I know there are 12 playoff teams, but the format has been John's Top 10, so I'm sticking with that for the postseason and I will live with the fact that Arizona and Minnesota get left out.
The Colts have to be the dark-horse favorite to pull a 2005 Steelers or a 2007 Giants and run the playoff table as a low seed, don't they?
Peyton Manning is playing like an MVP again and getting Bob Sanders back means the defense has a chance to stop a good running back like Ladainian Tomlinson in the first round and either Willie Parker or Chris Johnson in the second round.
I've already started thinking about my playoff picks, which I will make later this week, and I'm trying to find reasons not to put the Colts in the AFC title game, especially if the Dolphins beat the Ravens this weekend, which would send Indy through Tennessee.
Then again, I could see L.T. going crazy against the Colts this weekend and Indy having no running game at all, and the Chargers advancing to the division round.
But for now I'm sticking with the Colts at No. 1 entering the playoffs, followed by the Steelers, because for some reason I think the Steelers still haven't put together their best game yet, and I see that happening at home in the division round against the Colts.
I'm putting the Giants at No. 3, but I could also see this team getting knocked out at home in the division round, probably against the Eagles.
The Titans are No. 4, but I'm having a very hard time believing that they are the team to beat in the AFC. On the one hand they hammered the Steelers a few weeks ago and they have Johnson, who is even faster than Parker was at his best, which was during the '05 Super Bowl season. But on the other hand they have Kerry Collins at quarterback and their defense is banged up, and I can see them losing to the Ravens in a bloodbath, with Joe Flacco out-playing Collins and Ed Reed running back two interceptions for scores, because, is it just me, or does it seem like Reed has been in the frame somewhere during every highlight of every interception return for a touchdown this season, regardless of the two teams?
The Panthers get the No. 5 nod and for my money are a better bet to win the NFC than the Giants because they have two great, young running backs in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart and are the only NFC defense besides the Eagles that is physical enough to knock around Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward.
Baltimore is sixth and the Dolphins are seventh, based mostly on their seeds, because I think the Ravens will beat the Dolphins in Miami this weekend, based on the fact that they whipped the Dolphins once at home already and Ronnie Brown remembers that game, because he spent most of the afternoon getting planted in the turf by Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs.
Atlanta is next at No. 7, and I think the Falcons will upset the Cardinals on the road before their joy road comes to a crashing end in Carolina in the second round.
Philly gets the No. 9 spot over the Chargers because of the way the Eagles maimed the Cowboys, and because any team that can cause Tony Romo to collapse during his post-game shower has to be a team that no quarterback wants to face in the playoffs.
Especially if he can't go home and have Jessica Simpson waiting to nurse his wounds.
Here are the rankings, quick and dirty style, since I've already written enough about each of these teams:
1. Indianapolis (12-4). (Last week: 1)
2. Pittsburgh (12-4). (Last week: 4)
3. N.Y. Giants (12-4). (Last week: 2)
4. Tennessee (13-3): (Last week : 3)
5. Carolina (12-4): (Last week: 5)
6. Baltimore (11-5): (Last week: 6)
7. Miami (11-5): (Last week: 7)
8. Atlanta (11-5): (Last week: 8)
9. Philadelphia (9-6-1): (Last week: NR)
10. San Diego (8-8): (Last week: 10)
Dropped out: New England (9).
-- John Dudley