Written by Chris Hutchison

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Before I wrote this, I swore that if the HERO (Hutchison Exuberant Ranking Officialness) System still ranked Houston ahead of the Patriots, I would enact an exception called The Human Element (T.H.E., ironically also the title of a science fiction story I wrote about humans having moved the entirety of their brains to microchips and able to switch from metal robotic bodies to brainless human bodies - shells - at will, and the degradation of the concept of morals or emotions that ensued, but I digress) that would fix that flaw since there's no way on Shiva's Fair Earth that the Texans could be ranked ahead of New England after THAT beatdown.

Fortunately, the corresponding number change allowed for NE to jump the Houstons, so life as we know it can still make sense.

The playoff-bound Cleveland Browns made yet another step up the ladder this week to #19.  They are an impressive 9th in points allowed, and only a -13 in seasonal point differential (Points Scored minus Points Allowed), which ain't bad for a 5-8 team. 

In comparison, the 9-4 Colts are a -37.  For a team with only 4 losses to be -37, they had to win all their games by the hair on their chinny chin chin and get blown the F out in all their losses.  Generally, this is an indication of a "Paper Tiger", which I can easily buy that Indy is.

The Broncos took over #1 in the rankings this week after their 23rd win in a row while the Chiefs "recaptured" #32 from the Jags after getting beaten like a teenage boy's... well, never mind... in Cleveland on Sunday.

So back to the Browns.  If they can win out (a daunting task), they stand a decent shot at sneaking into that 6th AFC Playoff spot.  Yes, like Cincy, they've gotten fat as of late on cream puffs and will have to elevate their game to defeat the likes of Washington, Denver, and a Porky Ben-led Pittsburgh.  But that just means that the next 3 games are de facto playoff games for Cleveland, and if they win all 3 of these they get to go to the real Playoffs (maybe).

Don't underestimate how much this game means to the 14th ranked Redskins either.  It's not quite as must-have as for the Browns (who would be eliminated with any loss), but it's up there as the competition for an NFC playoff spot is fierce.

And if the Browns clear this first hurdle - RG3 or no RG3 - they get the reward of traveling to Denver and playing the #1 ranked Broncos.

Holy Feces, wouldn't that one be fun if it were close in the 4th Quarter?

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	WP	Avg_PF	Avg_PA	Diff	Rank_PF	Rank_PA	Rank_Final
Denver	10	3	0	0.769	28.85	19.77	118	2	4	1
New England	10	3	0	0.769	36.31	21.08	198	1	11	2
Houston	11	2	0	0.846	28.08	20.23	102	4	6	3
San Francisco	9	3	1	0.731	24.31	14.15	132	13	1	4
Atlanta	11	2	0	0.846	25.92	19.92	78	8	5	5
N.Y. Giants	8	5	0	0.615	28.69	20.77	103	3	8	6
Seattle	8	5	0	0.615	23.08	15.54	98	15	2	7
Chicago	8	5	0	0.615	23.69	16.85	89	14	3	8
Baltimore	9	4	0	0.692	25.46	21.00	58	9	10	9
Green Bay	9	4	0	0.692	24.85	21.46	44	10	13	10
Cincinnati	7	6	0	0.538	24.69	21.54	41	11	15	11
Tampa Bay	6	7	0	0.462	27.23	23.69	46	5	20	12
Pittsburgh	7	6	0	0.538	21.38	20.31	14	21	7	13
Washington	7	6	0	0.538	26.38	25.31	14	7	23	14
Minnesota	7	6	0	0.538	21.77	22.00	-3	20	17	15
Indianapolis	9	4	0	0.692	22.46	25.31	-37	17	23	16
Dallas	7	6	0	0.538	23.08	24.15	-14	16	22	17
San Diego	5	8	0	0.385	22.46	21.62	11	17	16	18
Cleveland	5	8	0	0.385	19.92	20.92	-13	24	9	19
New Orleans	5	8	0	0.385	26.77	29.15	-31	6	30	20
Miami	5	8	0	0.385	18.46	21.23	-36	27	12	21
St. Louis	6	6	1	0.5	18.15	21.46	-43	29	13	22
Detroit	4	9	0	0.308	24.62	26.31	-22	12	26	23
N.Y. Jets	6	7	0	0.462	18.85	23.54	-61	26	19	24
Buffalo	5	8	0	0.385	22.23	27.08	-63	19	27	25
Carolina	4	9	0	0.308	20.38	24.00	-47	23	21	26
Arizona	4	9	0	0.308	14.31	22.46	-106	32	18	27
Philadelphia	4	9	0	0.308	18.46	26.23	-101	27	25	28
Tennessee	4	9	0	0.308	20.85	29.69	-115	22	31	29
Oakland	3	10	0	0.231	19.08	30.92	-154	25	32	30
Jacksonville	2	11	0	0.154	16.62	27.62	-143	30	29	31
Kansas City	2	11	0	0.154	15.00	27.08	-157	31	27	32

 

Key: WP = Winning Percentage, Avg_PF = Average Points Scored per game, Avg_PA = Average Points Allowed per game, Diff = Points Scored minus Points Allowed (season), Rank_PF = NFL Rank in Points Scored, Rank_PA = NFL Rank in Points Allowed