| 2012 Power Rankings: Week 17 |
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS |
| 1 |
Broncos
12-3 | 1
Last Week: 2 | Ten consecutive wins and counting. Talk about hot entering the playoffs. (Fox) |
| 2 |
Falcons
13-2 | 3
Last Week: 5 | Matt Ryan completed all seven play-action attempts with three TDs against the Lions. (Sando) |
| 3 |
49ers
10-4-1 | 2
Last Week: 1 | Injuries to Justin Smith, Vernon Davis and Mario Manningham raise some concerns. (Sando) |
| 4 |
Packers
11-4 | 2
Last Week: 6 | The preseaon favorites could be peaking at the right time. Who'll want to play them in the postseason? (Graziano) |
| 5 |
Patriots
11-4 | 1
Last Week: 4 | The Patriots weren't the Patriots on Sunday, but they did enough to notch 11 wins for the third straight season. (Hensley) |
| 6 |
Seahawks
10-5 | 1
Last Week: 7 | The Seahawks are on a 100-13 scoring run at home and have put up 150 over the past three weeks. (Sando) |
| 7 |
Texans
12-3 | 4
Last Week: 3 | The Texans may win the No. 1 seed, but they've looked vulnerable in the past three weeks. (Clayton) |
| 8 |
Colts
10-5 | 1
Last Week: 9 | Bruce Arians may be the best interim coach ever. He handed a playoff team to Chuck Pagano. (Clayton) |
| 9 |
Redskins
9-6 | 1
Last Week: 8 | Six wins in a row since the bye, and one win away from their first division title since Bill Clinton was President. (Graziano) |
| 10 |
Ravens
10-5 | 1
Last Week: 11 | The Ravens will go as far as Joe Flacco takes them. Since he was drafted in 2008, Baltimore is 12-1 when he throws for more than 300 yards. (Hensley) |
| 11 |
Bengals
9-6 | 2
Last Week: 13 | Over the past seven games, the Bengals' defense has given up an average of 11.1 points and has held teams to one or no touchdowns six times (all wins). (Hensley) |
| 12 |
Vikings
9-6 | 3
Last Week: 15 | Didn't even need a huge Adrian Peterson day to win in Houston and keep their playoff hopes alive. Win next week and they're in. (Graziano) |
| 13 |
Bears
9-6 | 1
Last Week: 14 | They took care of business against Arizona, but they still need help. The Bears have to win and (gasp) root for the Packers against the Vikes. (Graziano) |
| 14 |
Cowboys
8-7 | 4
Last Week: 10 | The battered defense couldn't hold it together vs. Saints. Still, the Cowboys play a division title game for the second year in a row. (Graziano) |
| 15 |
Giants
8-7 | 3
Last Week: 12 | They can still get in as a wild card if they win and get help. But the bigger issue is that these Super Bowl champs appear out of gas. (Graziano) |
| 16 |
Rams
7-7-1 | 1
Last Week: 17 | A bounce-back effort from the Rams' defense gets the team back to .500 with one game to play. (Sando) |
| 17 |
Saints
7-8 | 1
Last Week: 18 | Did beating the Cowboys improve Sean Payton's chances of coaching in Dallas next season? (Sando) |
| 18 |
Steelers
7-8 | 2
Last Week: 16 | Pittsburgh is not in the playoffs because it can't win the close games. Five losses have been decided by three points. (Hensley) |
| 19 |
Dolphins
7-8 | --
Last Week: 19 | Despite winning Sunday, the Dolphins were eliminated from the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years. (Hensley) |
| 20 |
Panthers
6-9 | 3
Last Week: 23 | Rallying from 1-6 to 6-9 could be enough for Ron Rivera to keep his job as coach. (Sando) |
| 21 |
Chargers
6-9 | 3
Last Week: 24 | The good news for the Chargers, who are trying to close the season by winning three of their last four, is the Raiders are up next. (Fox) |
| 22 |
Buccaneers
6-9 | 2
Last Week: 20 | If anyone finds the real Josh Freeman, please return him to One Buccaneer Place, Tampa, FL 33607. (Sando) |
| 23 |
Jets
6-9 | 2
Last Week: 21 | A week after being eliminated from the playoffs, the Jets secured their first losing season of the Rex Ryan era, their first since 2007. (Hensley) |
| 24 |
Browns
5-10 | 2
Last Week: 22 | The Browns have followed up a feel-good three-game winning streak by losing by a combined 39 points the past two weeks. (Hensley) |
| 25 |
Bills
5-10 | --
Last Week: 25 | Buffalo clinched its third consecutive season of double-digit losses under coach Chan Gailey and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. (Hensley) |
| 26 |
Cardinals
5-10 | 1
Last Week: 27 | How, again, did the Cardinals get to a point where Brian Hoyer is their best quarterback? (Sando) |
| 27 |
Titans
5-10 | 1
Last Week: 26 | The 55-7 loss to Green Bay has Bud Adams once again thinking about firing Mike Munchak. (Clayton) |
| 28 |
Lions
4-11 | --
Last Week: 28 | They were 4-4. They are 4-11. Even if you expected a step back, this level of meltdown for last year's playoff team is striking. (Graziano) |
| 29 |
Eagles
4-11 | --
Last Week: 29 | All that's left for Andy Reid is a chance to break the Giants' hearts one more time on his way out the door. (Graziano) |
| 30 |
Raiders
4-11 | --
Last Week: 30 | The Raiders have won one of their past eight games. Not good. (Fox) |
| 31 |
Jaguars
2-13 | --
Last Week: 31 | If you thought the Jags have had troubles at quarterback for two years, wait until they get Tim Tebow. (Clayton) |
| 32 |
Chiefs
2-13 | --
Last Week: 32 | One more week and then Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt has some big decisions to make. (Fox |
|
