NFL Power Rankings: Three quarters in the books

By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter

Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515

I am thankful for having every Sunday off of work to relax and watch the full slate of NFL games. I am also thankful to the creator of NFL Red Zone. Boy, has that made fantasy football easy to track.

Here are what the 32 NFL teams are thankful for this November. There has to be something the Carolina Panthers are thankful for, right?

1. Pittsburgh Steelers -  Steelers are thankful James Harrison makes enough money to keep laying big hits and leading one of the greatest defenses in recent years. (1)
2. Baltimore Ravens - Ravens are thankful the defense can still win them games, but the offense has learned to carry its weigh behind Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. (2)
3. Atlanta Falcons - Falcons are thankful Matt Ryan does not know how to lose home games and the defense has been stellar against the run. (7)
4. New England Patriots - Patriots are thankful that as long as Tom Brady is under center it does not matter who is catching touchdowns. (3)
5. New Orleans Saints - Saints are thankful that they are winning games in 2009 fashion and we saw what that resulted in. (8)
6. Indianapolis Colts - Colts are thankful Peyton Manning is the only players to stay healthy this season and keep them in the hunt for another playoff spot. (4)
7. Green Bay Packers - Packers are thankful Clay Matthews has turned into a defensive MVP candidate and Aaron Rodgers continues to chuck the rock at will. (14)

8. Philadelphia Eagles - Eagles are thankful they decided to take a shot on Michael Vick because he's playing at another level right now. (15)
9. New York Jets - Jets are thankful they can win close games on the road otherwise they could have fallen out the picture quickly. (5)
10. New York Giants - Giants are thankful the schedule gets light in time to get healthy for the home stretch. (6)
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Bucs are thankful the young trio of Freeman, Williams and Blount has emerged a legit offensive weapons. (11)
12. Kansas City Chiefs - Chiefs are thankful other teams in the AFC West have lost in the recent weeks and no one wants to pull away with the division. (10)
13. San Diego Chargers - Chargers are thankful they have made runs late in the season in the past, so they feel confident they can still win the AFC West. (16)
14. Chicago Bears - Bears are thankful they have found ways to win even though it has not been pretty at times. (17)
15. Jacksonville Jaguars - Jaguars are thankful they are under the radar. They'll keep winning and surprise everyone when they scare the Colts. (24)

16. Houston Texans - Texans are thankful their fans have come to expect them to show their potential and talent and still find ways to lose games. (9)
17. Tennessee Titans - Titans are thankful Kerry Collins is one of the better backups in the league because Vince Young is done even when he come back from season ending surgery. (12)
18. Oakland Raiders - Raiders are thankful Darren McFadden and Michael Bush can take some pressure of Jason Campbell and they can win any game, despite what the Steelers did to them in week 11. (18)
19. Cleveland Browns - Browns are thankful Denver decided to give up Peyton Hill for Brady Quinn, who will never see the field. (27)
20. Denver Broncos - Broncos are thankful for Tim Tebow and the revenue his jersey sales have produced. His one yard TDs and Orton's air attack has made losing look pretty. (19)
21. Miami Dolphins - Dolphins are thankful for the Miami weather. At least they do not have to freeze while Tyler Thigpen takes over as the Phins' signal caller. (13)
22. St. Louis Rams - Rams are thankful they have a bright future with Sam Bradford and can even sneak into the playoffs this season. (20)
23. Washington Redskins - Redskins are thankful Daniel Snyder has enough money to patch up his head coaches mistakes with a odd five year deal for Donovan McNabb. (21)
24. Seattle Seahawks - Seahawks are thankful they play in the worst division in the NFL and may make the playoffs over a deserving team from the South or East. (26)
25. Arizona Cardinals - Cardinals are thankful there will be a few good quarterbacks available in the draft even if they do not grab the number one overall pick. (28)
26. Dallas Cowboys - Cowboys are thankful Wade Phillips is gone. Now they can at least pad there stats for a good pay day and show off Dez Bryant to their disgruntled fans. (30)
27. Minnesota Vikings (25) - Vikings are thankful one half of the problem is gone in Childress. Next up - Favre. This is making boat-gate look like happy times.
28. Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals are thankful the wide recievers know how to keep it light off field. I've heard of people smiling through pain, but never tweeting. (22)

29. Detroit Lions - Lions are thankful they can watch Calvin Johnson mature into one of the greats greatest and hope next year is the year it all pans out. (23)
30. Buffalo Bills - Bills are thankful they are one team that is awful but has never quit. That will keep Chan Gailey around for another year. (32)
31. San Francisco 49ers - 49ers are thankful they have come out with drinking games to Singletary motivational speeches. Two chugs if he puts the game in gods hands. (29)

32. Carolina Panthers - Panthers are thankful they have can build stats in garbage time once they are down three scores. They have a calendar in John Fox's office that has 'Xs' on every day until the April draft. (31)