2007 NFL Week 16 Barometer

This week saw the Patriots and Colts sneak away with wins in close games. The Packers continue to dominate teams that they should. The Steelers on the other hand, dropped their second game in a row, this time to a tough Jaguars team. Did this finally drop the Steelers out of the top five?

After each week of the NFL season, several active Cafe members get together and rank the 32 NFL teams from first to worst. The Barometer is an average of the rankings submitted by these members. To maintain consistency, the high and low scores have been removed.

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	M a d	S e a h o r n	s L i m	D e e r a y	W a C o u g M B S	t r e a t	P m o n e y
1 (1)		New England	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
“Apparently having decided that the Jets were too easy a target, Bellicheck decided to take his anger out on the one group of people who had uniformly sung his praises all season: Tom Brady’s fantasy owners.” - amuk
2 (3)		Indianapolis	2.0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
The Colts snuck out of Oakland with a win and the number two seed.
3 (4)		Green Bay	3.2	3	3	4	3	3	3	4
The Packers are for real. They are my second favorite team. I have doubted them all year - I am done. They are good.
4 (2)		Dallas	3.8	4	4	3	4	4	4	3
“If Jessica Simpson shows up at the game again, the Cowboys will lose. What’s it gonna be Mr. Romo?” - beanoX3
5 (6)		Jacksonville	5.0	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Although they are the consensus number 5 team in our rankings. I feel they have a team that could beat anyone.
6 (9)		San Diego	6.4	6	7	7	10	6	6	6
The Chargers are finally doing what they do best. Let LT run first, worry about everything else second.
7 (5)		Pittsburgh	7.6	9	6	6	9	8	8	7
“Note to Marvel Smith, Sean Mahan, Kendall Simmons, and Willie Colon: Alan Faneca cannot block 4 defensive linemen at once.” - steelerfan513
8 (8)		Tampa Bay	8.0	7	9	9	6	10	7	8
“Congratulations, you won the NFC South. Too bad the SEC East is a tougher division.” - deerayfan072
9 (10)		Cleveland	8.4	8	8	8	8	9	11	9
The Browns won a tough fought game in the snow. Games like this make a team stronger.
10 (7)		Seattle	9.2	10	10	10	7	7	9	10
“Do you even know who was quarterbacking the Panthers in your loss to them? I don’t.” - deerayfan072
11 (13)		Minnesota	11.8	12	11	13	12	12	10	12
This team needs a quarterback. Without that, they are not contenders. This week’s game against Washington is huge.
12 ( 12 )		Tennessee	12.2	13	12	16	11	13	12	11
“The absence of Albert Haynesworth hurt Tennessee, but they still managed to defeat the Chiefs. The Titans can’t afford to have Haynesworth miss the next two games, so Coach Fisher has ordered Albert to resort back to his regular training. This form of training, known as the “Hellacious Haynesworth” method, consists of stomping a stuffed dummy’s head into the ground as many times as possible throughout the week.” - Karoz
13 (11)		NY Giants	12.4	11	13	11	14	11	19	13
The Giants are frauds. I’ve thought it since the Miami game. I ranked them 19th, because this team is not that good. It’s just like when Baltimore started the season 4-2 against poor teams. I called them out. We now know what they are. Soon everyone will see what the Giants are.
14 (15)		New Orleans	13.6	14	14	12	13	14	13	14
The Saints appear to be back on track with Stecker in the backfield. This is definitely a pass-first team though.
15 (16)		Philadelphia	15.8	15	15	14	18	18	16	15
“Westbrook, you’re one heck of a team player, but what the heck man, you just killed my fantasy season!” - m16a
16 (20)		Houston	16.0	16	16	15	16	17	15	17
“Mario Williams to Reggie Bush: Who is overrated now?” - deerayfan072
17 (21)		Washington	16.2	17	18	19	15	15	14	16
“The good news: if New Orleans loses, they control their playoff destiny. The bad news: with their loss today, the Cowboys may need to win their week 17 matchup with the Skins to get homefield advantage in the playoffs. Ouch.” - steelerfan513
18 (14)		Arizona	18.0	19	17	17	17	19	18	19
Who would have thought before the season that Warner would see the field, let alone have a decent year.
19 (19)		Buffalo	18.4	18	19	20	21	16	17	18
“They were shut out last week in a blizzard. They were eliminated from playoff contention. As if that wasn’t bad enough, their team plane got stuck in the mud at Cleveland’s airport so they had to take a four hour bus ride back to Buffalo. The Bills sure are glad that nightmare before Christmas is over, they get to play at home this week!” - Snipershot
20 (18)		Denver	20.0	20	20	18	20	20	20	20
“I thought Dre Bly and Champ Bailey were supposed to be our saviors? There really is a Devil in Denver and he now has us trading our souls for a top 10 pick instead of the playoffs!” - totalair32
21 (17)		Detroit	21.2	22	21	21	19	21	21	22
“Jon Kitna must have forgotten to pray before the Chargers game.” - steelerfan513
“10 Wins, 10 Losses. Kitna just got his wins and losses mixed in his predictions. It’s not a big deal.” - deerayfan072
22 (22)		Chicago	23.0	23	22	24	23	24	23	21
The Bears are just horrid. Take away Hester’s returns…why would you watch?
23 (23)		Cincinnati	23.0	24	23	23	22	23	22	24
San Francisco’s offense just played better than yours! What happened to Carson Palmer?
24 (25)		Carolina	23.0	21	26	22	24	22	24	23
Matt Moore for the win? I don’t even know what to say…
25 (28)		Oakland	26.4	26	27	26	28	25	26	27
Enough of this one series here, one series there for Jamarcus Russell. Let him put in some real time.
26 (26)		Kansas City	26.6	28	28	27	26	26	25	26
Supposedly Larry Johnson may be playing again soon. With that line, why would he want to?
27 (27)		St. Louis	27.0	25	25	29	29	29	27	25
Steven Jackson is a beast. Without him, The Rams would be neck and neck with the Dolphins
28 (24)		Baltimore	28.0	29	24	25	32	27	28	31
They lost to the Dolphins, enough said.
29 (29)		San Francisco	28.0	27	29	28	25	28	29	28
Frank Gore has been one of the few bright spots for this team. You know, when he’s actually healthy.
30 (31)		NY Jets	29.8	30	30	30	27	30	30	29
The Jets certainly had their chances. At least it was a fun game to watch.
31 (30)		Atlanta	30.8	31	31	31	30	31	31	30
“At first I thought Petrino was a scumbag, but can anyone blame him for bolting from that team for Arkansas? It may not be the NFL, but at least Arkansas has a better football team.” - deerayfan072
“Can the Falcons continue the trend of going from last to first in the NFC South next year?” - beanoX3
32 (32)		Miami	32.0	32	32	32	31	32	32	32
“Congratulations, you beat the Ravens. You’re still 1-13.” - steelerfan513
“I wonder how much Cam Cameron paid Brian Billick to roll over and let Miami win. How else do you explain kicking a field goal from the 1 yard line?” - beanoX3

Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen!

(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5)  Loading ... Questions or comments for Scott? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!