The last week of the regular season is among us. A couple teams in the top 5 (Atlanta, Philly) fell this week due to losses, though the Eagles loss to Minnesota is much more of a concern than Atlanta’s to Drew Brees and the Saints. Some of the teams toward the bottom of the rankings managed to pull out wins this week, making it hard to rank them. Anything below #20 is just a mishmash of crap teams. Without further ado:
| Rank | Team | Comment |
| 1 | New England Patriots | With a 34-3 win over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Patriots clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. New England hosts Miami for a meaningless season finale where starters will likely rest part of the game. |
| 2 | New Orleans Saints | The Saints locked up a playoff spot with a big win at Atlanta and going forward they have a mental boost knowing they can beat the Falcons on the road. They’ll need a win and a Falcon loss to get top spot in the NFC and because both teams play at the same time, the Saints don’t have the luxury to see how the Falcons game shakes out first. |
| 3 | Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta couldn’t lock up the NFC last week as they were taken out by the Saints at home. A win against Carolina this week would make up for it, but the Falcons would rather be resting some starters this week than having to play for something. |
| 4 | Baltimore Ravens | The Ravens took care of business against Cleveland to improve to 11-4 and clinch a playoff berth. They’ll need a loss by Pittsburgh and a win against Cincinnati to win the division. |
| 5 | Chicago Bears | Despite the 11-4 record, people continue to doubt the Bears, which I’m sure is just fine with them. Anybody who says they would be fine going into Chicago in January for a playoff game is probably lying. |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Pittsburgh blew out lowly Carolina on Thursday night. A win this weekend, and they’ll clinch the AFC North title. |
| 7 | Philadelphia Eagles | Mike Vick was flustered by the Vikings’ blitzes all night in Tuesday’s game. They locked up the NFC’s 3-seed, but it’s possible that the already-eliminated Vikings gave teams a nice blueprint for containing the star quarterback. |
| 8 | New York Jets | Despite losing 38-34 to the Bears, the Jets managed to once again back into the playoffs when the Jaguars lost in overtime to Washington. New York can potentially move up from their current #6 seed with a win hosting Buffalo next weekend. |
| 9 | Kansas City Chiefs | One year after finishing at the bottom of the AFC West, the Chiefs are now division champions thanks to their 34-14 win over the Titans combined with the Chargers loss in Cincinnati. The Chiefs host the Raiders next weekend in a game to help decide their AFC playoff seeding. |
| 10 | Indianapolis Colts | The Colts moved one step closer to once again winning the AFC South with a 31-26 win in Oakland. With a win over Tennessee at home next weekend, Indianapolis will win the division and be either the #3 or #4 seed for the AFC. |
| 11 | Green Bay Packers | There are other ways to get into the playoffs, but if the Pack wins, they are in. Hard to ask for a better week 17 matchup as they face the Bears at home. The Bears have home field advantage to play for so there won’t be any lying down on either side this week. |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Bucs | The Bucs can still make the playoffs with a win and a Packer and Giant tie or losses. Sounds unlikely, so they may have to focus on ending their season by making sure the Saints don’t get home field advantage for the playoffs. |
| 13 | New York Giants | Tom Coughlin’s Giants have played 5 quarters of dreadful football. After blowing a lead against the Eagles, they were blown out by the Packers, and are now at risk of missing the playoffs. |
| 14 | San Diego Chargers | A slow start for San Diego this year resulted in elimination from the playoff consideration with a 34-20 loss to the lowly Bengals. Despite owning #1 ranking in several team categories this season, the Chargers will not get to play for a Super Bowl berth; they finish their season on the road against the Broncos next week. |
| 15 | Oakland Raiders | Oakland stayed in the game with Indianapolis but was ultimately overmatched in a 31-26 loss; eliminated from playoff contention, all that’s left is to travel to Kansas City to finish the season against the Chiefs. |
