Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Power Rankings: Week 12 2007

By Jonathan Comey

Cold, Hard Football Facts power ranker

The NFL’s upper class this year is restricted to proud franchises with great quarterbacks.

Brady, Favre, Romo, Manning, Roethlisberger. The Patriot dynasty, the men of the frozen tundra, America’s team, the classy defending champs, the Steel Curtain.

Nothing but quality there.

But the NFL’s middle class is a large vat of sameness, a bunch of teams living paycheck to paycheck and trying to carve out a slice of the American dream.

Right now there are 18 different teams within a game of .500 (4-6 or 6-4) or at 5-5 on the dot. Some will make the playoffs, some will draft in the top 10. Some are happy to be there (Hello Detroit!), some can’t believe how far they’ve fallen (Hello San Diego!). It's unlikely that any of them will be challenging for an NFL title.

And none of their games make any sense. Check out these results this season from the NFL’s great "Middleman Wars," all battles won by decisive margins of 10+ points.

Houston beat Kansas City, 20-3 … but …
Kansas City beat San Diego, 30-16 … but …
San Diego beat Houston, 35-10

So, who’s better? Who knows?

Here’s the NFC’s version of that same circle:

Seattle beat Tampa Bay, 20-6 … but …
Tampa Bay beat New Orleans, 31-14 … but …
New Orleans beat Seattle, 28-17

And Carolina beat Arizona, which beat Detroit, which beat Denver, which beat Kansas City, which beat

Minnesota, which beat San Diego, which ... oh, you get the point.

It’s more confusing than the whole “X begat X” section of the Old Testament, But it’s also kind of fun to watch, if you’re not a snobbish sort.

On to the rankings, where we put the “middle 18” in order from almost good to almost terrible, among other things.

The Patriots remain on top of the rankings and the Dolphins on the bottom, in perfect (and imperfect) harmony.

THE DOMINANT DOZEN

1. NEW ENGLAND (10-0, previous rank: 1)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-0, +14.0 PPG
Last week: New England held down the score as much as it could, but still won 56-10 in Buffalo.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: The Patriots are still good.
Next: vs. Philadelphia, Sunday night. As of Tuesday morning, the Patriots will have to cover the biggest spread in NFL history (23.5 points). Against a playoff team from 2006 that played them in the 2004 Super Bowl. It just keeps getting weirder.

2. GREEN BAY (9-1, previous rank: 2)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-0, +22.0 PPG
Last week: The Packers allowed 382 yards (tied for most by a Green Bay opponent in 2007), but still beat Carolina handily, 31-17.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Apparently the Packers knew what they were doing when they traded a low draft pick to the Giants for UFA RB Ryan Grant. Grant has rushed for 366 yards and 4.26 YPA since taking the main role four games ago.
Next: at Detroit, Thanksgiving at 12:30 (ET). If you thought this would be an important game back in August, we’d like to see proof.

3. DALLAS (9-1, previous rank: 3)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 2-1, +0.0 PPG
Last week: The Cowboys’ defense registered just one sack and allowed 367 yards passing, but beat Washington 28-23 at home.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Since the unpleasant road swing to the Northeast, Tony Romo has thrown 12 TDs to 3 INTs, completed exactly 75 percent of his passes and chalked up four 100+ passer ratings in four Cowboy wins.
Next: vs. Jets, Thanksgiving at 4:15 (ET).

4. INDIANAPOLIS (8-2, previous rank: 5)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-1, +9.7 PPG
Last week: The Colts were held to 216 net yards of offense, but gutted out a 13-10 win over the Chiefs.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: “Sure-handed” Colts tight end Dallas Clark is now tied for the NFL lead with eight dropped passes. And Peyton Manning’s passer rating of 87.2 ranks him 16th in the NFL – behind the benched Chad Pennington.
Next: at Atlanta, Thanksgiving at 8:15 (ET). If only Michael Vick weren’t in jail, this one would be a treat.

5. PITTSBURGH (7-3, previous rank: 4)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-0, +17.0 PPG
Last week: Pittsburgh's road woes continued with an OT loss to the lowly Jets.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Don’t blame the Steelers’ defense: the new Steel Curtain allowed 4.4 yards per play vs. the Jets, held them to 3-for-15 on third and fourth downs, and forced three short field goals in the red zone.
Next: vs. Miami, Monday night. ESPN’s got to be tearing its hair out. Steelers-Fins promises to be a dud, and after Patriots-Ravens in Week 13, Monday Night Football gives us Saints-Falcons and Bears-Vikings.

6. JACKSONVILLE (7-3, previous rank: 6)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 2-2, -2.2 PPG
Last week: The Jaguars didn’t allow a sack to San Diego's well-hyped pass rush in a 24-17 home win.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Including runs and sacks, Jags QB David Garrard has taken 889 dropbacks in the NFL – but has committed just 18 turnovers, one per 49.3 dropbacks. Peyton Manning? One per 34.1. Tom Brady? One per 38.5.
Next: vs. Buffalo.

7. NEW YORK GIANTS (7-3, previous rank: 8)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-3, -9.3 PPG
Last week: Five different Giants caught at least four passes in a 16-10 win at Detroit.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: New York’s defense has allowed 17 points or fewer in six of its last eight games.
Next: vs. Minnesota. Two current Giants and two current Vikings played in New York's 41-0 rout over Minny in the 2000 NFC title game: Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer (NYG), Jim Kleinsasser, Matt Birk (MIN).

