What’s the point of power rankings now that there is just one week left in the regular season? If you’ve asked that question, you are implicitly saying that power rankings serve a purpose earlier in the year! If you want to see the playoff picture, I laid that out earlier this week, so I’ll assume you’ll be staying on this post for the snark.
I was on the Seahawks’ bandwagon a couple of weeks earlier than most, but they’re now #1 in Football Outsiders’ DVOA ratings and third in Advanced NFL Stats’ Efficiency Rankings. Seattle is also first in Pro-Football-Reference.com’s SRS Ratings; the Seahawks are second in the NFL in points differential, behind the Patriots, but a much tougher schedule was enough to close the gap there. Now that Richard Sherman is cleared to play in the postseason, Seattle is a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They may not have home field advantage in the playoffs, but they do have my Coach of the Year.
Here’s the week 17 schedule along with my projected winner:
| Road Team | Home Team | Time | Proj Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | @ | Atlanta Falcons | 1:00 PM | Atlanta Falcons |
| New York Jets | @ | Buffalo Bills | 1:00 PM | Buffalo Bills |
| Baltimore Ravens | @ | Cincinnati Bengals | 1:00 PM | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Houston Texans | @ | Indianapolis Colts | 1:00 PM | Houston Texans |
| Chicago Bears | @ | Detroit Lions | 1:00 PM | Chicago Bears |
| Green Bay Packers | @ | Minnesota Vikings | 1:00 PM | Green Bay Packers |
| Carolina Panthers | @ | New Orleans Saints | 1:00 PM | Carolina Panthers |
| Philadelphia Eagles | @ | New York Giants | 1:00 PM | New York Giants |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | @ | Tennessee Titans | 1:00 PM | Tennessee Titans |
| Cleveland Browns | @ | Pittsburgh Steelers | 1:00 PM | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Miami Dolphins | @ | New England Patriots | 4:25 PM | New England Patriots |
| Kansas City Chiefs | @ | Denver Broncos | 4:25 PM | Denver Broncos |
| Oakland Raiders | @ | San Diego Chargers | 4:25 PM | San Diego Chargers |
| St. Louis Rams | @ | Seattle Seahawks | 4:25 PM | Seattle Seahawks |
| Arizona Cardinals | @ | San Francisco 49ers | 4:25 PM | San Francisco 49ers |
| Dallas Cowboys | @ | Washington Redskins | 8:20 PM | Washington Redskins |
That leaves us with the final week 17 standings:
| Team | Rec | Wins | PrvWin | Diff | RemSOS | RemHG | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 13-2 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0.500 | 1 | Mike Smith says the Falcons will play to win this game. I believe him. |
| Houston Texans | 12-3 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 0.625 | 0 | The best season in Texans history will be secure with a win in Indianapolis in week 17. |
| Denver Broncos | 12-3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0.125 | 1 | The best team in the AFC? With a win at home against Kansas City, the Broncos will finish the year on an 11-game win streak. |
| New England Patriots | 11-4 | 12 | 12 | -1 | 0.438 | 1 | A home win against the Dolphins will mark just the second time Bill Belichick's Patriots have gone undefeated in the division. |
| Green Bay Packers | 11-4 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | Winning in Minnesota is going to be difficult, but the Packers need a win to secure a much-needed bye. |
| San Francisco 49ers | 10-4-1 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1 | 0.313 | 1 | The 49ers can salvage a strong season by winning at home against Arizona; a loss and the team is in a full-fledged free fall. |
| Seattle Seahawks | 10-5 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0.406 | 1 | A Super Bowl championship? The coach of the year? The rookie of the year? Seattle might end up with all three in a couple of months. |
| Chicago Bears | 9-6 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | The Bears rooting for the Packers is one of the weirder twists of week 17. |
| Indianapolis Colts | 10-5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0.875 | 1 | A magnificent season in Indianapolis is capped by the return of Chuck Pagano this weekend. |
| Baltimore Ravens | 10-5 | 10 | 9 | -1 | 0.563 | 0 | The Ravens plugged the leak against the Giants, but week 17 against the Bengals will be more like a pre-season game. |
