NFL AP Poll: Week 14

While everyone is talking about the college football playoff, I want to emphasize that playoffs are merely one particularly entertaining way to choose a champion -- they are not the best.  The best way is probably what soccer leagues do -- you play home and home against every team in the league, and the team with the best record is the champion, period.  Another good way is polls, which allow you to draw on the wisdom of crowds and to take into account each team's performance over the course of the year.  Last week, Green Bay won the big showdown with New England, so this week's AP poll has the Packers on top:

1.  Green Bay Packers:  9-3
2.  New England Patriots:  9-3
3.  Denver Broncos:  9-3
4.  Philadelphia Eagles:  9-3
5.  Seattle Seahawks:  8-4
6.  Indianapolis Colts:  8-4
7.  Arizona Cardinals:  9-3
8.  Detroit Lions:  8-4
9.  Cincinnati Bengals:  8-3-1
10.  Dallas Cowboys:  8-4

I agree with this ranking.

The Dolphins (7-5) remain in 15th place despite (or perhaps because of) a close win over the Jets.  The Redskins (3-9) are in a tie for 28th with the Jaguars -- I'm amazed that there are three teams worse than the Redskins, but the Titans (2-10), Jets (2-10), and Raiders (1-11) are really bad.

The Game of the Week this week is on Sunday afternoon, when the Number-5 Seahawks roll into Philadelphia to take on the Number-4 Eagles.  That's the only game featuring two top-10 teams this week.