NFL Rankings - 26 Dec

There is only one week left in the NFL season, and 10 of the 12 playoff spots have been clinched, although most teams still have a reason to be playing on Sunday. Only Atlanta has clinched home a first-round bye, and there are still 2 teams in play for the NFC East title and 4 vying for the final wild card spot in the NFC. Here are my current rankings for each team, with teams grouped by similar level of performance and ESPN's Power Rankings in parentheses.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Result (ESPN)
1. (1) Seattle (10-5) W (6)

2. (2) New England (11-4) W (5)

3. (3) San Francisco (10-4-1) L (3)
4. (4) Denver (12-3) W (1)
5. (7) Green Bay (11-4) W (4)
6. (5) Atlanta (13-2) W (2)

7. (8) Chicago (9-6) W (13)

8. (13) Minnesota (9-6) W (12)

9. (6) NY Giants (8-7) L (15)
10. (10) Washington (9-6) W (9)
11. (11) Cincinnati (9-6) W (11)
12. (16) Baltimore (10-5) W (10)
13. (12) New Orleans (7-8) W (17)
14. (14) Carolina (6-9) W (20)
15. (9) Houston (12-3) L (7)

16. (15) Dallas (8-7) L (14)
17. (19) Saint Louis (7-7-1) W (16)

18. (17) Miami (7-8) W (19)
19. (21) San Diego (6-9) W (21)
20. (18) Pittsburgh (7-8) L (18)

21. (24) Detroit (4-11) L (28)
22. (22) Arizona (5-10) L (26)
23. (20) Tampa Bay (6-9) L (22)

24. (25) Cleveland (5-10) L (24)
25. (23) NY Jets (6-9) L (23)
26. (26) Indianapolis (10-5) W (8)

27. (27) Buffalo (5-10) L (25)
28. (28) Philadelphia (4-11) L (29)

29. (30) Oakland (4-11) L (30)

30. (29) Tennessee (5-10) L (27)
31. (32) Jacksonville (2-13) L (31)

32. (31) Kansas City (2-13) L (32)

Green Bay moved into the top 5 just in time for the playoffs with a 55-7 demolition of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. After starting the season 2-3, the Packers have lost just once more, back when New York was still playing well during Thanksgiving weekend. If they beat Minnesota in the season finale, they will clinch the #2 seed in the NFC and the week off that comes along with it.

Unfortunately for the Packers, they will be facing another of the league's hottest teams, the Minnesota Vikings, who have won three straight and would clinch a playoff spot with a victory. They kept themselves alive by beating the Houston Texans on Sunday, which also left the race for the top spot in the AFC wide open, with three teams still in the hunt.

For the second time in 3 weeks, my #1 team went up against ESPN's #1 team in prime time, and for the second time my top team won by 4 touchdowns. This time the winner was Seattle, who destroyed the 49ers and made a division title a possibility while clinching a trip to the playoffs again. With the way the Seahawks are playing right now, I'm not sure anyone will be able to beat them in the playoffs.

Baltimore finally clinched their division on their 4th try by beating the New York Giants, and in the process nearly eliminated the defending champs from playoff contention. Their game against Cincinnati this weekend could have been to decide the division title, but instead it is a meaningless game that will do nothing for either team's playoff positioning.

Playoff Predictions

AFC

(1) Houston (13-3)
(2) Denver (13-3)
(3) New England (12-4)
(4) Baltimore (10-6)
(5) Indianapolis (10-6)
(6) Cincinnati (10-6)

Left Out: Pittsburgh (8-8)

NFC

(1) Atlanta (14-2)
(2) Green Bay (12-4)
(3) San Francisco (11-4-1)
(4) Washington (10-6)
(5) Seattle (11-5)
(6) Chicago (10-6)

Left Out: NY Giants (9-7) Minnesota (9-7) Dallas (8-8) New Orleans (8-8)

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Tampa Bay at Atlanta - Falcons by 16
NY Jets at Buffalo - Bills by 1
Baltimore at Cincinnati - Bengals by 4
Chicago at Detroit - Bears by 7
Jacksonville at Tennessee - Titans by 4
Houston at Indianapolis - Texans by 5
Carolina at New Orleans - Saints by 4
Philadelphia at NY Giants - Giants by 16
Cleveland at Pittsburgh - Steelers by 7
Kansas City at Denver - Broncos by 29
Green Bay at Minnesota - Packers by 1
Miami at New England - Patriots by 17
Oakland at San Diego - Chargers by 12
Saint Louis at Seattle - Seahawks by 21
Arizona at San Francisco - 49ers by 18
Dallas at Washington - Redskins by 6

NBA

Cleveland at Washington - Cavaliers by 1
Miami at Charlotte - Heat by 13
New Orleans at Orlando - Magic by 5
Detroit at Atlanta - Hawks by 5
Brooklyn at Milwaukee - Bucks by 1
Philadelphia at Memphis - Grizzlies by 12
Houston at Minnesota - Rockets by 1
Toronto at San Antonio - Spurs by 14
New York at Phoenix - Knicks by 5
LA Lakers at Denver - Nuggets by 5
Golden State at Utah - Jazz by 2
Sacramento at Portland - Trail Blazers by 6

College Basketball

New Mexico at (8) Cincinnati - Bearcats by 14

Prediction Results

NBA: 3-2 (.600) 280-129 overall (.685)
Upsets: 2-0 (1.000) 51-34 overall (.600)
College Basketball: 1-0 (1.000) 338-65 overall (.839)
NFL: 11-5 (.688) 149-90 overall (.623)
Upsets: 1-2 (.333) 21-25 overall (.457)