So last week was a pretty rough week for the power rankings making predictions. Also, the Patriots’ loss after dominating the NFL for the previous 9 weeks or so really screwed things up. I’m hoping that somebody could actually mathematically unseat them with a win this week so we at least have the #1 ranked team in the Super Bowl. The rankings only predicted 1 game right in the divisional playoffs after going 3/4 in the wild card round. The only one it got right was the Bears, the obvious pick. My dog outpicked me, picking the Bears and Packers but missing the Ravens and Patriots.
With each of the previously top 3 ranked teams losing last week, we were in for a shakeup this week. The Patriots are barely holding on to the #1 spot still, despite being out of the playoffs. The team who beat them, the Jets, moved up to #4. The Steelers moved up to #3 with their win, while the Ravens fell 3 spots to #5. The Packers moved up 3 spots to #2, while Falcons fell 3 spots to #6. The Bears, who are still kind of on the outside looking in, only moved up 2 spots to #7 by beating Seattle. The Seahawks stayed at #22. All of the movement this week involved the playoff teams, with the exception of San Diego and Tampa, who dropped a spot because of the Bears’ win. Usually a strength of schedule change causes some other eliminated teams to flip around. Not this week.
So without further ado, here are the power ranks (4-4) and my dog’s (5-3) picks for this week:
Power Ranks:
#2 Packers over #7 Bears
#3 Steelers over #4 Jets
Jake the Golden Retriever:
Packers over Bears
Jets over Steelers
A Jets and Bears win would be devastating for the power ranks. They would not only be 4-6 at picking playoff winners, but the Patriots would probably be #1 heading into the Super Bowl. Wins by the Packers and Steelers will probably be enough to jump New England.
Full Ranks – All teams from #10 down stayed even so I’m not going to type the change this week for them:
1. Patriots – 78.76 – Even
2. Packers – 78.01 – +3
3. Steelers – 74.47 – +1
4. Jets – 71.44 – +2
5. Ravens – 70.92 – -3
6. Falcons – 69.69 – -3
7. Bears – 66.17 – +2
8. Buccaneers – 64.44 – -1
9. Chargers – 61.31 – -1
10. Lions – 58.75
11. Colts – 58.29
12. Giants – 54.91
13. Chiefs – 54.33
14. Eagles – 53.18
15. Saints – 52.48
16. Raiders – 51.69
17. Cowboys – 45.06
18. 49ers – 42.63
19. Rams – 42.01
20. Titans – 40.15
21. Texans – 39.66
22. Seahawks – 38.76
23. Dolphins – 37.36
24. Bengals – 36.32
25. Jaguars – 35.93
26. Redskins – 35.61
27. Vikings – 33.69
28. Cardinals – 33.09
29. Browns – 32.60
30. Bills – 32.27
31. Broncos – 27.39
32. Panthers – 24.62
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