NFL Power Rankings: Week 13
No change in the top 3 as the Chiefs, Eagles and Bills all won their games and looked pretty great in doing so. The only change in this tier is the addition of the Dolphins. Their offense is unstoppable and their defense might be good enough to really make some noise in the playoffs.
The 49ers have all of these playmakers on offense, but it’s their defense that has been so impressive of late. Offensively, either they’re taking some time to gel or they’re just not showing everything just yet, because they haven’t looked particularly great. The Cowboys won again and seem like a lock for that top Wild Card spot. The Bengals continue to rise as they had a very impressive victory this week. And they’re getting Chase back. Watch out for them. And the Vikings had a nice bounceback win on Thanksgiving to keep them in this tier.
The number of good teams is really dwindling down. The Ravens actually dropped into this tier. I still can’t figure them out. They’ve led by 9 or more, meaning 2+ scores, in every game this season, and in every 4th quarter but 2 of them. And yet they look horrible at times. The Titans had a tough loss this week, but have also had some impressive wins. They’re a quality team, but not a true threat. The Chargers got a nice win this week as they try to get healthy and make a run. Their upside may be the highest of this whole group. And then the Mike White-led Jets round out this group, which has no NFC teams in it. The Jets defense is going to keep them in every game. It’s just a question of if Mike White can keep this offense competent against actual defenses.\
The Seahawks suffered a brutal loss this week, as their grip on the NFC West seems to be completely gone. They now should simply be worried about making the playoffs. Regardless, this is a decent team that has overachieved to this point. The same could be said for both the Giants and Commanders. Both of these teams have records keeping them relevant, with the Commanders looking better than the Giants of late. They play each other twice in the next three weeks, so that’ll tell a lot. The Buccaneers nearly fooled me into thinking they were a good football team. Losing to the way they did this week proved they’re not. Still, they’ll likely win their division. The Lions and Patriots were both competitive losers on Thanksgiving. The Lions are really playing good football of late, with their offense being incredibly efficient and their defense playing much better ball. The Patriots seem to be done in a tough AFC, but I’m not counting out Belichick yet.
As has been the case this season, the majority of teams either stink or stink worse. The Packers actually played a very exciting game this week and hopefully will let Jordan Love show what he’s got. For what it’s worth, he looked quite competent in the quarter that he played. The Falcons blew a golden opportunity to take the division lead. They stink. They still might win their division though. Nice win by the Steelers over the Colts, both of whom have been playing better football of late. Extremely nice win by the Jaguars who might be back to playing the exciting brand of football they started the season with. Don’t look now but the talent of the Raiders may be finally showing itself as they’ve won back to back overtime games. A nice overtime win by the Browns as well as they now have Deshaun Watson back, which at least makes the last third of the season interesting for them. And a couple of bad losses for some bad teams in the Cardinals and Bears.
The Broncos and Russell Wilson getting beaten by the Panthers and Sam Darnold all but summed up their season. The Saints were shut out. Is it Jameis time again? The Rams are a complete disaster. And the Texans are the Texans.
