NFL Week 14 Power Report

1. I know it was cold and windy in Cleveland on Thursday but that's no excuse keeping the Steelers from "earning" the worst team performance of the year. For a team fighting to save their playoff lives to get blown away by the #32-ranked offense AND defense is beyond embarrassing. Steelers have no offensive line. And Big Ben held onto the ball WAY too long ALL the time. If that's not bad enough, the Steelers gave up 170 yards on the ground to one of the worst ground teams in the league. Joshua Cribbs fumbled a punt and still managed to run 55 yards. Previously I thought they were simply missing Troy Polu but no, the Steelers are absolutely pathetic.

2. Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts on setting a new record with 22 straight wins in the regular season. If you compare that to basketball, that's like a team winning 112 straight (okay, not really the same but you get it). And unlike the previous 5, the last two have been early blowouts (against good teams).

3. People are probably sick of me praising Titans' Chris Johnson, but if you saw him play you would believe it, too. He is one of the best football players I have ever seen. Don't be surprised when people start comparing him to Barry Sanders in a few years.

3a. Speaking of explosive, DeSean Jackson is too. 9 touchdowns of 48+ yards.

4. Rams' third-stringer Keith Null became the 4th rookie quarterback to throw five interceptions in a game this season (joining Sanchez, Stafford, and Freeman). Jay Kurt Warner and Cutler also have a 5 INT game (Jay had another with 4), and Jake Delhomme has two 4 INT games.

5. As my friend Ryan Comer pointed out , the Cowboys and Chargers are heading opposite directions in December. Romo gets a lot of the negative attention but is it his fault this month? The last two weeks have been the best two game stretch of the season for him! 5 TDs, 0 INT, 60/85 (70%), and a 99-yard touchdown drive in the second half this week. Marion Barber failed on three straight attempts from the 1 yard line, missed field goal, that's not Romo's fault. All stats aside, Boys have lost six of their last seven December games.

THE RANKINGS

Teams at the Top
1. Colts. They just keep winning. But still, I'll be surprised if they are in the Super Bowl.
2. Saints. Barely squeak out two wins against highly injury-plagued teams?
3. Vikings. I'm glad all the Favre in December talk stopped.
4. Chargers. 16 straight December wins.
5. Eagles. If Westbrook can come back in the playoffs, this team will be a monster with him, DeSean Jackson, and Vick.
6. Cardinals. Fell victim to the San Francisco Singletarys. They are ball hawks. 4 of Arizona's 5 losses are to teams under .500.
7. Bengals. They are supposed to have a solid, balanced offense but in the last 9 games they've topped 20 only twice (to the woeful Lions and Bears, oh my!).

Messy Middle
8. Packers. Charles Woodson has 8 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and a couple sacks this season.
9. Broncos. Congrats to Brandon Marshall on a record 21-receptions game. No one else has beaten the Colts either, so go ahead and enjoy the day.
10. Patriots. Wes Welker has 105 catches (18 more than the next guy) and he even missed a couple games.
11. Cowboys. Two great links: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/story/1828562.html firewadephillips.com
12. Giants. Lots of highlights in that Eagles' game. Despite losing four fumbles, they came an onside kick away from winning. Giants will become huge supporters of the Eagles and Redskins for a few weeks so they can get into the playoffs themselves.
13. Dolphins. Ricky Williams ran for 100+, Henne completed 17 straight passes, and the defense shut down the Jags.
14. Titans. Good news on VY's injured hammy; they could sure use him against the Fins.
15. Jaguars. The fact is that they will have to beat either the Colts or Patriots to make it into the playoffs.
16. Jets. Forced to attempt five field goals, but when you limit your opponent to
124 yards you will win (other than that game in Miami last month).
17. Ravens. It's basically going to come down to Week 16 in Pittsburgh: win and in. That would be nice revenge against the Steelers who went 3-0 against the Ravens en route to the Super Bowl.

The Underachievers
18. 49ers. 7 forced fumbles and a couple interceptions, that is Niners defense. Imagine if they didn't choke against the Seahawks last week; they could have swept the division.
19. Texans. Finally got out of their funk with a dominant performance. Another blowout on the horizon in St Louis?
20. Falcons. Despite missing Ryan and Turner and having no defense, they had the ball and a chance to win in the last couple minutes.
21. Redskins. They can be big spoilers with Giants, Cowboys and Chargers left on the schedule.
22. Bears. Turnovers and penalties are how you lose games. Haven't beat a team that has a winning record (0-6).
23. Steelers. Couldn't reach the endzone against the Browns.
24. Panthers. Chris Gamble needs to shut up and remember that his team lost.
25. Seahawks. 1-14 on third downs.

Same old Story
26. Bills. Can you believe they actually have 5 wins?
27. Raiders. Back to JaMarcus Russell. Or Maybe Charlie Frye. Does it matter?
28. Chiefs. Jamaal Charles has had a nice season so far and has the Browns next.
29. Lions. Lions, Bucs, and Rams got outscored this week 121-13.
30. Browns. It was strange to see so many smiles on the Cleveland sideline.
31. Bucs. Josh Freeman has 0 TDs and 8 interceptions the last two games.
32. Rams. Is the season over yet?

Big game this week: Bengals at Chargers. Winner is likely to get a playoff bye.