Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a safe and wonderful day. What will I be doing? You mean besides writing up some Power Rankings? You know http://www.thebroncosfootballauthentic.com/connor-mcgovern-jersey-authentic , the usual: Driving 2 1鈦? hours south to crappy ass Penrose to visit the family. Booking another vacation because why not? Keeping the TV on in the background to trick my mind that I’m not all alone. You know, the usual. On a serious note, the season is all but wrapped up and I’m not sure if this will be the last Power Ranking of the year or not as after this week, some teams will be resting starters while some teams will be depending on others to seal their playoff fate. After this week’s games, you can basically just go up and down the standings to get the true rankings of teams. Besides, only 12 teams can play anyways, so there isn’t much reason to rank all 32, right? Have a safe and happy holidays everyone. If you’re in one of the following cities between now and end of January, hit me up, I might be in a city near you: Los Angeles, New Orleans (for their Divisional game), Miami, Washington DC, and Denver naturally. I’ll be in Portland area likely February or March. Yes, Pete loves to take long weekend vacations. What the hell else am I gonna do with my time? Pretend I know all 10,000 college kids declaring for the draft? 1. New Orleans Saints:The NFC playoffs roll through New Orleans, and so too shall I. Yep, Jan 11 - 15th I’ll be in town. I don’t think they’ve lost all year when I’ve been there, and I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon. Unlike the Broncos, the Saints actually win when I’m there. Then again, they don’t have a worthless head coach, so... there is that. 2. Los Angeles Rams:The Rams are on shaky ground, but so too are all the teams heading into the playoffs. I’m not sure if the Rams will be one and done, or blaze through the playoffs, destroying every team that faces them. They look fragile, but something inside of me says they can turn it on in an instant.3. Baltimore Ravens:I’m not sure how good the Ravens are, but they’re suddenly looking like the most complete team in the AFC.4. Seattle Seahawks:Like the Ravens, I’m not sure how good the Seahawks are Womens Jake Butt Jersey , and I know they dropped a game a few weeks ago, but this team has some grit and resolve to them. They’re getting pretty scary all of a sudden.5. Los Angeles Chargers:Yes, they lost to the Ravens, but they still have a shot at the #1 seed with the Chiefs pulling a Chiefs and losing in December (and likely January it looks).6. Chicago Bears:They’re still winning, but I’d like for them to look more well rounded against lesser competition. Still, January in Chicago will not be a fun place to play if you’re Seattle and/or Minnesota or whoever else might be passing through.7. Dallas Cowboys:They wrapped up their division for the first time in how many generations? Kidding kidding. Lets see if they can win a playoff game before we go crowning them anything.8. Kansas City Chiefs:Oh how the once mighty have fallen. I just don’t get it KC. I thought this was the year you didn’t pull the usual tank job in December and then January. Sure, January has yet to happen, but damn! You do realize that in order to stop getting the history thrown in your face like a drink after using a lame pick up line, you gotta actually do something to change it, right?9. Houston Texans:As is the theme of these Power Rankings, all the teams are flawed. Demaryius Thomas is gone with an Achilles, and that is a big loss for a team that already has too many injuries at the Wide Receiver position. Still, you have DeShaun Watson, and he can heal a lot of wounds.10. Indianapolis Colts:I wish I could put them higher, but they had to rally to beat the Giants at home! 11. New England Patriots:Look, the Patriots are always a tough out in the Playoffs, but if I’m heading into Foxboro (they might end up the #2 seed), I’m not exactly dreading playing them. They have “one and done” written all over themselves.12. Pittsburgh Steelers:The Steelers have fallen from the #2 seed and a first round bye, to out of the playoffs without a miracle of miracles. I believe the Browns have to beat the Ravens AND Indy needs to tie with the Titans. I mean, the first one is possible, but rooting for a tie? That’s just absurd. On the flip side, I sure would love Mike Tomlin in Broncos gear roaming the sideline on game days!13. Cleveland Browns:What more can be said about Baker Mayfield? He has the Browns winning again. There’s entire generations of Browns fans that haven’t seen this happen yet.14. Minnesota Vikings:Again, they can beat teams with losing records, and the next up is the Bears, which according to my eyeballs and the fact that existence exists, aren’t a sub .500 team. Chalk this up as a good ol defeat. Will this eliminate this pretender of a quarterback from playoff contention yet? 15. Philadelphia Eagles:Foles got dinged up, just like The Dude’s car. How bad is it? And will he be ready next week?16. Tennessee Titans:Technically the Titans are still alive. I’m not sure if they need help