Rick McGlothlin / Drafttek.com Senior Writer

Both undefeated teams jumped out to big, early leads and then rode their defenses to wins in week 14 action. We also saw the continuing re-emergence in December of the Chargers (as has been par for the course the past few seasons), while the Cowboys drop another one in the holiday season (also par for the course in recent years). The Vikings showed they could rebound from a tough loss, while New England sputtered through a weeklong soap opera and eventually came out with a win despite all the drama.
Speaking of drama, there probably won’t be any in the NFC East, as the Philadelphia Eagles avoided a three-way tie atop the division by rolling over the Giants and grabbing the top spot with three games to go. The offense of Philadelphia is starting to rival that of New Orleans, and creates a 3-team horserace for the coming playoffs along with Minnesota.

Back in the AFC, the defending champs will no longer get the chance to defend the championship in the playoffs after falling to Cleveland, while Green Bay, Baltimore, Miami and the Jets keep pushing for the final wildcard playoff slots. Meantime, Cleveland’s win removes them from the top position in the 2010 draft and we see the Rams slide in.

Here’s a look at the Power Rankings for Week 15:

1. (1) New Orleans (13-0) – The Saints were in total control of the game when they went up 23-9 in the 3rd quarter, but division rival Atlanta got hot and came back to tie the game at 23-all, before succumbing on two big defensive plays by the Saints defense. The Saints now host all playoff games they play in throughout the playoffs, which will ensure that opponents must endure a raucous and noisy dome for four quarters of play. Drew Brees tossed 3 touchdown passes (two to Reggie Bush) and the Saints defense made some crucial stops in the 2nd half to stave off the comeback by Atlanta.

2.(2) Indianapolis (13-0) – Indianapolis is now the franchise that has one more regular season games in a row than any team in NFL history (22), most wins of any team this decade (114) and clinched homefield advantage in the playoffs with a big home victory against Denver. However, someone needs to investigate who snatched Peyton Manning’s mind during halftime of the Colts 28-16 victory over Denver on Sunday. After looking razor-sharp in the first half, leading his team to a commanding 21-0 lead, Manning threw 3 interceptions and watched the Broncos storm back and very nearly pull off a huge upset. Fortunately for Indy the defense stepped up all day and kept Denver from the endzone more times than not. In fact, the Colts defense hasn’t allowed a single TD after a turnover this season. And until this game, Peyton’s team had never won on a day when he threw 3 picks.

3.(3) Minnesota (11-2) – Welcome back Antoine Winfield, who just went beserk in his first game back in quite a few weeks. His offensive teammates pounded the Bengals for over 125 yards rushing and nearly 200 passing, while the defense put a lid on Cincy’s passing game. Chester Taylor also played a key role, helping Minnesota reel off 13 unanswered points after the Bengals narrowed the lead to just three in the 2nd quarter.The Vikings next travel to Carolina to face the Panthers, then take on the Bears in Chicago on a Monday Night game, before closing out the regular season at home against the Giants.

4.(5) San Diego (10-3) – The Chargers go into Dallas, play a solid game and get the win. No fantastic plays, no bells and whistles, just a smooth operation that does its job and hangs another “W” on the board. The wideouts and TE cause huge mismatches for most defenses, which allows San Diego to move the ball quickly downfield. And like Indy, if they get a lead, the defense will tee off on the opposing QB repeatedly. This team is playing extremely well at this juncture. Another interesting matchup with another playoff contender next week when they face the Bengals.

5.(7) Philadelphia (9-4) – Explosions all over the field on offense for the Eagles, and they use a variety of weapons. DeSean Jackson is the most dangerous, but then it drops off by very little when you talk about Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, McCoy and Weaver at running back and also Jeremey Maclin and Brent Celek. This team can score points in bunches, but it might just be the defense that can get the Eagles in some trouble, giving up 30+ to a Giants team that really isn’t as potent as the Saints, Vikings or Eagles. In fact, the Eagles have allowed 30 or more points in 7 out of their last 8 games and won’t be going very far in the playoffs with that type of defensive effort. Well, I guess when you can score 40+ to your opponents 30+, then certainly you have a good shot. Coming up next for Philadelphia is a home stand against the 49ers and Broncos, with the grand finale down in Jerry World following the New Year’s parties.

