NFL Week 13 Power Rankings: Are Seahawks Playoff Bound? Packers Continue To Fall

Don’t look now, but rumors of the Seattle Seahawks’ demise might have been greatly exaggerated.

After being largely written off following back-to-back to the Los Angeles Chargers and LA Rams, Seattle has responded by beating both the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers to jump back into the playoff discussion and back into the top 10 of the NFL power rankings.

With 12 weeks of action now in the books, here’s how we’re ranking every NFL team from No. 1 to No. 32. (For our Week 12 power rankings, click here.)

1. New Orleans Saints (10-1; Last week’s ranking: 1): Make it 10 in a row for the Saints who breezed past the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving behind Drew Brees’ four touchdown passes. New Orleans looks to make it 11 straight when they face the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.

2. Los Angeles Rams (10-1; 2): LA can clinch the NFC West with a win Sunday against the Detroit Lions or a Seahawks loss to the San Francisco 49ers (don’t hold your breath on that one).

3. Kansas City Chiefs (9-2; 3): The Chiefs exit their bye to face the Oakland Raiders, so they effectively have two byes. Don’t look now, but the New England Patriots are just one game back of KC in the AFC playoff picture and own the tiebreaker by virtue of their Week 6 win, so the Chiefs can’t afford a slip up against Oakland.

4. New England Patriots (8-3; 5): Tom Brady and Co. got back on track with a 27-13 win against the New York Jets. A key Week 13 date with the Minnesota Vikings awaits Sunday.

5. Chicago Bears (8-3; 6): No Mitchell Trubisky, no problem. The Bears’ vaunted defense took care of the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and might have to do the same in Week 13 against the New York Giants if Trubisky’s shoulder isn’t good to go.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3-1; 4): Just when you thought the Steelers were getting it together they walked into Mile High Stadium and turned the ball over four times in a 24-17 loss to the Denver Broncos. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Pittsburgh as they’ll welcome the Chargers to Heinz Field on Sunday.

7. Los Angeles Chargers (8-3; 7): Philip Rivers completed his first 25 passes (!) Sunday as the Chargers rolled the Arizona Cardinals 45-10. Melvin Gordon’s knee injury dampened the mood, though, as the star back likely is out of the Week 13 date with the Steelers.

8. Houston Texans (8-3; 8): Houston became the first team in NFL history to win eight games in a row after losing its first three as the Texans rolled the Titans 34-17.

9. Minnesota Vikings (6-4-1; 9): Kirk Cousins bounced back from his worst game as a Viking by throwing for 324 yards and three scores in a 24-17 win over the Packers that might have buried Aaron Rodgers and the Pack for good.

10. Seattle Seahawks (6-5; 12): Seattle now has beaten the Packers and Panthers in consecutive weeks, putting them in prime position to make the playoffs. The Seahawks still sit behind the Washington Redskins and Vikings in the wild-card standings, but three of their last five games come against the 49ers and Arizona Cardinals which should put them on track to at least finish at 9-7.

11. Indianapolis Colts (6-5; 11): The Colts scored 13 points in the final 8 1/2 minutes to erase a 10-point deficit and beat the Miami Dolphins, 27-24. Indy now has won five games in a row and has the look of a team no one would want to see come playoff time.

12. Dallas Cowboys (6-5; 13): Perhaps Amari Cooper was worth the first-round pick the Cowboys gave up to acquire the star receiver. Cooper hauled in eight passes for 180 yards and two scores in Dallas’ win over the Redskins on Thanksgiving. The ‘Boys now sit atop the NFC East with only a banged up Redskins team and a mediocre Philadelphia Eagles club standing between them and the division crown.

13. Carolina Panthers (6-5; 10): Carolina officially is in a free fall after losing its third straight game Sunday. The Panthers need a bounce-back win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or their playoff hopes could disappear.

14. Baltimore Ravens (6-5; 16): Lamar Jackson now is 2-0 as a starter after beating the Raiders 34-17. Baltimore has a playoff pulse after collecting two straight wins but a big quarterback decision looms for John Harbaugh. If Joe Flacco is ready to go, who starts in Week 13?

15. Denver Broncos (5-6; 24): Back-to-back win over the Chargers and Steelers have the Broncos in the thick of the race of an AFC Wild Card berth. Denver faces winnable games against the Cincinnati Bengals, 49ers, Browns and Raiders over the next four weeks.

16. Tennessee Titans (5-6; 15): Marcus Mariota was almost perfect in Tennessee’s loss to the Texans, but he got little help from his offensive line or his defense as the Titans’ playoff hopes have evaporated over the last two weeks.

17. Philadelphia Eagles (5-6; 18): Philly erased a 19-3 deficit to beat the New York Giants and stay alive in the race for the NFC East. Can the defending champs overtake the Cowboys and return to the playoffs?

18. Washington Redskins (6-5; 14): Colt McCoy threw three picks and the Redskins’ defense was torched as Washington surrendered the division lead to Dallas. Is McCoy has any magic left in his right arm he needs to find it Monday night against the Eagles.

19. Green Bay Packers (4-6-1; 17): After losing to the Vikings to fall to 0-6 on the road, it’s pretty much curtains for the Packers.

20. Cleveland Browns (4-6-1; 23): Baker Mayfield and Co. torched the Bengals and old coach Hue Jackson in Week 12 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

21. Miami Dolphins (5-6; 20): Adam Gase got conservative in the fourth quarter and his team blew a 10-point lead against the Colts to fall below .500. This is about the time the wheels should come off for this terrible Dolphins team.

22. Atlanta Falcons (4-7; 22): Time to turn out the lights in Atlanta.

23. Cincinnati Bengals (5-6; 18): Cincy was dusted by the Browns and lost Andy Dalton for the year. Season over.

24. Detroit Lions (4-7; 21): The Lions couldn’t even beat a Bears team led by Chase Daniel. Should Matt Patricia even make it to Year 2?

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7; 27): A win over the 49ers does still count.

26. Buffalo Bills (4-7; 29): Josh Allen flexed on Jalen Ramsey and the Bills trolled the corner following the Bills’ 24-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was finally a good day to be a Bill in 2018.

27. New York Giants (3-8; 26): Odell Beckham was critical of the Giants’ gameplan in the loss to the Eagles and he had a point as the conservative playcalling might have effectively ended New York’s playoff pursuit.

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-8; 25): Blake Bortles got his offensive coordinator fired and then got benched for Cody Kessler. It’s not 2017 in Jacksonville anymore.

29. San Francisco 49ers (2-9; 28): Canton might want to hold off on Nick Mullens’ bust.

30. New York Jets (3-8; 31): The Jets played the Patriots tough as they always do, so that’s something.

31. Oakland Raiders (2-9; 31): Oakland needs to get swallowed by a black hole.

32. Arizona Cardinals (2-9; 32): You aren’t here for the Cardinals content.