NFL Rankings - 13 Dec

Three weeks remain in the NFL regular season, and eight playoff spots are still up for grabs, with 18 teams still in the running for those spots. Ten teams have already been eliminated, and two of them celebrated by firing their coaches as soon as the playoffs were no longer an option. The two best teams currently play in the NFC, but the rest of the top spots are dominated by AFC teams, many of which could win the Super Bowl should the Packers falter. 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 (13-0) -13.60 (1)



2. New Orleans (10-3) -9.82 (3)

3. Baltimore (10-3) -8.50 (4)
4. Houston (10-3) -8.31 (2)
5. New England (10-3) -7.97 (5)

6. Pittsburgh (10-3) -6.73 (7)
7. San Francisco (10-3) -6.66 (6)

8. NY Jets (8-5) -4.79 (10)

9. Detroit (8-5) -3.65 (8)
10. Atlanta (8-5) -3.29 (11)
11. San Diego (6-7) -3.11 (15)

12. Chicago (7-6) -1.20 (12)
13. Dallas (7-6) -0.69 (13)
14. Tennessee (7-6) -0.57 (14)
15. Cincinnati (7-6) -0.14 (16)
16. Miami (4-9) 0.15 (9)
17. NY Giants (7-6) 0.47 (20)
18. Philadelphia (5-8) 0.51 (22)
19. Denver (8-5) 0.74 (17)
20. Seattle (6-7) 1.61 (18)
21. Arizona (6-7) 2.40 (24)
22. Carolina (4-9) 2.74 (21)
23. Jacksonville (4-9) 3.35 (27)

24. Buffalo (5-8) 4.52 (23)
25. Oakland (7-6) 4.68 (19)
26. Washington (4-9) 4.71 (25)
27. Minnesota (2-11) 5.22 (28)
28. Cleveland (4-9) 5.70 (26)


29. Kansas City (5-8) 8.38 (30)

30. Tampa Bay (4-9) 9.93 (29)

31. Saint Louis (2-11) 11.91 (31)
32. Indianapolis (0-13) 12.00 (32)

San Diego was the strongest team of the past weekend, beating a Buffalo team that has been struggling and has now matched San Diego's recent losing streak of six games. Buffalo's loss eliminated them from playoff contention, but San Diego is still alive, thanks to a huge loss by the Raiders. If somebody can find a way to put the Broncos away, you may just see the Chargers where they belong, as the AFC West champion.

In just their second game under a new head coach, the Jacksonville Jaguars earned their biggest win of the season on Sunday, beating Tampa Bay 41-14. Though the game was entirely meaningless in the playoff picture, it still means something to Mel Tucker and his players.

Green Bay left no doubt that they are the best team in the league by walloping fellow division leader Oakland by 30. They have an easy game against Kansas City this week, then struggling Chicago the following week, after which they may have their only challenge in week 17 against Detroit, especially since they will already have home field locked up by then.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

Jacksonville at Atlanta - Falcons by 10

Saturday

Dallas at Tampa Bay - Cowboys by 8

Sunday

Miami at Buffalo - Dolphins by 1
Seattle at Chicago - Bears by 6
Tennessee at Indianapolis - Titans by 10
Green Bay at Kansas City - Packers by 19
Cincinnati at Saint Louis - Bengals by 9
New Orleans at Minnesota - Saints by 12
Washington at NY Giants - Giants by 7
Carolina at Houston - Texans by 14
Cleveland at Arizona - Cardinals by 6
Detroit at Oakland - Lions by 5
New England at Denver - Patriots by 6
NY Jets at Philadelphia - Jets by 2
Baltimore at San Diego - Ravens by 2

Monday

Pittsburgh at San Francisco - 49ers by 3

Prediction Results

NFL: 12-4 (.750) 136-72 overall (.654)
NFL Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 21-19 overall (.525)