Picking this weekend's games

Without further ado, let's pick some NFL playoff games, eh?


New Orleans at San Francisco: I am torn. This will likely be the best (only?) game of the weekend. Every time I have watched the Saints, they have destroyed their opponents. The last memory I have of the 49ers was a season or two ago, and they simply weren't good. Still, I know the 49ers are all defense, and the Saints struggled on the road. Against all my inner judgement.... Prediction:
 

Denver at New England: Let's see, New England destroyed Denver in Colorado once this season. Tom Brady is an excellent reader of defenses (the thing that Denver relies on). The only reason anyone thinks this game is a toss up is because they want to talk about Tim Tebow..... Prediction:

Houston at Baltimore: The Texans were fortunate to draw the Bengals in round one, no doubt, but they are on a third string QB facing one of the top defenses in the league. Also, I picked the Ravens to the Super Bowl.
Prediction:

New York Giants at Green Bay: The Giants have a history of defeating elite teams when they really shouldn't! The Giants have a history of beating the Packers in the postseason! Prediction....

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 15

15 weeks down, and 2 weeks to go. This week so some top teams tumble, and it caused a shakeup in our top 5. The Packers finally got their first loss, but they remained as the #1 team (as they should have) but the #2 Texans and #3 Ravens both lost, dropping them to #4 and #5, while the Patriots and Saints moved up to #2 and #3. The #7 49ers Monday night win over the #6 Steelers moved the Niners up to #6 while the Steelers dropped back to #8. Thanks to losses by the Texans, Ravens, and Steelers, the Patriots are now in the driver seat for home field throughout the playoffs (great....)

The Colts got their first win of the year, but remained dead last in the rankings. The Redskins win over the Giants not only probably ruined the Giants season but also moved them out of the bottom 5. Replacing them are the Bills, who just 10 weeks ago were a top 5 team. They have fallen very, very hard.

The biggest gainers this week were the Panthers, who moved up 6 spots for knocking off the Texans, and the Cardinals, who are 7-7 all of the sudden. This week's biggest losers were the Broncos, Bears, and Raiders who all dropped 5 spots. The Broncos are still leading the AFC West despite losing, but now have the Chargers lurking behind them. The Raiders blew a golden opportunity to move up in the standings. The Bears are just done. It doesn't really matter if Cutler or Forte come back at this point.

Playoff Projections:
AFC
1st Round Byes: #2 Patriots, #4 Texans
#11 Jets @ #5 Ravens
#8 Steelers @#13 Chargers
Top 5 Out: #14 Bengals, #16 Broncos, #17 Titans, #19 Dolphins, #23 Chiefs

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #3 Saints
#9 Lions @ #6 49ers
#7 Falcons @ #12 Cowboys
Top 5 Out: #10 Seahawks, #15 Cardinals, #18 Panthers, #20 Bears, #21 Giants

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 13

It seems like the NFL season just started in some ways, but we are actually already through week 13. The lurking Patriots aren't lurking so much anymore. They jumped 2 spots up to #3 for their scarily close win over the Colts (they got a "recent success" bump, winning their 4th in a row). The Packers remained at #1 *yawn*. The TJ Yates led Texans remained as #2 after surprisingly beating the 7-4 Falcons. The 49ers clinched the NFC West, but dropped to #4 as the Patriots leapfrogged them. The Ravens fell to #5 based on the Patriots move despite winning.

In the bottom 5, the Chiefs and Chargers moved out of the bottom 5 and right back into the awful AFC West division race. Replacing them are the Vikings and Redskins, who seem long overdue for being in the bottom 5. The Buccaneers, Rams, and Colts remained in the bottom 5, taking the last 3 spots. Speaking of the Colts, are we actually going to have a 16-0 and 0-16 team in the same season?

The biggest gainers this week are the Panthers, who jumped 7 spots and seem to be the "bad team that rallied at the end and will get a lot of hype next year" team from 2011. The Chargers jumped 6 spots for their blowout win over Jacksonville, while the Chiefs and Titans also jumped 5 spots. The biggest losers were the Bengals, who are getting a tough schedule reality check finally and throwing the AFC Wild Card race wide open. The Lions also dropped 5 spots, but stayed alive in the NFC playoff race as seemingly every single 7-4 team in the NFL lost this week. Actually I just did, in fact, they all did (6 for 6).

