NFL Week 12 Power Rankings

Five Quick Hits

* Later this week, Sports Central will post my annual Pro Bowl selections column, with picks for both conferences and brief comments at each position, so be sure to check back for it.

* Yesterday, a friend was telling me how there's no discrimination against black quarterbacks any more. If Donovan McNabb gets benched, there will be four black QBs starting in the NFL. Four out of 32. What wonderful progress. That's counting Daunte Culpepper.

* I'm sorry, Saints fans, but stealing your cheer from the Bengals is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard of.

* On Monday night, Stuart Scott called Charles Woodson a future Hall of Famer. I think he's jumping the gun on that one. If he retired today, Woodson would not get in.

* No one from the AFC East, NFC East, or NFC South has a losing record. This is almost entirely due to the two Western divisions, which boast a combined record of 28-50.

***

This week, Tony Kornheiser once again demonstrated that he has no business on MNF. Before the game even began, he admitted, "This is probably gonna be what I'm gonna say the entire game." That's what Tony does. He doesn't know anything about football — it's not even clear that he particularly likes football — so he latches onto a storyline before the telecast starts, and just rides it throughout the night. This week, for the ninth or tenth time this season, his story was Brett Favre. At one point, when Kornheiser was needlessly interjecting Favre into the conversation for the 20th time, Ron Jaworski snapped at him: "I think it's an absolutely ridiculous statement."

Kornheiser has to go. His presence in the booth is a slap in the face of every football fan in the country. Mike Tirico and Jaworski would be a great booth by themselves. Get Kornheiser out. PTI is fine, but MNF and its fans deserve better. Whoever makes the decisions at ESPN, I guarantee you that no one watches MNF because of Kornheiser. They're basically just paying him to piss people off.

Anyway, for the power rankings, brackets show last week's rank.

1. New York Giants [2] — Here's what I don't get: Week 3 and Week 6. How did the Bengals take them to overtime? How did they get blown out by the Browns? They've put together five straight impressive victories against top competition, and struggled against the worst teams in the AFC North. Those puzzling performances notwithstanding, this is a better team than last year's Super Bowl champions.

2. Tennessee Titans [1] — Forty passes, 11 runs. There's your problem. Actually, the bigger problem was defense. The Jets' offensive line dominated Tennessee's defensive front and New York controlled time of possession by 40:30-19:30. The Titans made a lot of mistakes they couldn't afford against a good team, but they'll be fine going forward.

3. New York Jets [8] — Really impressive, efficient game from the offense. After a slow start to the season, Brett Favre has really been playing well recently. He's not the MVP-type player we saw in the late 1990s, but he's managing the game and making plays when he needs to. The offensive line was exceptional against Tennessee.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers [3] — The unsung heroes are defensive ends Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel. Smith was a major force on Thursday night, deflecting three passes, but Keisel left the game with a knee injury, and it sounds like the injury is serious, which will noticeably affect Pittsburgh's defense. The next game, at New England, has huge playoff implications for both teams.

5. Indianapolis Colts [5] — What do they have against quarterback sneaks? I understand the bold pass to Marvin Harrison at the end of the game, but before that, the Colts had about ½-yard to go three times, and never used the sneak. Was it lack of confidence in backup center Jamey Richard, subbing for an injured Jeff Saturday? Even if you don't want to sneak, don't go shotgun in that situation. At least make the defense respect the possibility.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [7] — Huge defensive performance against the lowly Lions. The Bucs held Detroit to 207 yards and nine first downs, picking up four sacks and three turnovers, including an interception return for a touchdown. Warrick Dunn also had a really nice game, rushing for 90 yards with a 6.4 average and a TD, plus 5 catches for another 37 yards. Dunn, a rookie in 1997, has been a good player for a long time.

7. Arizona Cardinals [6] — I have little doubt that they're better than Philadelphia, but I think this Thursday's game is going to give them problems. The Cardinals are only 3-3 on the road, they have to make that West-to-East trip that's been so deadly, and Arizona has lost its last seven Thanksgiving Day games.

8. Baltimore Ravens [10] — Outstanding defensive performance against Philadelphia; the Eagles' only score came on special teams. The concern is offense, where the Ravens rank 28th in yards per play (4.7), behind the Lions and ahead of four teams with a combined record of 8-35-1.

