Touchdown Dance: NFL Power Rankings & Week 11 Round-Up

Getting closer and closer to the truly nitty-gritty time of the schedule. Nothing has changed amongst the top three, but after that there has been some significant movement. Lets check out this week's Power Rankings and how teams ended up where there at after a surprising weekend of NFL football.

1. Minnesota Vikings (9-1) (-) The Vikings looked much more interested from the start this weekend. Favre is making a strong case for league MVP thus far and had another good game with the Vikings beating the Seahawks 35-9.


2. Indianapolis Colts (10-0) (-) Very good road win against a team that desperately needed the game more than them. The most impressive part was that the defense played very well despite having to deal with a ton of injuries in the secondary. The Colts went into Baltimore and snuck out with a 17-15 victory.


3. New Orleans Saints (10-0) (-) After four straight games of difficult to downright close calls the Saints easily kept their perfect record intact with a 38-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


4. New England Patriots (7-3) (5) Moving up one spot, the Patriots gave a little payback to the Jets for a early season loss. The game was relatively close until Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez decided to do his best Jay Cutler impersonation. The final score made the game a lot less competitive than it really was, 31-14.


5. San Diego Chargers (7-3) (7) Well it's about time the Real Chargers stood up. After a dismal start to the season the Chargers have leaped into fist place in the AFC West with a convincing victory in the Mile High City over the Broncos 32-3.


6. Arizona Cardinals (7-3) (8) The game was a much closer than it should have been, but that's the way division match-ups usually end up. Even though the game was tight the Cardinals managed to pull out another road victory in beating the Rams 21-13.


7. Dallas Cowboys (7-3) (10) Tony Romo and the Cowboys offense had a nice 3-4 game rhythm going, but they have lost their way the past couple of weeks. Luckily for them they were playing the Redskins and the Cowboys defense came to play. The Cowboys sneak out of the Billion Dollar Bio-Dome with a narrow 7-6 victory over the Redskins.


8. Cincinnati Bengals (7-3) (4) The Bengals were very fortunate that the Steelers decided to wet the bed in Kansas City before they to piddle themselves in Oakland. The Bengals come away from Cali still in 1st place in the AFC North, but are a tad bit embarrased in losing to the Raiders 20-17.


9. NY Giants (6-4) (12) The Giants needed a victory in the worst way and they got it. Eli played his best game of the season, but the defense is still missing something it once had. The victory over the Falcons 34-31 in OT was big, but that defense needs to finds its way back to the field otherwise there is no shot for the Giants to make it to the playoffs.


10. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) (6) Who abducted the Steelers and where did they put them. This team looks far from the defending champs as they have found multiple ways to lose winnable games. This weekend's loss to the Chiefs was the biggest shocker of Week 11 as the Chiefs came back for the OT win 27-24.


11. Philadelphia Eagles (6-4) (-) The Eagles are explosive and can score at any time from anywhere on the field, but that lack of consistency and running game may just cost them a playoff spot. Fortunately for the Eagles they played a team in the Bears who loves to shoot themselves more than Plaxico. The Eagles come out of the Windy City keeping pace with the rest of the NFC East with a 24-20 victory.


12. Miami Dolphins (5-5) (17) This team just competes and has now found a way to win all those close games. Chad Henne is still a work in progress and the loss of Ronnie Brown will catch up to them, but this team will rarely be out of a game from here on out. This week they took the show to Nashville and came out winners 24-17 over the Panthers.


13. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) (18) This team is far from complete or great, but they have found a way to win and as of right now own a wildcard slot. This weekend they played down to their competition, but came away a winner beating the Bills 18-15.


14. Green Bay Packers (6-4) (19) If this team had an average offensive line it would be competing for the NFC North title, but even with a horrible line they find themselves in the mix for a wildcard spot. This is thanks to the arm and toughness of quarterback Aaron Rodgers who should be considered for NFL MVP for what he has done and gone through this season. This weekend the Packers beat the visiting 49ers 30-24.


15. Atlanta Falcons (5-5) (-) Tough OT loss to the Giants 34-31, but at least Matty Ice decided to show up and have his best game in over a month. The Falcons are fading fast and now the defense looks to be fading which can't be good.


16. Houston Texans (5-5) (9) Just when you thought this team was going to breakthrough their field goal kicker blows two games in a row. Kris Brown has cost the Texans a chance at winning the past two games and now the Texans must dig deep in order to get back to playoff talk. The loss at home to the Titans 20-17 was a big blow to this young team.


