If you’re in the midwest or northeast, chances are the snow already has started to fly, which means the NFL stretch is just about upon us, and as football fans, we can’t ask for a better situation across the league.
With Week 13 in the books, we can look across the NFL landscape and see five 10-2 teams, in addition to another five teams with at least eight wins. The playoff field certainly is coming together, but good luck trying to predict how the seeding will play out.
That can make it a little more difficult to throw together NFL power rankings, but we tried our best yet again this week with a brand-new No. 1 team.
Here are the Week 14 power rankings.
1. Baltimore Ravens (10-2, Last week: 2): The Ravens now have the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the AFC after beating arguably the NFC’s best team. They probably were getting the top spot here regardless of what happened to the Patriots.
2. New Orleans Saints (10-2, 5): The Saints might be the NFL’s most complete team. They have talent on both sides of the ball, and they have a proven coach-quarterback combination. Now, with a huge matchup against San Francisco looming, New Orleans has a golden chance to ensure the NFC goes through the Big Easy this year.
3. Seattle Seahawks (10-2, 4): The NFC West is a legitimate rock fight now after the Seahawks outlasted the Vikings in a Monday night shootout. And don’t forget: We’re just a few weeks removed from Seattle going on the road and beating the 49ers. A daunting stretch to end the season looms with road games at Los Angeles and Carolina as well as a Week 17 showdown with San Fran that might decide the division.
4. New England Patriots (10-2, 1): The Patriots battled the flu and a desperate Houston team in an ugly loss that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. It’s hard to bet against New England this time of year, but it’s probably worth mentioning that only two teams the Patriots have beat this year have winning records right now: Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
5. San Francisco 49ers (10-2, 3): Tough loss Sunday in Baltimore under adverse conditions, and the Niners’ fall here has more to do with the teams ahead of them mostly impressing. They better hope they don’t run into any stout run defenses in the playoffs because there are questions as to whether Jimmy Garoppolo can win it himself.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (8-4, 7): It seems like Kansas City is finally getting acclimated to the 4-3 defense, and the results are speaking for themselves, allowing just 26 points over their last two weeks. A huge game in New England is up next and should serve as the perfect litmus test as to whether this team is back.
7. Green Bay Packers (9-3, 8): The Packers took advantage of a get-right game and beat the Giants in the snow going away. With the Vikings losing Monday night, the Packers have full control of the NFC North with a very winnable slate of games down the stretch, save for a Week 16 game in Minny.
8. Houston Texans (8-4, 9): The Patriots have their issues, sure, but the Texans looked damn good Sunday night, and their 34-point Week 11 loss to the Ravens feels like a long time ago. They better not overlook Denver, though, with a massive Week 15 game against Tennessee looming.
9. Buffalo Bills (9-3, 10): Buffalo is on a three-game winning streak, winning those games by an average of 18 points behind a 111.4 passer rating from Josh Allen. But those wins came against the Dolphins, Broncos and Cowboys. Their biggest test of the season — vs. Baltimore — is on tap this week.
10. Minnesota Vikings (8-4, 6): Give the Vikings credit, they hung in there in a tough environment without Adam Thielen while also losing Dalvin Cook midgame. But they have some work to do now after falling a game behind the Packers in the North.
11. Tennessee Titans (7-5, 13): Ryan Tannehill has a 142.1 passer rating over his last three games. That’s hilarious. But is the Titans’ recent success sustainable? They have turned the ball over 13 times in their last seven games. Sure, they’ve forced 12 turnovers in that stretch, but they need to clean it up if they’re going to make a playoff push.
12. Los Angeles Rams (7-5, 14): The Rams reminded us all of their capabilities with a season-high 549 yards of offense in Arizona, but it’s probably too little too late in the NFC playoff race, as the Rams will likely need a meltdown from the Vikings or Packers to get into the tournament.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5, 17): Duck Hodges went 14 of 21 for 212 yards with a touchdown and a pick against Cleveland. If he can continue to do that and minimize any sort of mistakes, that should be enough for Pittsburgh to keep winning behind a defense allowing just 4.5 yards per play over the last three weeks.
14. Dallas Cowboys (6-6, 11): The Cowboys lost again, yet somehow are still positioned to host a home playoff game. It’s a weird system.
15. Indianapolis Colts (6-6, 12): It was fun while it lasted, Indy. The Colts lost at home to the Titans after another rough day for Adam Vinatieri, as his kicking issues and team-wide injuries proved to be too much. Story of the season for the Colts.
16. Chicago Bears (6-6, 20): Chicago spoiled another Thanksgiving for Lions fans, but the only real hope for the Bears down the stretch is that they can play spoiler for playoff hopefuls with Dallas, Kansas City, Minnesota and Green Bay on the slate.
17. Oakland Raiders (6-6, 15): Perhaps we put a little too much stock into home wins against Detroit, the Chargers and Cincinnati because Oakland now has two straight road losses — by a combined 62 points.
18. Cleveland Browns (5-7), 16): What a pathetic showing Sunday against the Steelers, a loss that probably signals the end of the Browns’ playoff push.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-7, 22): Rookie linebacker Devin White had seven tackles, an interception and a fumble return for a touchdown. Nice little afternoon.
20. Philadelphia Eagles (5-7, 18): The Eagles became the first team all season to allow 400 or more yards of offense to the Dolphins. That’s a dubious distinction.
21. Carolina Panthers (5-7, 19): Honestly, what is there left to say about the Panthers?
22. Denver Broncos (4-8, 27): No one should be ready to anoint Drew Lock the second coming of John Elway, but he passed his first test as a starting quarterback.
23. Los Angeles Chargers (4-8, 21): Everyone’s all “The Chargers found a new way to lose,” but at a certain point, isn’t it kind of on them to start finding ways to, you know, win?
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8, 25): Four turnovers and 16 penalties for 125 yards on Sunday for the Jags. That is so bad!
25. New York Jets (4-8, 23): New York was held scoreless in the second half of an embarrassing loss to the Bengals. That, paired with the ongoing success of former pupil Ryan Tannehill, is a real tough look for Adam Gase.
26. Arizona Cardinals (3-8-1, 24): Coming off the bye and facing a struggling Rams offense, the Cardinals still had no answers on defense. Arizona has allowed a league-high 6.6 yards per play over their last three games, and during this five-game losing streak, the Cardinals’ opponents are averaging 474 yards and 32 points per game.
27. Detroit Lions (3-8-1, 26): There undoubtedly will be speculation about Matt Patricia’s job security, but he probably should be afforded at least one more season when you consider their quarterback situation this year that had them running out David Blough on short notice against the Bears on Thanksgiving.
28. Atlanta Falcons (3-9, 27): The Falcons seem to have the onside kick down to a science. Now, if they could only figure out that pesky turnover problem.
29. Miami Dolphins (3-9, 31): Pretty crazy to think the Dolphins of all teams ran the single-coolest play of the 2019 NFL season thus far.
30. Washington Redskins (3-9, 30): Pretty cool given his injury history to see Derrius Guice have a career game Sunday, running for 129 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
31. New York Giants (2-10, 29): Sunday marked the first time since Oct. 10 that Daniel Jones didn’t lose a fumble. So, that’s progress. On the other hand, he threw three picks in the Giants’ loss to the Packers, which is … not progress.
32. Cincinnati Bengals (1-11, 32): The Bengals won a game and kept their hold of the No. 1 pick. It’s getting better every week in the Queen City.
