Week #7 Power Rankings

October 14, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White (84) runs after a catch in the second half against the Oakland Raiders at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons beat the Raiders 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

Every time you think you have the 2012 NFL season figured out another crazy Sunday happens.  All the big boy teams were playing at home and instead of winning  against  tough opponents they were defeated with ease.  The Giants  defeated the 49ers with ease, and Aaron Rodgers finally put his stamp on the season with a 6 touchdown performance.  Teams also lost big leads like the Patriots up 23-10 in the 4th  quarter, they never lose leads like that except in Seattle I guess, and the Chargers somehow blew a 24-0 lead at the half.

The one constant in the NFL, except the fact that your team will lose if it starts Brady Quinn, has been the Atlanta Falcons are going to put a W up every week.  The Falcons offense is more complete with a new offensive coordinator and the emergence of Julio Jones, but some things about the Falcons seem to never change.  The Falcons play to the level of their competition which is fine during the regular season when you see Mike Smith smiling at the end of every game after a game clinching field goal, but their playoff debacles have taken place when they run into a hot team that always seems to steamroll them into winter vacation.  Back to the present almost by default they are #1 for this week, but they do keep piling up the wins in a season when nobody else can hold on to a lead.

1. Atlanta Falcons (6-0) The only undefeated team left. They keep every game close, but always seem to have some regular season magic to pull out win after win.
2. New York Giants (4-2) It’s amazing how much better they play on the road. They played like champions on Sunday, and made the 49ers look very average for one week.
3. Green Bay Packers (3-3) Welcome to the 2012 season Mr. Rodgers! Won’t you be my friend (or fantasy QB again) I’m not sure what was more impressive, Rodgers 6 TD passes or that the suspect Packers D shut down the potent Texans running game with ease.
4. Baltimore Ravens (5-1) With Ray Lewis gone for the season, this will be the real test to see if Joe Flacco is a upper echelon QB that he claims to be. The defense is struggling against the run which will be hard to improve on without Lewis.
5. Houston Texans (5-1) Was Sunday night a wake up call that you can’t just show up and win in prime time or did the Packers give the NFL the step by step instructions on how to slow down the Texans great running game.
6. Chicago Bears (4-1) They took over sole possession of first place without playing, and now they have a chance to put the Lions down for a 5 count if they can win their MNF contest in Chicago.
7. San Fransisco 49ers (4-2) The 49ers are not built to come from behind! Alex Smith has been good the past two seasons when in the lead, but Sunday proved that if he has to bring the team from behind, he is still the old Alex Smith.
8. New England (3-3) Very uncharacteristic loss with a 13 point lead.  Brady threw 2 interceptions and over 50 passes? What happened to the new and improved running attack.  After a loss like that the Pats usually go and run off 6 or 7 straight wins.
9. Denver Broncos (3-3) As much as I thought Peyton Manning could bring back the Broncos from 24-0 it’s still unbelievable how many great comebacks he’s orchestrated in prime time. His arm may not be the same but he’s still one of the greatest all time.
10. Minnesota Vikings (4-2) Christian Ponder fought back after a rough start as long as the Vikings. Leslie Frazier has a team that may not be full of talent (except for Harvin and Peterson) playing hard and never quitting.
11. Seattle Seahawks (4-2) What are the Seahawks? Lucky? They play good defense and every time you think they should bench Russell Wilson he leads the team to two touchdowns for a win against the Patriots. Every week is a new adventure.
12. Miami Dolphins (3-3) Tannehill is way better than he should be right? It must be frustrating to Phins fans that they are 2 kicks away from 5-1 and a 2 game lead in the division.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-3) As predicted here in the preseason rankings, this is a .500 team especially if they can’t keep Big Ben upright! It’s a short week but you can’t lose to the Titans if you expect to be elite.
14. Arizona Cardinals (4-2) The Bills had given up 97 points the prior two weeks and you can only manage 16 points at home? This is a fraud team in the making that could end up at 6-10 if they don’t improve offensively very quickly.
15. Washington Redskins (3-3) RG3 has taken the most exciting player in the league from Cam Newton and ran with it literally.  His TD run to seal the win versus the Vikings was Awesome! Hopefully Shanahan will stop running the option to keep RG3 healthy long term.
16. NY Jets (3-3) Shonn Greene ran like a real NFL running back for a change and the Jets offense looked like it did a few years back. At least the win will let First Take crew  talk about something else besides Tim Tebow for at least one day this week.
17. Dallas Cowboys (2-3) The Ravens gave them every possible chance on earth to win the game, and yet due to a comedy of errors and lack of leadership and composure they choked like they always do.  They have too much talent on the roster to make this many mistakes on a weekly basis.
18. Detroit Lions (2-3) Just when you thought they were giving up for the 2012 season they decide to make a very good comeback on the road in Philly.  Will the OT win turn their season around or just be a footnote in another lost season for Lions fans?
19. St Louis Rams (3-3) Jeff Fisher’s defense is good, but the offense is well not that good. It seems like the word vertical has been taken out of their playbook.
20. San Diego Chargers (3-3) There are bad losses and there are inexcusable losses. You can’t lose a 24-0 lead at the half to anybody on any level. Norv Turner is a great offensive mind, but it may be time for a change of leadership in San Diego, because there always seems to be something missing with this organization.
21. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) They masked the turnovers the first three weeks, but now they are being haunted by them.
22. New Orleans Saints (1-4) They got through the worst part of Bounty Gate and escaped with one win and now with the bye week maybe they have figured out a running game and throw in just a little defense.  They may not catch the Falcons, but they could still catch a wild card bid.
23. Buffalo Bills (3-3) Just when you think they have turned into the doormat Bills they go on the road and win a OT game on the road.  It was just one week, maybe the doormat was at the cleaners.
24. Cincinnati Bengals (3-3) The Bengals looked like a possible playoff team, but that look turned ugly with a loss to the Browns.  There young offensive stars do make the Bengals easier to watch than in years past, but their defense is bad…really bad.
25. Indianapolis Colts (2-4) Maybe winning at the Jets wasn’t expected, but I’m pretty sure nobody expected them to get steamrolled in the Big Apple either. Luck was the only rookie QB to lose on Sunday.
26. Tennessee Titans (2-4) How did they beat the Steelers again? Thursday night seems like a whole lot of games ago!
27. Oakland Raiders (1-4) They had the Falcons on the ropes and couldn’t finish them off, and that’s why they are Not Committed to Excellence anymore.
28. Carolina Panthers (1-4) Cam is in the middle of a huge sophomore slump that he has to snap out of soon or the season will be lost.
29. Tampa Bay Bucs (2-3) They pummelled a bad Chiefs team that started Brady Quinn. This doesn’t prove anything except that they didn’t have to try and hurt anybody when the other team was kneeling down in victory formation.
30. Cleveland Browns (1-5) After blasting Brandon Weeden for most of the past two months, he played a good game in his first NFL win.  I hope Clevelanders enjoyed one of their few victory Monday.
31. Kansas City Chiefs (1-5) The fans booed Matt Cassel but did they realize Brady Quinn was next in line? The team should boo the fans!
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) They had a week off after being dismantled by Peanut and Briggs and Company.  When will they be the London Jags?