Jeff Howe's NFL Power board

 Each Wednesday throughout the NFL season, Metro football writer Jeff Howe will rank all 32 teams from top to bottom. Don’t like his calls? Want to pat him on the back for giving props to your favorite team? Send him an e-mail at   . (Each team’s record and movement from last week is in parentheses.)

Power Game: The No. 5 Bucs visit the No. 6 Panthers on Monday in the game the Power Board has been salivating over for three weeks now. Home field will be huge for Steve Smith and the Panthers, who take control of the NFC South with a 20-14 win.

1. Giants (11-1, —). Aside from the distraction of Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the foot (figuratively) and the thigh (literally), what will the Giants really miss if he’s out of the lineup? In their last nine games, Burress has sat out twice, missed all but one series of another game and caught 17 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

2. Titans (11-1, —). After losing to the Jets, the Titans dropped the Lions and have 10 days to prepare for the Browns’ third-string quarterback. Once again, all is right in Tennessee.

3. Steelers (9-3, +1). The excellence in Pittsburgh’s defense is its ability to create momentum and sustain it, not just by stopping teams but by scoring points, too.

4. Colts (8-4, -1). Apparently, beating the Browns was trickier than expected. Let’s see how the Colts handle consecutive home games against the Bengals and Lions.

5. Buccaneers (9-3, +1). It’d be a pretty nice way for Monte Kiffin to wrap up his career by heading back to the SEC to be the defensive coordinator for his kid.

6. Panthers (9-3, +2). After scoring a total of 14 rushing TDs in the previous two seasons, the Panthers have a team-record 19 in 2008, including five one-yard scores Sunday.

7. Cowboys (8-4, +3). I’m not sold the Cowboys are back on the map, but they’ve got a date in Pittsburgh this weekend that could reestablish them among the league’s elite.

8. Ravens (8-4, +4). Mark Clayton’s do-it-all performance Sunday wasn’t as surprising as how inconsistent the incredibly talented Oklahoma product has been in his pro career.

9. Jets (8-4, -4). Those who e-mailed last week about the Jets deserving the No. 2 spot spent more time over the weekend eating their words than Thanksgiving leftovers.

10. Falcons (8-4, +3). Taking nothing from their win at Lambeau, the Falcons got their signature road win Sunday at San Diego against a dangerous team they needed to beat.

11. Patriots (7-5, -4). The Patriots will be looking for their first win in England in about 230 years, a drought even the Red Sox would admire. Oh, it’s not those patriots?

12. Vikings (7-5, +3). What kind of world do we live in when Gus Frerotte can rescue the Vikings from an 0-2 record, go 7-3 as a starter and help march his team to the playoffs?

13. Redskins (7-5, -2). The Redskins (-14), Dolphins (-4) and Broncos (-27) are the only teams in the league with at least .500 records (all 7-5) and negative point differentials.

14. Cardinals (7-5, -5). The Eagles offset Arizona’s powerful line by making them move horizontally, and Philly moved the ball all night as a result.

15. Broncos (7-5, +5). Peyton Hillis has amassed 225 yards from scrimmage in the last two weeks. It seems Maurice Clarett is the only back who didn’t thrive for Mike Shanahan.

16. Dolphins (7-5, +3). Go ahead and pat yourself on the back if you thought Miami would enter December controlling their fate in the division. Not all at once now.

17. Bears (6-6, -3). A reporter told Steve Slaton he wasn’t a household name like rookie running back “Joe Forte.” So Matt Forte isn’t a household name either.

18. Saints (6-6, -2). The Saints’ stacked rushing attack mounted 44 yards in Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay, just two more yards than Bucs QB Jeff Garcia got on his own.

19. Eagles (6-5-1, +3). Philly still has a chance with three division games remaining, but the Eagles are 0-3 against the NFC East, giving up 100 points in those three losses.

20. Packers (5-7, -2). The Packers are experimenting with putting cornerback Charles Woodson at safety, which could end up extending the Heisman winner’s career.

21. Texans (5-7, +3). Steve Slaton has 904 rushing yards and nine total TDs through 12 games, numbers that have already surpassed Reggie Bush’s career highs (581, eight).

22. 49ers (4-8, +5). There could be as many as 10 coaching vacancies this offseason. The 49ers can’t mess this up and let Mike Singletary enter the market as a free agent.

23. Bills (6-6, -6). The Jets and Patriots tried to keep the Bills in the AFC East race, but a despicable home loss to the 49ers has sealed Buffalo’s fate in a disappointing season.

24. Jaguars (4-8, -1). They’ll be in the top third of the draft, and with at least three franchise-type quarterbacks on the board, the David Garrard experiment should end.

25. Chargers (4-8, -4). Since trouncing the Patriots, the Chargers have dropped five of six, with the lone win by a point against the Chiefs, and they’ve lost three straight.

26. Browns (4-8, -1). Ohio's last image of Ken Dorsey was of a Miami QB losing a national championship game to Ohio State. Now, he's the Browns starter.

27. Chiefs (2-10, +4). In an age when veterans will resort to sabotage to find a way out of town, there’s a great deal of honor with how Tony Gonzalez is handling himself in K.C.

28. Raiders (3-9, -2). After everything Lane Kiffin went through with Al Davis in Oakland, I say good for him for publicly calling the Raiders a “dysfunctional franchise.”

29. Seahawks (2-10, -1). Their receivers are downright terrible, but they can’t look at Michael Crabtree in the draft. After all, look where Calvin Johnson has gotten the Lions.

30. Rams (2-10, —). According to the Belleville News-Democrat, “Had [the Rams] scored one touchdown [vs. Miami] … the outcome wouldn’t have been a 16-12 loss.”

31. Bengals (1-10-1, -2). T.J. Houshmandzadeh tried making a block on Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and suffered a mild concussion. When will they learn, Ray?

32. Lions (0-12, —). Rod Marinelli broke it down for his team this week, saying, “We’re not going 0-16.” From all of his stoic, demeaning press conferences since taking the Lions’ job, he never once let on he has such a funny side. I’m just throwing it out there: Rod Marinelli has a lifetime invitation to do standup comedy at the Metro holiday party.