NFL Power Rankings – Week 16

26. Buffalo Bills – Is it possible that Buffalo has found its QB of the future in Ryan Fitzpatrick? I doubt it, but don’t be surprised if Buffalo doesn’t reach for QB such as Cam Newton or Jake Locker in April if they feel they can upgrade another position more effectively with a top 10 pick.

27. Detroit Lions – Another nice win for Detroit against Tampa Bay this week. Especially considering they are playing with third string QB Drew Stanton. Detroit has proved they are a tough out this season and with Matt Stafford hopefully healthy next year and another solid top 10 pick they are in good shape to compete in 2011 (if there is any football played of course.)

28. Cleveland Browns – After back to back losses to Buffalo and Cincinnati the Browns may have sealed Eric Mangini’s fate. Beating good teams is one thing, but you can’t lose to teams you are expected to beat. The good news for Cleveland is they appear to have gotten a steal in Colt McCoy in the third round.

29. Arizona Cardinals – I think its pretty safe to say that the Cardinals have been pretty productive this season. They now know that Max Hall, Derek Anderson and John Skelton have limited NFL futures. Only problem is they hardly took any time to find out if Matt Leinart had one. Chances are good Arizona will be looking at QB early in the draft in April.

30. Carolina Panthers – Jimmy Clausen was likely playing for his future in Carolina. If Andrew Luck comes out he is likely the odd man out as Luck is too good to pass up with the number one pick. If Clausen can pull off a win against either Atlanta or Pittsburgh in the next two weeks he might give himself a chance at a future in Carolina.

31. Denver Broncos – Tim Tebow made his first NFL start and its pretty clear he will never have a great NFL arm. However, he did almost enough to lead his team to victory but the Denver defense is so pathetic that it didn’t much matter. It will be interesting to see what the Broncos do next offseason with Tebow and their future at QB.

32. Cincinnati Bengals – As if ten straight losses weren’t bad enough Cincinnati had a chance to lock up a chance at the number one pick by simply making it eleven straight losses while Carolina was busy beating Arizona. That’s when the Bengals decided to start winning and now have likely little to no shot at Andrew Luck as Carson Palmer’s replacement.