Cohen's NFL Top Ten Rankings

We are rapidly approaching Thanksgiving and the nitty gritty part of the NFL schedule. Playoff pictures are taking form, and windows are starting to close for teams that are in the 6-4, 5-5 or 4-6 category.

Time is running out, so let's see where the league stacks up after 11 weeks.

1) New York Giants (9-1): The Giants continue to destroy its opponents, the latest victim being the Baltimore Ravens. The Giants rushed for 208 yards against a once vaunted Raven defense and stopped the impressive rookie quarterback Joe Flacco in his tracks. Can anyone stop the Giants? Just the Giants at this point. They have completely dominated every single opponent on their schedule, and it should not stop anytime soon.

2) Tennessee Titans (10-0): All season I have been skeptical of quarterback Kerry Collins and his ability to win games. Well, in the past two weeks, he has shut me and many detractors up, single-handedly picking apart the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars in come-from-behind fashion. The Titans defense is still the best in the league, surrendering only 13 points a game. DT Albert Haynesworth is having a huge November, spearheading the Titans front seven with seven sacks of the quarterback.

3) Carolina Panthers (8-2): The Panthers have won four straight and have done so by playing sloppy football. First, quaterback Jake Delhomme went 7 for 27 with four interceptions in a victory at Oakland; then, the Cats got outplayed by the winless Detroit Lions but still found a way to win. I don't know how they do it, but it has a lot to do with the running back tandem of Jon Stewart and DeAgnelo Williams. Against the Lions, the duo combined for 250 yards rushing in the victory.

4) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3): In spite of a weird ruling in their 11-10 victory over San Diego that took away a Troy Polamalu touchdown that would have made it 18-10, the Steelers are working on healing themselves after dropping two of three. The offense still has not been Steeler-like, but the defense is making up for it. The Steelers are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for most NFL sacks with 36. The Steelers are also the number one defense in the league in yards allowed, 237 per game. The defense will have to keep it up because Pittsburgh will be entering a brutal stretch run.

5) Arizona Cardinals (7-3): Kurt Warner is well on his way to his third MVP season in the eyes of some, not me however. Warner has been very good passing at a 70 percent completion rate, but he is not as sharp as he used to be with St. Louis. That being said, Warner has the Cardinals flying high for quite possibly the first time ever. The Red Birds can all but clinch the NFC West with a win Sunday vs. the Giants and losses by Seattle, St. Louis and San Francisco.

6) N.Y. Jets (7-3): Speaking of an old time quarterback helping a team to fly high: Brett Favre is providing the kind of miracles the Jets have never seen. In the past, if the Jets blew a big lead in the second half and gave up a game-tying touchdown in the final seconds, they would have crawled under a rock. Not with Favre. He drove them on two potential game winning drives, one of which ended the game in OT with a Jay Feely field goal. The Jets are in first place for the first time since 2002 when they won the division. Can they do it again against the unbeaten Titans?

7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3): The Bucs are rolling. The Bucs came from behind to beat a decent Vikings team last Sunday, and, with Atlanta losing to Denver, the Buccaneers are really the only team that can challenge Carolina for the division and a number two playoff seed. They have a favorable schedule with the Lions and struggling Saints on the horizon. The Bucs finish the year with a two game home stand against western division teams, San Diego and Oakland. In short, 11 wins looks likely for Tampa Bay.

8) Indianapolis Colts (6-4) They're baaack! For the first time this year, the Colts have cracked the top ten. They have done so after Peyton Manning and his receiving corp have revitalized themselves in a three game winning streak. Manning has now thrown for 17 TD's this year and 2,568 yards, proving that he is finally healthy after two knee surgeries. The only problem is the running game. Joesph Addai just can't get it going this year with only 387 yards rushing in eight games. If the Colts are to complete this turn around and get into the post season, they will need the running game to click.

9) Denver Broncos (6-4): Will the real Jay Cutler please stand up? In the first few weeks of the year, Cutler was terrific leading Denver to a 4-0 start, but he fizzled in October and part of November. Now, in the last two weeks, Cutler engineered two fourth quarter comebacks to beat the Browns and Falcons. The Broncos are still too inconsistent for words. If it weren't for the Chargers lousy play this year, the Broncos would have been looking in on the post season party from the outside.

10) Dallas Cowboys (6-4): Have to be impressed with the effort the Cowboys showed on Sunday night against the rival Redskins. Marion Barber dominated all night long, and Wade Phillips' gutsy call to go for it on fourth and two to ice the game paid off. Maybe a quarterback does make the difference. Even though he did not play well, Tony Romo's presence seemed to keep the team loose.