17. Tennessee Titans (4-6) (20) The Titans have won four straight and are hell bent on making it back to .500 semi-salvaging this season. Another quality victory in Houston as they beat the Texans 20-17. Vince Young has looked very good and may have learned a thing or two while sitting on the sidelines watching.


18. Baltimore Ravens (5-5) (15) The Ravens defense pretty much held in check the powerful and explosive Colts offense, but their own offense failed to show up for the second week in a row. A must win at home came up short as they lost to the Colts 17-15.


19. Denver Broncos (6-4) (13) This looks more like the team everyone thought they would be at the beginning of the season. The Broncos have lost four in a row, this time not only losing but falling out of first place in the AFC West. The 32-3 loss to the Chargers showed some definite weaknesses that were always there at the quarterback position.


20. Carolina Panthers (4-6) (16) Every time the Panthers have a chance to get back to .500 they curl up in the fetal position and get beat down. This past weekend there was no change, the loss to the Dolphins at home 24-17 in reality squashes any hope of the playoffs.


21. Washington Redskins (3-7) (23) This Redskins defense is very, very good. Only if Daniel Snyder spent as much money on the offense they would be in contention for one of the NFC'S best. Another close loss to a division opponent as they visited Dallas this past weekend losing 7-6.


22. San Francisco 49ers (4-6) (21) So much for Mike Singletary being a great motivator. The 49ers just don't have the horses on offense to make a run at the playoffs. This weekend they went into Green Bay and played competitively, but came up short 30-24.


23. NY Jets (4-6) (22) It is tough to win with young quarterbacks, especially in a tough division like the AFC East. Mark Sanchez had a tough game this past weekend as the Patriots beat them in Foxboro 31-14.


24. Buffalo Bills (3-7) (26) They don't have all the talent in the world, but this team does play hard. Unfortunately playing hard doesn't equal victories or keeping the head coach's job safe. Another hard fought battle that came up short in Jacksonville as the lose to the Jaguars 18-15.


25. Chicago Bears (4-6) (-) In Chicago all the teams woes are being throw at the feet at Jay Cutler. While he has been far from Pro Bowl form, but he has little to work with both with skill position talent along with short on smart coaching. This week the defense started slow and the offense couldn't punch it into the endzone coming up short at home, losing to the Eagles 24-20.


26. Seattle Seahawks (3-7) (24) We all knew it would be tough for the Seahawks to win in Minnesota, but to lay such a huge egg might just mean complete rebuilding time for the team from the Pacific Northwest. The Vikings man handled the aging club 35-9 this past weekend.


27. Kansas City Chiefs (3-7) (-) The Chiefs picked up their most impressive victory this weekend beating the Steelers 27-24 in overtime. The team has been playing much better as of late, but Todd Haley still looks like a stick in the mud.


28. Oakland Raiders (3-7) (31) The Raiders pulled off the second biggest upset of the weekend beating the visiting Bengals 20-17. The Raiders defense has been fairly strong all year, now only if they had a real quarterback. At least we didn't have to witness the JeMarcus Russell experiment again.


29. Detroit Lions (2-8) (30) The Lions picked up their second victory in the weekend most entertaining game as they beat the Browns 38-37 on a no time left touchdown pass from Stafford to Pettigrew. The win gets an assist from the refs for calling pass interference on a last second hail mary pass and an even larger assist from Browns coach Eric Manmoron who called a timeout to complain about the penalty call. Which led to the injured Matthew Stafford return to the field who was injured on the previous play. The loss could be costly for this coming Thanksgiving Day game as both Stafford and Calvin Johnson maybe unavailable.


30. St. Louis Rams (1-9) (28) The Rams played tough against division opponent Arizona Cardinals, but injuries to the brittle Marc Bulger cost them any chance of winning the game. The Rams lost to the visiting Cardinals 21-13.


31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-9) (29) Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman met himself a real NFL defense this past weekend and then got to watch a very good quarterback as Drew Brees and the Saints walloped the Bucs 38-7.


32. Cleveland Browns (1-9) (-) Who was that masked man playing quarterback for the Browns? Was it really Brady Quinn, because after the debacle he was last week he actually looked like a real quarterback. Even with the career game from Quinn the Browns still found a way to lose to the Lions 38-37.