The Packers are still number one, but things changed after that as the Ravens knocked off the 49ers on Thanksgiving, moving them into the 2 spot. The 49ers, Steelers, and Saints round out the top 5. The Houston Texans moved up from 9^th to 7^th with a victory on Sunday, but with Matt Leinart going down leaving T.J. Yates as their only QB they could drop down in the next few weeks.

The Falcons saw themselves crack the top 10 moving up one from 11^th to 10^th after a solid win over Minnesota has them nipping at the Saints heels. The big winners this week are the Ravens, Patriots, Cowboys, and Raiders. The Ravens got a great win over the 49ers to prove they are legit title contenders moving from 5^th to 2^nd.

The Patriots beat up the Eagles, and with an easy schedule they now have their sights on a number 1 seed. The Cowboys moved up from 10^th to 8^th, but with the Saints win over the Giants and the Giants playing Green Bay next they look to pull away with the NFC East and vie for a top seed.

The Raiders moved from 14^th to 12^th and could easily keep moving up as Carson Palmer continues to learn the offense and Michael Bush continues doing his best Darren McFadden impression. The big losers this week are the Bears, Giants, Eagles, and Chargers. The Bears dropped the furthest by far this week falling from 6^th to 13^th and with Caleb Hanie under center their playoff chances are dwindling.

The Giants fell from 12^th to 14^th losing badly to the Saints and watching their playoff chances slip away due to a rough schedule. The Eagles, while remaining in the 18^th spot are big losers this week as they saw their season, which started with Super Bowl aspirations, essentially ended as the Patriots routed them at home.

The Chargers fell again this week from 20^th to 22^nd with their sixth straight loss and only a small hope of making the playoffs. Rounding out the bottom this week is the Vikings, Rams, and Colts. All three teams look like they’ll remain there for the rest of the season and the Colts don’t even look like an NFL team at this point.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/baltimoreravens

The article NFL Power Rankings Week 13 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Not much change this week at the top of the rankings as the top four remain the same with the Packers still at number 1. The Ravens saw themselves move up into the 5 spot with the injury to Bears QB Jay Cutler and could move up again with a Thanksgiving showdown against the 49ers.

The Cowboys find themselves in the top 10 this week after another victory and a Giants loss has them atop the NFC East with a game against Miami coming up on Thanksgiving.

The Big winners this week are the Broncos, Eagles, and Dolphins. The Broncos are 4-1 with Tim Tebow under center and after another comeback win to knock off the Jets the Broncos suddenly are contenders in the race for the AFC West and a wild card spot moving them up to 16^th from 19^th.

The Eagles got a win over the Giants moving them up to 18^th from 23^rd and giving them a record of 4-6 and giving them an outside shot at still making the playoffs. The Dolphins jumped from 29^th to 25^th with their third straight win and could jump even higher if they manage the upset against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

This wasn’t a good week for New York teams as it saw all three teams fall in the rankings. The Giants, Jets, and Bills make the list for big losers this week all losing games they should’ve won.

The Giants fell to 12^th from 6^th after a poor showing against the Eagles left them in 2^nd place behind the Cowboys for the AFC East title. The Jets fell from 14^th to 17^th after Tim Tebow performed his magic beating the Jets late and potentially ending their chances for a Super Bowl and a playoff spot. The Bills got beat down by Miami losing their third straight falling from 17^th to 19^th and losing their lead rusher Fred Jackson.

Rounding out the bottom of the list again this week are the Panthers, Rams and Colts. The Panthers and Colts play this weekend so look for one of those two teams to move up the rankings next week, but Cam Newton should be too much for the Colts to handle.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/Packers

The article Week 12 NFL Power Rankings appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Packers are again at the top of the Power Rankings this week as they remain undefeated. The Ravens and Steelers switch spots after Joe Flacco led a late drive to win the game at Heinz Field. The Bears, Texans, and Bengals all cracked the top 10 this week with the Patriots and Bills both losing and falling out of the top ten.

The big winner this week is the Dallas Cowboys who jump from 21^st to 15^th, with a win over Seattle to stay within striking distance of the Giants who have a tough schedule coming up. Another big move was the Jets who while only moving from 13^th to 11^th with their win over Buffalo, have jumped both the Patriots and Bills to be the highest ranked AFC East team.

