NFL Power Rankings (Week 11)

The NFL is really starting to sort itself out and we are beginning to find out who the real playoff contenders are and who the pretenders have been all season long.

There have been games on Thursday's for the past two weeks and the NFL Network couldn't be happier about how its turned out. Two games, two exciting finishes, two incredibly high scoring games. First, the Broncos edged the Browns late in the fourth for a 34-30 victory and this past week the Jets beat the Patriots in overtime 34-31.

I have three teams that at one point either before the season or during the season that I was very high on and now I would consider them pretenders. They are Jacksonville, Minnesota and Buffalo.

I picked Jacksonville before the season started to win the Superbowl. I probably could have put them in this last long before now but the loss this past week to Tennessee sealed the deal. I know they have been hurt on the offensive line but you have to win with what you got and don't be surprised if Jack Del Rio is fired at the end of the season.

Minnesota was picked by many to win the NFC North this year. They most definitely are not out of it but those same people picked them to go to the Superbowl. I think its been established that that probably won't happen. Nothing is done until the game is played but I just don't see it.

At one point this season I had Buffalo at 2 on the power rankings. My friend, the GM, said I was crazy at the time and now I have to agree with him. Monday was a game they had to have because the Jets won on Thursday. By losing, at home, to Cleveland they have put themselves two games behind at 5-5 and are now on the outside looking in. It doesn't look good and for all you Bills fans out there, that was all to similar to Scott Norwood!

Now lets talk about the teams that are in good shape. The top 10!

I like to countdown so let's start at 10.

10. Baltimore Ravens - This team was definitely outmatched by the Giants. The game was in New York and I think everyone expected Flacco to struggle against the Giants D. I think the alarming this for Baltimore was how the defense played against Brandon Jacobs. They didn't! On the verge of falling out but I will give them one more week since the Giants are so good and the game was on the road.

9. Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning is back. The offense is clicking once again and if the defense could start playing a little more consistently I think this team could be a real contender in the AFC. Joseph Addai ran for 100 yards this past week for the first time this season and that would be a huge boost as well. This is definitely a team on the rise!

8. New England Patriots - Thursday's loss might crush this team. Matt Cassel played great, they were at home and came back in the 4th just to see a field goal beat them in overtime. The defense played horribly and as long as that continues this team will fall down the rankings. I expect this team to get themselves back up. I have them ahead of Indy only because they beat Indy earlier this season.

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - A very good, hard fought victory this past weekend against Minnesota. Held AP to 85 yards and only a handful of them came in the second half. The offense still needs to find itself but they are losing running backs every week. Once they get that straightened out they will be very good. They also get Detroit this week so that should boost their confidence if it isn't sky high already.

6. New York Jets - What a victory on Thursday night! Thomas Jones is playing great. Brett Favre has given this team a confidence just by being there. They know they can win just because he is the quarterback. The defense could be better but they will be fine. They are now winning the very competitive AFC East. This team should make the playoffs and we will see what happens after that.

5. Arizona Cardinals - I say this every week but this offense is incredible. I know they only put up 26 points last week but that's because they couldn't punch it in. That will work itself out and they will be back over 35 soon enough. They had to win a tight one in Seattle but the good teams find a way to do that and they did! They will clinch the division soon if they haven't already and I can't wait to see what this team can do in the playoffs.

4. Carolina Panthers - This team just wins ball games. Jake Delhomme had a bad game for the second week in a row but for the second week in a row the running game was huge. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are both playing great right now and the defense is very good. Jon Beason is an incredible linebacker who is definitely not talked about enough.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - 11-10 for the first time in NFL history. That's awesome! It was a hard fought victory in the snow over San Diego. Obviously they needed to score a bit more but lets blame the weather. Troy Polamalu played very well and had one of the best interception's I have ever seen. This team will just keep on winning and will be very dangerous come playoff time.

2. New York Giants - Every week this team gets closer to moving into number 1. Another very very impressive victory at home were the ground game and the defense dominated again. Eli's become an incredible game manager and with those three ingredients this team is looking like a team that could definitely win the big one.

1. Tennessee Titans - They still haven't lost. They trailed at halftime to Jacksonville but Kerry Collins got his act together in the second half and really lead his team to the victory. Chris Johnson may be hitting the rookie wall but that has yet to be determined. They defense is still the best in the league and when you have that you have to considered number 1 every week. This team will probably stay here until they lose!

That's it for this week. I can't wait to see what happens over the next few weeks because we will begin to see how the playoffs are going to set up and some of these close division battles will work themselves out.