ward -- a 200-pound wide receiver -- hits them too hard.

  • 3. Titans (12-1) | Prev.: 3
    The Titans have the best record in football, so it's reasonable for their fans to think they deserve to be No. 1 in the power rankings as well. The reason they're not, however, is Kerry Collins. By the standards of a 35-year-old whose best years were supposedly well behind him, Collins has been good this year. But by the standards of what you want from a quarterback in the playoffs, well, I just don't think the fans in Tennessee can feel too good about what he'll do in January.
  • 4. Ravens (9-4) | Prev.: 4
    Ed Reed is absolutely amazing with the ball in his hands. Two weeks after he broke his own NFL record for the longest interception return against the Eagles, he picked up a fumble and ran it back 22 yards for a touchdown against the Redskins. I'd like to see the Ravens use Reed about five plays a game as a quarterback in the Wildcat offense.
  • 5. Panthers (10-3) | Prev.: 5
    It's pretty amazing that this team now controls its path to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs: Win the last three games (home against the Broncos, at the Giants, at the Saints) and the Panthers would have to be considered the favorites to get to the Super Bowl out of the NFC. I don't think they'll win at New York in Week 16, though.
  • 6. Buccaneers (9-4) | Prev.: 6
    I won't drop the Bucs after a hard-fought loss on the road to the Panthers. Wide receiver Antonio Bryant made the catch of the year in that game and deserves consideration for comeback player of the year.
  • 7. Colts (9-4) | Prev.: 7
    It's amazing that this team was once 3-4 and looking like it would miss the playoffs. Now the Colts are going to be the wild-card team that no division winner wants to play.
  • 8. Eagles (7-5-1) | Prev.: 15
    I'm just sick of trying to find the right place for the Eagles in my power rankings. I think they're going to miss the playoffs, but I also think that if they get there, they could go on the same kind of run in January that the Giants went on last year.
  • 9. Cowboys (8-5) | Prev.: 8
    The Cowboys' season is on the line Sunday night against the Giants. If they lose, I wonder which player will be called out by Jerry Jones for not being tough enough.
  • 10. Jets (8-5) | Prev.: 9
    Wow, was it really just two weeks ago that I thought the Jets were the second-best team in the league? I don't know what's gotten into the Jets the last two weeks, but it looks like the team that beat up the Titans never made the trip back from Tennessee.
  • 11. Patriots (8-5) | Prev.: 10
    The Patriots might set an NFL record for fewest penalties in a 16-game season. I've always believed that avoiding penalties is overrated in terms of its significance in winning games, but I do think that stat is another example of how Bill Belichick has done perhaps his finest coaching job this season.
  • 12. Cardinals (8-5) | Prev.: 11
    Not to put a damper on this team finally winning the division or anything, but there could be serious trouble ahead with Kurt Warner becoming an unrestricted free agent. GM Rod Graves says the team is well positioned to keep its nucleus of key players in place, but the Cardinals are not in good cap shape.
  • 13. Falcons (8-5) | Prev.: 13
    Falcons running back Michael Turner looked a little worn down as he trudged along for 61 yards on 18 carries in Sunday's loss to the Saints. Was it just a one-game anomaly, or is a guy who has never been a starter before starting to struggle through the strain of a 300-carry season?
  • 14. Broncos (8-5) | Prev.: 14
    It really is extraordinary how many injuries the Broncos have suffered at running back this season. If you're going to lose five running backs to injuries, though, you could do a lot worse than turning to Tatum Bell as your sixth.
  • 15. Dolphins (8-5) | Prev.: 16
    Whether the Dolphins make the playoffs or not, Bill Parcells is the league's executive of the year. No one in the history of professional football is better at turning bad teams into good teams quickly. The latest reminder: Parcells managed to finagle a second-round pick out of the Redskins for washed-up defensive end Jason Taylor.
  • 16. Redskins (7-6) | Prev.: 12
    I like Clinton Portis, and I think there's some truth to his complaints that Jim Zorn's offense isn't getting him the ball enough. But one of the things Portis said while complaining in a radio interview about his lack of playing time is that if you watch film of the Redskins' loss to the Ravens, you'll see that he didn't make any mistakes. Uh, Clinton? You lost a fumble that got returned for a touchdown. I'd call that a pretty big mistake.
  • 17. Saints (7-6) | Prev.: 18
    The way the NFC South is shaping up, there's virtually no chance of the Saints making the playoffs, but as long as Drew Brees is within striking distance of Dan Marino, this team is worth watching.