The big losers this week are the New England Patriots who fell from 6^th to 13^th after their second straight loss. The Bills also saw themselves fall from 14^th to 8^th after getting beat at home by the Jets. The Chiefs dropped from 21^st to 16^th after their four game win streak was snapped by the winless Miami Dolphins in a big way.

The Cardinals, who last week fell behind the Rams, switched with the Rams again this week after beating St. Louis in OT on an amazing punt return by rookie Patrick Peterson. Rounding out the bottom of the rankings again this week are the Indianapolis Colts who lost again this week and look like they’ll be the front runners for Andrew Luck in next year’s draft.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.facebook.com/MiamiDolphins

The article Week 10: NFL Power Rankings appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

We all saw this coming. It wasn’t supposed to happen in week 5, 6 or even week 7 but here we are: the Tebow era has officially arrived. This entire situation was handled poorly by the Broncos from the off season. Fans are fickle so it makes sense that they would clamor for the backup quarterback after an 0-4 start. The problem is Tim Tebow was third on the depth chart.

This was not purely a coaching decision or even a front office decision. This sudden move was brought on by the Denver fans. Now we all will see what Tebow can do and what the coaches saw in practice that landed him third on the depth chart. It must be a first in the NFL to have a quarterback coming from third on the depth chart to starting without any injuries to the true backup. Only with Tebow is anything like this possible.

Best Team In NFL

Power rankings change from week to week in the NFL, so it is unlikely to find the same team leading that conversation from week 1 to week 6, but that is the case with the Green Bay Packers. It would not be surprising for this team to go 14-2 this season or even better, but of course injuries will play a large role in that.

They are by far the best team, but the way they are winning will have to change or expand if they are to win the whole thing again.  They are 22^nd in the league in rushing and 30^th in passing defense, meaning there is still room for improvement. Then again, maybe they don’t need anything but Aaron Rodgers -arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.

Michael Vick and the Eagles

Michael Vick and the Eagles are 1-4 right now after losing again this past weekend: a game where everything that could have gone wrong did in fact go wrong. There is a lot of blame to go around for this dismal start to the season, but at some point everyone assumes they will correct things.

There is too much talent for them not to. When watching the Eagles play, it is difficult to see where all the money went and what they got back in return.

They are second to last in rush defense and the huge holes they allow makes it impossible for their smaller and less experienced linebackers to make plays. Some of the blame has to go to the defensive coordinator, but more blame has to go to the head coach who hired a guy who has never coached on the pro level before.

Let’s not forget to blame Michael Vick for his inability to stop turning the ball over. Maybe they will turn things around, but they start next week against Washington, an improved division opponent who is 3-1 thus far.

Jets, Overrated?

The New York Jets have and will always be on the front pages and in every football conversation no matter what goes on in the game on Sundays.  Rex Ryan is a talker to say the least and his team usually responds, except for the last couple of games: games played against rivals New England and Baltimore.

They had horrible performances both resulting in loses. The Jets now stand at 2-3 early in the season and a must win game awaits them in Miami, a team without a quarterback and playing a major role in potentially winning the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes. The defense has been a letdown so far for the Jets but the offense has been worse, and after Miami the schedule only gets harder.

Andrew Luck Sweepstakes

It’s not every day you find a quarterback like Payton Manning who hasn’t played a down in the NFL. Yes, it’s true every year the talent evaluators become infatuated with a particular college player and proclaim him King, but this Andrew Luck thing is interesting and somewhat different.

Is Luck the next Manning or the next Favre or even Tom Brady? We won’t know for sure until he has gone through the pains of being a quarterback in the league. The pro football world has been all about Andrew Luck for a while and he would have been the top pick last year if he had chosen to leave and go pro.

But we must wait another year while the legend grows and he matures into what will hopefully be a great NFL Quarterback. Teams and professional athletes are not usually in the business of losing on purpose in hopes of landing a savior, but it sure would be nice for a team like the Miami dolphins or any other team looking for a quarterback.
Alexey Stiop / Shutterstock.com

The article NFL Story Lines to Watch in Week 5 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.