Titans reclaim top spot, but real test looms

The whole idea of NFL power rankings is about to become irrelevant, because the 12-team playoff field is almost seeded and ready to go as January looms. But this one last time we're going to take our shot at figuring out the order of things before the final week of the regular season commences.

The Titans and Giants earned their No. 1 seeds last week with tough victories over quality opponents, but history says one of them won't turn their homefield advantage into a Super Bowl berth. As we noted last week, it's been 15 years since two No. 1s met in the Super Bowl, and it has happened only twice in the 18 seasons since the NFL began seeding the playoffs.

My hunch? The Giants make it to Tampa, but the Titans get detoured by a deep and talented AFC field that's as wide-open as any in recent memory. Don't hold me to it, but at least that's how I see it on Christmas Eve. (Send comments to Don Banks.)

NFL Power Rankings 1 Last Week: 3 Tennessee Titans (13-2) A critical win for the Titans at home against the Steelers last week, but now comes the test that has derailed so many quality teams in January. Depending on which day it plays its AFC Divisional round playoff opener, Tennessee will have gone either 20 or 21 days between meaningful games. Can the Titans sustain their edge, their hunger, and their focus for that long, without letting this week's scrimmage against the Colts and next week's first-round bye dull their competitive juices? Getting the chance to get Albert Haynesworth & Co. healthy for the playoffs is huge, but I must admit the time off would concern me if I were a Titans backer.   2 Last Week: 4 New York Giants (12-3) How could I have not seen this coming before now? It dawned on me this week that I've known this season's Super Bowl matchup all along and just didn't read the writing on the wall. It's obvious we're headed for Giants-Colts, in a 50th-anniversary rematch of The Greatest Game -- that 1958 Colts-Giants overtime classic in the NFL championship game. Artie Donovan does the pregame coin flip in Tampa, and as a bonus, ESPN won't even have to colorize this version.   3 Last Week: 2 Carolina Panthers (11-4) Given that there are teams such as Arizona out there, it's almost not fair that the Panthers still have to scratch and claw to avoid the NFC's No. 5 seed and having to take to the road throughout the playoffs. But hey, the Patriots, Dolphins and Ravens are all 10-5 in the AFC and they haven't even clinched a postseason berth yet. If nothing else last Sunday night, Carolina proved that if the road to the Super Bowl leads through the Meadowlands, it will not cower at the prospect of going back into Giants Stadium next month.   4 Last Week: 1 Pittsburgh Steelers (11-4) I dropped the Steelers from first to fourth, and that seems a bit harsh I know. But I liked how the other three teams involved in last week's big No. 1 vs. 2 games responded much more than Pittsburgh's effort at Tennessee. Given the killer schedule they've played this season, a 12-4 season however is going to wind up being a remarkable accomplishment for Mike Tomlin's guys. Now if somebody could just remind Ben Roethlisberger to protect the football when he's under pressure.   5 Last Week: 5 Indianapolis Colts (11-4) Ever imagine what it's like to be Jim Sorgi, Peyton Manning's backup? He only plays in August, and then not again until late December. Usually against the Titans. Must be hard to stay loose.   6 Last Week: 6 Atlanta Falcons (10-5) After playing indoors for virtually the entire second half of the season and getting their blood all thinned out, the Falcons could be headed for a first-round playoff game in balmy Arizona, where Atlanta's comfort zone should continue to build. Somebody up there likes these Falcons, but after the trials of 2007, Arthur Blank's team had this joyride coming.   7 Last Week: 9 Baltimore Ravens (10-5) Forced to tell the truth, which team do you think Jason Garrett would like to be head coach of right now: the Cowboys, where he's the presumed heir apparent to Wade Phillips; the Ravens, who wanted to hire him last January; or the Falcons, who also pursued him last offseason? What a kick in the gut it would be for the Dallas offensive coordinator if the Ravens and Falcons both make the playoffs, but the Cowboys stay home.   8 Last Week: 12 New England Patriots (10-5) I recall there were a lot of smirks and funny looks (at least electronically, via e-mail) when I wrote in September that the Patriots could still win 10 games with Matt Cassel taking over for the injured Tom Brady. But here they are in that territory, and if they make the playoffs, they could stay in it for a while. This a Pats team that has things clicking offensively.   