| 16 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Minus Maurice Jones-Drew, the Jaguars still had a chance to put themselves in good position for the AFC South race until a David Garrard INT set up an OT loss to the Redskins. Now the Jaguars need to beat the Texans on the road and have the Colts lose to the Titans to make the playoffs. |
| 17 | St. Louis Rams | The Rams took care of business against the 49ers and now have a do or die game against Seattle to make the playoffs. The Sports Geeks officially endorse and support the Rams in week 17 for the sole reason of not wanting to see a division be won by a team with a losing record. |
| 18 | Miami Dolphins | It was an ugly game in Miami as the Dolphins allowed three straight scoring drives in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter to lose 34-27 to the Lions. Miami travels to Foxborough, MA to play a Patriots team with nothing to play for in Week 17. |
| 19 | Minnesota Vikings | The Vikings may have done more damage to the Eagles than the loss they handed them. People are calling it a blueprint on how to stop Mike Vick, but on the other side perhaps the Vikings saw the blueprint to success next year in the hands of Joe Webb. |
| 20 | Detroit Lions | Detroit helped complete a good day for the NFC North overall with a win over Miami. If the ball landed differently a few times (or Calvin Johnson doesn’t get a game winning TD call ripped away) Detroit could easily be an 8-8 team, not bad. |
| 21 | Tennessee Titans | On the road at Kansas City, the Titans showed little resistance in a 34-14 loss to the Chiefs. Tennessee closes their disappointing season in Indianapolis next weekend with a chance to spoil the Colts’ playoff hopes. |
| 22 | Dallas Cowboys | The Cowboys lost in spectacular fashion on Christmas Day, after falling behind, coming back and then missing an extra point. Jason Garrett is trying hard to keep this team together in hopes of retaining the coaching job in Dallas. |
| 23 | Cleveland Browns | The Ravens shut down Peyton Hillis, and thus the Browns on Sunday. All hope is not lost however. They’ll hope to add even more young talent through the draft and improve next season. |
| 24 | Washington Redskins | The always-inconsistent Redskins came up with an overtime win on Sunday against the Jaguars. 5-10 is not what Redskins fans were looking for from Mike Shanahan and now-benched Donovan McNabb. |
| 25 | Seattle Seahawks | If the Seahawks can beat the Rams this week they will win the NFC West with a 7-9 record. Yes, 7-9. Other division winners and wild card teams have to be licking their chops. |
| 26 | Houston Texans | For much of the day in Denver, the Texans were in control; then they gave the game away to be the team to surrender Tim Tebow’s first career win as a QB. Houston finishes the season hosting the Jaguars and can spoil Jacksonville’s slim chance to win the AFC South. |
| 27 | Arizona Cardinals | Arizona surprisingly beat the Cowboys last week to notch their fifth win of the season. They have to be looking back on this year with a lot of regret knowing that a .500 record would have won the division this year. |
| 28 | Denver Broncos | In Tim Tebow’s second career start at QB he picked up his first victory, orchestrating a comeback win 24-23 over the Texans at home. The Broncos finish their season playing host to division rival San Diego. |
| 29 | San Francisco 49ers | The Rams put the 49ers out of their misery and got Mike Singletary booted in the process. We’ll miss the rants and antics he brought to the team, but I think 49ers fans will be happy to see some change. |
| 30 | Cincinnati Bengals | Carson Palmer drank from the fountain of youth last week and had a 4 touchdown, no interception performance, with no help from the injured T.O. or Chad Ochocinco. They beat San Diego, but it’s too little too late. |
| 31 | Buffalo Bills | In Week 3, the Bills began the Ryan Fitzpatrick 2010 era and pushed the Patriots to the limit in a 38-30 defeat; their Week 16 matchup was less competitive, with Buffalo falling 34-3 and allowing the Patriots to cinch up the AFC East. The Bills finish up with a game at New Meadowlands Stadium against the Jets. |
| 32 | Carolina Panthers | Carolina has chance to ruin home field advantage dreams for the Falcons, but it’s a stretch to think they’ll be up for that task. Carolina fans can start the 2011 NFL Draft countdown now. |
Commentary breakdown: Alex (AFC North, NFC East), Brian (AFC East/South/West), Pat (NFC North/South/West).
