THE MAG.COM PRESENTS: ALL WORLD POWER RANKINGS

by Ted Bauer

BEST NFL STORYLINE THIS SEASON? WE'LL FLY HIGH WITH MATT RYAN LEADING THE FALCONS TO THE PLAYOFFS

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On Sunday, the NFL regular season will conclude. Bad thing: less pro football. Good thing: way more meaningful pro football. In the past four months, much has happened on Sundays, begging the question "What's the biggest storyline of the season?" (In all honesty, it's the injury to Tom Brady, which allowed some of the below to happen. That was in September, though, so we wanted to discuss things you haven't been contemplating for 17 weeks.) Here we go now. Feel free to holler at us with other options.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (4)	MATT RYAN LEADING THE FALCONS TO THE PLAYOFFS	Cue the peanut gallery: "Homer pick!" Naw. Think about this: a 4-12 team drafts a rookie QB and starts him. Go back and look at some rookie QBs the past few years, excepting Ben Roethlisberger. Then consider how good the NFC South is this season. Is there any logical way you'd expect the Falcons to have 10 wins? Doubtful. This is a big deal. Lest you think we're hating on Joe Flacco, we're not: what these two guys have done is fairly remarkable.
	2 (6)	THE RETURN OF THE (S)MACK(DOWN)	Last year, with Tom Brady and Randy Moss straight carving people up, it seemed like defense was taking a backseat. Now, you've got so many contenders for Defensive Player of the Year, it's almost criminal. Defenses are making a statement this season, which we love. Does that mean the Ravens might win the Super Bowl? Lil Wayne thinks so.
	3 (7)	KERRY COLLINS AND THE TITANS	Read Rick Reilly's take on Collins here. What this teaches us: good defense, good system, and smart leadership creates a winner. If you saw what the Titans did to the Steelers just last weekend without two key defensive players, you gotta consider them a serious contender in the AFC.
	4 (9)	THE DETROIT LIONS INEPTITUDE	This is honestly depressing.
	5 (11)	EARTH, WIND AND FIRE	Seems like last year, far less people were discussing the New York Giants backfield. Now they've developed into a huge deal. As these guys go, especially sans Plaxico, so go the Giants—maybe all the way to another Super Bowl. (Their O-Line is a huge part of that, and we realize this.)

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	19 (180)	CHAD PENNINGTON'S REBOUND	We'd have this higher, although we think Joey Porter and "The Wildcat" (read this) also help in Miami. If (when?) Pennington beats the Jets on Sunday, that's a nice full-circle run from the end of his time in New York.
	138 (1,651)	THE DEMISE OF THE BROWNS	Man, how good was this team supposed to be? They were slotted in prime-time more than Brangelina specials. Now: this.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		MVP PARITY (This we like. You got any idea who's gonna win this award for sure? Thanks, Tom Brady's knee.)
		THE AFC AND NFC WEST DIVISIONS (Ugh, can we re-align?)

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