2007 NFL Week 17 Barometer

Well, the final week of the regular season is upon us! Many NFL teams have already secured their playoff positions. Those teams will most likely rest some of their starters this week. A few other teams are looking to grab one of the last remaining spots, while others will be looking to play spoiler. Before the regular season closes its doors, the Cafe has a few rankers that would like to give their input as to which teams in the league are the best and which are the worst. How did they rank the NFL teams 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	Mad	Hoof Hearted	WaCougMBS	Dee	Amuk	PMoney
1 (1)		New England	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	1
“Randy Moss should have an asterisk by his name if he breaks the single season TD reception record.” - EWSPECIALTY
2 (3)		Indianapolis	2.0	2	3	2	2	2	2
With the number 2 seed locked up, expect to see the starters, but not for long.
3 (2)		Dallas	3.3	3	2	5	4	3	3
“In week 16, the Cowboys tied a franchise record for most regular season wins (13) and locked up home field advantage. However, TO suffered a high ankle sprain from a Jon Beason tackle. Fortunately, he’ll have three weeks to heal before playoff action begins.” - Jimboozie
4 (6)		Jacksonville	4.3	6	4	4	3	5	4
“Absolutely no one wants to play this team right now. Don’t be surprised if a lot of people pick them to knock off the Pats in the playoffs.” - steelerfan513
5 (4)		Green Bay	4.8	5	5	3	5	4	5
“How pathetic is it when you lose a game to a team whose leading receiver for that game was a running back?” - steelerfan513
“After having their cheese butts handed to them by their longtime rival, Chicago, the Packers squandered a chance for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. For the record: Brett Favre is 0-9 lifetime at Dallas.” - Jimboozie
6 (9)		San Diego	6.8	4	8	7	6	8	6
“Don’t expect the Chargers to rest their starters next week. A loss will likely mean the difference between a first-round matchup against the Titans/Browns or the Jaguars.” - steelerfan513
7 (7)		Seattle	7.0	7	9	6	7	6	8
“Everyone in Seattle peed their pants when Shaun Alexander scored a touchdown, including me.” - seattlefantasy92
8 (5)		Pittsburgh	8.0	8	6	8	9	9	7
“The good news: they’re in the playoffs. The bad news: they’re probably gonna play the Jags in the first round. I bet that loss to the Jets is eating away at them right now.” - steelerfan513
9 (8)		Tampa Bay	8.3	9	7	9	8	7	9
“I don’t care how many of your starters you rested, losing to the 49ers is embarrassing no matter how you put it.” - steelersfan513
“Jon Gruden better go into hiding because there are a lot of pissed off Earnest Graham owners.” - deerayfan072
10 (10)		Cleveland	11.3	11	12	10	12	11	11
“Watch for the next episode of the QB Meltdown starring DA - he’s now on a trial period.” - madaslives911
11 (11)		NY Giants	11.3	13	11	11	11	12	10
“After spotting 14 points to the Bills, the Giants smartly realized that their best chance of winning was by taking the ball out of Eli’s hands. ” - Jimboozie
12 (12)		Tennessee	11.3	10	10	12	10	15	13
“Interesting fact: if both the Titans and Redskins win this Sunday, the wildcard teams from both conferences will be from the same division.” - steelerfan513
13 (13)		Minnesota	13.8	15	15	13	14	13	12
The Vikings finally play a decent team and they expose Jackson for what he really is. I love Adrian’s quote ‘I don’t remember the last time I saw a 7 man front.’ It’s true, recently he has faced 8 and even 9 in the box. Get a quarterback and you will see his 200 yard games return.
14 (15)		New Orleans	16.0	16	21	15	19	10	14
“I’ve been saying it all year and showing it in my rankings…the Saints aren’t a good football team. Now can the NFL please stop airing those ‘When the Saints come marching home’ commercials on NFL Network?” - Jimboozie
15 (21)		Washington	16.0	18	14	14	13	18	18
“Who would have guessed that the Redskin’s key to offensive explosion laid in the arms of career backup Todd Collins. A win in week 17 versus Dallas (who has nothing to play for) will clinch them a playoff berth.” - Jimboozie
16 (16)		Philadelphia	16.3	14	16	19	17	17	15
“Where was that Eagles team when it actually counted… Geez!” - m16a
17 (14)		Arizona	16.5	17	17	16	18	14	16
Kurt Warner wants to start again next year, I say let him. The guy still has it.
18 (20)		Houston	17.0	19	13	18	15	16	19
Houston got an early lead before being destroyed. Andre Johnson is still a freak.
19 (19)		Buffalo	18.5	20	18	17	16	19	21
Although they gave that game to the Giants, I think this team has a bright future. Lynch has looked great. Build around him.
20 (17)		Detroit	19.3	12	19	21	20	22	17
Although they won last week, this team has just fallen off the map. Once a contender, now it’s just sad.
21 (18)		Denver	20.8	22	22	20	21	20	20
Barely could muster a field goal. A once decent offense and defense. Shanahan really has been screwing up this team lately.
22 (22)		Chicago	21.5	21	20	22	22	21	22
“It only took them 16 weeks, but the Bears were finally able to channel their inner 1985 defense.” - Jimboozie
“Wait, how did this team sweep the Packers? Only one thing’s for sure: the neckbeard definitely helped Orton fight off the frigid temperatures at Soldier Field. Even Orton acknowledged it.” - steelerfan513
23 (25)		Carolina	23.5	24	23	23	23	28	24
Matt Moore has really developed a repor with Steve Smith. That’s the first key for the Panthers winning games.
24 (23)		Cincinnati	24.3	25	24	24	24	25	23
The Bengals did a good job playing spoiler this week.
25 (27)		St. Louis	25.8	23	25	29	28	24	26
They had a bad year, but with Steven Jackson, you really aren’t that bad.
26 (24)		Baltimore	26.5	27	27	26	26	26	27
“…and the Ravens still losing, losing, losing. BB shrieks “Nevermore”!” - madaslives911
27 (26)		Kansas City	27.0	28	26	27	27	31	25
This team couldn’t even beat Detroit. They will need some help in the off-season.
28 (29)		San Francisco	27.3	26	28	28	25	27	29
“Congratulations on barely beating the Buccaneers second team. At least you gave the Patriots a worse first round pick.” - deerayfan072
29 (28)		Oakland	27.8	29	31	25	29	23	28
“Reggie Nelson is going to be in Russel’s nightmares for the rest of his life.” - deerayfan072
30 (31)		NY Jets	30.0	31	29	30	30	29	31
I smell a quarterback in the draft.
31 (30)		Atlanta	30.3	30	30	31	31	30	30
The Falcons just can’t get anything to go in their favor.
32 (32)		Miami	32.0	32	32	32	32	32	32
“After netting the Big Tuna, what else is on the menu? Drew Bledsoe?!?!” - madaslives911

Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen!

(5 votes, average: 4.4 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!