Week 14 Power Rankings: Falling apart

You know nothing makes me happier than knowing that Vikings fans are suffering, so regardless of what else happens over the next couple months, this season's been a real win for me. Those purple-clad ninnies were officially eliminated from possibly getting into the playoffs this past weekend, their quarterback's consecutive game streak ended, and if he never plays again this season, his last pass will still be an interception.

Oh yeah ... and then, of course, this happened to their horseshit home facility. If that spells the end for that hellhole, then good riddance. 1991 still hurts, by the way.

I have to admit that when I first saw that video on Sunday, I thought it was an artist's rendering. But the bottom line would be that the roof collapsing is sort of a fitting metaphor for this Vikings team's season. Their home finale against my beloved Bears this coming weekend will be played in an outdoor stadium with a capacity of 50,000 despite the team having already sold more than 63,000 tickets. Man, that sucks—to be them. But you knew that.

I'm allowed to be this mean since nobody was hurt. And I'm hoping it doesn't turn into some sort of karmic payback and the foundation for my own prediction formula holds up, as last week it helped me earn 101 points.

That score was good enough for a fifth place finish for Week 14:

That dude who finished first has now won three times this year and has moved into third. I moved up to second on the year and my deficit is now down to 17 points:

My score was good enough for second in the Yahoo pool:

Of course, the one guy who did better is the same guy who's been in the lead for the year—and last week was his fifth win of the season (myself and two others have won but twice). I don't want to say that means the race for the year is over yet, but the margin in this pool is quite a bit more substantial since his straight-up record is the best I've seen anywhere this year:

And talk of straight-up records makes an excellent transition to seeing how the usual groups of experts did this past weekend. For some reason, nobody in the ESPN group had picks submitted for the Giants-Vikings contest that got moved to Monday, so technically speaking, I guess Merrill Hoge had the best winning percentage last week with a 12-3 score. Pete Prisco from CBS Sports matched my 12-4 mark, while Mark Schlereth finished 11-4. Ron Jaworski had two games then he didn't pick this week to go 10-4, just better than colleagues Eric Allen and Seth Wickersham, who both went 10-5. Yahoo's Les Carpenter and Jason Cole both picked all 16 games to end up at 10-6, while Mike Golic was 9-6, Michael Silver went 9-7, Chris Mortensen finished 8-7, and poor Adam Schefter continued to dog it and had the week's worst set of picks with a 7-8 group of predictions.

The missing game should fuck with the standings a bit and maybe eliminate a lot of those ties later in the year, but for now:

1. (2) Ron Jaworski, ESPN: 128-64 (.667)
2. (1) Jason Cole, Yahoo: 138-70 (.663)
3. (3) Mike Golic, ESPN: 131-76 (.633)
3. (4) Mark Schlereth, ESPN: 131-76 (.633) 
5. (6) YOURS TRULY: 131-77 (.630)
6. (7) Merril Hoge, ESPN: 129-78 (.623)
7. (4) Chris Mortensen, ESPN: 128-79 (.618)
8. (8) Les Carpenter, Yahoo: 126-82 (.606)
9. (10) Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 125-83 (.601)
9. (8) Michael Silver, Yahoo: 125-83 (.601)
11. (10) Seth Wickersham, ESPN: 123-84 (.594)
12. (12) Eric Allen, ESPN: 120-87 (.580)
13. (13) Adam Schefter, ESPN: 111-96 (.536)

And I suppose the best thing about the Power Rankings this week is that I'm down to just four teams in the negative—although three of them are still going to need more than a week to possibly get back into the positive:

1. (1) CAROLINA PANTHERS

• Last week: Lost to Atlanta, 31-10 (+14)
• Actual Record: 1-12
• My predicted record: 1-12
• My record at predicting their record: 11-2
• Points scored for me with wins: 0
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +133
• Points taken from me with wins: -3
• Points taken from me with losses: -8
  
• Plus/Minus: +122

2. (3) BUFFALO BILLS

• Last week: Beat Cleveland, 13-6 (-2)
• Actual Record: 3-10
• My predicted record: 2-11
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +2
• Points scored for me with losses: +107
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -11
• Points taken from me with losses: -2
• Plus/Minus: +96

3. (2) DETROIT LIONS

• Last week: Beat Green Bay, 7-3 (-13)
  
• Actual Record: 3-10
• My predicted record: 1-12
• My record at predicting their record: 11-2
• Points scored for me with wins:+1
• Points scored for me with losses: +111
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -19
• Points taken from me with losses: 0
  
• Plus/Minus: +93

4. (4) CINCINNATI BENGALS

• Last week: Lost to Pittsburgh, 23-7 (+16)
  
