Testaverde Touchdown: NFL Power Poll, Week 16

Rank (Last)	Team	Record	Notes
1 (1)		12-3	Two weeks before the playoffs is not the best time to allow your "invincible at home" mantra to be destroyed once and for all. Still, they are in the driver's seat for the top seed in the NFC, and that's still a tough trip for anyone else in the NFC.
2 (2)		11-4	I thought long and hard about bumping the 49ers up to the top spot after Seattle opened the door, but Seattle looked bad at home against Arizona (10-5). San Francisco looked bad at home against Atlanta (4-11).
3 (5)		11-4	I have been saying that I still trust the Patriots more than anyone else in the AFC, but their penchant to play everybody close certainly made you nervous. So to see them dispose of the hot-at-the-time Ravens after squeaking by the Clevelands of the league makes them a team to be feared again, just in time for the playoffs.
4 (3)		11-4	That Saints game showed you that their defense will keep them in any game (that's not played in New Orleans), and that the offense only needs a C- performance to have a chance. They do need Steve Smith back, though.
5 (4)		12-3	Lots of points. Lots of stats. But Peyton Manning against a good team in the winter elements remains an open question.
6 (9)		10-5	Their defense made a big statement in going into Seattle and carrying Carson Palmer (4 INTs) to a win.
7 (10)		9-6	We know that a great defense can carry a mediocre offense to great heights, so it stands to reason it can work in reverse as well. So is Philly's defense mediocre, or is it bad?
8 (7)		10-5	Just two weeks ago they looked like the best team in the NFC (if someone else could knock off Seattle), now they look like a pretty good bet to be a one-and-done.
9 (12)		10-5	"Every time they look ready to take the next step as a team, they come up with an absolute stinker of a performance. " - that's from last week. And every time I'm ready to write them off, they come through again.
10 (13)		10-5	Maybe Indy has more left in the tank than I gave them credit for. Especially since their likely first-round opponent is the same Chiefs team they just beat.
11 (6)		11-4	If you make a mistake, they will pounce on it and use it to beat you. If you don't, they simply don't have enough to win. Given the schedule they’ve played, that was enough to get to 11 wins. But unless they get better, it won't be enough in the playoffs.
12 (14)		8-7	They're clearly playing the best of any of the AFC 6th seed hopefuls.
13 (16)		7-7-1	With Aaron Rodgers back, they are the most only dangerous team in the AFC North.
14 (8)		8-7	They were making a case as the most dangerous team in the AFC, then they got blitzed by the walking wounded Patriots. Now they look like who we thought they were: an extremely flawed offensive team.
15 (11)		8-7	It's difficult to live on the edge for so long. Miami had been living on the fringes of the playoffs for over a month, and when they finally got a little bit of breathing room, they flatlined against their divisional bottom-dweller, putting them right back on the fringes.
16 (17)		7-8	This team was 2-6 after 8 games. And now they're a win and (a lot of) help away from a playoff berth.
17 (18)		7-8	This offseason will be a very interesting one, as they almost have to make a decision on former #1 overall pick Sam Bradford.
18 (15)		8-7	The defense is just so bad, it overwhelms everything else about this team.
19 (20)		6-9	Another team with a very interesting offseason ahead of it: does the coaching staff stay? Extend Jake Locker, despite his injury-stunted development?
20 (21)		8-7	It really is amazing that you could essentially have run either of the past two Cowboys seasons on loopback, and you'd get something almost exactly like this one. Except for Romo going on IR with a back injury, that's new.
21 (25)		6-9	Is it time for Tom Coughlin to go? Is the message simply not being heard anymore?
22 (26)		6-9	They have been surprisingly tough despite all of the injury-related turmoil surrounding their quarterback position.
23 (19)		7-8	What an absolutely wasted season. They were 6-3 when Aaron Rodgers went down, AND they swept the Bears this season. Now they're 7-8 and on the verge of firing yet another coach.
24 (28)		7-8	If Rex Ryan gets this team to 8-8, or heck, even if he doesn't, does he deserve kudos for dragging this team to 7 or 8 wins or does he deserve a pink slip for allowing the offense to regress each year under his watch?
25 (29)		4-11	They've put together a solid final month-plus of play, but this is a team that desperately needs an infusion of young talent.
26 (22)		4-11	Is a 4-4 (best case scenario) 2nd half really enough to save the job of a coach who oversaw an 0-8 first half with a team most thought would be hanging around playoff contention?
27 (23)		4-10-1	They have simply mangled their quarterback situation since Brett Favre finally retired for good.
28 (24)		4-11	They have mangled their quarterback situation since coming back into the league in 1999, but they will likely have a top-5 pick (and 2 1st rounders) to try and finally get it right.
29 (27)		4-11	This was the season-long trial for the holdovers on the roster. This offseason the head coach and GM get to start making the roster they want.
30 (30)		4-11	One more week until the salary-cap handcuffs come off and this team can begin building in earnest.
31 (31)		3-12	Only one more game until this nightmare season ends. Of course, then the nightmare offseason begins, because they don't get to use their first round pick, and as you can see by their record, it's going to be very, very high.
32 (32)		2-13	It would almost be a shame to come this far, only to lose out on the #1 overall draft pick. And if Houston wins this weekend, that's likely what will happen.