Then there were eight. Wild Card Weekend of the 2012 NFL Playoffs was hardly wild leading up to Sunday’s game at Mile High. Then, this happened. Tebow Time, Tebowmania, whatever you want to call it, the Denver Broncos have been a special team since the mechanically flawed QB took over the team’s offense. Tebow’s heroics aside, this coming weekend’s most anticipated contest may actually involve two NFC squads.
2012 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round power rankings
The eliminated
12. Atlanta Falcons: Thanks for coming, I guess. The Atlanta offense hardly came close to figuring out New York’s defense, and Matty Ice was twice denied first downs on fourth and less than a yard. It took Eli Manning and company a halftime break to come up with a winning game plan after what was, truth be told, 30 minutes of ugly football. The Falcons now enter yet another offseason as a team with so much unfulfilled potential, but one still behind the elite teams in the NFC.
11. Cincinnati Bengals: Cincy played good football throughout the 2011 campaign, and the Dalton-to-Green connection is one that could dominate AFC opponents for many, many years to come. If there’s one thing we have learned about these Bengals over the past month, though, it’s that they may be more than one year away from overtaking either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Baltimore Ravens in the division. Nine wins were nice and all, but they still didn’t beat a playoff team this season.
10. Detroit Lions: So the team’s defense isn’t capable of beating either the New Orleans Saints or Green Bay Packers when it matters the most. Now we know. Unlike with Cincy, I do believe the Lions are on the cusp of greatness, and they may be just a few pieces away from finishing as a top five team next year. Matt Stafford also proved he can stay relatively healthy for an entire season.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers continue to get older with every day, but I’m not quite ready to say their best chance of winning a championship with the bulk of the current roster has come and gone. With that said, there’s no reason to believe injuries on offense won’t be a concern next year. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger is indeed tough, but he has to stop taking so many hits as he ages. Even Big Ben can only take so many shots.
The remaining
8. Houston Texans: Beating the Bengals at home was fun. Winning at Baltimore is another thing entirely. The Ravens are great against the run, so T.J. Yates may be forced to win the game. Uh oh.
7. Denver Broncos: All he does is win. Tim Tebow certainly isn’t doing it alone, but, while not completing a ton of passes in Denver’s win over Pittsburgh, he did show he can air it out against a very good defense. New England’s secondary is shaky, at best, so the pressure will be on the Denver defense to stop Tom Brady. If that happens, we could be looking at another upset this weekend.
6. New York Giants: The Giants looked like real contenders at home against the Falcons. Beating Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau won’t be so easy, and that contest is why Big Blue isn’t any higher in this week’s power rankings. A win at Green Bay could catapult New York up to number one next week.
5. New England Patriots: Tebow magic aside, the Patriots beat those same Broncos by more than two touchdowns at Denver back in mid-December. It also doesn’t hurt that the Patriots defense will have had an extra week to read/listen about how awful they are.
4. San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers fall in NFL power rankings not because of anything they did. Drew Brees and the New Orleans offense just seem to be on another level right now. San Fran might have to score at least four touchdowns in order to keep up with the Saints. I have my doubts.
3. Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore somewhat dodged a bullet, and, as long as they can avoid playing down to a lesser opponent one final time, the Ravens should be one game away from a potential Super Bowl berth at this time next week. Joe Flacco shouldn’t have to play lights out against the Texans, which is the best possible scenario for Baltimore’s playoff hopes.
2. New Orleans Saints: Nothing happened last weekend to drop the Saints in NFL power rankings. Some actually have the Saints ahead of the Packers heading into this weekend. New Orleans doesn’t have an easy task this Saturday, but things could certainly be worse. Perhaps I’m underestimating the NFC West champs just a bit, but playing in San Fran seems a better alternative than having to make a trek to Green Bay.
1. Green Bay Packers: Still kings of NFL power rankings for at least one more week. Stomping the Giants out of the postseason this Sunday evening would be quite the significant statement to all those ready to crown the Saints as champs. After those “system quarterback” comments from a couple of weeks back, don’t think Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have something to prove.