Week 13 Barometer

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Welcome back to the Week 13 edition of our NFL Barometer. We garnered a lot of interest this week and ended up with our best turnout of rankers all season.

This week looks to be the most pivotal one yet with division titles within grasp for Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, and Indianapolis. Many other teams are still clawing for wild card positions. The two huge division games include Baltimore at Cincinnati and Dallas at New York.

Recently, we asked eleven Cafe members to rank all 32 NFL teams from first to worst after Week 12 of the 2006 season. The average number for each team, based on their submissions, was calculated and the teams were ranked accordingly (to increase consistency, the highest and the lowest values for each team were disregarded).

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	K n a p p	S n i p e r	J o e l	D a n	B l u e	K i l r o y	J a y	M a t t	S w i p e	S l i m	M a r t i n
1 (2)		Indianapolis	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
The Colts are back on top of our Barometer after thumping the Eagles. Can they retain their position against the Titans?
2 (1)		San Diego	2.6	5	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	4	2	1
The Chargers were on auto-pilot against the Raiders and it almost cost them. Will they come back strong against the Bills?
3 (4)		Baltimore	3.0	2	3	3	5	2	3	2	4	2	5	3
A win clinches the AFC North title. Can the Ravens sweep the Bengals and cruise into the playoffs?
4 (3)		Chicago	4.2	4	5	5	3	5	4	5	2	3	6	4
The Bears could not overcome four turnovers by Rex Grossman against the Patriots. Will they be able to clinch the division with a win over the Vikings?
5 (5)		New England	4.3	3	4	4	7	4	5	4	5	5	3	5
Even a win over the Bears couldn’t lift the Pats over Chicago in our Barometer. The good news is they get a softball when they face the Lions on Sunday.
6 (6)		Dallas	6.0	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	6
Tony Romo was in a world of his own on Thanksgiving when he passed for five touchdowns. Can he repeat that performance against the Giants?
7 (11)		Kansas City	8.2	10	7	7	11	7	8	7	9	9	9	8
The Chiefs just continue to win, and they are 7-2 since Week 4. Can they stay in the wild card race when they travel to Cleveland?
7 (14)		Seattle	8.2	8	9	9	8	10	7	9	7	7	7	10
Shaun Alexander was back in MVP form when he rushed for over 200 yards on a snowy, Seattle night. Can he and the Seahawks go into Denver and win on Sunday night?
9 (6)		Denver	9.3	7	8	8	9	11	9	8	11	10	10	11
In the midst of a playoff race, Shanahan is switching quarterbacks. Will he look like a genius or the village idiot by January?
9 (13)		New Orleans	9.3	9	11	10	16	8	10	11	8	8	8	9
Drew Brees is on fire going for his sixth straight 300 yard game. All that stands in his way is San Francisco’s 25th ranked pass defense.
11 (11)		Cincinnati	10.3	14	12	11	4	9	11	10	10	12	11	7
After their first shutout in nearly 20 years, the Bengals look to stay alive in the wild card race against the division leading Ravens.
12 (8)		Carolina	11.7	12	10	12	10	12	12	12	12	11	12	13
Following their tough loss to the Redskins, can the Panthers shine under the lights of Monday Night Football when they face the Eagles?
13 (10)		NY Giants	13.9	16	14	13	12	13	14	13	13	16	13	17
On a three-game skid, the Giants are coming up on their biggest game of the season. Can they avoid a season implosion when they face Dallas?
14 (8)		Jacksonville	14.4	11	16	16	17	18	13	15	14	13	14	12
I’m through trying to figure this team out. One week they look like world beaters, and the next they look like a community college.
15 (19)		Miami	14.6	15	13	14	13	16	18	14	15	15	15	14
Joey Harrington went back to Detroit and showed up his old teammates. Can the surging Dolphins win their fifth straight game when they square off with the Jaguars?
16 (16)		NY Jets	15.9	13	15	15	18	14	15	16	17	14	19	19
Can the Jets stay alive in their playoff race when they travel to face the Packers on the tundra of Lambeau Field?
17 (22)		Minnesota	19.1	17	19	17	19	25	21	23	18	21	17	16
They finally ended their four-game losing streak with a win over the Cardinals. What do they have in store for the Bears?
17 (21)		St. Louis	19.1	21	23	21	14	23	16	20	16	17	16	22
The “greatest show on turf” has only averaged 16 points an outing in their last five games. Can they get hot against the Cardinals?
19 (15)		Atlanta	19.2	19	18	18	21	20	17	17	20	19	21	26
The Falcons have taken a swan dive as they are winless since October. Will they stop this skid against the Redskins?
20 (23)		Buffalo	19.9	18	17	19	24	17	20	18	21	18	24	26
The Bills are 3-1 in November with their only loss to the Colts by one point. Can they use their frosty home field weather as an aid in beating the team from sunny San Diego?
21 (17)		San Francisco	20.3	22	20	20	27	22	19	21	19	20	18	20
Another team on a hot streak, can the 49ers improve to 4-1 since October when they travel to New Orleans?
22 (19)		Philadelphia	21.2	20	22	24	22	21	22	19	22	23	20	18
The Eagles must go through the Panthers to avoid going 1-6 since Week 5.
23 (18)		Pittsburgh	23.2	25	21	23	26	15	24	22	23	26	22	23
After being dominated by the Ravens, can the Steelers regroup against the Buccaneers?
24 (27)		Tennessee	24.0	23	25	26	23	24	23	24	24	22	26	24
The Titans are a surprising 4-4 with Vince Young under center. Can they hang with the Colts and overcome their one-point loss to them in Week 5?
25 (29)		Washington	24.2	24	24	22	15	26	26	26	26	24	25	21
Can Jason Campbell improve to 2-1 and lead the Redskins over the slumping Falcons?
26 (24)		Green Bay	24.8	26	27	27	20	19	25	25	27	25	23	25
After having Shaun Alexander roll up over 200 yards rushing on them, will the Packers at least somewhat contain the Jets “mash unit” of tailbacks?
27 (28)		Houston	27.9	28	28	28	30	28	27	27	28	27	29	28
In a battle of pathetic offensive lines, I expect there will be a combined 15 sacks between these two teams when the Texans face the Raiders.
28 (26)		Tampa Bay	28.3	29	26	25	28	31	28	30	25	28	30	31
They took a drubbing on Thanksgiving at the hands of Tony Romo and the Cowboys. Can they go into Pittsburgh and take one from the Steelers?
29 (24)		Cleveland	28.4	27	29	29	25	30	29	28	29	29	27	29
After being shutout by a bad Bengals defense, can the Browns do anything against the Chiefs?
30 (32)		Oakland	29.7	30	31	31	32	27	30	29	30	31	28	27
The Raiders have been hanging around in games with good teams, but can’t get over the hump. Will a matchup with the Texans be the remedy they need?
31 (30)		Arizona	30.9	31	30	31	29	32	32	32	31	30	31	30
The Cardinals are incredibly bad. I honestly can’t find a positive thing to say about them.
32 (30)		Detroit	31.7	32	32	32	31	29	31	31	32	32	32	32
I guess there’s only one thing to say. Welcome to Motown Mr. Quinn.

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