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Jim Lang's Power Rankings: November 25, 2008

TW LW Team Our Take
1 1 Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. No Brandon Jacobs, whatever. The Giants still walked into Arizona and beat the Cardinals. Eli Manning, Derrick Ward and Domink Hixon picked up the slack offensively as the Giants improved to 10 and 1. The unblockable Justin Tuck came up huge again with a sack and a forced fumble. It's hard to believe this is the same Giants team that was being called a fluke and a massive underdog before Super Bowl 42. Now, the Giants are the undisputed bad boys of the NFL. They are physically and mentally tough. Their offensive line assault opposing defences. Their defence is downright nasty. A few more wins and the Giants will make sure that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC will go through Meadowlands.
2 2 You just knew they were going to lose at least one game in the regular season. The way the Jets are playing right now - the Titans have no reason to hang their heads over their loss to Gang Green. In fact, I bet Jeff Fisher would privately tell you he's glad his team lost a game. Now all this undefeated talk is over and the Titans can get back to preparing for the playoffs. Playing the Lions in the Thanksgiving Day special is a good way to forget about their loss t the Jets. Pity the poor Lions as Jeff Fisher and the Titans are bound to be in a foul mood for this one.
3 5 Brett Favre knew what he was talking about when he decided he wasn't done playing football. The Jets walked into Nashville and handed the Titans their first loss of the season. Now, Favre and the Jets hold the hammer in the AFC East. All of a sudden, Favre and he Jets have won five straight games and seven of their last eight. There are people across the NFL talking openly about the possibility of a Jets versus Giants Super Bowl. There's still a lot of football to be played before that can happen. But Favre and the Jets have the look of a team built to do serious damage in the playoffs.
4 3 I am convinced there is a new commandment in the NFL. Thou shall be cold and snowy at Heinz Field for all home games. With the beleaguered grass turf in Pittsburgh being ground into a cauldron of frozen mud, the Steelers outclassed the highly dysfunctional Bengals. The interesting dilemma for Mike Tomlin and the Steelers is the fact the Ravens keep winning. This means the Steelers really can't give battered and bruised Ben Roethlisberger any kind of a break before the playoffs. Steelers will be on the road for the marquee game of week 13 as they take on the Patriots. You can bet that Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will have a few tricks up his sleeve for Matt Cassell.
5 6 Good old Chucky can be an awfully cruel fellow when he wants to be. Jon Gruden and the Bucs spot the winless Lions a 17 point lead then proceed to crush their pathetic little dreams of winning a game in 2008. After falling behind 17-0 - the Bucs outscored the Lions 38-3 the rest of the way. Ronde Barber put the dagger in the hearts of the Lions when he returned a Daunte Culpepper pick for a touchdown. While Chucky and the Bucs celebrated - the cameras caught Lions coach Rod Marinelli uttering a nasty four letter word. If the Bucs are going to clinch the NFC South the next three weeks will be the true litmus test as they face the Saints, Panthers and the Falcons.
6 7 Sunday night's win over the Chargers was another example how nobody in the AFC really wants to play the Colts. Manning has rediscovered his Mojo. Tony Dungy is a coaching legend and Dwight Freeney is a nightmare for any left tackle in the league. The real secret weapon for the Colts is kicker Adam Vinatieri. Sunday night - the greatest clutch kicker in the modern history of the NFL did it again. With no time left on the clock, Vinatieri nailed a game winning 51 yarder. That was the 22nd time in Vinatieri's career he's kicked a game winning field goal in the last minute of the fourth quarter or overtime.
7 9 Much has been written about Matt Cassell and all the money he's going to make in the off season. Not enough is being made about this guy's character and patience. Cassell was forced to sit on the sideline and back up both Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart while he was at USC. Cassell never let on that both him and Leinart kept working hard. Cassell gets drafted by the Patriots and finds himself standing on the sideline watching the NFL's golden boy, Tom Brady forge his hall of fame career. Through it all, Cassell kept his mouth shut and kept learning the Patriots way of doing things. Proof once again that sometimes in life; you have to wait for your chance to shine.
8 8 One more win. One more, measly, little win is all that's standing in the way of the Cardinals and division title. Of course, the Cardinals ran into the New York Giants buzz saw on Sunday and will have to wait before celebrating their first division title since 1975. Kurt Warner is a very competitive guy and was frustrated at his lack of success against the Giants. Warner and his high flying passing offence will get to take out their frustrations against the Eagles and the Rams over the next two weeks.
9 11 That was a close one for Jim Zorn and the Redskins. It's interesting to note that a former quarterback like Zorn is determined to work Clinton Portis until he drops. Even though he's not 100 per cent healthy, Portis still had 29 carries for 143 yards. Jim Zorn and the Skins get the bad fortune of facing the Giants this week. It will be interesting to see what kind of a pounding Portis will be able to endure. I love the guy's toughness, but you have to wonder if he can keep up this crushing workload.
10 NR They're baaccckkk. Tony Romo got that email about throwing the ball to Terrell Owens. Romo hooked up with TO for a touchdown in the Cowboys win over the 49ers. TO's 75 yarder was sweet but a Romo pass that hit Owens for 52 yards down the right sideline was even sweeter. As long as the Cowboys can find a way to protect Romo's damaged pinky finger they have a good shot at the Wild Card in the NFC.
11 NR Ed Reed is what NFL coaches refer to as a "pro." Reed comes to work every day and puts in his time. When it's game time, you can almost always count on Reed to do something special. In the Ravens pounding of the Eagles, Reed set NFL history with an incredible 108 yard interception return for a touchdown. Young Joe Flacco completely outplayed slumping veteran Donovan McNabb. After taking on the Bengals this week, the Ravens schedule is brutal as they take on the Redskins, Steelers and the Cowboys.
12 NR I can't believe there is a more valuable fantasy football player this year than Falcons running back Michael Turner. The former San Diego Charger scored 4 touchdowns in the Falcons win over the Panthers and now leads the NFL with 13 rushing TD's. The Falcons demolished the Panthers and have now won three of their last four games. The Panthers should be worried. They barely beat the Raiders and the Lions; then got blown out by the Falcons. Interesting test for the Dirty Birds as the desperate Chargers in San Diego.