Week ten of the 2011 NFL Season is complete, which means it's time for week 11 NFL Power Rankings. The Green Bay Packers continued their undefeated run as they improved to 9-0. Although they sometimes have questionable defense, the league really has become the Green Bay Packers....and everybody else.
While it is "everybody else", the San Francisco 49ers are one of the team that have established themselves on a tier immediately after the Packers. The 49ers defeated the New York Giants on Sunday to further solidify their spot at number two. They have five divisional games and two huge battles with the AFC North looming. They can't move past Green Bay without the Packers losing at least once, and maybe twice, but they can maintain their current position if they continue playing like we saw against the Giants.
The 49ers tier likely includes the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Chicago Bears to some extent. New England and Baltimore are in the mix but have lost ugly enough that they remain questions marks. All these teams could knock off Green Bay, but they would need to bring quality football to make it happen.
And then there's the AFC West. Ten weeks into the season and the division has a three-way tie for second place. The Oakland Raiders are in first place at 5-4 with the rest of the division tied at 4-5. The Raiders have been all over the place this season and it has reflected in the power rankings. They are yo-yo-ing up and down the rankings as they try and figure out what to make of the team with Carson Palmer now at the helm. It makes for entertaining and often infuriating football.
On to the Week 11 NFL Power Rankings (previous week in parenthesis). As always, feel free to tweet your disagreements to @sbnbayarea:
1. (1) Green Bay Packers (9-0)
2. (2) San Francisco 49ers (8-1)
3. (4) New Orleans Saints (7-3)
4. (7) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)
5. (8) New England Patriots (5-4)
6. (12) Chicago Bears (6-3)
7. (3) Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
8. (5) New York Giants (6-3)
9. (6) Atlanta Falcons (5-4)
10. (11) Houston Texans (7-3)
11. (10) Cincinnati Bengals (6-2)
12. (9) Detroit Lions (6-3)
13. (15) Dallas Cowboys (5-4)
14. (19) Oakland Raiders (5-4)
15. (20) Tennessee Titans (5-4)
16. (13) Buffalo Bills (5-5)
17. (14) San Diego Chargers (4-5)
18. (16) New York Jets (5-4)
19. (23) Denver Broncos (4-5)
20. (17) Philadelphia Eagles (3-6)
21. (18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)
22. (27) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6)
23. (21) Kansas City Chiefs (4-5)
24. (22) Cleveland Browns (3-6)
25. (24) Minnesota Vikings (2-7)
26. (28) Arizona Cardinals (3-6)
27. (31) Seattle Seahawks (3-6)
28. (29) Miami Dolphins (2-7)
29. (30) St. Louis Rams (2-7)
30. (25) Carolina Panthers (2-7)
31. (26) Washington Redskins (3-6)
32. (32) Indianapolis Colts (0-10)