• Actual Record: 2-11
• My predicted record: 3-10
• My record at predicting their record: 10-3
• Points scored for me with wins: +10
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +98
• Points taken from me with wins: -4
• Points taken from me with losses: -21
• Plus/Minus: +83

5. (5) BALTIMORE RAVENS

• Last week: Beat Houston, 34-28 [OT] (+10)
  
• Actual Record: 9-4
• My predicted record: 12-1
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +86
  
• Points scored for me with losses: 0
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -4
• Points taken from me with losses: -9
• Plus/Minus: +73

6. (8) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

• Last week: Beat St. Louis, 31-13 (+15)
  
• Actual Record: 10-3
• My predicted record: 11-2
• My record at predicting their record: 10-3
• Points scored for me with wins: +104
• Points scored for me with losses: +1
• Points taken from me with wins: -9
• Points taken from me with losses: -24
  
• Plus/Minus: +72
  

7. (7) MINNESOTA VIKINGS

• Last week: Lost to New York Giants, 21-3 (+7)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 5-8
• My record at predicting their record: 11-2
• Points scored for me with wins: +35
• Points scored for me with losses: +51
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -5
• Points taken from me with losses: -14
• Plus/Minus: +67

8. (10) ATLANTA FALCONS

• Last week: Beat Carolina, 31-10 (+14)
  
• Actual Record: 11-2
• My predicted record: 11-2
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +77
• Points scored for me with losses: 0
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -7
• Points taken from me with losses: -4
• Plus/Minus: +66

9. (11) KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

• Last week: Lost to San Diego, 31-0 (+11)
  
• Actual Record: 8-5
• My predicted record: 6-7
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +61
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +30
• Points taken from me with wins: -23
• Points taken from me with losses: -10
  
• Plus/Minus: +58

10. (5) ARIZONA CARDINALS

• Last week: Beat Denver, 43-13 (-8)
• Actual Record: 4-9
• My predicted record: 3-10
• My record at predicting their record: 10-3
• Points scored for me with wins: +21
• Points scored for me with losses: +58
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -19
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -5
• Plus/Minus: +55

11. (12) NEW YORK GIANTS

• Last week: Beat Minnesota, 21-3 (+7)
  
• Actual Record: 9-4
• My predicted record: 9-4
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +63
• Points scored for me with losses: +13
• Points taken from me with wins: -9
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -17
• Plus/Minus: +50
  

12. (15) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

• Last week: Beat Dallas, 30-27 (+9)
  
• Actual Record: 9-4
• My predicted record: 9-4
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +51
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +12
• Points taken from me with wins: -3
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -14
  
• Plus/Minus: +46

13. (14) OAKLAND RAIDERS

• Last week: Lost to Jacksonville, 38-31 (+6)
  
• Actual Record: 6-7
• My predicted record: 3-10
• My record at predicting their record: 10-3
• Points scored for me with wins: +11
• Points scored for me with losses: +60
• Points taken from me with wins: -26
• Points taken from me with losses: 0
  
• Plus/Minus: +45

13. (8) NEW YORK JETS

• Last week: Lost to Miami, 10-6 (-12)
  
• Actual Record: 9-4
• My predicted record: 10-3
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +67
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +3
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -5
• Points taken from me with losses: -20
  
• Plus/Minus: +45

15. (20) PITTSBURGH STEELERS

• Last week: Beat Cincinnati, 23-7 (+16)
  
• Actual Record: 10-3
• My predicted record: 10-3
• My record at predicting their record: 7-6
• Points scored for me with wins: +79
  
• Points scored for me with losses: 0
• Points taken from me with wins: -12
• Points taken from me with losses: -24
  
• Plus/Minus: +43

16. (16) NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

• Last week: Beat Chicago, 36-7 (+5)
  
• Actual Record: 11-2
• My predicted record: 10-3
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +64
  
• Points scored for me with losses: 0
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -13
• Points taken from me with losses: -11
• Plus/Minus: +40

17. (18) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

• Last week: Beat Seattle, 40-21 (+4)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 8-5
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +20
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +38
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -3
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -18
  
• Plus/Minus: +37

18. (16) TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

• Last week: Beat Washington, 17-16 (+1)
  
• Actual Record: 8-5
• My predicted record: 4-9
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +20
• Points scored for me with losses: +41
• Points taken from me with wins: -25
  
• Points taken from me with losses: 0
• Plus/Minus: +36
  

19. (19) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

• Last week: Beat Tennessee, 30-28 (+3)
  
• Actual Record: 7-6
• My predicted record: 12-1
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +62
• Points scored for me with losses: +5
• Points taken from me with wins: 0
• Points taken from me with losses: -32
• Plus/Minus: +35

20. (12) GREEN BAY PACKERS

• Last week: Lost to Detroit, 7-3 (-13)
  
