Week 14 of the 2011 NFL season has come to a close and it was not a pretty week for Bay Area football. The 49ers left their red zone offense in San Francisco as they dropped a 21-19 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals. The loss dropped them into a tie with the New Orleans Saints for the number two seed and the accompanying first round bye. The Saints have proven to be a fantastic team at home, but they become a bit more questionable when they head on the road. The 49ers would like to have a first round bye, but just as important is if they play the Saints in round two, it would be nice to have the game in San Francisco.
The Oakland Raiders were pummeled by the undefeated Green Bay Packers in a loss that dropped them out of first place. They now sit a game back of the Denver Broncos who are intent on never actually losing again. The Broncos have won six straight and seven of eight since Tim Tebow took over as quarterback. He may lose again, but given how crazy things have gone the last two months, the Raiders could find themselves simply hoping for a wild card berth.
On to the Week 15 NFL Power Rankings (previous week in parenthesis). As always, feel free to tweet your disagreements to @sbnbayarea:
1. (1) Green Bay Packers (13-0)
2. (2) New Orleans Saints (10-3)
3. (3) Baltimore Ravens (10-3)
4. (4) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3)
5. (6) New England Patriots (10-3)
6. (5) San Francisco 49ers (10-3)
7. (7) Houston Texans (10-3)
8. (8) Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
9. (9) Denver Broncos (8-5)
10. (14) New York Jets (8-5)
11. (15) New York Giants (7-6)
12. (10) Dallas Cowboys (7-6)
13. (11) Tennessee Titans (7-6)
14. (12) Oakland Raiders (7-6)
15. (18) San Diego Chargers (6-7)
16. (17) Detroit Lions (8-5)
17. (16) Cincinnati Bengals (7-6)
18. (20) Philadelphia Eagles (5-8)
19. (13) Chicago Bears (7-6)
20. (19) Miami Dolphins (4-9)
21. (23) Arizona Cardinals (6-7)
22. (25) Seattle Seahawks (6-7)
23. (27) Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9)
24. (22) Carolina Panthers (4-9)
25. (21) Buffalo Bills (5-8)
26. (24) Cleveland Browns (4-9)
27. (26) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-9)
28. (29) Washington Redskins (4-9)
29. (30) Minnesota Vikings (2-11)
30. (28) Kansas City Chiefs (5-8)
31. (31) St. Louis Rams (2-11)
32. (32) Indianapolis Colts (0-13)