The conclusion of Week 16 brings with it the latest edition of Irishcentral.com's NFL power rankings. Sports Central Blogger Cian Fahey and From the Bleachers Blogger Cormac Ekroff come together to give their views on the NFL from top to bottom.



1.Patriots(1)
Cian:The Patriots easily surpassed the Bills this past week on their way to becoming the top seed in the AFC.
Cormac:Complete dismemberment of the Bills, nothing unexpected there but still, getting the job done.
1.Patriots(1)
2.Saints(2)
Cian:The Saints went into Atlanta and came away with a victory against Matt Ryan but they will need to eradicate the mistakes they keep making.
Cormac:The Who Dat's aren't as much sneaking up on people now as breaking the door down demanding attention. Drew Brees looks scarily in control right now. 
2.Saints(3)
3.Falcons(3)
Cian:The Falcons may have lost to the Saints but are still in the race for the top seed in the NFC. The aura of invincibility at home will need to be resurrected.
Cormac:The Falcons loss was doubly worrying, losing at home to such a big rival, who will have no fear coming back now in January. The only redeeming feature is there's plenty of time for Matty Ice and the rest to recover and reset. 
3.Falcons(2)
4.Ravens(7)
Cian:The Ravens victory in Cleveland was impressive and all they can do now is hope the Steelers can't repeat that feat.
Cormac:Baltimore keeps climbing with another efficient, quiet win. Who wants to face Ray Rice in the playoffs? Not many hands shooting up...
4.Ravens(5)
5.Steelers(5)
Cian:The only thing holding the Steelers back is their health. A victory against Carolina proves nothing for this team.
Cormac:Worrying loss to a completely motivation less Vikings team. Dog lovers world wide rejoice as relative unknown Joe Webb heavily outplays supposed MVP candidate Mike Vick. 
5.Eagles(4)
6.Bears(13)
Cian:You can't deny the legitimacy of the Bears, and yes it took them winning an NFC North crown to make me believe in them.
Cormac:Love 'em or hate 'em, the Steelers are cruising towards a first round bye and playing round two at home. Anybody fancy playing in Pittsburgh next month? Didn't think so. 
6.Steelers(7)
7.Packers(16)
Cian:The return of Rodgers will earn much acclaim but the defense destroyed Eli Manning on Sunday as it has all season long.
Cormac:Jay Cutler, Devin Hester and the Bears offence were nothing short of sensational against the Jets. At 21-10 Jets not many would have predicted the Bears would have won that game. Cutler showed some serious arm strength with some of his scoring passes. We will find out everything we need to know about the Bears this coming weekend against Green Bay. In Green Bay. Nice. 
7.Bears(10)
8.Chiefs(12)
Cian:Dwayne Bowe continues to impress, his presence is vital to the Chiefs offense staying balanced throughout the playoffs.
Cormac:The Colts should see off unpredictable Tennessee next weekend and sew up the AFC South. Austin Collie is a huge loss for the playoffs, though. That kid has seriously good hands. 
8.Colts(11)
9.Eagles(4)
Cian:Michael Vick's turnover ratio is starting to swing and the loss to Joe Webb and the Vikings is unacceptable for a team with so much talent.
Cormac:We have to take these guys seriously, they have good game plans, they have skill players doing their jobs everywhere on the field. By my calculations they will be home at Arrowhead hosting a wildcard team in round one. 
9.Chiefs(15)
10.Colts(9)
Cian:Who knew Peyton Manning could run that far? The close victory over the Raiders may keep the team on track for the playoffs but it also maintained Peyton Manning's new obsession with interceptions.
Cormac:All the warning signs were there, we shouldn't have been taken by surprise by Green Bay's terrific win in New York. Green Bay played the Patriots real close the previous week with a rookie under center. Aaron Rodgers calmly picked the awful Giants to pieces. Hard to believe these guys might not make the playoffs, it's possible.
10.Packers(16)
11.Buccaneers (14)
Cian:The Bucs beat an irrelevant team in Seattle but they continue to win as the injuries pile up. Josh Freeman's 5 touchdown explosion will surprise nobody that has watched him play this season.
Cormac:That Jets D doesn't look quite as scary now does it? 110 points given up, the last four games combined.
11.Jets(9)
12.Jets(10)
Cian:The Jets running game showed up this week but Sanchez showed his inability to win games once more with a game ending interception while the defense was outplayed by the Bears offense.
Cormac:Believe it or not the Jags could end up in the playoffs. The Colts have to lose though, which is unlikely against Tennessee. But, you never know. What is it they say, any given Sunday? 
12.Jaguars(13)
13.Rams(15)
Cian:The Rams continued their march to the playoffs on the back of outstanding defensive line play and Sam Bradford as the offense is slowly turning into a west coast scheme.
Cormac:This is another one that shouldn't have shocked anyone, the Chargers are as bad as their record suggests, massive egos and reputations be damned. 
13.Chargers(6)
14.Giants(8)
Cian:The Giants took a beating from the Packers as their offense imploded turning the ball over with their quarterback(4 picks) and their running-backs(2 fumbles).
Cormac:The NFC version of the Chargers. In fact, let's copy and paste, for effect! This is another one that shouldn't have shocked anyone, the Giants are as bad as their record suggests, massive egos and reputations be damned. 
14.Giants(11)
15.Jaguars(11)
Cian:The Jaguars loss to the Redskins shows how much they rely on Maurice Jones Drew. Teams with playoff hopes cannot be one dimensional on offense.
Cormac:Tampa might be out of the playoffs but they can hold their heads up high after a, relatively speaking, superb season. Imagine, this team were a laughing stock last year. Their 9-6 record is nothing short of excellent. One of the major success stories in sports in 2010. 
15.Buccaneers(15)
16.Chargers(6)
Cian:The Bengals are a better team without Terrell Owens and Chad(http://tinyurl.com/32aeyuj) but the loss to the Bengals deservedly put the Chargers out of the playoffs.
Cormac:Oakland are definitely ahead of where they might have expected to be in 2010. Couple of nice 'big scalp' wins, but still plenty of room for improvement. 
16.Raiders(17)
17.Lions(17)
Cian:The Lions won their second away game in a row, maybe its time to write a new record?
This team's status hinges on Matt Stafford's health next year.
Cormac:The Rams can make the playoffs with a win over Seattle this coming Sunday, and that in turn would mean a 8-8 record and save the blushes of the NFC West. 
17.Rams(18)
18.Raiders(18)
Cian:The Raiders are firmly planted as the best of the worst in the league. This is a young team offensively that may look for a star quarterback in the offseason to put it over the top.
Cormac:Absolutely no excuses at all for placing the Lions in this relatively lofty position. The Lions have won three in a row and have scored more points than nine other NFC teams. Potentially winning mixture of youth and raw talent, watch out for the Lions in 2011. 
18.Lions(25)