even if they beat the Colts, but the fact that the aren’t in means they aren’t in the Top 12.17. Green Bay Packers:Well Womens Justin Simmons Jersey , their offense finally started clicking, but when you realize it was against the Jets and that the Jets gave them all they could handle, well, you just end up finding yourself ranked 17.18. Atlanta Falcons:You don’t get much love when you beat a team that shut down their QB for the year. The Falcons are the bridesmaid, not the bride.19. Jacksonville Jaguars:They finally won, but it was against that pretender ass team called the Dolphins. Miami is fools gold, just like a Broncos win against the Raiders.20. Miami Dolphins:When I look at the Dolphins, all I can think about is that damn Cyndi Lauper song “True Colors”... just without all the lovey dovey nonsense.21. New York Giants:Even in defeat, this team is showing that they can get it done every once in a while. I just don’t get it. Are they really a young QB away? Are they a crap team that gets lucky? Are they a good team that just plays bad? 22. New York Jets:Holy Sam Darnold, where did that come from? 23. Detroit Lions:You got waxed by Kirk (don’t call him Kurt) Cousins. At home! 24. Washington Redskins:I’m amazed they are as competitive as they are with who they keep trotting out on the field week after week. I’d say it’s possible good coaching, but I’m a Broncos fan, so I wouldn’t know what that looks like anymore!25. Carolina Panthers:Congratulations Colorado’s own Christian McCaffrey for setting the all time RB catch record with a game to go. 26. Cincinnati Bengals:Typically losing to the Browns would be cause for a punchline to a joke, but not this year, and probably not for many years to come.27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers:You gave Dallas a run for their money. I wish you won, because the Broncos need to move on up that draft order.28. Buffalo Bills:Eh, you win some and you lose some. You have a few decent pieces to build around, but I’m not sure you’ll be a serious team for a few more years. Although, I hear you have a lot of cap room, which can be the great equalizer.29. San Francisco 49ers:Week after week I’m stunned at how competitive the Niners are. Again, this is what amazing coaching can do for a team. Do you think Elway wishes he had that decision to make all over again?30. Oakland Raiders:Farewell Jokeland. Thanks for messing up so bad that you gave us better draft position and you worse. We can always count on you for doing the absolute dumbest thing for your franchise. And beating the Broncos ranks right up there. 31. Arizona Cardinals:Where are all the “Elway should have taken Rosen” fans now? Speak up! 32. Denver Broncos:2 minutes to go... at the 5 yard line. A chance to go up by 20. So what does Oakland do? Do they just go up by 20 with a touchdown? Oh hell no! They “Mercy Rule” us because we’re so pathetic that in a messed up way, kneeling at the 5 yard line is an even bigger slap in the face of this “we are the New Raiders... we are the New Browns... we are the New Lions” franchise. Pathetic Denver, Pathetic. I know I said you’d lose in multiple articles this week, but you straight got chumped. When the Raiders feel so sorry for you that they just kneel? Yeah, you’ve hit rock bottom. Welcome to the laughing stock of the NFL. A couple weeks ago I looked at the question of who could be gone if Elway had a fire sale. Demaryius Thomas has been the guy to garner all the headline attention and for good reason, but here’s a list of other names management could explore dealing. This isn’t necessarily a list of players I’d advocate for moving so much as a list of guys who aren’t likely contributing to the next Broncos team that is seriously contending for Super Bowls. If winning (big) is all that matters in the NFL, it’s fair to wonder if they’re more valuable as trade chips. Bradley Roby Darian Stewart Tramaine BrockEmmanuel SandersMax Garcia Billy Turner Derek Wolfe Domata Peko Shelby Harris Zach Kerr Brandon Marshall Todd Davis Then there is Matt Paradis, Shane Ray, and Shaquil Barrett. If Elway isn’t sold on resigning any of them getting any potential value at this point would be a boon. It’s unlikely Denver suddenly deals all the above names Authentic Von Miller Jersey , but the fans clamoring for a blowup need to realize those are the guys that could reasonably move if it did indeed happen. A few trades from the above and the 2018 Broncos go from “good bad team” to dumpster fire pretty quickly. The schedule is a mixed bag going forward with the Chargers, Steelers, and Bengals games looming large. Even the Texans look scary, although the fact their team looks more like a M.A.S.H unit definitely helps Denver’s chances. It’s entirely possible for the Broncos to claw their way back to a respectable 8-8 if things go right, outside of those toss up tough games there remains dates with the 49ers, Browns and Raiders. In many ways, tomorrow marks a crossroads for Elway as much as this year’s roster. If the 2018 offseason was a short term fix to chase respectability Tuesday’s trade deadline is a chance to finalize that decision. Picks are nothing