NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 12 Conference Standings and Latest Super Bowl Odds

The beginning of Week 12 is nearly upon us. In a little more than a day, the football world will celebrate not only Thanksgiving, but also the start to a new slate of NFL action.

Not all teams have realistic Super Bowl aspirations as they prepare for the next chapter in the 2016 season. Some do and are pushing to secure their postseason spots in the next few weeks. Others are battling just to make a wild-card push. Some are just looking to win a bit of respectability before the end of the season.

The Cleveland Browns are hoping to notch one win before the end of 2016.

So how do the 32 NFL teams stack up as a group? That's what we're going to examine here. We'll be power ranking each team based on the latest Super Bowl odds—courtesy of Odds Shark—and examining some of the more interesting rankings of the bunch.

First, though, let's examine where teams stand in their respective conferences. We're listing the standings in playoff format—as if the regular season ended today—so division leaders will hold the top four spots in each conference, regardless of records.

Week 12 NFL Standings

Team	Record
AFC
NFC
Oakland Raiders	8-2*
New England Patriots	8-2*
Houston Texans	6-4*
Baltimore Ravens	5-5*
Kansas City Chiefs	7-3
Denver Broncos	7-3
Miami Dolphins	6-4
Pittsburgh Steelers	5-5
Indianapolis Colts	5-5
Buffalo Bills	5-5
Tennessee Titans	5-6
San Diego Chargers	4-6
Cincinnati Bengals	3-6-1
New York Jets	3-7
Jacksonville Jaguars	2-8
Cleveland Browns	0-11
Dallas Cowboys	9-1*
Seattle Seahawks	7-2-1*
Detroit Lions	6-4*
Atlanta Falcons	6-4*
New York Giants	7-3
Washington Redskins	6-3-1
Minnesota Vikings	6-4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5-5
Philadelphia Eagles	5-5
Arizona Cardinals	4-5-1
New Orleans Saints	4-6
Carolina Panthers	4-6
Los Angeles Rams	4-6
Green Bay Packers	4-6
Chicago Bears	2-8
San Francisco 49ers	1-9

Power Rankings

Rank	Team	SB Odds
1	New England Patriots	2.3-1
2	Dallas Cowboys	5.5-1
3	Seattle Seahawks	6.25-1
4	Kansas City Chiefs	16-1
5	Denver Broncos	16-1
6	Atlanta Falcons	18-1
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	18-1
8	Oakland Raiders	20-1
9	Arizona Cardinals	22-1
10	New York Giants	25-1
11	Green Bay Packers	25-1
12	Baltimore Ravens	28-1
13	Houston Texans	33-1
14	Detroit Lions	40-1
15	Minnesota Vikings	40-1
16	Indianapolis Colts	40-1
17	Washington Redskins	50-1
18	Carolina Panthers	50-1
19	Philadelphia Eagles	66-1
20	Tennessee Titans	66-1
21	Miami Dolphins	75-1
22	New Orleans Saints	100-1
23	Cincinnati Bengals	100-1
24	Buffalo Bills	150-1
25	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	150-1
26	Los Angeles Rams	150-1
27	San Diego Chargers	150-1
28	New York Jets	300-1
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	N/A
30	Chicago Bears	N/A
31	San Francisco 49ers	N/A
32	Cleveland Browns	N/A

Notable Rankings

2. Dallas Cowboys (5.5-1)

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The oddsmakers seem to like what they've seen from the Dallas Cowboys so far this season, and it's difficult to disagree with them. The Cowboys haven't lost a game since the opening week of 2016.

The driving force behind Dallas' surge has been an efficient and effective offense and the offensive line that stabilizes it. This line has allowed rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott to thrive from the very seeds of their NFL careers.

Prescott has already passed for 2,640 yards with 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Elliott leads the NFL with 1,102 rushing yards.

The Dallas offense also features weapons like Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Cole Beasley—and Prescott has done a good job of spreading the ball around.

"Depending on the game plan and the flow of the game, anybody can make a play," receiver Brice Butler explained, per Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN.com.

Offense alone doesn't win games, of course. Fortunately, the Cowboys have an underrated and opportunistic—albeit completely unspectacular—defense on the other side of the ball.

The strength of Dallas' defense is its ability to defend the pass. While the Cowboys are rated just 23rd in overall defense by Pro Football Focus, they are rated second in pass coverage. This coverage unit makes it difficult for opponents to gain ground when Dallas gets an early lead.

So far, the formula in Dallas is working, and there seems to be a realistic chance it works all the way up to Super Bowl 51.

Only the mighty New England Patriots are more heavily favored.

8. Oakland Raiders (20-1)

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Folks don't seem quite as high on the resurgent Oakland Raiders as they do the resurgent Cowboys. Despite the fact Oakland holds the same record as the Patriots, the Raiders are staring down much longer odds.

This, of course, could mean good things if you're willing to gamble on Oakland. The Raiders have found their own winning formula—one that also features a strong offensive line and a young, explosive offense.

The Raiders are rated third in overall offense by Pro Football Focus. The team's underrated defense is rated 15th overall by Pro Football Focus.

One possible reason why the Raiders aren't among the favorite teams at this point in the season is the presence of the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. The Broncos are obviously defending Super Bowl champions, while the Chiefs have already earned one head-to-head victory over the Raiders.

Both the Broncos and the Chiefs are playing like potential playoff contenders.

However, there's a strong chance the Raiders can still get into the postseason even if they cannot win the AFC West. In a way, this might benefit Oakland, as both of the team's losses this season have come at home.

Another possible reason for Oakland's comparatively long odds is that oddsmakers believe teams like the Broncos and Chiefs have a better chance of ousting the Patriots should they meet in the postseason.

21. Miami Dolphins (75-1)

Al Pereira/Getty Images

The Miami Dolphins are carrying long odds in relation to their status as a borderline playoff team. This is probably due to the fact that they play in the same division as the Patriots, but it could also come from a lack of respect for quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Still, the Dolphins seem to have found a successful plan that revolves around an opportunistic defense and the hard running of second-year man Jay Ajayi.

Since Ajayi rushed for more than 200 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6, the Dolphins have ripped off five straight victories. With the much-maligned San Francisco 49ers coming to town this week, that win streak could realistically reach six games.

The big test for Miami will come in the final three weeks of the regular season. Miami faces the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills and the Patriots in consecutive weeks to end the year. Winning all of those games would give the Dolphins a 5-1 division record and a strong chance of pushing into the postseason.

"We're so far away still," Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said of the playoffs, per Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel. "It's not even worth it to me to look at it."

If you're a fan of playing the long odds, looking ahead to a possible Miami postseason run might not be a terrible idea. The Dolphins would currently yield a greater return than teams with losing records like the Tennessee Titans and the Carolina Panthers.