19.Broncos(20)
Cian:Tebow is 2-0 as a starting quarterback but more importantly he showed off his strong arm going over 300 yards for the first time. Maybe Josh MacDaniels did something good in Denver?
Cormac:The Dolphins should have a chance to finish at an even .500, seeing as New England have very little to play for this Sunday. You would have to assume Brady won't see much action. .500 playing the Jets and Patriots four times isn't that bad a record, but Miami will need to do much, much more in 2011 to be competitive. 
19.Dolphins(14)
20.Browns(22)
Cian:The Browns season may be over but another solid showing against a strong Ravens team should keep Eric Mangini in his job for next season.
Cormac:All the shiny new stadiums in the world can't make up for the fact Dallas are bottom of their division and guaranteed a double digit loss season. Awful. Further indignation in losing to Arizona on a missed extra point. Just, listless. 
20.Cowboys(19)
21.Bengals(28)
Cian:This team could have gone much further without Terrell Owens and Ochocinco. Carson Palmer is not the biggest problem in Cincinnati.
Cormac:Probably the hardest team to predict in the NFL. Who would have thought losing Alge Crumpler to the Patriots would be such a huge season changing, season defining factor? Chris Johnson misses Alge like Jennifer Anniston misses Brad Pitt. Maybe more. 
21.Titans(21)
22.Vikings(26)
Cian:The Vikings may have found their future quarterback or just a slightly better version of T-Jax. Adrian Peterson will benefit the most from Joe Webb's athleticism.
Cormac:Well now, that was a serious monkey wrench the Vikings threw in the Eagles plans. Joe Webb outplaying the NFC MVP elect Michael Vick, who saw that coming? Take away the coaching and narcissistic QB situations and the Vikings can play some football when they want to. 
22.Vikings(27)
23.Bills(21)
Cian:Better teams than Buffalo have lost to New England, roughly 21.
Cormac:The last of the NFL teams with a pulse. At least the Bills can occasionally score a few points. At least they have something approaching a hint of a whiff of friskiness about them. 
23.Bills(22)
24.Titans(19)
Cian:The Titans need a new quarterback and maybe a new head coach.
Cormac:And here comes the dross. From the Browns down, the bottom of the NFL barrel. The Browns faded poorly at season end. 
24.Browns(20)
25.Texans(20)
Cian:Its difficult to understand whats wrong with such a talented team. Gary Kubiak's time in Houston is over.
Cormac:Swishing, slopping around the bottom of the barrel, at least the 'Skins have some decent players to watch, and six wins, and they will finish 2010 ahead of the Cowboys too. Still not in their league though. 
25.Redskins(26)
26.Redskins(29)
Cian:The 'skins victory agains the Jaguars told us more about the Jaguars than the Redskins.
Cormac:Mike Singletary had to go, and doing it now means the 49ers will have a full offseason to collect themselves and have a proper go of it in 2011. 
26.49ers(25)
27.Seahawks(27)
Cian:The Seahawks remain in the playoff hunt but they are nowhere near being a playoff calibre team.
Cormac:Putrid end to the season, four horrible losses in a row. Changes required, or its the same old story next season.
27.Texans(24)

28.Cardinals(31)
Cian:When Larry Fitzgerald's first catch comes with two minutes left in the game you know your offense is in trouble.
Cormac:Four wins, that all, really? The Bengals have almost as many players doing reality TV shows as number of wins. 
28.Bengals(29)
29.Cowboys(25)
Cian:The return of Romo next season will be huge for the Cowboys but it will be more important who fills the vacant head coach position.
Cormac:For my money, why give up on Clausen after investing almost an entire season growing him? The Panthers have plenty of holes to fill, not just the trigger man position.
29.Panthers(28)
30.Dolphins(23)
Cian:The Dolphins are 1-7 at home. Thats all you need to know about this team.
Cormac:Almost the worst team in the NFL, not quite though.
30.Broncos(31)
31.Panthers(30)
Cian:The Panthers never had a hope in Pittsburgh, they will have a tough time deciding whether to take a quarterback in this year's draft.
Cormac:Almost there, wait for it. 
31.Cardinals(32)
32.49ers(32)
Cian:The firing of Mike Singletary came too late for the 49ers. Why exactly did they bench Alex Smith this week?
Cormac:The single worst team in the NFL! 
32.Seahawks(30)