NFL Power Rankings 2015: AFC, NFC Records and Week 12 Division Standings

The dog days of the season are in the past, and bye weeks have caught up to every team, meaning only six games remain of each team's season entering Week 12 of NFL action.

While every weekend is critical for teams hoping to make a playoff push, that only takes on added importance heading down the stretch. Teams know exactly whom they're fighting with for the postseason and have a good idea of what it will take to get there.

With that in mind, let's break down the latest power rankings from the league along with a look into how each division currently stands.

Rank	Team
1	New England Patriots
2	Carolina Panthers
3	Arizona Cardinals
4	Denver Broncos
5	Cincinnati Bengals
6	Green Bay Packers
7	Minnesota Vikings
8	Pittsburgh Steelers
9	Kansas City Chiefs
10	Seattle Seahawks
11	Buffalo Bills
12	New York Giants
13	Houston Texans
14	Indianapolis Colts
15	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16	New York Jets
17	Dallas Cowboys
18	Oakland Raiders
19	Atlanta Falcons
20	New Orleans Saints
21	Philadelphia Eagles
22	Jacksonville Jaguars
23	St. Louis Rams
24	Washington Redskins
25	Chicago Bears
26	Miami Dolphins
27	Detroit Lions
28	Baltimore Ravens
29	San Diego Chargers
30	San Francisco 49ers
31	Tennessee Titans
32	Cleveland Browns

Divisional Standings

AFC East	Record
AFC North	Record
AFC West	Record
AFC South	Record
NFC South	Record
NFC North	Record
NFC East	Record
NFC West	Record
New England Patriots	10-0
Buffalo Bills	5-5
New York Jets	5-5
Miami Dolphins	4-6
Cincinnati Bengals	8-2
Pittsburgh Steelers	6-4
Baltimore Ravens	3-7
Cleveland Browns	2-8
Denver Broncos	8-2
Kansas City Chiefs	5-5
Oakland Raiders	4-6
San Diego Chargers	2-8
Indianapolis Colts	5-5
Houston Texans	5-5
Jacksonville Jaguars	4-6
Tennessee Titans	2-8
Carolina Panthers	10-0
Atlanta Falcons	6-4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5-5
New Orleans Saints	4-6
Green Bay Packers	7-3
Minnesota Vikings	7-3
Chicago Bears	4-6
Detroit Lions	3-7
New York Giants	5-5
Washington Redskins	4-6
Philadelphia Eagles	4-6
Dallas Cowboys	3-7
Arizona Cardinals	8-2
Seattle Seahawks	5-5
St. Louis Rams	4-6
San Francisco 49ers	3-7

Teams on the Rise

Kansas City Chiefs

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Save for those two squads who still have a zero on the loss column, there's no hotter team in the league entering Week 12 than the Kansas City Chiefs.

2015 quickly looked like a lost season in Kansas City when the team started 1-5, with all of those defeats coming in consecutive fashion. Ever since, the Chiefs have looked like a completely different club.

After their road loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6, the Chiefs got hot and have ripped off four consecutive victories since then. Two of those wins came against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, heavyweights in the AFC, and the four wins have been by a combined 91 points.

With a potentially soft schedule down the stretch, don't be surprised to see quarterback Alex Smith, head coach Andy Reid and crew making the playoffs and entering the postseason on a tear.

Carolina Panthers

While one 10-0 team looked incredibly flawed and suffering from lost playmakers in Week 11, another appeared as dangerous as it's been all season. The latter, of course, is the Carolina Panthers.

Cam Newton and Co. were squeaking by earlier in the season, having to outlast the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers, but have stepped it up big-time in the last few weeks. They've dominated their last two opponents (the Tennessee Titans and Washington) by a combined 45 points.

To make matters better for Carolina, it plays on Thanksgiving—a day that hasn't seen an unbeaten team lose in 50-plus years, as NFL on ESPN noted:

As Newton continues to make a push for the league's MVP trophy and the Panthers defense keeps suffocating opponents at every level, it's no doubt who the NFC's top team is entering the final stretch of the season.