NFL Week 12 Power Rankings: The Whole List

1. Green Bay Packers (11-0)
They just keep on rolling. Really, there is no weakness to this team. If they do lose a game, which, with every passing week, is getting less and less likely, it will be because they can afford to. They have to decide over the next fortnight whether to shoot for perfection and play their starters to the end, or whether to pull the big guns as soon as the top seed is wrapped-up. My advice? Go for broke! Resting starters can save on the sleepless nights, but these guys are professionals and know how to stay healthy. It would be a freak occurrence if an irreplaceable member of the team went down, and besides, leaving your crowd-drawing names on the bench isn’t guaranteed to work. Look what happened to the 14-0 Colts of 2009. Yeah. Exactly…

2 (3). New Orleans Saints (8-3)
The closer you get to the top of the table, the harder ascending becomes. The jump from 31-21 is a mere trifle to the gargantuan stride taken by the Saints to push the 49ers down to 3rd, while they take their place as the second best team in the NFC and L. Brees and Co blew out a contender with their 49-24 humbling of the Giants. We’ve seen them run-up the scoreboard before, but also slip against some truly gutless teams. Their niggling loss to St Louis kept them down in the rankings this long, but they seem to have ironed out the creases and to be finding all of them in their opponents D packages. Can they go all the way? They might have to go through the Pack, but if they can beat Aaron then they have a real shot of making it 2 Super Bowls in 3 years.

3 (2). San Francisco 49ers (9-2)
It’s tough to be bumped down a spot by a team with a lesser record, but here’s the thing: these are power rankings, not record rankings. You don’t need me or any other schmuck with a keyboard and an opinion to tell you which team has the best record, it’s right there in black and white. No, what you want from hacks like me is an opinion, and here’s mine: the 49ers are good; the 49ers are solid; the 49ers are, for a warm weather team, well-built to face the playoffs thanks to their run-first strategy. The 49ers are not, however, experienced, electrifying or even terrifying.

4 (5). Baltimore Ravens (8-3)

5 (4). Houston Texans (8-3)

6. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)

7. New England Patriots (8-3)

8 (9). Dallas Cowboys (7-4)

9 (15). Atlanta Falcons (7-4)

10 (13). Oakland Raiders (7-4)

11 (8). Detroit Lions (7-4)

12 (10). Cincinnati Bengals (7-4)

13 (11). Chicago Bears (7-4)

14 (12). New York Giants (6-5)

15 (14). New York Jets (6-5)

16. Denver Broncos (6-5)

17 (18). Tennessee Titans (6-5)

18 (17). Buffalo Bills (5-6)

19. Kansas City Chiefs (4-7)

20. San Diego Chargers (4-7)

21. Philadelphia Eagles (4-7)

22 (23). Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7)

23 (22). Miami Dolphins (3-8)

24. Seattle Seahawks (4-7)

25 (26). Arizona Cardinals (4-7)

26 (31). Washington Redskin (4-7)

27 (25). Cleveland Browns (4-7)

28 (27). St Louis Rams (2-9)

29 (28). Carolina Panthers (3-8)

30 (29). Jacksonville Jaguars (3-8)

31 (30). Minnesota Vikings (2-9)

32. Indianapolis Colts (0-11)


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