8. TAMPA BAY (6-4, previous rank: 10)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-4, -7.6 PPG
Last week: Tampa ran for 149 yards and forced four turnovers in a 31-7 road rout of Atlanta.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: How are the Bucs doing it? With veterans – they have 16 players on the roster over 30, including eight starters.
Next: vs. Washington. A matchup of two teams on similar paths: made the playoffs in 2005, tanked in 2006, and are somewhere in between in 2007.

9. TENNESSEE (6-4, previous rank: 7)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-3, -4.3 PPG
Last week: Vince Young had a career-high 305 yards passing and added a season-high 74 yards rushing, but couldn’t mount a comeback in a 34-20 loss in Denver.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Come back, Albert Haynesworth! Titans have allowed exactly 166 yards rushing in consecutive weeks without their star DT.
Next: at Cincinnati.

10. SEATTLE (6-4, previous rank: 12)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-2, -3.3 PPG
Last week: QB Matt Hasselbeck had his third straight game with 40+ passes, leading the Seahawks to a 30-23 win over Chicago.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Don’t be surprised if Seattle’s defense starts looking like the second coming of the 1985 Bears – they don’t face another team with a scoring offense in the top 10, and play Baltimore (26th), Carolina (27th), St. Louis (29th) and Atlanta (31st).
Next: at St. Louis. Seahawks are going for three wins a row – which they haven’t done since opening the 2006 season 3-0.

11. CLEVELAND (6-4, previous rank: 13)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-3, -11.0 PPG
Last week: Cleveland rode kicker Phil Dawson’s two-doink special into overtime, then beat the Ravens 33-30.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: There have been at least 40 total points scored in all 10 of Cleveland's games this year, and the last five weeks the scoreboard has been lit up by 71, 47, 63, 59 and 63 points.
Next: vs. Houston. Another good game that looked terrible in August.

12. DETROIT (6-4, previous rank: 9)

Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-1, +0.5 PPG
Last week: The Lions couldn’t sell out the home field despite playing their most meaningful game in a decade, and lost 16-10 to the visiting Giants.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: Detroit committed 14 turnovers in its four losses this year, nine turnovers in its six wins.
Next: vs. Green Bay, Thanksgiving at 12:30 (ET).

THE TEPID TWENTY

13. PHILADELPHIA (5-5, previous rank: 14) – The Eagles aren’t known for their toughness inside the tackles, but they lead the NFL with a 76.5 percent success rate running it on third-and-short.

14. SAN DIEGO (5-5, previous rank: 11) – LaDainian Tomlinson had 10 100-yard rushing games in 2006, he’s only got two this year.

15. ARIZONA (5-5, previous rank: 17) – The Cardinals only have 12 rushes of 10 yards or more, worst in the league.

16 WASHINGTON (5-5, previous rank: 15) – Mediocre Skins haven’t been five games over .500 since 1996 (7-1 under Norv Turner, finished 9-7).

17. DENVER (5-5, previous rank: 21) – Harder to understand than calculus.

18. HOUSTON (5-5, previous rank: 19) – QB Matt Schaub in three games with Andre Johnson: 8.97 yards per attempt, five TDs, 1 INT, three wins.

19. MINNESOTA (4-6, previous rank: 18) – Vikings are still waiting for their first 100-yard receiving game, but WR Sidney Rice almost had a 100-yard passing game (94 yards on gadget plays vs. Oakland Sunday)

20. BUFFALO (5-5, previous rank: 16) – Looking forward to facing NFL team without super powers this Sunday (Jacksonville).

21. KANSAS CITY (4-6, previous rank: 25) – Chiefs are tied for eighth in scoring defense, but 30th in scoring offense.

22. NEW ORLEANS (4-6, previous rank: 20) – Saints allowed 119 points in their four games against AFC South opponents (three losses)

23. CHICAGO (4-6, previous rank: 23) – Bears opponents have punted 23 times in the last four games, Devin Hester has only returned 8 of them, for 58 yards.

24. ATLANTA (3-7 previous rank: 22) – Joey Harrington, 3-5 as a starter, 83.3 passer rating, Byron Leftwich 0-2 as a starter, 51.4 passer rating.

25. CINCINNATI (3-7, previous rank: 24) – Bengals are averaging 4.7 yards a carry on grass, 3.2 on turf.

26. BALTIMORE (4-6, previous rank: 26) – MLB Ray Lewis is tied for the NFL lead in total tackles (92).

27. NEW YORK JETS (2-8, previous rank: 29) – QB Kellen Clemens (59.2 passer rating) averaging 5.7 yards a pass to Pennington’s 6.9.

28. CAROLINA (4-6, previous rank: 27) – Five of Panthers’ six losses came by double digits.

29. ST. LOUIS (2-8, previous rank: 30) – WR Torry Holt is on pace for his fifth-straight 90-catch season.

30. OAKLAND (2-8, previous rank: 28) – Just Backslide, Baby!

31. SAN FRANCISCO (2-8, previous rank: 31) – You can tear up that 15-to-1 “SF Win SBXLII” betting slip you bought when you went to Vegas this summer.

32. MIAMI (0-10, previous rank: 32) – Wow. Against the Eagles, they had a +3 turnover edge, a punt return for a score … and a 17-7 loss.