Ranking the NFL - Week 12

THE ELITE
COLTS: Edgerrin who? Joseph Addai just showed how expendable James was in the Colts offensive scheme. Now if they only had a Peyton Manning on defense...

RAVENS: The Ravens are starting to look like a Super Bowl contender. What they did to Pittsburgh was just ugly. Right now, the Ravens might be better than the Colts.

CHARGERS: I personally consider it a good sign that the Chargers can take the Raiders lightly and still win.

THE GOOD
BRONCOS: Paging Dr. Cutler...

PATRIOTS: The Pats are the snake in the grass in the AFC playoff picture.

BEARS: Rex Grossman is NOT the quarterback who is taking the Bears to a Super Bowl victory. If the Bears make it to the Super Bowl, they will probably get stomped.

SEAHAWKS: vs. Green Bay tonight.

BENGALS: Made the Browns black and blue.

SAINTS: The Saints brought their whole team. The Falcons brought Mike Vick. 11-1 odds seems kind of unfair, doesn't it? In the Falcons defense, they only lost 31-13. Pretty good with those odds.

CHIEFS: If the Chiefs had not lost to the Broncos earlier this year, I might read more into their win over Denver. Frankly, I was not impressed with the way the Chiefs played.

COWBOYS: Assuming they don't self-destruct, the Cowboys are poised to move up in the rankings. But they have to beat a team better than the Bucs to do it.

PANTHERS: The loss to the Skins is a head-scratcher. It looks like the Skins defense shut down the Panthers. Not a good sign for a potential playoff team.

THE AVERAGE
GIANTS: The G-men aren't very good right now. Coughlin and Manning are both on the hot seat. While injuries have contributed, they really haven't beaten any great teams. The best team they beat was Dallas back in Tony Romo's premiere, a relief appearance. Next week, they get a full dose of Romo.

49ERS: Frank Gore will be a top 5 pick in fantasy leagues next year. He is THAT good.

STEELERS: It seems like years ago when this team won the Super Bowl. They certainly didn't look like a defending Super Bowl champ against the Ravens.

BROWNS: This team is sad to me, and I don't mean just their record. Just when they start to look like they might be turning a corner this year, they lay an egg against the Bengals. Now they are also starting to implode. Truly a shame.

JETS: Only bin Laden could think of a fate worse than holding millions of New Yorkers hostage to a Jets-Texans game.

FALCONS: Jim Mora's dad was right. Mike Vick IS a "coach killer".

BUCCANEERS: Rumor has it that Gruden is sending out job "feelers", much like he did when he was at Oakland. This is probably good, because the way the Bucs are playing, Gruden might not be there for long.

REDSKINS: To Jason Campbell's credit, he avoided most rookie mistakes and let the Redskins defense beat the Panthers. However, I hesitate to call this a turning point for the Skins.

RAMS: Splitting the series with the 49ers was nice. The five game losing streak they had prior to that was not so nice.

DOLPHINS: Joey Harrington, in his best Darth Vader voice: "Matt Millen, who's your daddy?"

TITANS: Vince Young already is what Mike Vick will NEVER be: a team leader. Granted, Young doesn't have Vick's shifty moves, but Young is no slouch running the ball. Plus Young has the leadership intangible that eludes Vick.

VIKINGS: Many years ago, they used to send people to Arizona for their allergies. Now, they send NFL teams like the Vikes there for wins.

JAGUARS: How do you beat the Giants one week, then lose to the Bills the next week?

EAGLES: Jeff Garcia did ok, but this team's lack of talent really shows without McNabb.

THE BAD
BILLS: After the Bills beat the Jags, you can almost imagine Jack del Rio screaming, "KHAAAAAN!". Seriously though, this team is improving, having won their last two games and three of their last four, with their only loss coming to Indy by one point.

PACKERS: vs. Seattle tonight.

TEXANS: I think the Texans went into "maybe next year" mode about two minutes after the last NFL draft.

RAIDERS: Even though they lost, the Raiders looked half decent against the Chargers. On the bright side, they get Houston next week.

CARDINALS: Beating the Cardinals is like having a job at McDonald's on your resume. It may not hurt you, but it doesn't exactly enhance your resume either.

LIONS: How many Fords does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. They keep waiting in the dark for Matt Millen to do it.