9 Last Week: 13 Miami Dolphins (10-5) Back on Aug. 1 at Jets camp, I asked Chad Pennington if he ever went home and screamed into the pillow with all the Brett Favre-to-the-Jets talk swirling about? "Oh, yeah," he said. "I go home and blow some steam off. I'm getting ready to do it here in a second." Guess who else might be headed home to scream into the pillow? The Jets and Favre, if Miami and Pennington beat New York and take the AFC East title Sunday at the Meadowlands.   10 Last Week: 7 Dallas Cowboys (9-6) For those of us who followed the NFL all throughout the 1970s and '80s, the thought of watching the Cowboys go 11 seasons without a playoff victory was unfathomable. But unless they get the job done in Philly on Sunday, that streak of postseason futility is about to reach an even dozen years. Somehow the sight of Dallas being denied by its NFC East rivals, the Eagles, keeps flashing in my mind's eye.   11 Last Week: 8 Minnesota Vikings (9-6) It must have been torture to be a Vikings fan and watch that Green Bay-Chicago overtime affair Monday night at frosty Solider Field. Minnesota was probably an inch or two away from clinching a playoff berth on that Bears' 4th-and-1 play, and again when Packers kicker Mason Crosby had his field goal blocked late in regulation. But if the Vikings can beat the nothing-to-play-for Giants Sunday at home, the party will be much sweeter for having gotten the job done themselves.   12 Last Week: 10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5) Hard to believe it now, after a three-game losing streak, but not all that long ago the Bucs looked like a decent shot to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl on their home field. But don't give up all hope, Tampa Bay, because a home win over Oakland and a road loss by the Cowboys at Philadelphia is definitely a doable playoff-clinching scenario.   13 Last Week: 16 Chicago Bears (9-6) If the Bears make the playoffs, that locker room ought to vote double shares to everyone on Chicago's special teams units. Because it wasn't the offense or the defense that kept the Bears season alive Monday night against the Packers. It was the guys who take the field when the ball is getting ready to be kicked.   14 Last Week: 11 New York Jets (9-6) The Jets are only a J.P. Losman fumble away from suffering one of the all-time collapses, having lost three out of four from Thanksgiving weekend on after surging to that 8-3 mark in Week 12. It's going to be a very painful offseason if either the Patriots or the Dolphins get to January, and New York goes home. Either Bill Belichick will beat them out, or Bill Parcells and Pennington will. Ouch.   15 Last Week: 14 Philadelphia Eagles (8-6-1) I swear I could hear the city of Philadelphia collectively slap its forehead when the Eagles' last-gasp pass was completed just shy of -- rather than over -- the goal line at Washington. And yes, that did sort of epitomize an Eagles season that was so close, but quite not enough.   16 Last Week: 19 New Orleans Saints (8-7) Before anyone gets all upset about Drew Brees breaking Dan Marino's season-single passing yardage mark by throwing the ball 57 times at home against Carolina on Sunday, go back and check whether Marino's 1984 Dolphins ever rolled up some huge passing numbers in games that were comfortably in hand. I say go for it, D.B.   17 Last Week: 20 San Diego Chargers (7-8) At least the Chargers have been given the chance to decide their own fate. At least they don't have to pin the whole frustrating season on that blown Ed Hochuli call in Week 2. At least we'll find out if this team still wants to play and win for embattled head coach Norv Turner. At least we've got one more all-or-nothing Week 17 game to watch than we expected.   18 Last Week: 17 Denver Broncos (8-7) You can probably tell who I like in this week's Broncos-Chargers game by how I've ordered the two AFC West rivals. No surprise there, though. Where it not for the staggering Jets or Cowboys, we'd all be talking much more about another December meltdown in Denver.   