Week 14 Power Ranking - 2004

The Seattle Seahawks finally beat a team with a record above 0.500. Unfortunately, that team was the Vikings from Minnesota, where I was born and raised. With this victory, the Seahawks take a step in the right direction, which probably makes people a little more comfortable since the Seahawks have been ranked dreadfully low. Their score has improved greatly, however, their actual rank only improves from 28th to 26th. This isn't a great improvement in rank, but it will require a little more than this single victory to change their ranking considerably. As I'm sure many people are aware, the victor of a game is not necessarily the better team. Rather, the team that wins is the better team on that day, or at least had things go their way. Variability and uncertainty is the reality of sports, and we should all be thankful for that. By beating Minnesota, Seattle moves within striking distance of a dramatic improvement in rank if they continue to win. The ranking is based on the entire season, however, and their win doesn't erase the fact that the Carolina Panthers were the best team they'd beaten to this point, in a game which they had home field advantage. They've lost to St. Louis, Dallas, and at home against Arizona. With that said, I don't mean to diminish their accomplishment. Seattle has dropped my team below the Green Bay Packers and are poised to end the season well, but they must beat the Jets or the Falcons.

Cleveland has been surprisingly high all year and suffer from a loss to Buffalo. They remain relatively high, however, due to their remarkably difficult schedule and wins against Baltimore and Cincinnati. Losing the majority of their remaining games, against much less formidable opponents would drop them significantly in future power rankings.

Score / Change from Last Week / W - L / Team

1. 3.84 / 0.00 / 12 - 1 / Pittsburgh Steelers
2. 3.61 / 0.05 / 12 - 1 / New England Patriots
3. 3.37 / -0.15 / 12 - 1 / Philadelphia Eagles
4. 1.31 / -0.03 / 10 - 3 / Indianapolis Colts
5. 1.28 / -0.06 / 9 - 4 / New York Jets
6. 1.21 / -0.10 / 8 - 5 / Baltimore Ravens
7. 1.09 / 0.14 / 10 - 3 / San Diego Chargers
8. 0.59 / 0.19 / 10 - 3 / Atlanta Falcons
9. 0.39 / -0.01 / 7 - 6 / Jacksonville Jaguars
10. 0.33 / -0.23 / 6 - 7 / Cincinnati Bengals
11. 0.26 / 0.16 / 8 - 5 / Denver Broncos
12. 0.23 / 0.25 / 7 - 6 / Buffalo Bills
13. 0.22 / -0.11 / 8 - 5 / Green Bay Packers
14. -0.09 / -0.51 / 7 - 6 / Minnesota Vikings
15. -0.37 / 0.34 / 5 - 8 / Kansas City Chiefs
16. -0.39 / -0.16 / 5 - 8 / Houston Texans
17. -0.49 / -0.41 / 3 - 10 / Cleveland Browns
18. -0.51 / -0.35 / 5 - 8 / Detroit Lions
19. -0.54 / -0.54 / 5 - 8 / Dallas Cowboys
20. -0.56 / -0.33 / 5 - 8 / New York Giants
21. -0.67 / 0.40 / 6 - 7 / Carolina Panthers
22. -0.73 / 0.15 / 4 - 9 / Oakland Raiders
23. -0.75 / -0.36 / 5 - 8 / Chicago Bears
24. -0.78 / -0.27 / 4 - 9 / Washington Redskins
25. -0.83 / 0.51 / 7 - 6 / Seattle Seahawks
26. -0.87 / -0.34 / 4 - 9 / Tennessee Titans
27. -1.03 / 0.17 / 5 - 8 / Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28. -1.07 / 0.15 / 6 - 7 / St Louis Rams
29. -1.19 / 0.53 / 5 - 8 / New Orleans Saints
30. -1.75 / -0.18 / 4 - 9 / Arizona Cardinals
31. -2.29 / 0.16 / 2 - 11 / Miami Dolphins
32. -2.83 / 0.94 / 2 - 11 / San Francisco 49ers

Home-field Advantage = 0.27