NFL Rankings - 20 Dec

New England fell to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, breaking a 7-game winning streak and their 4-week hold on the top spot in my NFL rankings. There were just a few candidates to take over the top spot, all playing out west. San Francisco, the team that beat them, had a good argument, as did the Denver Broncos, who have the longest current winning streak in the league, but the top spot went to another team, one that became just the third team in history and the first in over 60 years to reach 50 points in back-to-back games. Here are my current rankings, with teams grouped by similar level of performance and ESPN's Power Rankings in parentheses.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Result (ESPN)

1. (2) Seattle (9-5) W (7)

2. (1) New England (10-4) L (4)

3. (4) San Francisco (10-3-1) W (1)

4. (5) Denver (11-3) W (2)

5. (9) Atlanta (12-2) W (5)

6. (3) NY Giants (8-6) L (12)

7. (11) Green Bay (10-4) W (6)

8. (6) Chicago (8-6) L (14)

9. (7) Houston (12-2) W (3)

10. (10) Washington (8-6) W (8)

11. (12) Cincinnati (8-6) W (13)

12. (23) New Orleans (6-8) W (18)

13. (16) Minnesota (8-6) W (15)

14. (20) Carolina (5-9) W (23)

15. (14) Dallas (8-6) W (10)

16. (8) Baltimore (9-5) L (11)

17. (19) Miami (6-8) W (19)

18. (17) Pittsburgh (7-7) L (16)

19. (15) Saint Louis (6-7-1) L (17)

20. (13) Tampa Bay (6-8) L (20)

21. (18) San Diego (5-9) L (24)

22. (28) Arizona (5-9) W (27)

23. (24) NY Jets (6-8) L (21)

24. (21) Detroit (4-10) L (28)

25. (22) Cleveland (5-9) L (22)

26. (26) Indianapolis (9-5) W (9)

27. (25) Buffalo (5-9) L (25)

28. (27) Philadelphia (4-10) L (29)

29. (29) Tennessee (5-9) W (26)

30. (31) Oakland (4-10) W (30)

31. (30) Kansas City (2-12) L (32)

32. (32) Jacksonville (2-12) L (31)

Coming off a disappointing loss at Carolina and facing the defending champs, who looked great the week before, Atlanta was supposed to be in for a test on Sunday, but then they turned in their most complete game of the season, shutting out the Giants 34-0 by forcing 3 turnovers, in the process becoming the first team to hold New York scoreless in 16 years. Atlanta is in the driver's seat for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Another hot team is Atlanta's division rival, the one I picked in the preseason to win the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, it's unlikely at this point that New Orleans will even make the playoffs, but they are a good team, and their last 5 losses have all come against teams in my top 7. You don't win championships by losing to the best teams, but you also can't say this team isn't talented. 

Arizona may have just turned in the largest change in point differential from one game to the next in NFL history, although I can't find enough data to prove it. They went from losing 58-0 one week to blasting the Detroit Lions 38-10 this week. Beanie Wells was resurrected, scoring 3 times in the first half, and the Cardinals proved that they haven't completely given up.

Seattle took over the top spot for the first time in their history this week after making history on offense in their last 2 games, putting up a total of 108 points in wins over Arizona and Buffalo, admittedly not murderer's row, but NFL teams nonetheless. Their defense has also been great, giving up only 17 points to Buffalo and shutting out the Cardinals, and a win over the 49ers this week would give them a shot at the division title.

Playoff Predictions

AFC

(1) Houston (14-2)

(2) Denver (13-3)

(3) New England (12-4)

(4) Cincinnati (10-6)

(5) Indianapolis (10-6)

(6) Baltimore (9-7)

Left Out: Pittsburgh (8-8)

There were only two changes in the AFC playoff picture this week, with Denver passing New England for the #2 seed and the first-round bye, and Cincinnati switching placed with Pittsburgh as the division winner, leaving the Steelers out in the cold.

NFC

(1) Atlanta (14-2)

(2) San Francisco (11-4-1)

(3) Green Bay (11-5)

(4) Washington (10-6)

(5) Seattle (11-5)

(6) NY Giants (10-6)

Left Out: Chicago (10-6), Dallas (9-7)

San Francisco's win over New England gave them the win they desperately needed to help them win the division over the red-hot Seahawks, which knocked Seattle down to the first Wild Card spot. New York's loss dropped them from a first-round bye to the final playoff spot, and Green Bay jumped in to replace Chicago, who has lost 3 straight and 5 of their last 6. Washington took over the NFC East title from the Giants after Atlanta manhandled the Giants.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Saturday

Atlanta at Detroit - Falcons by 9

Sunday

New Orleans at Dallas - Cowboys by 2

Tennessee at Green Bay - Packers by 18

Indianapolis at Kansas City - Colts by 5

Buffalo at Miami - Dolphins by 9

San Diego at NY Jets - Jets by 3

Washington at Philadelphia - Redskins by 7

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh - Bengals by 1

Saint Louis at Tampa Bay - Buccaneers by 3

Oakland at Carolina - Panthers by 16

New England at Jacksonville - Patriots by 24

Minnesota at Houston - Texans by 6

Cleveland at Denver - Broncos by 18

NY Giants at Baltimore - Giants by 2

Chicago at Arizona - Bears by 5

San Francisco at Seattle - Seahawks by 7

NBA

Oklahoma City at Minnesota - Thunder by 4

Miami at Dallas- Heat by 5

Denver at Portland - Nuggets by 5

College Basketball

Charleston Southern at Wichita State - Shockers by 17

Elon at (1) Duke - Blue Devils by 30

Eastern Michigan at (2) Michigan - Wolverines by 32

Prediction Results

NFL: 8-8 (.500) 138-85 overall (.619)

Upsets: 0-4 (.000) 19-21 overall (.475)

NBA: 10-1 (.909) 259-117 overall (.689)

Upsets: 1-0 (1.000) 48-32 overall (.600)

College Basketball: 15-3 (.833) 310-59 overall (.840)

Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 20-23 overall (.465)