2009 NFL Power Rankings: Week 18
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The Indianapolis Colts must be covered in Teflon, because no matter what, they're still kings of the hill.
The final ESPN.com NFL Power Rankings are in, and the Colts -- 14-2 but losers of their last two games in unimpressive fashion -- finish atop the balloting. They're the unanimous No. 1 choice of our experts.
The San Diego Chargers, 13-3 and winners of 11 straight games to end the regular season, finish No. 2. They've had quite the rise after ranking as low as No. 16. The Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints rank Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively, to round out the top 5. The Saints, 13-3, remain a top-5 team despite closing the regular-season slate with three consecutive losses. Read more about the voting here.
The Cowboys moved up five spots from the Week 17 balloting on the strength of their impressive demolition of the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East title. The Eagles fell three spots to finish No. 7, just behind the Green Bay Packers.
The St. Louis Rams, 1-15, had little competition for the No. 32 rung of the rankings.
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Editor's note: LW indicates each team's ranking in the Week 17 edition of the Power Rankings.
| 2009 Power Rankings: Week 18 | ||||
| RK (LW) | TEAM | REC | COMMENT | |
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1 (1) | Colts | 14-2-0 | Healing up and anticipating first-round results to learn whether they get Baltimore, the Jets or Cincinnati. (Kuharsky) |
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2 (2) | Chargers | 13-3-0 | The Chargers are gathering more steam as "hottest team in the league" and a Super Bowl pick. (Kuharsky) |
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3 (5) | Vikings | 12-4-0 | The Vikings finally seem more like the team that opened the season on fire. (Chadiha) |
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4 (9) | Cowboys | 11-5-0 | The Cowboys' late-season run starts to remind you of what the Giants did on their way to Big Blue's last Super Bowl title. (Clayton) |
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5 (3) | Saints | 13-3-0 | The bye week should help the Saints regroup, but they'll face a tough team in divisional round. (Sando) |
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6 (8) | Packers | 11-5-0 | This will be a dangerous bunch once the postseason begins. (Chadiha) |
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7 (4) | Eagles | 11-5-0 | To be shut out by Dallas in a game that meant everything to the Eagles has to be disturbing. (Clayton) |
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8 (6) | Cardinals | 10-6-0 | Injuries suffered in "meaningless" finale could prove costly for two-time NFC West champs. (Sando) |
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9 (7) | Bengals | 10-6-0 | They were wise to tank it in the season finale; now they'll see the Jets again in the first round. (Chadiha) |
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10 (10) | Patriots | 10-6-0 | The loss of Wes Welker could be the blow that prevents the Pats from going to the Super Bowl. (Clayton) |
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11 (11) | Ravens | 9-7-0 | The Ravens caught a break in the wild-card round when the Patriots' Wes Welker went down in Week 17. (Chadiha) |
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12 (14) | Jets | 9-7-0 | The Jets fell short of the playoffs last year with Brett Favre but made it with rookie Mark Sanchez. Go figure. (Clayton) |
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13 (12) | Steelers | 9-7-0 | They came on strong at the end; too bad the middle of the season was disastrous. (Chadiha) |
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14 (15) | Texans | 9-7-0 | Impressive win over New England means first winning record for franchise, but still no playoffs. (Kuharsky) |
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15 (16) | Falcons | 9-7-0 | Finishing with a winning record again shows that the Falcons remain on the right track overall. (Sando) |
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16 (17) | Titans | 8-8-0 | Glory of CJ2K and 8-2 finish shouldn't erase the failures of 0-6, which sabotaged their season. (Kuharsky) |
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17 (13) | Broncos | 8-8-0 | Team discipline problems helped destroy their already dim playoff hopes. (Kuharsky) |
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18 (19) | Panthers | 8-8-0 | It's a passing league, and the Panthers won't win big without more consistency through the air. (Sando) |
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19 (21) | 49ers | 8-8-0 | Continuity at offensive coordinator should help, no matter what you thought of Jimmy Raye. (Sando) |
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20 (18) | Giants | 8-8-0 | The Giants lost their way after a 5-0 start and embarrassed themselves on defense. (Clayton) |
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21 (20) | Dolphins | 7-9-0 | The Dolphins collapsed down the stretch, but Bill Parcells has established a solid team with a good young quarterback. (Clayton) |
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22 (23) | Bears | 7-9-0 | Get Jay Cutler some help, please. (Chadiha) |
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23 (22) | Jaguars | 7-9-0 | Disappointing dud in Cleveland capped a four-game losing streak to end season. (Kuharsky) |
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24 (25) | Bills | 6-10-0 | From Brian Billick to Jim Fassel to Jim Haslett to Marty Schottenheimer to Ron Rivera, the Bills have some attractive head coaching candidates. (Clayton) |
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25 (27) | Browns | 5-11-0 | Now we'll see whether Mike Holmgren really wants to keep Eric Mangini around for another season. (Chadiha) |
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26 (24) | Raiders | 5-11-0 | Now everybody watches Cable to see whether Al Davis decides to make another coaching move. (Kuharsky) |
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27 (26) | Seahawks | 5-11-0 | The Seahawks head into the offseason looking for a general manager to rebuild along both lines and beyond. (Sando) |
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28 (30) | Chiefs | 4-12-0 | They take a quality win over a division rival into the offseason. Still, the roster will be turned over. (Kuharsky) |
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29 (28) | Redskins | 4-12-0 | With Dallas and Houston off the radar, Mike Shanahan is set to take over for Jim Zorn as the Redskins' head coach. (Clayton) |
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30 (29) | Buccaneers | 3-13-0 | On-the-job training has ended for Raheem Morris. Now the Bucs must show some results. (Sando) |
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31 (31) | Lions | 2-14-0 | At least they didn't lose them all this season. (Chadiha) |
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32 (32) | Rams | 1-15-0 | The Rams put hard miles on Steven Jackson's odometer this season. They need more balance on offense. (Sando) |
| Glossary |
| The rankings were determined by a poll of four voters on ESPN.com's NFL staff: writers John Clayton (AFC East, NFC East), Jeffri Chadiha (AFC North, NFC North), Paul Kuharsky (AFC South, AFC West), and Mike Sando (NFC South, NFC West). |
