Five weeks remain in the NFL season, and the first playoff berth could potentially be clinched this weekend, if the San Francisco 49ers can beat the Saint Louis Rams, a near guarantee. If they happen to lose, they can still clinch with losses by Arizona and Seattle to Dallas and Philadelphia, respectively. Green Bay can also clinch, but they would need a win accompanied by Chicago and Detroit losses. Even if those berths aren't grabbed up this weekend, those two teams have very little to worry about with regards to the playoffs, but almost every game this weekend could have some impact on the playoff picture. Here are this week's rankings, with gaps between groups of teams representing different levels of performance.
TW. Team (Record) Rating (LW)
1. Green Bay (11-0) -13.84 (1)
2. Houston (8-3) -12.07 (2)
3. New England (8-3) -12.03 (4)
4. New Orleans (8-3) -10.55 (7)
5. Baltimore (8-3) -10.00 (5)
6. San Francisco (9-2) -8.98 (3)
7. Detroit (7-4) -7.31 (10)
8. Chicago (7-4) -6.54 (6)
9. Pittsburgh (8-3) -5.42 (9)
10. Dallas (7-4) -4.76 (8)
11. Miami (3-8) -3.59 (15)
12. Atlanta (7-4) -3.55 (12)
13. NY Jets (6-5) -3.44 (16)
14. Cincinnati (7-4) -3.36 (11)
15. Tennessee (6-5) -1.35 (14)
16. Philadelphia (4-7) -0.98 (13)
17. Oakland (7-4) -0.40 (20)
18. Denver (6-5) 0.65 (21)
19. Buffalo (5-6) 1.51 (25)
20. San Diego (4-7) 1.86 (22)
21. Jacksonville (3-8) 2.14 (24)
22. NY Giants (6-5) 2.25 (17)
23. Tampa Bay (4-7) 2.54 (26)
24. Washington (4-7) 2.72 (23)
25. Seattle (4-7) 2.82 (18)
26. Cleveland (4-7) 3.89 (27)
27. Carolina (3-8) 4.00 (28)
28. Arizona (4-7) 4.61 (19)
29. Minnesota (2-9) 5.28 (29)
30. Kansas City (4-7) 10.04 (31)
31. Saint Louis (2-9) 11.28 (30)
32. Indianapolis (0-11) 15.38 (32)
The surprise team of the week was the Kansas City Chiefs, who, although they didn't win, kept themselves in the game with Pittsburgh right up until the end, while giving up only 13 points to the perennial contenders. The Chiefs, even without their starting quarterback and running back, still have a chance to make the playoffs, because they trail the Raiders by only 3 games with 5 games remaining.
Speaking of the Raiders, they also pulled off a pretty impressive upset on Sunday, even if it was against a Bears team that had just lost its starting quarterback. Oakland's offense didn't do much for the majority of the game, settling for 6 Sebastian Janikowski field goals in the first three quarters, but they scored a touchdown when they needed it most and held on to beat the Bears and take the division lead.
Among the top teams, the clearly outstanding team was the New Orleans Saints, who showed no mercy against the Giants last night as their offense exploded for 7 touchdowns and their defense held the Giants to only 10 points until the fourth quarter, by which point the game was pretty much decided. Since their embarrassing and surprising loss to the Rams three weeks ago, the Saints have taken care of business and look like they are ready to take back their Super Bowl trophy.
Prediction Results
NFL: 13-3 (.813) 113-63 overall (.642)
Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 44-66 overall (.400)
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