Jim Lang's Week 17 NFL Power Rankings

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TW	LW	Team	Our Take
1	2	(-)	Even with their backups in the game, nothing could stop the Chargers from winning their 11th straight game. Now the undisputed hottest team in the NFL will get some time to rest and recuperate as they get ready to play host in the divisional playoffs. Philip Rivers might not win the MVP award this year, but he has the potential to win something far more important: the Super Bowl.
2	1	(-)	Now that everyone is well rested the Colts should have no excuses as they enter the post-season. Peyton Manning and the Colts will carry a two-game losing streak into the bye week. Now the Colts have to pray to the football gods that they won’t have to face the Chargers in the playoffs.
3	6	(-)	One game does not a season make. But that all-out trouncing of the Giants Sunday gave the Vikings a taste of the way they were playing before their late-season slump. I know Brad Childress likes to stick to his well crafted script during games. But when you have a wild man good-old boy at quarterback like Brett Favre, some times it’s better to just let him play by the seat of his pants.
4	7	(-)	Wow. And I do mean wow. For the first time ever, the Dallas Cowboys have posted back-to-back shutouts. To make it even more special, the Cowboys shut out their bitter rivals the Eagles to win the NFC East title. Tony Romo has been spectacular the last month of the season and the Cowboys are hot at exactly the right time of the year. As good as the Cowboys looked in their win over the Eagles, the fact remains they haven’t won a playoff game since 1996. The pressure is on.
5	5	(-)	A little history lesson. Going into last year's playoffs, nobody was predicting the Cardinals would run the table and nearly win the Super Bowl. This year’s Cardinals are pretty much the same in every way except that they can run the ball a little better because of rookie running back Beanie Wells. Ken Whisenhunt decided not to show his hand against the Packers. Playing the exact same team in the opening round of the playoffs, you can be damn sure the Cardinals will use everything in their bag of tricks this weekend.
6	3	(-)	Sean Payton better chew on this little gem as he starts preparing for the playoffs. No team that has lost its last three games of the regular season has made it to the Super Bowl. I felt the Saints should have viewed their final game against the Panthers as a playoff game. The Saints needed to go into their bye week with a winning vibe around their facility. Now they head into the bye week with a lot of doubt and a lot of worry that they’re going to get bounced in the playoffs.
7	8	(-)	With the playoffs upon us, it should be noted that the Packers won seven of their final eight games. It should also be noted that Packers cornerback Charles Woodson is a leading candidate to be the defensive player of the year. While we’re at it, let’s note the fact the Packers are the first team ever to have a 4,000-yard passer (Rodgers), a 1,200-yard runner (Grant), and two 1,000-yard receivers (Jennings and Driver) in consecutive seasons. This is a good team.
8	9	(-)	Next to Tom Brady, I can’t think of any player that means more to the Patriots offence than Wes Welker. After racking up a league-leading 123 receptions, Welker blew out his left knee in the Patriots loss to the Texans. Goodbye ACL and goodbye MCL. So a beat-up Tom Brady working behind a less-than-perfect offensive line won’t have his favourite receiver in the lineup as they take on the Ravens in the playoffs. That’s going to be a very tough assignment.
9	4	(-)	What in the name of Wilbert Montgomery went on in Dallas on Sunday? With the NFC East title on the line, the Eagles didn’t just lose; they were embarrassed down in Dallas. Now they have to head right back to Dallas this weekend to face the very same Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs. Have no fear Eagles fans, because Andy Reid has told reporters that all of the mistakes are fixable. We shall see.
10	11	(-)	Willis McGahee should get serious consideration for the best stiff arm in the history of the NFL after what he did to Oakland's Hiram Eugene. McGahee and Ray Rice spearheaded a punishing Ravens running game as Baltimore beat the Raiders to get into the post season. They say that teams are an extension of their head coach and that holds true in Baltimore as the Ravens play with the same intensity and toughness and their coach John Harbaugh.
11	10	(-)	Maybe the Bengals have been through too much this season. Maybe the loss of Chris Henry is hurting them more than they care to admit. Maybe the Bengals defence can’t recover from the loss of rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga. Then again, maybe the Bengals are going to go back to Ohio and revert to their winning ways from earlier in the season. Then again, after gaining seven yards of total offence in the first half against the Jets, maybe not.
12	NR	(-)	Rex Ryan should steal a line from Lou Gehrig when he addresses the New York media this week and declare that "he’s the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Two weeks ago, the Colts pulled all their starters and gift-wrapped a win for the desperate Jets. This week, the Bengals mentally checked out of the game as the Jets clinched the final playoff spot in the AFC. I will say this, the Jets can run the ball and they can play defence. In fact, the Jets allowed the fewest points of any team in the NFL and they have the best running game in the NFL.

Fred Jackson gets a lot of votes for being the first Bills running back since Thurman Thomas way back in 1990 to rush for over 200 yards in a single game. As good as Jackson was, Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles was even better. Charles ran for a Chiefs franchise-record 259 yards and two touchdowns in K.C.’s win over the Broncos. Charles becomes the first running back ever to run for over 1,100 yards in less than 200 carries.

Where do I start? There are so many candidates that it is really hard to pick just one. But the winner is Chad Ochocinco. Good old Ochocinco told Bob Costas that if Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis could shut him down, he would change his name back to Johnson. Zero catches for zero yards equals another name change for number 85 on the Bengals.

The Denver Broncos should be very proud of themselves. They became only the third team since 1970 to start the season 6-0 and miss the playoffs. I hope Josh McDaniels is happy that he decided to drop the hammer on Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler.

Since all other teams are now looking to next season, here I'm going to give props to the team that "rose" to the occasion. While the Ravens and the Jets both won the games they had to get into the post-season, the team that really impressed me Sunday was the Houston Texans. Led by Matt Schaub, the Texans scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as they beat the Patriots and capped off the first winning season in the history of the franchise. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't enough.

Be sure to come back to sportsnet.ca at the end of the week for a full playoff preview as wild-card weekend kicks off Saturday.

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