  • 18. Vikings (8-5) | Prev.: 17
    Good for Visanthe Shiancoe for having a sense of humor about it when FOX showed his genitals on TV. I still think it's ridiculous professional football players can't get dressed in privacy after games, though.
  • 19. Bears (7-6) | Prev.: 21
    I can't think of two more different players than Matt Forte, who has now clearly established himself as the Bears' running back of the future, and Cedric Benson, who was once supposed to be the Bears' running back of the future. Forte is hard-working and productive on the field and, from all accounts, a fine young man off the field, Benson is, well, none of those things.
  • 20. Texans (6-7) | Prev.: 22
    Rookie running back Steve Slaton looks every bit as fast and explosive with the Texans as he did in college at West Virginia. A whole lot of NFL teams messed up when he lasted until the third round.
  • 21. Bills (6-7) | Prev.: 20
    This team has fallen apart over the last six weeks, but the special teams are still strong, as they have been for the last five years. It's time for Bills special teams coach Bobby April to get some head-coaching consideration.
  • 22. Packers (5-8) | Prev.: 19
    The Packers won't be a playoff team, and their poorly coached defense is the biggest reason. But when the Packers are on Monday Night Football in Week 16, I'm sure Tony Kornheiser will spend the entire evening discussing whether they'd be headed for the playoffs if they had Brett Favre at quarterback instead of Aaron Rodgers.
  • 23. 49ers (5-8) | Prev.: 28
    Although his pants-dropping halftime speech last month was embarrassing, I've liked everything that Mike Singletary has done since then, from the way he's trying to motivate tight end Vernon Davis to the classy way he honored Mike Nolan after Sunday's win. He's doing everything he needs to do to earn the head-coaching job on a permanent basis.
  • 24. Browns (4-9) | Prev.: 23
    Romeo Crennel wants to get wide receiver Josh Cribbs more involved in the offense. Really, at this point, why not just let him play a game at quarterback, which is the position he played in college at Kent State? He can't be worse than Ken Dorsey.
  • 25. Chargers (5-8) | Prev.: 24
    The Chargers probably aren't as bad as my ranking of them would suggest; they've actually out-scored their opponents by a cumulative 43 points this season. So why don't I move them up? Basically because there have been so many big games in which they've done just enough to lose. I hate teams like that.
  • 26. Jaguars (4-9) | Prev.: 25
    In a season that just keeps getting worse, the Jaguars have now lost their top receiver, Matt Jones, for the rest of the season. Jones was suspended three games for getting busted with cocaine; it's a good thing he didn't take an over-the-counter diet supplement or he would have been suspended for four games.
  • 27. Raiders (3-10) | Prev.: 27
    Will former Raider Randy Moss be booed when the Patriots enter the Black Hole on Sunday? Probably not, because by this point, the fans in Oakland don't much care anymore.
  • 28. Seahawks (2-11) | Prev.: 28
    Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu has played in the last three Pro Bowls, but he says he hasn't played well enough this year to merit a fourth straight. Pro Bowl voting is basically a popularity contest, and Tatupu is well known enough that he might get in anyway, but kudos to him for his candor.
  • 29. Bengals (1-11-1) | Prev.: 29
    I can't believe the Bengals are still claiming that Carson Palmer might play this year, despite an injured elbow on his throwing arm. Is Cincinnati actually stupid enough to risk an injury to Palmer this late in a lost season?
  • 30. Rams (2-11) | Prev.: 30
    Steven Jackson and Jim Haslett are BFF again. Which means there's exactly one thing going well for the Rams right now.
  • 31. Chiefs (2-11) | Prev.: 31
    The Chiefs think they may have found their quarterback of the future in Tyler Thigpen. If they're right, they have exactly as many things going as well for them as the other team in Missouri. (And one more than the team in Michigan.)
  • 32. Lions (0-13) | Prev.: 32
    Lions center Dominic Raiola is unapologetic about giving fans the finger when they heckled him on Sunday. It's hard to blame Raiola for being angry about his lot in life; he was part of Matt Millen's inaugural draft class, and in his eight years on the team the Lions have had the worst record over any eight-year stretch in modern NFL history. But here's some advice for Raiola: Don't give the fans the finger. Wait until the next time you see Millen, and give him the finger.

Tags: NFL+power+rankings, NflPowerRankings, Plaxico+Burress, PlaxicoBurress

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments


NFL Team Photos




Latest NFL Photos