NFL Playoff Power Rankings

New England's Bill Belichick has it right, of course. Last week's regular-season power rankings don't matter now. The only thing that does is this week's power rankings, because they're the playoff version.

"When we left here last night, we were 14-2 (and ranked first in SI.com's NFL power rankings),'' Belichick said Monday, at least some of it. "This morning we're 0-0 (and still ranked first in SI.com's power rankings)."

If you don't see the distinction there, well, I can't help you. But the good teams know the difference. And this is when they start showing it. It's playoff time. Time for the best teams in the league to step up and prove that we had them ranked in the correct order almost all season long. Or at least roughly. At the end of the year.

Of the eight teams playing this weekend, there's really not an obvious juggernaut in the field. Three of them lost last weekend (Kansas City, Philadelphia and New Orleans), and three others struggled more than expected to win (Baltimore, Indianapolis and Green Bay). That leaves the Jets, who dropped three of their last five games, and Seattle, who went 3-7 since the week before Halloween.

Who knows? Could make for some classic, close games. But probably not, and that's OK, too. We'll watch anyway. It's the playoffs, remember?

Now here's how we rank them as the 12-team Super Bowl tournament begins...

NFL Playoff Power Rankings