9. Atlanta Falcons [11] — If the playoffs started today, the Falcons would stay home, because their conference record is ½-game behind Washington's. But they're a very serious playoff contender, one game behind Carolina and Tampa in the division, and battling with Washington and Dallas for the last wild card spot. The Week 13 game at San Diego is make-or-break for the both teams, and the loser will probably miss the postseason.

10. Carolina Panthers [4] — What is it with homefield advantage in the NFC South? The division is a collective 20-2 at home, and 8-13 on the road. At this rate, all four teams will finish with 3-3 division records, winning their home games and losing away. The Panthers have three road games remaining on the schedule, but their most important matchup, against 8-3 Tampa Bay, is at home.

11. Dallas Cowboys [13] — Their biggest on-field problem has been turnovers: too many on offense and not enough from the defense. The Cowboys are -6 in turnovers this season, which ranks 27th. Against San Francisco, the Dallas won the turnover battle for the first time in almost a month. It also doesn't hurt, of course, when Terrell Owens has a 200-yard receiving day. Memo to defenses: you still have to double-cover him.

12. New England Patriots [15] — Second in the NFL in first downs (behind Arizona). This team has perfected the art of the safe underneath passing game. Randy Moss is there to keep defenses honest, but he's not the focus this season, more of a decoy. Matt Cassel doesn't like to go long; New England ranks 23rd in pass plays of 20 yards or more. But Cassel has gotten very comfortable with the underneath stuff, and he's now a proven threat to run the ball effectively, as well. I'd still like to see more Moss, but this offense is really coming together.

13. Miami Dolphins [14] — The Wildcat is losing its effectiveness. In the formation's first two games, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined for 375 rushing yards, an average of 187.5 per game. Since then, that average has dropped to 89.3. No one thought Miami would average 200 rushing yards all season, but under 90 would rank in the NFL's bottom five. Chad Pennington is having a good year, but he can't carry the offense single-handedly, and right now, that's what the Dolphins are asking him to do.

14. Green Bay Packers [12] — I'm sure it must have happened before, but I can't think of a time when I've seen another unit get humiliated on a nationally-televised game the way Green Bay's defense did on Monday. They absolutely had no answer for Drew Brees. After an initial three-and-out, the Saints scored on eight of their next nine possessions (seven TD, one FG), the only exception being that ill-advised trick play that got intercepted. All game, Green Bay's defense showed nothing. It was a shameful performance, and everyone saw it.

15. Philadelphia Eagles [9] — What was Andy Reid thinking, bring in Kevin Kolb, cold off the bench, in the middle of a game at Baltimore? The Eagles were outscored 10-7 with McNabb and 26-0 with Kolb. Reid says he made the change to try and get a spark, but it looked more like a desperate attempt to deflect criticism from himself. It was the wrong time to try something like that.

16. Chicago Bears [16] — Longest winning streak this season is two games. Longest losing streak this season is also two games. I guess the Bears are just very even keel. They don't build a lot of momentum, but they don't go into slumps, either. In this year's NFC North, that might be enough to eke out a division title.

17. New Orleans Saints [18] — Coming into this week, Green Bay had the top pass defense in the NFL, led by a standout secondary. The Saints adapted by attacking different parts of the defense with passes. Drew Brees completed 20 throws on Monday night, and only seven were to wide receivers. Instead, he focused on tight ends and running backs. I know the big plays were both to wideouts, but it was the tight ends who really dictated the game to Green Bay's defense, and the Packers' linebacking corps looked very vulnerable in coverage. It was really classy how the Saints went for two at the end of the game.

18. Minnesota Vikings [20] — Proving that you don't need great QB play to win games. Against Jacksonville, Gus Frerotte had just 120 passing yards with an interception and no touchdowns. He also got sacked three times, and his passer rating was 56.2, but Minnesota won, 30-12. Look at the quarterbacks of the NFL's best teams: Eli Manning, Kerry Collins, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Jeff Garcia, Jake Delhomme. None of those guys is a great quarterback. Who among them deserves to go the Pro Bowl? Maybe Favre? The secret to NFL success: a slightly above-average QB! Forget Kurt Warner (7-4), Drew Brees (6-5), and Philip Rivers (4-7)!