19 Last Week: 22 Washington Redskins (8-7) Reality check: The Redskins weren't as good as they looked in racing out to that 6-2 start, and they're nowhere near as bad as they've looked in stumbling home at 2-5 in the second half. But sometimes just getting to the .500 level that you deserve is anything but a smooth, steady ride.   20 Last Week: 15 Arizona Cardinals (8-7) A playoff-bound team at No. 20 in our power rankings? Did you see any of that mail-in job by Arizona in snowy Foxboro? The Cardinals are lucky they cracked our second 10. I suppose there have been worse playoff teams in the history of the NFL, but I really can't recall when.   21 Last Week: 23 Buffalo Bills (7-8) The Bills at least got a respite from their misery last week in Denver, upsetting the Broncos, and then having a Rocky Mountain snowstorm keep them in Colorado for an extra night. They took the opportunity to celebrate their win, and watch the movie Things to Do in Denver When Your (Playoff Hopes Are) Dead.   22 Last Week: 18 Houston Texans (7-8) Got a little ahead of ourselves, didn't we, Texans? Not being able to put away the Raiders these days sentences you to having a fraud alert attached to your record in the standings. Beat the Bears at home this week and a .500 finish will be nice. But 9-7 and the franchise's first winning record would have been better.   23 Last Week: 21 San Francisco 49ers (6-9) Avoiding a double-digit loss season might not seem like much of a goal for most teams, but I once covered a Tampa Bay team that had that as its primary motivation every December. Finally, in 1995, the Bucs broke through, going 7-9 to end a 12-year streak of double-digit loss seasons. The 49ers need a win at home against Washington to avoid the double-digit club.   24 Last Week: 24 Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10) Jaguars personnel executive James Harris took the bullet this week and resigned in the wake of Jacksonville's disappointing season. Harris is a good man, but that's what happens when you entrust the likes of Jerry Porter with a big free-agent contract.   25 Last Week: 25 Green Bay Packers (5-10) The thing about having a 5-10 record at this point in the season is that it leaves you vulnerable to every wise-guy sports writer calling you a dime-store team. Get it? Five and 10. Is that an outdated reference lost on my younger readers? Dr. Z, I'm sure, has my back on this one.   26 Last Week: 27 Seattle Seahawks (4-11) Good to see the Seahawks still playing hard for their soon-to-be ex-head coach, Mike Holmgren. I'm not really sure what Jim Mora is inheriting next season in Seattle, but Holmgren hasn't left the cupboards completely bare.   27 Last Week: 28 Cincinnati Bengals (3-11-1) Wins over Washington and Cleveland in consecutive weeks? Break up the Bengals. More likely, the back-to-back victories will do wonders for head coach Marvin Lewis getting another season in Cincy.   28 Last Week: 30 Oakland Raiders (4-11) Think maybe Al Davis would enjoy seeing his guys knock off Tampa Bay and keep Jon Gruden's team out of the playoffs? Nothing would make Al's Silver and Black heart beat faster.   29 Last Week: 26 Cleveland Browns (4-11) Five consecutive games without a touchdown? Fights between players in the weight room? It's beginning to look a lot like firing season in Cleveland.   30 Last Week: 29 Kansas City Chiefs (2-13) The Chiefs are on the verge of having the worst season in terms of sacks in NFL history. They have nine all season, and the league record low for 16 games is 13, by the 1981 Baltimore Colts. And I still say trading Jared Allen for draft picks was the right move to make. He would have left after this season via free agency anyway.   31 Last Week: 31 St. Louis Rams (2-13) Rams players say they want Jim Haslett to return as the team's fulltime head coach in 2009. Then again, if those same players would have made their opinions known with their performances more than their mouths, maybe the question of Haslett's future wouldn't even need being asked.   32 Last Week: 32 Detroit Lions (0-15) In order to avoid 0-16 and infamy, the Lions have to win at a stadium where they haven't won in 17 years: Green Bay's Lambeau Field, where the temperature will probably be in the teens, too. I, for one, will be keeping an eye on this game, because all of it should make for some decent drama. Disagree with Don? SUBMIT YOUR OWN POWER RANKINGS