• Actual Record: 8-51
• My predicted record: 12-1
• My record at predicting their record: 7-6
• Points scored for me with wins: +73
• Points scored for me with losses: 0
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -7
• Points taken from me with losses: -36
  
• Plus/Minus: +30

21. (26) ST. LOUIS RAMS

• Last week: Lost to New Orleans, 31-13 (+15)
  
• Actual Record: 6-7
• My predicted record: 2-11
• My record at predicting their record: 9-4
• Points scored for me with wins: +13
• Points scored for me with losses: +53
• Points taken from me with wins: -37
• Points taken from me with losses: 0
• Plus/Minus: +29

21. (24) HOUSTON TEXANS

• Last week: Lost to Baltimore, 34-28 [OT] (+10)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 6-7
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +19
• Points scored for me with losses: +36
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -8
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -18
• Plus/Minus: +29
  

23. (22) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

• Last week: Beat Oakland, 38-31 (+6)
  
• Actual Record: 8-5
• My predicted record: 2-11
• My record at predicting their record: 7-6
• Points scored for me with wins: +7
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +61
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -41
• Points taken from me with losses: 0
• Plus/Minus: +27
  

24. (22) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

• Last week: Lost to San Francisco, 40-21 (+4)
  
• Actual Record: 6-7
• My predicted record: 3-10
• My record at predicting their record: 8-5
• Points scored for me with wins: +23
• Points scored for me with losses: +41
• Points taken from me with wins: -34
• Points taken from me with losses: -5
  
• Plus/Minus: +25

25. (21) DENVER BRONCOS

• Last week: Lost to Arizona, 43-13 (-8)
  
• Actual Record: 3-10
• My predicted record: 5-8
• My record at predicting their record: 7-6
• Points scored for me with wins: +2
• Points scored for me with losses: +61
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -16
• Points taken from me with losses: -29
  
• Plus/Minus: +18

26. (24) CLEVELAND BROWNS

• Last week: Lost to Buffalo, 13-6 (-2)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 6-7
• My record at predicting their record: 6-7
• Points scored for me with wins: +15
• Points scored for me with losses: +40
• Points taken from me with wins: -29
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -9
• Plus/Minus: +17

27. (28) SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

• Last week: Beat Kansas City, 31-0 (+11)
  
• Actual Record: 7-6
• My predicted record: 11-2
• My record at predicting their record: 7-6
• Points scored for me with wins: +55
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +2
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -1
• Points taken from me with losses: -52
• Plus/Minus: +4
  

27. (27) CHICAGO BEARS

• Last week: Lost to New England, 36-7 (+5)
  
• Actual Record: 9-4
• My predicted record: 8-5
• My record at predicting their record: 6-7
• Points scored for me with wins: +44
  
• Points scored for me with losses: +5
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -26
• Points taken from me with losses: -19
  
• Plus/Minus: +4

29. (30) TENNESSEE TITANS

• Last week: Lost to Indianapolis, 30-28 (+3)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 9-4
• My record at predicting their record: 5-8
• Points scored for me with wins: +32
• Points scored for me with losses: +7
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -11
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -36
• Plus/Minus: -8

30. (29) MIAMI DOLPHINS

• Last week: Beat New York Jets, 10-6 (-12)
  
• Actual Record: 7-6
• My predicted record: 6-7
• My record at predicting their record: 6-7
• Points scored for me with wins: +18
• Points scored for me with losses: +12
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -38
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -14
  
• Plus/Minus: -22

31. (32) DALLAS COWBOYS

• Last week: Lost to Philadelphia, 30-27 (+9)
  
• Actual Record: 4-9
• My predicted record: 5-8
• My record at predicting their record: 6-7
• Points scored for me with wins: +8
• Points scored for me with losses: +37
• Points taken from me with wins: -31
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -41
• Plus/Minus: -27

32. (31) WASHINGTON REDSKINS

• Last week: Lost to Tampa Bay, 17-16 (+1)
  
• Actual Record: 5-8
• My predicted record: 3-10
• My record at predicting their record: 5-8
• Points scored for me with wins: 0
• Points scored for me with losses: +27
  
• Points taken from me with wins: -37
  
• Points taken from me with losses: -24
• Plus/Minus: -34

And obviously my 12-4 record for the week helps lock in three more winning records for performances in individual spots on the sheet:

16-point games: 6-1
15-point games: 7-0
14-point games: 9-3
13-point games: 11-3
12-point games: 8-6
11-point games: 9-5
10-point games: 11-3
9-point games: 11-3
8-point games: 6-8
7-point games: 9-5
6-point games: 7-7
5-point games: 9-5
4-point games: 7-7
3-point games: 8-6
2-point games: 6-8
1-point games: 7-7