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Jim Lang's Power Rankings: November 12, 2008

TW LW Team Our Take
1 1 I know Titans fans are screaming obscenities right now but even Jeff Fisher would admit that the Giants are one scary football team. To start with, the Giants play in the toughest division in the NFL right now, the NFC East. The Giants were pushed to the limit by the Eagles but in the end, the better team won. Led by Brandon Jacobs, the Giants had the ball for over 39 minutes against the Eagles. Mentally tough. Physically tough. The Giants are the class of the NFL. It will be interesting to see what defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has up his sleeve for rookie quarterback Joe Flacco next week.
2 2 Jeff Fisher and the Titans couldn't run the ball to save their lives against the Bears. So what do they do? They unleashed the comeback player of the year in the NFL, Kerry Collins. The 35-year-old quarterback passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns as the Titans came away with a tough win on the road in Chicago. An interesting match-up this week for the Titans as they travel to Jacksonville to take on their bitter division foes, the Jaguars.
3 4 You have to wonder if Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme was heaving his guts out on the flight home from Oakland. I still can't believe that Delhomme walked into the Black Hole and tossed four interceptions. Luckily for John Fox and the Panthers, they were playing the Raiders and still came away with a win. As bad as Delhomme played, DeAngelo Williams played great. He shredded the Raiders defence for a career-high 140 yards and a touchdown. Sunday, Delhomme will get to take out his frustrations on the Lions.
4 3 Look, there's no shame in losing to a future Hall of Famer like Peyton Manning. The only shame in the Steelers' loss to the Colts was the fact that Ben Roethlisberger tossed three interceptions. In a great display of leadership, Big Ben took all the blame for the loss and threw himself under the bus for his mistakes. It's a team game and the team with the toughest schedule in the NFL will need the entire team to man up as they take on the Chargers this week.
5 12 The Patriots had little trouble with the Bills this week. Against the Bills, the Pats defence assaulted Trent Edwards and made numerous big plays. The Pats defence took another major hit this week with the news that linebacker Adalius Thomas is done for the season with a broken forearm. That was the bad news for New England. The good news was the play of running back BenJarvis Green-Ellis. What a great name and what a great find for the Pats in this, "the year of the serious injury".
6 9 Brett Favre likely never had an easier time beating another team in his lengthy career than the Jets laugher over the Rams. Jets head coach Eric Magnini recently used the analogy that Farve is like a crazy blackjack player who is willing to hit on 20. Against the Rams, Favre didn't take any crazy chances, made the most of his running game and let the defence have some fun. The Jets true acid test will come Thursday night in Foxboro when they take on the Patriots. As long as Farve doesn't do anything too stupid, the Jets will give the Patriots all they can handle.
7 6 Coming off a bye week, the Bucs get a very interesting test when they take on Adrian Peterson and the up-and-coming Vikings. Peterson is coming off of 192-yard game against the Packers. Needless to say, Jon Gruden, Monte Kiffin and the Bucs coaching staff will be spending countless hours this week devising some kind of way to stop Peterson and the Vikings running game. The Bucs also better find a way to prevent Jared Allen from physically abusing little Jeff Garcia.
8 7 Coming off a bye week, the Redskins have a huge game coming up Sunday night against the Cowboys. A win and the Redskins would have a two-game lead on the Cowboys in the airtight NFC East standings. It will be interesting to see what kind of game plan Jim Zorn comes up with this week. You would have to think Clinton Portis will get a lot of work. How happy do you think DeAngelo Hall feels this week? He gets waived out of that gong show in Oakland; and then he gets signed by one of the best teams in the NFC.
9 8 You have to go back to 1975 to find the last time the Cardinals won a division title in the NFL. At the time, the franchise was based in St. Louis and their starting quarterback was the ageless Jim Hart. In 2008, the Cards are based in Phoenix and their starting quarterback is the equally ageless Kurt Warner. Loved this stat from ESPN, Warner has thrown for at least 300 yards in 45 percent of his career starts; the highest percentage in the history of the league. I loved the goal-line stand at the end.
10 10 Admit it. Before the season started, you took one look at the Ravens quarterback situation and thought they might be lucky to win six or seven games this year. Now here they are, being led by a rookie quarterback, and they're riding a rock solid four-game winning streak. Joe Flacco and the Ravens already have six wins this year and have stunned people around the NFL by how good they've looked. Future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis looked unstoppable in their win over the Texans. Flacco and the Ravens get a huge test this week when they take on the Giants in the Meadowlands.
11 NR To paraphrase Mark Twain: "rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated". Their win over the Steelers was a great reminder to everyone in the NFL that the Colts are still a team to be reckoned with. Facing the NFL's No. 1 ranked pass defence, Peyton Manning threw three touchdowns and zero interceptions in an historic road win. I say, 'historic' because it was the Colts first win in Pittsburgh since 1968. Dwight Freeney and the Colts defence came up with two sacks and three huge interceptions.
12 NR With all due respect to Joe Flacco and some of the great young running backs in the league, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is starting to look like a lock to win the NFL Rookie of the Year award. Playing their division rivals in a big game, the guy they call "Matty Ice" threw two touchdowns and played a smart, mistake-free game. Falcons defensive end John Abraham sacked Saints quarterback Drew Brees to extend his NFC lead with 11. Lost in all of this is the fact their new GM, Thomas Dimitroff, played football for the Guelph Gryphons.