| Washington Redskins | 9-6 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0.625 | 1 | The Redskins entered the year with the least hype in the NFC East; they may end the year with the division crown. |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 9-6 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0.563 | 1 | In a meaningless game, I'll take the home team. A.J. Green and Geno Atkins will give the Patriots trouble in round 1. |
| New York Giants | 8-7 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0.250 | 1 | The only team the last three years to start 6-2 and miss the playoffs? The 2010 Giants. The 2012 Giants may soon join them. |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-6 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0.750 | 1 | I doubt they can do it, but if they beat the Packers and Texans in back-to-back weeks, they will have earned their playoff berth. |
| Dallas Cowboys | 8-7 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0.563 | 0 | Tony Romo is closing in on 5,000 yards, Jason Witten set the single-season record for catches by a tight end, DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer have double digit sacks, and the Cowboys still need to win in Washington to make the playoffs. |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-8 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0.313 | 1 | It's 2006 and 2009 all over again for the Steelers. Another playoff absence that leaves more questions than answers for Pittsburgh. |
| St. Louis Rams | 7-7-1 | 7.5 | 6.5 | -1 | 0.688 | 0 | Sam Bradford and the passing game haven't improved significantly, but the defense is above-average. Add some weapons and this team can compete in 2013. |
| Miami Dolphins | 7-8 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0.750 | 0 | Cameron Wake is having the best season by a player you don't hear about. |
| Carolina Panthers | 6-9 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0.375 | 0 | Cam Newton ranks 1st in yards per completion, 2nd in Y/A, 6th in NY/A, and 10th in NY/A this year. He's also added over 700 rushing yards. |
| San Diego Chargers | 6-9 | 7 | 6 | -1 | 0.250 | 1 | In sixteen seasons as head coach, Norv Turner has made the playoffs just four times. |
| New Orleans Saints | 7-8 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0.438 | 1 | The Saints have allowed the most yards of any team through 15 games in NFL history; they're only 282 yards allowed from the record. |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-9 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0.813 | 0 | Can the Bucs end the season first in rushing yards allowed and last in passing yards allowed? |
| New York Jets | 6-9 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 0.375 | 0 | Just. End. The. Season. |
| Buffalo Bills | 5-10 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.438 | 1 | C.J. Spiller is closing in on the highest YPC average of any player with 1200 yards in league history. |
| Tennessee Titans | 5-10 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0.125 | 1 | Chris Johnson joined Eddie George and Earl Campbell as just the 7th running back with 6800 rushing yards in his first five seasons. |
| Cleveland Browns | 5-10 | 5 | 5 | -1 | 0.563 | 0 | It's been a typical rookie season for Brandon Weeden, which just looks bad in 2012. A difficult decision faces Cleveland management in the offseason. |
| Arizona Cardinals | 5-10 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0.719 | 0 | From Kevin Kolb to John Skelton to Ryan Lindley to Brian Hoyer. In case you didn't figure it out, it's been a rough year in the desert. |
| Detroit Lions | 4-11 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 0.625 | 1 | Calvin Johnson goes for 2,000 yards and Matt Stafford goes for 700 pass attempts as the Lions try to knock the Bears out of the playoffs. |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4-11 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 0.625 | 0 | The Andy Reid era is going to go out with a whimper, with the Eagles losing 11 of their final 12 games. |
| Oakland Raiders | 4-11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.375 | 0 | Terrelle Pryor or Matt Leinart? This is what the Raiders-Chargers rivalry has come to. |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-13 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0.375 | 0 | It's been a rough season in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars did put a scare into the Patriots on Sunday. |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2-13 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0.813 | 0 | The Chiefs are one loss away from securing the #1 pick. I think Peyton Manning will make sure of that. |