more than potential but if I’ve learned anything about the NFL draft it doesn’t hurt to have as many lottery tickets as possible. If Elway is looking to make a move up and grab a Quarterback like Justin Herbert in 2019, those extra picks would come in handy. With a 30-year old journeyman under center, the Broncos have to be considered the absolute lowest he’d fall in next year’s draft, if he declares.Even with the Thursday Night beating in mind, It remains an open question if Josh Rosen would have been the smarter long term move at 5 last year. There’s a certain part of me that will admit it made sense for the chemistry of the team to grab a veteran and an immediate impact defender like Brandon Chubb. The rookie looks like a franchise building block, just as Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay do.That may be what hurts the most about Keenum. If he looked anything like the signal caller he was for the Vikings, Denver would be competing with the Chiefs for the division. Instead they moved from the dregs of the league to outer fringe. It’s painful, but don’t let the trees cause you to miss the forest. Keenum has at least solidified the 2018 quarterback position enough that other talent on the offense has shown through. That wasn’t the case in 2017. What that does going forward is allow management to identify the parts of the roster that are worth building around for 2019 and 2020.On to the linksDenver Broncos: 3 winners, 6 losers in 30-23 loss to Chiefs - Mile High ReportOne big takeaway from Broncos loss to Chiefs is play calling - Mile High Report‘Self-inflicted wounds’ infuriate Broncos after dropping second tough loss to Chiefs - Mile High ReportDenver Broncos: John Elway’s legacy at risk; must find a franchise QB - Mile High ReportI may need to dodge a rock or two for this, but I’d venture an opinion that Elway has already directly harmed his own legacy. As a GM he decided to roll with Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch two straight seasons instead of signing a starting caliber quarterback in free agency. Whether you agree or disagree with Colin Kaepernick’s stance against police brutality, Elway could have signed him. He didn’t.Demaryius Thomas addresses impact of trade rumors as deadline nearsPlayers attracting interest ahead of trade deadline - NFL.comNew England Patriots emerging as trade partner for Demaryius Thomas - Mile High ReportNFL Week 8: Redskins rising, Rams relentless, more | SI.comAudibles at the Line: Week 8 | Football OutsidersNFL Week 8 Grades: Saints earn high mark for road win; Jameis Winston gets an ‘F’ for interception meltdown - CBSSports.comNFL trade deadline: 7 deals for players that top teams should makeLincoln Riley: I don’t have the NFL itch right now – ProFootballTalkA quick look at the TexansHouston Texans Injury News: The Latest On Will Fuller, Johnathan Joseph, Zach Cunningham - Battle Red Blog2 of the 3 definitely won’t play against the Broncos.Injury Aftermath: Week 8 | Football OutsidersA look around the rest of the WestChiefs’ Patrick Mahomes off to historic start to season - NFL.comEverywhere I’ve looked this season the media has been praising Mahomes and every time I see a Broncos fan response to it is that they’re tired of it. May need to get used to it. He’s going to be around for a long, long time.Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos: 12 winners and 12 losers - Arrowhead PrideColts-Raiders announcer drops perfect ‘Billy Madison’ reference after Jack Doyle TD - SBNation.comDerek Carr answers his critics but Raiders’ defense requires he be ‘perfect’ - Silver And Black Pride49ers-Raiders Could Be Worst Prime-Time Game in NFL History - NBC Bay Area49ers-Raiders will test Bay Area’s diminishing patience Thursday night | NBCS Bay AreaThe Rivers run deep this year - Bolts From The BlueReport: Joey Bosa not close to returningIt says a lot about the Chargers and Rivers that they’re winning without their best player.A look around the rest of the leagueJameis Winston’s Future With the Bucs | Over the CapCould Winston pique Elway’s interest? Latest NFL Trade Deadline Rumors: Collins reportedly on trading block | SI.comRams are one win away from having a stranglehold on the NFC – ProFootballTalkSaquon Barkley has a good shot at 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving – ProFootballTalkGiants call lack of O-line protection ‘unacceptable’ - NFL.comMyles Garrett: Browns had wrong approach on D - NFL.comReport: Gregg Williams expected to be Browns interim – ProFootballTalkAdrian Peterson passes Tony Dorsett as NFL’s No. 9 all-time rusherRyan Tannehill throwing, no word on status for Week Nine yet – ProFootballTalkEric Reid expounds on his Malcolm Jenkins “sellout” remarks – ProFootballTalkRussell Wilson: Seahawks team reminds me of 2012 - NFL.comNFL considering idea of ‘London Season Ticket’ featuring multiple Jaguars games - CBSSports.comIn case you missed “Mock Draft Monday”Denver Broncos: 3 & Out with The Draft Network’s Benjamin Solak - Mile High ReportSikkema’s 2019 Mock Draft 3.0 - The Draft Network2019 NFL mock draft: Will the Giants finally land a new QB? - SBNation.com