NFL Power Rankings 2013: Standings for All 32 Teams Entering Week 12

Could Week 11 have been any crazier in the NFL?

There were some truly great games over the past week, but a couple of games with major playoff implications had some rather controversial endings.  The New Orleans Saints took down the San Francisco 49ers thanks to a controversial penalty called on Ahmad Brooks after hitting Drew Brees up high, leading to a touchdown for the Saints.  

On Monday, the Carolina Panthers defeated the New England Patriots after a flag was thrown for a possible pass interference call on the final play of the game, but it was picked up and the game ended, much to the dismay of Patriots fans.

With another wild week of football wrapped up, let's take a look at the updated power rankings entering Week 12, followed by a breakdown of the biggest winners and losers from the past weekend.

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

Biggest Losers

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers can't come back fast enough for the Green Bay Packers.

Three straight losses have the Packers quickly sliding down the top half of the rankings. Scott Tolzien has shown flashes of being a respectable replacement for Rodgers, driving the team down the field on a consistent basis.  But the Packers keep stalling just short of the end zone, either having to settle with field goals or turning the ball over at the worst possible times.

Opposing defenses are now keying in on Eddie Lacy, and it showed against the New York Giants.  The Packers tried to keep things simple for Tolzien and rely on plays from Lacy, but he ran for just 27 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries this past week.

The secondary continues to struggle as well, with opposing quarterbacks finding receivers open at what seem to be the worst possible times.  Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has the Packers with a minus 25.6 pass coverage grade, ranking 25th in the NFL.

Rodgers won't help the defense, but he will help put points on the board and help them win games.  They're still only a game behind in the NFC North, but they need to start winning now rather than later.

Kansas City Chiefs

There seems to be a lot of people already dismissing the idea of the Kansas City Chiefs being a contender in the AFC, but they're still 9-1 with a solid defense.

A loss to the Denver Broncos knocks the Chiefs out of the top spot, however, as we are starting to see some holes on both sides of the ball.  

Defensively, the pass rush for the Chiefs did not step up on Sunday Night Football, recording zero sacks and never really putting a ton of pressure on Peyton Manning. The lack of a pass rush gave Manning the opportunity to make some big plays in the passing game.

On offense, Alex Smith failed to complete 50 percent of his passes.  He did throw two touchdowns and record 282 total yards, but the offense as a whole isn't as explosive as it should be for a team trying to make a run at a Super Bowl.

Still, you have to give a ton of credit to Smith and Andy Reid for turning a 2-14 team from last season into an AFC contender, but the loss has them moving down the rankings for the first time all year.

Biggest Winners

Arizona Cardinals

Very quietly, the Arizona Cardinals have moved to 6-4.

A win over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars was expected, but with other teams losing around the league, the Cardinals were able to jump up quite a bit in the rankings.  With the 49ers losing to the Saints, the Cardinals are suddenly tied for the second spot in the NFC West and are a playoff contender.

The secondary for the Cardinals might be one of the most talented in the NFL behind the Seattle Seahawks.  Players like Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and Rashad Johnson keep making big plays, and according to Football Outsiders, Arizona has the No. 1 defense in the league in terms of weighted Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA).

Carson Palmer is starting to limit his turnovers a bit more, and with weapons like Andre Ellington and Larry Fitzgerald on offense, the Cardinals have put up 27 points in each of the last three games, all of which have been wins.

An upcoming game against the Indianapolis Colts this week should show if Arizona is the real deal, and based off of what we have seen so far, I really think the Cardinals are a contender in the NFC.

Carolina Panthers

Forget the last play of the game—the Panthers played great and put themselves in the position to win.

Two straight wins over legitimate teams and six straight overall have the Panthers at 7-3 and the current top wild-card spot in the NFC.  To make things even more interesting, they're just one game behind the Saints in the NFC South.

Cam Newton arguably had the best game of his career.  The numbers were great, posting 271 total yards and three passing touchdowns, but the way he did it against such a solid team says a lot about his progression as an NFL quarterback.

It certainly helps Newton now that he has a top-tier defense helping him out.  The Panthers lead the league with just 13.5 points allowed per game and are one of just three teams that allow less than 300 total yards of offense per contest.

There might not be a hotter team in football, and now we can start counting down to December 8, when the Panthers and Saints will play each other, potentially for the top spot in the division.