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The NFC North underwent some huge changes this week. The Lions are the Lions and nothing has changed on that front. The Packers, who were considered one of the top teams in the league near the start of the season, have been exposed and are pretty much one loss away from being out of contention. The Vikings absolutely dismantled the Bears on Sunday night football. This gave the Vikings the lead in the division and according to ESPN, they would have the tiebreaker if there was a three way tie for first place. Just a day or so after taking the lead in the NFC North. The core of the Vikings run defense was suspended for the remaining 4 games. If that holds, the Vikings chances are still fairly good to win the division. They play the Lions this week. In week 17, they face a Giants team that has the slight possibility of clinching the #1 seed this week. At that time The Giants may not be playing starters. Nine wins should win the North, if not just eight. One thing is for certain, the game between the Bears and Packers in week 16 will have huge ramifications. How did the recent suspensions and changes in the NFC North affect the rankings this week?
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 | F a l c o n F L | C o u g s | 4 P a c k | h o o k | D - L a m b | A m u k |
1 (1) |  | NY Giants | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| “My name is Plaxico I got a license to ill… I just don’t have a license for my gat.” – joejlitz | |||||||||
| 2 (3) |  | Pittsburgh | 2.3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| The unstoppable Steelers defense brought Matt Cassel back to earth in the snow this week. | |||||||||
| 3 (2) |  | Tennessee | 2.8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| The Titans actually dropped down a spot this week. Partly due to the fact the the Steelers dominated a decent team and the Titans dominated the Lions like they were playing a game of Madden. | |||||||||
| 4 (5) | | Tampa Bay | 5.0 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| “The Buccaneers have to be the only 9-3 team in NFL history that are also a proven cure for insomnia.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 5 (4) | | Carolina | 5.0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| “Five 1-yard TD runs is the fantasy football equivalent of finding out the new girl you’re dating is an identical quintuplet that’s into ’sharing’” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 6 (6) | | Indianapolis | 6.3 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| It’s pretty sad when Peyton Manning and the Colts can only beat Ken Dorsey and the Browns by 4. | |||||||||
| 7 (10) | | Dallas | 7.8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| Dallas appears to be back on track with Romo back under center, but it’s hard to tell when you play a team without a pass defense. | |||||||||
| 8 (9) | | NY Jets | 8.0 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 10 |
| The Jets had a letdown after putting everything into beating the Titans. Just a trap game, a fluke. This team is still primed to contend. | |||||||||
| 9 (16) | | Baltimore | 8.5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 6 |
| This week Mark Clayton finally lived up to the hype from a few years ago. | |||||||||
| 10 (15) | | Atlanta | 9.0 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 9 |
| I think teams are finally starting to catch on that the offseason additions of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner have made this team a contender. | |||||||||
| 11 (7) | | Arizona | 10.8 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 8 |
| Against the Eagles, the Cardinals went with the unpopular move of benching their entire backfield. | |||||||||
| 12 (8) | | Washington | 12.5 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 17 |
| “The only parts of Clinton Portis that aren’t hurt right now are his eyebrows and toenails.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 13 (14) | | New England | 12.8 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 13 |
| “The ringing in Wes Welker’s head should stop sometime in December….2011.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 14 (11) | | Denver | 14.8 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 21 |
| “Patrick Hillis: ‘That’s what I think of your 3rd-ranked rushing defense!’” – joejlitz | |||||||||
| 15 (17) | | New Orleans | 15.0 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
| “Starcaps? Are those the chocolates you get at the movies with the sugar on top? I like those.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 16 (22) | | Minnesota | 15.0 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 19 |
| “I told you we don’t need a passing game to win!” – A Fleshner Fantasy | |||||||||
| 17 (12) | | Philadelphia | 16.8 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 15 |
| In what turned out to be a battle of passing touchdowns, the previously benched Donovan McNabb took out MVP contender Kurt Warner. | |||||||||
| 18 (19) | | Chicago | 18.0 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
| “After that performance Lovie may wanna shave Orton’s neck…with a chainsaw.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 19 (13) | | Green Bay | 18.5 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 12 |
| “If only the Packers had kept Favre. Oh wait, he didn’t play defense. Oh wait, neither do they.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 20 (20) | | Miami | 19.3 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 18 |
| “Next week Ronnie Brown is also going to kick, serve Nachos, and do his own play-by-play.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 21 (18) | | San Diego | 21.5 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 23 |
| “Norv Turner + has job = makes my head hurt.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 22 (24) | | Houston | 21.8 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 20 |
| “Congrats Texans! Too good for a high draft pick, too bad to sniff the playoffs. Have fun with that.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 23 ( 21 ) | | Buffalo | 22.3 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 |
| “Since they’re playing in Canada this week does that mean that they’ll suck slightly more or slightly less? What’s the exchange rate now?” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 24 (23) | | Jacksonville | 24.5 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 25 |
| “At #2 on this week’s countdown of “Coaches who inexplicably still have a job” may I present Jack Del Rio.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 25 (26) | | San Francisco | 25.0 | 25 | 26 | 23 | 25 | 28 | 24 |
| “It’s good to see that the Niners have slowly begun their ascension from God Awful to mediocre.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 26 (25) | | Cleveland | 26.0 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
| “Now we get to show a 3rd QB what it’s like to have his passes dropped!” – A Fleshner Fantasy | |||||||||
| 27 (31) | | Oakland | 27.5 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 27 |
| “Be sure to get your pre-orders in for the Plaxico Burress Raiders jersey.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 28 (27) | | Seattle | 27.8 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 29 |
| “Turkey on the plate. Turkey on the field. Gobble Gobble.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 29 (28) | | Kansas City | 28.5 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 |
| Oakland may have been able to contain Tyler Thigpen through the air, but not on the ground, and they couldn’t beat him. | |||||||||
| 30 (29) | | Cincinnati | 30.0 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| “How many nekked pictures of Mike Brown with a llama does Marvin Lewis have? Mike, buddy, those pics would be less damaging to your reputation than this team.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 31 (30) | | St. Louis | 31.0 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| “The good news is Steven Jackson is back. The bad news is that the season hasn’t ended yet.” – Kilroy | |||||||||
| 32 (32) | | Detroit | 32.0 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Will this be the week? Detroit only lost by 2 to the Vikings earlier in the season. This week they may have an easier time against a depleted defense. | |||||||||
| Legend:
FalconFL = FalconFL |
Thanks to everyone who helped make these rankings happen! Especially Kilroy who had a ton of blurbs to put in here this week. If you would like to help with the rankings and give your own input as to where teams should be ranked you can do so here each week!
Scott is one of the growing number of fantasy experts who writes for the Cafe. He has been playing fantasy football since 1992 and and is now a hardcore fantasy football addict who lives at the Cafe. Seriously, he has a cot in back. You can find Scott posting in the Cafe forums as treat24.
   (5 votes, average: 3.40 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! |
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