NFL Power Rankings - Week 17

Final rankings of the season!  I'll admit, I fudged the numbers just slightly (and ONLY just slightly) to get all 12 playoff teams in the top 12.  It so rarely happens, and it was so close, that the temptation was too great.

This week's rankings [Last week's position]
1.  Indianapolis Colts (14-2) [1]
2.  San Diego Chargers (13-3) [2] : Coming into the playoffs on strong performances!
3.  New Orleans Saints (13-3) [3] : Three consecutive losses coming into the playoffs does not look good
4.  Minnesota Vikings (12-4) [6] : Blew away the Giants!
5.  Green Bay Packers (11-5) [7] : Hottest team in the NFC going into the playoffs
6.  Dallas Cowboys (11-5) [8] : Great shut-out of the Eagles to capture the NFC East crown
7.  New England Patriots (10-6) [4] : Trouble - the Pats were TRYING to win against Buffalo
8.  Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) [5] : Very few teams can be shut out going into the playoffs and win the next week
9.  Arizona Cardinals (10-6) [9] : Big loss to Green Bay, but they were resting many of their stars
10. New York Jets (9-7) [11] : HUGE shut-out of the Bengals
11. Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) [10] : The Bengals WEREN'T resting their guys, and the Jets shut them out

12. Baltimore Ravens (9-7) [13] : The Ravens captured the sixth seed in the AFC with a good game against Oakland
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7) [12] : The defending Super Bowl champs finished well, but that late season slide killed their playoff hopes
14. Houston Texans (9-7) [14] : The Texans missed out on their first playoff berth in team history, but it was a fine year regardless
15. Atlanta Falcons (9-7) [17]
16. San Francisco 49ers (8-8) [16] : Mike Singletary has this team on the way up.  Watch out for them next season!
17. Carolina Panthers (8-8) [18] : Still playing spoiler
18. Denver Broncos (8-8) [15] : Only the third team in NFL history to start 6-0 and miss the playoffs
19. Tennessee Titans (8-8) [22] : Vince Young has guaranteed himself the starting role next year
20. Chicago Bears (7-9) [20] : Is Lovie's job in jeopardy?
21. Miami Dolphins (7-9) [21]
22. New York Giants (8-8) [19] : Starting 5-0 and finishing 8-8?  Blame the defense, which is why they're in the market for a new coordinator
23. Cleveland Browns (6-10) [24]
24. Buffalo Bills (6-10) [27] : The entire coaching staff was fired, which seems a little extreme!  Ryan Fitzpatrick looks to be their quarterback of the future.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (7-9) [23]
26. Seattle Seahawks (5-11) [26]
27. Kansas City Chiefs (4-12) [30] : Strong conclusion to the season, but they need to win when it matters
28. Tampa Bay Bucs (3-13) [25]
29. Oakland Raiders (5-11) [29] : Tom Cable will likely get the ax, but at least he had the guts to stand up to Al Davis and pull worthless JaMarcus Russell
30. Washington Redskins (4-12) [28] : Daniel Snyder didn't even wait 24 hours to can Jim Zorn
31. Detroit Lions (2-14) [31]
32. St Louis Rams (1-15) [32]

Division rankings [Last Week's position]
1.  AFC North [1] : Two playoff teams and an improving Steelers team provide this division with a nice boost
2.  AFC South [3] : They have the top seed in the AFC and strong Houston and Tennessee teams
3.  NFC North [6] : Two playoff teams and Chicago's improvement helped this division
4.  AFC East [4] : Two playoff teams are the only good things about this division
5.  NFC East [2] : Last division with two playoff teams, the collapse of the Giants hurt them
6.  NFC South [5] : If the Saints could have avoided their downward spiral, the division might have finished better
7.  AFC West [7] : San Diego is hot, but the others are forgettable
8.  NFC West [8] : Not even their division winner is worth much attention