Playoff Projections:
AFC
1st Round Byes: #2 Texans, #3 Patriots
#10 Titans @ #5 Ravens
#7 Steelers @ #11 Broncos
Top 5 Out: #12 Jets, #13 Raiders, #17 Dolphins, #18 Bengals, #21 Browns

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #4 49ers
#14 Lions @ #6 Saints
#8 Bears @ #9 Cowboys
Top 5 Out: #15 Falcons, #16 Seahawks, #19 Cardinals, #20 Panthers, #22 Giants

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 12

Feels like those Thanksgiving Games were a long time ago doesn't it? It turns out some of the most significant games of Week 12 were on Thanksgiving day. The Packers improved to 11-0 and remained as the #1 ranked team this week, but the 49ers had their 8 game winning streak ended in Baltimore right around the time everyone was in a turkey coma. This loss by the 49ers caused them to drop to #3, while the Ravens moved up a spot to #4. Replacing the 49ers at #2? Why the TJ Yates led Houston Texans of course! This is turning into a very odd situation. Matt Leinart taking over a 7-3 team was bizarre enough, but a 5th round draft pick rookie taking over an 8-3 team? This is either going to end horribly or Yates will go on to win the Super Bowl a la Tom Brady in 2001 and Matt Schaub will be playing somewhere else next year. The former #3 Bears got beat in Oakland without Jay Cutler and fell out of the top 5, replaced by always lurking Patriots....

On the bottom side, the Panthers and Redskins got wins this week, which was good enough to move them out of the bottom 5. The Buccaneers and Chargers continued their slide but switched positions. Replacing the Panthers and Redskins were the Rams and Chiefs. At least Missouri can look forward to SEC football next year. The Chiefs have had an interesting run. They managed to climb to the middle of the pack a few weeks ago and are again pretty much the laughing stock they were in September.

The biggest gainer this week were the Redskins, who finally got a win and jumped some sliding teams. The Raiders and Cardinals also moved up 4 spots. The biggest losers were the Giants, who got destroyed by the Saints and fell out of the playoff picture, and the above mentioned Chiefs.

Playoff Projections:
AFC
1st Round Byes: #2 Texans, #4 Ravens
#12 Bengals @ #5 Patriots
#10 Steelers @ #13 Raiders
Top 5 Out: #14 Broncos, #15 Titans, #16 Jets, #17 Dolphins, #21 Browns

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #3 49ers
#9 Lions @ #6 Cowboys
#7 Bears @ #8 Saints
Top 5 Out: #11 Falcons, #18 Giants, #19 Seahawks, #20 Cardinals, #24 Eagles

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 10

Thanks to some top teams going down and 4 of the bottom 5 winning, along with a fair share of blowouts, we finally got a lot of movement in the power rankings this week. No, the Broncos aren't ranked #1 now, but somehow, someway Tim Tebow managed to climb the Broncos to the top ranked AFC West team in just a few short weeks.

With wins again this week, the top 2 teams, the Packers and 49ers are still in place, but the Bengals loss to the Steelers dropped them down to #5 and the Ravens shocking loss to Seattle dropped them to #6. The Lions got destroyed by the Bears, bumping them down to #10, while the Bears jumped up to #4. Also, with another win this week, the Texans broke into the top 5, moving up to #3. We'll see how they do with Matt Leinart now...

The Colts suck more than just about any team could suck. Now that that's out of the way, we had a ton of movement on the bottom, with all 3 NFC West teams that were in the bottom 5 last week winning, and the Dolphins getting their 2nd win of the year over Washington. The Rams remained in the bottom 5, but moved up to #28, but the other 3 teams moved up and were replaced by some interesting teams. The Chargers, who have now lost 4 in a row and a nice lead in the AFC West, are now #29. The Panthers dropped back to #30 after a blowout by the Titans, and the Redskins, who were #5 after week 2, are now all the way down to #31.

The biggest gainers this week were the Cowboys, who jumped 8 spots to #7, followed by the above mentioned Broncos. The Vikings, who ran into the Green Bay buzzsaw on Monday Night, fell 8 spots to #26. The fading Chargers and Bills dropped 8 spots

Playoff Projections
AFC
1st Round Byes: #3 Texans, #5 Bengals
#12 Steelers @ #9 Patriots
#6 Ravens @ #17 Broncos
Top 5 Out: #13 Jets, #15 Titans, #16 Bills, #18 Raiders, #19 Jaguars

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #2 49ers
#8 Giants @ #7 Cowboys
#4 Bears @ #11 Saints
Top 5 Out: #10 Lions, #14 Falcons, #20 Eagles, #23 Cardinals, #25 Buccaneers

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 9

[I am republishing the power ranks because I forgot they had been posted, and covered them with my own crappy posts earlier in the week. - Ryan]


Week 9 was an interesting week in that the early games were very uninteresting yesterday, and the late games all had exciting finishes. From my experience from NFL Sunday Ticket over the past 6 seasons, this usually isn't the case.

The Top 5 teams remained exactly the same this week. With the top 4 (Packers, 49ers, Bengals, Ravens) all winning and Detroit on a bye. Aaron Rodgers gets his picture here yet again this week.

