NFL Power Rankings Week 12: Updated Standings, Predictions Before MNF

The Buffalo Bills will travel to face the New England Patriots on Monday evening, concluding what was an eventful Week 11.

Seeing that the Patriots have won 23 of their last 24 home games, including the postseason, it's pretty tough to bet against them. Tom Brady and company have continued to carve opponents to shreds, while the defense is giving up just 18.8 points per game, fourth in the NFL. 

But there is some trouble in paradise, namely that injuries to Dion Lewis and Julian Edelman have taken away two of Brady's most dangerous targets. Of course, he still has Rob Gronkowski, Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola to rely on, so Brady and the Patriots should remain as dangerous as ever.

One other thing to note: The Patriots' one home loss in their past 24 games came against the Bills last season. And new head coach Rex Ryan is plenty familiar with Bill Belichick and company. That said, betting against the Patriots at home in prime time is a fool's errand.

The Pats will go to 10-0 and justify their top spot on this week's power rankings. Let's break down the rest of the NFL.

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

The Best: New England Patriots

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Until the defending Super Bowl champions lose a game, they'll remain atop the power rankings. That's just common sense.

The Worst: San Diego Chargers

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It was tempting to put the Baltimore Ravens here, as a team already amidst a tough season just lost Joe Flacco for the year to a torn ACL, head coach John Harbaugh announced after the game, per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. But the San Diego Chargers have been so dreadful that it was impossible to keep them out of the bottom spot.

The Chargers have lost six straight games and were just hammered by the Kansas City Chiefs, 33-3. And after the game, plugged-in Chargers reporter Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune ripped head coach Mike McCoy to shreds and called for him to be fired after the season.

Acee cited several convincing pieces of evidence to support his take:

"

I don’t know if it’s true anymore that players are still engaged with the coaching staff’s message. I’m hearing rumblings. I didn’t say they have quit, but my inkling is that veterans won’t be going upstairs to plead McCoy’s case as some did for Norv Turner in 2011.

McCoy even told his players after the game that each of them needed to watch the film and assess their individual effort. He also said in response to a postgame press conference question about whether the players have quit that he had to watch the film.

Really, though, we’re past any of the semantics really mattering.

This whole operation is so abysmal it almost seems overkill to point out the Chargers had two weeks to prepare for Sunday’s game.

"

Ouch.

The Chargers may catapult themselves out of this slot by the end of the year. After all, they have Philip Rivers at the wheel. For now, however, the Chargers are simply spinning in circles. 

Rising: Houston Texans

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The Houston Texans were a mess. The team started 1-4, was swapping quarterbacks weekly, Ryan Mallett was missing flights, Arian Foster was lost for the season and Bill O'Brien's job status seemed tenuous at best. 

But something happened. The team turned things around, and the Texans have since won four of their last five games and three in a row. Both Brian Hoyer and T.J. Yates have led the team to wins, while wideout DeAndre Hopkins has continued his ascent to superstardom. 

And there is plenty of reason for optimism in the wide-open AFC South, where the division leader is an Indianapolis Colts team that sits at 5-5 and is currently without starting quarterback Andrew Luck. An opportunity to get back to the postseason has presented itself to Houston. Now it must grasp it. 

Falling: Atlanta Falcons

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The Atlanta Falcons were one of the best stories in the NFL after starting the year 5-0. And then reality set in, and the Falcons have since lost four of their last five games. 

The three interceptions Matt Ryan threw for on Sunday won't help things. Nor will the fact that the Falcons suddenly can't seem to win close games, having lost their last three contests by a combined seven points. The Falcons easily could be 9-1, but an inability to close against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and the Colts suggests the Falcons don't quite belong in the elite tier of NFL teams just yet.

The Wild Card: Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a tricky team to evaluate. They seem to be on the rise after starting 2-4, winning three of their last four games. But of course, the loss in that spell of good form was a crucial one at home against division rival Arizona. 

Still, the Seahawks seem better than their 5-5 record. The back-to-back NFC champions have lost four games by a touchdown or less, didn't have defensive leader Kam Chancellor to open the season and have been without Marshawn Lynch at stretches this year. Meanwhile, the team can't seem to regularly get Jimmy Graham involved in the offense, and the team's strength—its secondary—has underachieved at points this year.

But don't underestimate this team. Remember, the Seahawks won six games in a row down the stretch last year. They are a few close losses away from having a much better record and a few ironed-out wrinkles away from once again being an elite football team.