NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Predicting Post Monday Night Football Standings

We're now mere days away from entering the final month of the 2016 NFL season. Once the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets do their thing on Monday night, it will be time to officially turn the page on Week 13.

Week 14 will kick off on Thursday night with an incredible matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders.

Now that nearly three full months of NFL action have passed, the playoff picture is beginning to come into focus. The Dallas Cowboys have already secured their postseason spot, while teams like the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars have been eliminated.

There are still a lot of playoff questions remaining, however, with the biggest ones surrounding which teams are good and which ones are simply pretending to be. We're going to try sorting things out here today with our early Week 14 power rankings.

We'll be ranking all 32 teams based on factors like record, past performances, divisional competition and team health. We will also be including our predictions for Monday night in the decision-making process.

In addition, we'll take a look at some of the more intriguing rankings coming out of Week 13.

Week 14 Power Rankings

Rank	Team	Record
1	Dallas Cowboys	11-1
2	Oakland Raiders	10-2
3	New England Patriots	10-2
4	Kansas City Chiefs	9-3
5	Seattle Seahawks	8-3-1
6	Detroit Lions	8-4
7	Denver Broncos	8-4
8	New York Giants	8-4
9	Baltimore Ravens	7-5
10	Miami Dolphins	7-5
11	Pittsburgh Steelers	7-5
12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7-5
13	Atlanta Falcons	7-5
14	Buffalo Bills	6-6
15	Washington Redskins	6-5-1
16	Tennessee Titans	6-6
17	Green Bay Packers	6-6
18	Indianapolis Colts	6-6*
19	Minnesota Vikings	6-6
20	Houston Texans	6-6
21	New Orleans Saints	5-7
22	Arizona Cardinals	5-6-1
23	Philadelphia Eagles	5-7
24	San Diego Chargers	5-7
25	Cincinnati Bengals	4-7-1
26	Carolina Panthers	4-8
27	Los Angeles Rams	4-8
28	New York Jets	3-9*
29	Chicago Bears	3-9
30	Jacksonville Jaguars	2-10
31	San Francisco 49ers	1-11
32	Cleveland Browns	0-12

Notable Rankings

2. Oakland Raiders

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The Oakland Raiders have been one of the more interesting stories of the 2016 season. Not only has the team managed to win 10 games already, but it has shown the confidence and the resiliency of a legitimate contender.

Just consider the fact that the Raiders overcame a 24-9 third-quarter deficit in Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills. Many young teams might flounder in such a trying situation, but the Raiders battled back for a 38-24 win.

“We just kept fighting, and fighting and fighting,” safety Reggie Nelson said, per Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. “We got the one spark that we were looking for, and then we just kept giving the offense back the ball.”

If the Raiders defense can consistently perform like it did late against the Bills, the Raiders could be a tough out in the postseason. The team's offense, which is rated second overall by Pro Football Focus, is certainly potent enough to take the team deep.

While the Raiders share a 10-2 record with the New England Patriots, we're placing the Raiders ahead in the power rankings for now. Part of the reason is that the Patriots recently put their top offensive playmaker on injured reserve.

Another aspect of that decision is that if the season ended today, Oakland would hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

If we're going to gush over the red-hot Raiders, then we have to at least acknowledge the 9-3 Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City might just be the most dangerous team in the NFL no one is talking about.

Yes, the Chiefs are still sitting behind the Raiders in the AFC West race, but they're only there by a game. The Chiefs already hold one head-to-head win over Oakland with the second matchup coming this Thursday night.

If Kansas City wins on Thursday, the Chiefs will overtake the Raiders in the divisional standings.

This is a team that is built to go deep in the postseason, too. Kansas City has an offense that, while not terribly exciting, is efficient. The team also boasts a defense that is rated 10th overall by Pro Football Focus and allows just 20.2 points per game to opposing teams (ninth in the NFL).

In addition to being a very good team, the Chiefs have to be carrying a ton of confidence. They just seem to keep finding ways to win in the unlikeliest of ways. Last week, it was overtime against the Broncos in Denver. This week against the Atlanta Falcons, the margin of victory was achieved by a two-point conversion that was intercepted and returned by safety Eric Berry for a touchdown.

“Bro, never in my life,” Chiefs running back Charcandrick West said of his team's latest win, per Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. “This year has been crazy for me. I’ve never seen this. I’d never even been in overtime my whole life playing football until Denver.”

The way this season has unfolded for Kansas City has left little room for surprise. Don't be shocked if the Chiefs find a way to make a run at the Super Bowl.

20. Houston Texans

A few weeks ago, the Houston Texans were sitting at 6-3 and looking like a strong favorite to win the AFC South. Now, the Texans are looking like a team that has lost its way, thrown away its compass and completely given up on finding the postseason.

This isn't just about the Texans' three straight losses, either. The Texans are falling—and plummeting in our power rankings—due in large part to the ineptitude of the offense.

The Texans defense, which allows just 316.1 yards of offense per game, is good enough to lead this team into the postseason. The offense, on the other hand, is bad enough to keep it out.

The Texans are rated 29th in overall offense by Pro Football Focus and average a mere 17.2 points per game (fourth-fewest in the NFL). Quarterback Brock Osweiler has played especially poorly and could be the biggest reason why the Texans were merely early pretenders.

So far, Osweiler is completing less than 60 percent of his passes, has 14 turnovers to go with 14 touchdowns and holds a passer rating of just 74.2. The fact that Osweiler can't even thrive with a top-tier receiver like DeAndre Hopkins makes his struggles stand out even more.

The problem for Houston moving forward, though, is that the Tennessee Titans now share a 6-6 record. If the Indianapolis Colts win on Monday night, they'll also be 6-6 with Round 2 against Houston in Week 14.

There's a legitimate chance the Texans drop to third place in the AFC South by the end of next week. The schedule after Week 14 is just as critical for Houston.

“These last four games are all playoff games,” Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said, per Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. “That’s how we have to view them. Three of the four are divisional games. They’re all AFC games.”