19. Washington Redskins [19] — Santana Moss is the key. When Moss has at least 50 receiving yards, Washington is 6-0. When he doesn't, the team is 1-4. In their wins, Moss averages 96 yards. In the losses, he averages 25 yards. Clinton Portis moves the chains, but Moss is the big-play guy, the one who gets them to the end zone.

20. Denver Broncos [17] — Ah, the defense so bad it can make JaMarcus Russell look good. Russell had a career day against Denver, with 91% completion percentage, 13.8 yards per attempt, and a 149.1 passer rating, easily career bests in each category. This says more about Denver's defense than about Russell's progress.

21. Buffalo Bills [24] — What a turnaround for Trent Edwards. Last week, he had his worst game of the season. He just didn't look up to the task. This week, he had probably the best game of his career, throwing two TD passes and running for two more. His long bomb to Lee Evans was about as good a pass as we've seen this season. Edwards is still very young, and I don't know if he'll develop the consistency a good starter needs, but the potential is certainly there.

22. San Diego Chargers [22] — At 4-7, they're still very much alive for a playoff berth. Here's how: the Chargers win three of their next four games (ATL, OAK, @KC, @TB), and the Broncos lose at the 8-3 Jets and Panthers. That makes San Diego 7-8, and Denver 8-7. In Week 17, the Broncos travel to San Diego. The Chargers win at home, and they'll win the division. It doesn't seem fair that an 8-8 AFC West team could get a home playoff game while one or more 10-6 clubs miss the playoffs altogether.

23. Cleveland Browns [21] — They intercepted Sage Rosenfels twice and Braylon Edwards had a big day, but they still lost. I know Derek Anderson had a bad game, too, but how do you start Brady Quinn — who may or may not be your best QB — when he has a broken finger?

24. Houston Texans [26] — After long struggles away from home, the Texans got their first road win in over a year on Sunday. Oddly, Houston is the only team in its division with a better record at home than away. The Titans, Colts, and Jags all have better records on the road.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars [23] — The offense is a disgusting mess. This offseason, the Jags need to ignore their defense. Sign offensive linemen and receivers in free agency, then get more offensive linemen and receivers in the draft.

26. Seattle Seahawks [25] — This isn't just about injured receivers any more. Something's wrong with Matt Hasselbeck. He's been one of the best QBs of this decade, but he has played terribly this season. In six games, only once did Hasselbeck post a passer rating above 55.0 (Week 3, vs. St. Louis). Hasselbeck is obviously the starter for 2009, but maybe Seneca Wallace should be playing right now. If nothing else, why risk further injury to Hasselbeck in a lost season?

27. San Francisco 49ers [27] — Let me tell you a little about the NFC West. The 49ers are 3-8. They've been outscored by 58 points this season. They rank 22nd in offense and 23rd in defense. And they rank 2nd in the division in every one of those categories. That's how bad the Seahawks and Rams are: the 49ers — who are terrible — beat them in every major team statistic.

28. Oakland Raiders [30] — Breakout offensive performance against the hated Broncos. How many starting quarterbacks can have — unequivocally — their best game of the season, and only throw for 152 yards?

29. Cincinnati Bengals [28] — Okay, raise your hand if you think Chad Johnson is still worth the headache. Cris Collinsworth actually said on Thursday that Johnson is the Bengals' best player besides Carson Palmer. Which means T.J. Houshmandzadeh should be allowed to slap him.

30. Kansas City Chiefs [29] — Nineteen losses in the last 20 games. They have the AFC's worst point differential (-131) and record (1-10). There are obviously a lot of things wrong here, but my favorite statistic from Sunday's game was that Kansas City had four turnovers. In the second quarter.

31. St. Louis Rams [31] — Four straight losses by 19 points or more. Say what you will about 0-11 Detroit, at least they've been competitive in the last couple of games. The Rams have been outscored 143-35 in the last month. Even that horrific number is misleading, because opponents have been easing up in the second half. At halftime of their last four games, the Rams have trailed by a combined score of 123-13. At halftime, they're losing by an average score of 31-4. Yeah, they give up 31 points before halftime.

32. Detroit Lions [32] — Every week, they give fans false hope. Detroit jumped out to another early lead on Sunday, going up 17-0 — and you were thinking, wow, this is it — before getting outscored 38-3 after the first quarter. Calvin Johnson, who has 6 TDs in the last seven games, is a bright spot.