Of the dozen teams that remain, a class system has sort of taken shape. The Patriots, Ravens, Saints and Falcons look to be at that elite level, while the Steelers, Eagles, Bears, Jets, Colts and Packers will probably need to catch a break or two to compensate for some respective shortcomings. The 11th-ranked Chiefs are the wild card hiding in the corner, and there's no consensus on what to expect out of that young Kansas City squad.
These are our last set of rankings until the conclusion of the playoffs.
| NFL Power Rankings | |||||
|
New England Patriots On one hand, anything short of a Super Bowl would be a disappointment after a 14-win regular season. On the other, the Patriots have been rebuilt and look primed to be able to keep getting better in the coming years, and the window isn't anywhere near closing. |
||||
|
Baltimore Ravens Safety Ed Reed led the NFL with eight interceptions this season, and he didn’t even play in the first six games. |
||||
|
New Orleans Saints The Saints lost their last three games of the 2009 regular season and won the Super Bowl. They lost two of their last three this season, and they'll have to fight against a seemingly constant bout of complacency — especially against the awful Seahawks — that haunted them in 2010. |
||||
|
Atlanta Falcons The Falcons have two weeks to figure out how to beat the Saints in the Georgia Dome because there's a good chance the NFC South rivals will square off in the divisional playoffs. |
||||
|
Pittsburgh Steelers Even with some flaws that were exposed in early November, particularly on the Steelers' shaky offensive line, they've won six of their last seven since getting beat by the Patriots. |
||||
|
Philadelphia Eagles It's tough to feel confident about a team that is already discussing the possibility of benching Michael Vick if he gets off to a poor start in the playoffs. |
||||
|
Chicago Bears Give credit to the Bears for playing their starters Sunday against the Packers. However, the Bears couldn’t end the Packers' season, and they've got to hope that doesn't come back to haunt them. |
||||
|
New York Jets Rookie running back Joe McKnight has deserved much of the heat he's gotten this season, but he squashed some of that Sunday with 158 rushing yards on 32 carries. Prior to that game, McKnight had seven total carries for 31 yards. |
||||
|
Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning's 17 interceptions were his most since throwing 19 in 2002, but he also had career highs with 450 completions, 679 pass attempts and 4,700 passing yards. His 33 touchdown tosses were tied for the second most in his career. |
||||
|
Green Bay Packers Michael Vick's first career playoff victory came in his postseason debut against the Packers at Lambeau Field in 2002. Vick will try to beat the same team this weekend in his second NFL life. |
||||
| 1 – 1011 – 2021 – 30 | |||||