In the bottom 5, the Broncos win over the Raiders moved them up and out of the bottom 5 (and shockingly only 1 game out of first place) and they have been replaced by yet another NFC West team, the Seahawks, who are now #30. The NFC West might be the most lopsided division ever this year. The 49ers are ranked #2 while the Cardinals, Seahawks, and Rams are all at least 5 games out of first and ranked #29, #30, and #31, respectively. The 49ers could mathematically clinch the division after week 11. Just crazy. The Dolphins first win moved them all the way up to #28! Oh, should I even mention the Colts at #32?

The biggest gainers this week were the Cowboys, who managed to jump 8 spots over a bunch of other mediocre teams. The biggest losers were the Chargers, who have now lost 3 in a row and fell back to .500. Does anyone want to win the AFC West?

Playoff Projections
AFC
1st Round Byes: #3 Bengals, #6 Texans
#10 Bills @ #8 Jets
#4 Ravens @ #16 Chiefs
Top 5 Out: #12 Steelers, #13 Patriots, #19 Titans, #20 Raiders, #22 Browns

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #2 49ers
#7 Bears @ #9 Giants
#5 Lions @ #11 Falcons
Top 5 Out: #14 Saints, #15 Cowboys, #17 Eagles, #18 Vikings, #21 Buccaneers

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 7

Better late than never right? With a bunch of byes and a lot of top teams playing bottom teams, this was a pretty uneventful week for the power ranks. The Packers improved to 7-0 and remained the #1 team, while the idle 49ers stayed as #2. Despite losing in ugly fashion to the Jaguars, the Ravens actually moved up to #3 with Detroit losing a 2nd game in a row to Atlanta. With the Lions losing and falling to #5, the idle Patriots moved up to #4. See? Pretty boring...

The bottom only had a little big of movement as well. The Colts 62-7 loss proved that they truly are the worst team in the league, and the rankings now show that. The Dolphins narrow loss to the Broncos may have proved they are the best winless team, so they moved up to #30, dropping the Rams to #31. The Jaguars surprising win over Baltimore moved them out of the bottom 5, replaced by the Broncos, even though they won.

The biggest gainer this week was the Texans, who blew out the Titans to take command of the AFC South, while the Saints and Bears also jumped 7 spots. The biggest losers were the Raiders and Titans, who looked like pretenders with their blowout losses this week.

Playoff Projections:
AFC
1st Round Byes: #3 Ravens, #4 Patriots
#9 Bills @ #12 Texans
#6 Bengals @ #15 Chargers
Top 5 Out: #11 Steelers, #14 Jets, #17 Browns, #19 Raiders, #20 Chiefs

NFC
1st Round Byes: #1 Packers, #2 49ers
#7 Bears @ #8 Saints
#5 Lions @ #10 Giants
Top 5 Out: #13 Falcons, #16 Cowboys, #18 Buccaneers, #22 Redskins, #23 Seahawks

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 6

This week we have a new #1, and not surprisingly, it's none other than the undefeated Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. The 49ers moved up to #2 by dethroning the #1 Lions, while the Lions moved down to #3, Ravens moved down to #4, and the Patriots moved up to #5 over the Bills, who lost again this week.

This begs the question....Are the 49ers for real? All of sudden they are 5-1 and running away with the NFC West. They have 5 games left against their miserable division and also get to play Cleveland and the John Beck led Redskins. If they run the table in those games, they are 12-4 and will likely have a first round bye. One thing that makes me feel good about them this year is that they are based in having a strong defense that gets a lot of turnovers, and their offense doesn't make too many mistakes and Alex Smith has turned into a good Trent Dilfer-ish game manager, which is all they need. The offense, though, isn't so ineffective that they can't score points or play from behind. I guess we'll see how it plays out...

The bottom 5 teams remained the same, but they moved positions. The idle Cardinals passed the Jaguars and despite losing 24-3 to the Packers, the Rams jumped 2 spots to #30 thanks to the strength of schedule boost of playing the 6-0 Packers. The Dolphins are now the new #32 team and if you watched the Monday Night game this week, it shows.

The biggest gainers this week were the Bengals, who are surprisingly 4-2 are beating the pathetic Colts. They jumped 6 spots. The biggest losers were the Saints, who dropped 8 spots after losing to the Buccaneers a week after they were embarrassed in San Francisco, and the Redskins, who dropped 8 spots as well after being shut down by the Eagles.

Playoff Projections:
AFC
Byes:#4 Ravens, #5 Patriots
#7 Bills @ #8 Chargers
#6 Bengals @#12 Titans
Top 5 Out: #10 Raiders, #13 Steelers, #17 Jets, #20 Texans, #21 Browns

NFC
Byes: #1 Packers, #2 49ers
#14 Bears @ #9 Giants
#3 Lions @ #11 Buccaneers
Top 5 Out: #15 Saints, #16 Redskins, #18 Falcons, #19 Cowboys, #22 Seahawks

Here are the full ranks: