Week 12 NFL Rankings

The New England Patriots came thisclose to losing this past week in spite of being 22 point favorites to the Philadelphia Eagles, while the Pittsburgh Steelers nearly lost in the muck at Heinz Field to a winless Miami Dolphins team. A miraculous comeback by the Chicago Bears, and HUGE lost oppotunites by both the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals highlighted week 12's games... Lastly, "Ocho Cinco" was back doing his thing for the Cincinnati Bengals, scoring three TD's and even manning the TV camera after one of his scores. It's nice to see him having fun again! It would be good for the league if the officials let the players be a little more free to celebrate like they used to - the fans both at the game and watching the game on TV usually get a big kick out of the post TD antics as long as they're in good taste...

Here are this week’s rankings with last weeks rank in (). Record is only one consideration. I also take into account strength of schedule, strength of victory (or loss) and other intangibles…

1.(1) New England Patriots (11-0)
2.(2) Indianapolis Colts (9-2)
3.(3) Dallas Cowboys (10-1)
4.(4) Green Bay Packers (10-1)
5.(5) Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3)
6.(6) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)
7.(8) Cleveland Browns (7-4)
8.(9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-4)
9.(11) San Diego Chargers (6-5)
10.(7) New York Giants (7-4)
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11.(15) Philadelphia Eagles (5-6)
12.(16) New Orleans Saints (5-6)
13.(12) Washington Redskins (5-6)
14.(13) Seattle Seahawks (7-4)
15.(14) Arizona Cardinals (5-6)
16.(10) Tennessee Titans (6-5)
17.(18) Buffalo Bills (5-6)
18.(17) Houston Texans (5-6)
19.(21) Chicago Bears (5-6)
20.(19) Detroit Lions (6-5)
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21.(20) Denver Broncos (5-6)
22.(26) Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)
23.(25) Minnesota Vikings (5-6)
24.(23) Kansas City Chiefs (4-7)
25.(24) Baltimore Ravens (4-7)
26.(22) Carolina Panthers (4-7)
27.(27) St. Louis Rams (2-9)
28.(28) Atlanta Falcons (3-8)
29.(30) Oakland Raiders (3-8)
30.(31) San Francisco 49ers (3-8)
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31.(29) New York Jets (2-9)
32.(32) Miami Dolphins (0-11)
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