The State of the NFL: Week 14

Week 13 was a pretty boring week in the NFL. There were only about four or five games that mattered, and I'll cover them all, but the rest of the games were just kinda blah. Here comes the list!

The Elite
1. New Orleans Saints
2. Indianapolis Colts
3. Minnesota Vikings

Out of these teams, the Colts looked the best by far this week. They played a red hot Titans team and pulled out a tough win. The Titans were able to hang with them, and in my opinion, easily could have won this game. The Colts simply would not allow it to happen. That is why they are one of the NFL's Elite teams.

The Saints remain on top, but it took a miracle to keep them there. They were outplayed by the Redskins for the entire game, and it took a few questionable calls and a missed 23 yard field goal to get the win. I said last week that the Saints would go undefeated, and it looked as if I would be wrong one week after that prediction. Now, I am ten times more certain that they will finish the season without a loss. They look like a team of destiny. They have almost no one to challenge them (we'll get to those Cowboys later) and they pull out wins like this. No one is beating them, and I have to say it looks like no one is beating the Colts either at this point, but I'm more reluctant for them because we know they will rest their players, while I think the Saints go for it to the end.

The Vikings got shellacked by the Cardinals. Thoroughly dominated in every way. I can't tell you how bad they looked. The great Adrian Peterson was held to 19 yards. Brett Favre looked like the Brett Favre of old. Is this a sign of a rapid decline in December like we saw from Favre last season? It might be, but its too soon to tell. The Cardinals just played out of their minds on Sunday night.

The Contenders
4. San Diego Chargers
5. Cincinnati Bengals
6. Green Bay Packers
7. Arizona Cardinals
8. Philadelphia Eagles
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. New England Patriots
11. Denver Broncos
12. Tennessee Titans
13. Jacksonville Jaguars

There are starting to be some really dangerous teams in this tier. The difference between the Contenders and the Elite is the smallest it has been all season. San Diego and Cincinnati each had easy games this week and handled them. The Packers managed to knock off the Ravens on Monday night in an absolutely horrendous game marred by penalties and bad turnovers. However, I really like my pre-season pick to win the Superbowl entering the playoffs. They are peaking at exactly the right time. Watch out for them.

The Cardinals and Eagles both won convincingly. The Cardinals crushed the Vikings, as I said before, and Philly took a beat up Falcons team and absolutely dominated them. Philly gets Brian Westbrook and Desean Jackson back this week and they are another team I really liked going into the season that I am fully back on their bandwagon. Look for them to beat down the New York Giants this weekend and cement their place at the top of the NFC East.

The Patriots, Cowboys and Titans all lost their games and so they take a tumble. New England is being obliterated by poor coaching. I have no idea what Bellichick is thinking these days, but its not good. They need to turn it around and win their last 4 games if they want to be taken seriously. They are in crisis mode right now. I think they can right the ship, but they need a change, and fast.

The Cowboys lost and start their December slide. Romo had a terrific game, so it's really not his fault. It might be in their heads, I have no idea, I can't explain it, but it's certainly real. I'd be scared to trust this Cowboys team the rest of the way, and they are looking squarely at a first round exit from the playoffs, again.

The Titans take a big step backward in their playoff hopes with their loss to Indy. The best they can do is 9-7, so they would need to win out and get some help. However, that doesn't mean they don't belong in this tier. They lost to a fantastic football team and could definitely finish 9-7. It's really depressing that they lost those 6 Kerry Collins games, especially when some of them were so close. Its looking like this is a playoff team that won't make the playoffs, whereas the Jaguars, who are newcomers to the tier, are in the driver's seat to get in, even though they are a worse football team.

The Mediocre
14. Baltimore Ravens
15. Miami Dolphins
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
17. New York Jets
18. New York Giants
19. Atlanta Falcons
20. Houston Texans
21. Washington Redskins
22. Carolina Panthers
23. San Fransisco 49ers
24. Oakland Raiders

I changed the name of the tier because there is no word that describes these teams better. The big news comes from the two additions at the top of the tier. The Ravens and Steelers are no longer contenders. Joe Flacco has been completely shaken. The Ravens defense is not what it used to be, especially with the injuries it has suffered to key players Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed. They are not going anywhere, and with the outside chance they get into the playoffs, I would bet they get blown out.

Same goes for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but for one reason and one reason only: Troy Polamalu. His injury has destroyed this defense. Their offense is even better than it was last year when it one the Super Bowl, but the defense is a shadow of itself. Losing this guy has the same type of impact on the Steelers' defense as losing Peyton Manning would to the Colts' offense. He is that important. He will never win an MVP because they never give them to defensive players, but he should definitely be more considered.

We do have one new addition from a team rising up from the Awful. The mediocre would love to welcome the Oakland Raiders, who definitely play the part of a middle of the road team under Bruce Gradkowski. Can we give JaMarcus Russell the Least Valuable Player award yet, or do we have to wait til the end of the season?

The Awful
25. Seattle Seahawks
26. Chicago Bears
27. Buffalo Bills
28. Detroit Lions
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Kansas City Chiefs
31. St. Louis Rams
32. Cleveland Browns

The Bears, although they won, fall into the Awful, because they were playing the Rams and they looked bad against them. The freaking Rams. A team that had playoff hopes coming into the season is relegated to being amongst the Lions and the Browns this year. So much for the Jay Cutler era.

That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed. As always, feel free to leave comments or e-mail me with questions. Until next time.