6.(4) Cincinnati (9-4) – Some how, some way the Bengals have managed to lock down the AFC North division and a 9-win season even though they have not scored a single TD in the 2nd half for the past 6 games. That’s incredible and should serve as a serious red flag warning for those who are fans of the team going into the playoffs, especially considering the Bengals managed just 94 passing yards to go along with over 100 yards rushing. The Bengals cut the Viking lead down to 3 points late in the second quarter but could get no closer.

7.(13) Green Bay – (9-4) – Looked precariously close to dropping one to the Bears when Chicago went up 14-13 in the 2nd half. Aaron Rodgers couldn’t get anything going through the air, so Ryan Grant made the biggest impact on the ground as he amassed 137 yards and two TD’s to lead Green Bay to their 9th win. The victory keeps Green Bay at the head of the….ahem, pack,…in the playofs – not counting divisional winners, of course. Meantime the Packer defense slammed the door shut on the Bears running attack, allowing a mere 59 yards and it sealed the first season sweep of Chicago in 6 years.

8.(14) Arizona (8-5) – Following the thumping on Monday Night, Arizona’s DT Darnell Dockett had this to say about the loss:  ” I don’t think it’s anything they did. We lost this game ourselves.”  Really? So the 49ers smashing around, causing turnovers and havoc had absolutely nothing to do with it? Then there’s this gem from coach Ken Whisenhut: ”I don’t think clinching the division was ever that big of a thing,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. ”We were wanting to play against an opponent that had beaten us earlier this year, and it was on Monday Night Football, and we had an emotional game against Minnesota the week before. We were excited and we lost our discipline, and that’s something you cannot do.”

So basically what these two comments really show us was that they a) weren’t prepared very well and b) got the crap kicked out of them on the field.  Do we all really believe the division title wasn’t the goal in the game and the 49ers were just better team on this night? I’m thinking that what this really shows is that the Cardinals will be hard pressed to beat a physical, hard-hitting team that puts immense pressure on the QB.

9.(7) Denver (8-5) – Probably wish they had taken the ball instead of deferring when they won the opening coin toss, because they found themselves down 21-0 in the first quarter of play. And while Brandon Marshall broke the NFL record for most catches by a receiver in a single game (23), it didn’t keep his team from suffering their 5th loss of the season. While Kyle Orton and the offense moved the ball well enough at times, they couldn’t put it in the endzone when it really mattered – especially after the defense came up with three interceptions of Peyton Manning.

10.(11) New England (8-5) – Looked like a mess early on with three turnovers, but rallied after falling behind and managed to keep a hold onto the division lead by besting the Carolina Panthers. What’s all this talk among the punditry about the Pats being in a rebuilding year? What part of the team (save the secondary) are they rebuilding? Maybe they mean the mindset of Randy Moss or Adalius Thomas. It seems that suddenly many who were picking New England to go to the Super Bowl are suggesting they’re actually rebuilding…..which is quite interesting to me.

11.(8) Dallas (8-5) – And the December woes continue. The Cowboys are the polar opposite of the San Diego Chargers as the Bolts have won 16-straight games in December, while Dallas…….well…..hasn’t.  A missed FG, failure to score at the goalline in the second quarter and a lack of 3rd down conversions all converged in Dallas in another December defeat. What’s more crtical the injury to DeMarcus Ware and that loss may ultimately lead to more problems than any myth associated with the month of December. However, the Cowboys face three extremely tough teams ( @ the Saints, @ Washington and home to Philly) in their quest to dispell the myth and make the playoffs.

12. New York Giants (7-6) – Missed a perfect opportunity to turn the playoff race on its head with the loss to Philadelphia and now need quite a bit of help (can you say a complete meltdown by Philadelphia) to make the playoffs. Though New York actually outscored the Eagles 17-15 in the second half, it was the first half that spelled doom for New York. And the Giants actually pummeled the Eagles in total offense, with over 500 yards to Philadelphia’s 374. But the defense allowed the Eagles a score on the opening drive of the game and then a Brandon Jacob fumble led to a stunningly quick 14-0 cushion for Philadelphia which set the foundation for the loss.

13.(12) Baltimore (7-6) – The Ravens took no pity on the upstart Lions, throttling them for 48 points behind the trio of running backs most of us thought we’d see nearly every week all year long. If they could get this type of production each game, the Ravens could be unbeatable with a very dangerous Joe Flacco not forced to throw all game and a tenacious defense that wouldn’t be on the field all game long. Playoffs are looking to be within reach if they can defeat Chicago next week and the Steelers right after Christmas.

14.(16) Miami (7-6) – With Ricky Williams rushing for around 110 hard-earned yards and a TD, Chad Henne moving the team just enough through the air, the Dolphin defense put the clamps on the Jags offense and helped Miami win for the 6th time in as many tries in the month of December under coach Tony Sporano.

15.(18) N.Y. Jets (7-6) – Just crushed Tampa Bay with Thomas Jones on the ground and the defense intercepting Josh Freeman. Kellen Clemens did well with over 100 yards passing and no turnovers in his first start for New York since 2007. The Jets now take on the Falcons at home next week, then play at Indy ( and likely the Curtis Painter-led Colts ) to close out the season – which should bode well for a playoff slot if Baltimore or Miami stumbles.

16.(17) Atlanta (6-7) – What started out as a promising year has turned into complete disaster for the Atlanta Falcons, who had to play the unbeaten Saints without Matt Ryan and Michael Turner. The Falcons are winless when Turner isn’t in the game at all and even though Snelling and Redman put together a furious rally for Atlanta, they couldn’t quite complete the task.

17.(11) Pittsburgh (6-7) – Crunched by Cleveland in Ohio. Big Ben sacked 8 times while the defense (who has been thoroughly bashed the past few weeks) holds Cleveland to just 13 points, as the Steelers lose their 7th game of the year – which means no playoff appearance.

18.(15) Jacksonville (6-7) – No running game and not much passing, while the defense held Miami to just 14 points. That’s all you need to know about why Jacksonville was beaten, except to add that the loss probably killed any chance of a post-season appearance. That probably means next week is their “Super Bowl” against the Colts, who will begin their “rested” approach to the post-season.

19.(19) Houston (6-7) – Trust me when I say Texan fans aren’t pacified with the pasting of the Seahawks. Seems that Matt Schaub can dial it up against the also-rans of the league, but not in the really big games. Maybe next year.

20.(20) Tennessee (6-7) – Chris Johnson was phenomenal all game for the Titans and the Rams never stood a chance. Even with Vince Young going down with a hamstring injury, the Titans and Chris Johnson were just too much for St. Louis.

21.(17) San Francisco (6-7) – Tremendous win by a team that can look like a solid playoff team one week, then come out and lay an egg the next. Until they get that consistency issue fixed the 49ers will be a team that is on the outside looking in. Great game by the defense forcing 7 turnovers and how about Frank Gore? 167 yards on the night against a team that had previously reduced Adrian Peterson to a mere mortal.

22.(22) Chicago (5-8) – Had their chances to upend their arch-rivals in the division but couldn’t capitalize.

23.(24) Buffalo (5-8) – Perry Fewell gets another “W”, TO gets another TD and the Bills drop further away from the #1 pick on draft day. But the running duo they were counting on all year finally gets going.

24.(23) Seattle (5-8) – I felt horrible for the thousands of Seahawk fans who showed up today.

25.(25) Carolina (5-8) – Had opportunities galore against New England but did little to take advantage of same.

26.(27) Washington (4-9) – Look back closely over the Redskins schedule and you will see that if they had a few breaks go their way this season, they’d be in the hunt for a playoff spot. I feel Jim Zorn deserves a break – but he won’t get it in Washington.

27.(26) Oakland (4-9) – These weren’t the Pittsburgh Steelers they were playing out there today. That was the best 4-9 team in football, so don’t let the identical 4-9 records fool ya, cause I didn’t think the Raiders had even won 4 !

28.(28) Kansas City (3-10) – Four interceptions in a game usually spells defeat in the NFL, but they still had a shot to pull it out late. Excellent game for RB Jamaal Charles.

29.(29) Detroit (2-11) – After playing right with nearly every team in every game this season, for some reason the Lions just didn’t show up in this one. What makes it even worse was the injury to Kevin Smith.

30.(32) Cleveland (2-11) – Won the game but lost the first pick of the draft with the big win over rival Pittsburgh. Which would Cleveland fans really have preferred?

31.(31) Tampa Bay (1-12) – After playing well at times this season, the Bucs and Josh Freeman may be out of that “fire in the belly” knowing the end of the season is near.

32.(30) St. Louis ( 1-12) – Now I know CJ2K is a helluva back, but that was simply atrocious football – and it’s not all the fault of the D.  Five picks and 6 punts on offense?