NFL Power Rankings Week 12: Reaction and Standings After Thursday Night Football

Due to Thanksgiving's full plate of NFL action, football fans have more results to digest than usual entering the weekend.

A putrid NFC East collapsed on Thursday, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys each suffered astronomical losses. At 4-7 and 3-8, respectively, the Eagles and Cowboys are both falling apart at the seams. 

Meanwhile, the 11-0 Carolina Panthers continue the most quiet pursuit of perfection ever, pounding Dallas in a 33-14 victory fueled by two defensive scores. The Green Bay Packers, one of their biggest NFC competitors, again endured a poor offensive showing in a 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. 

After recovering from Thursday's football coma, let's take an updated snapshot of the league's hierarchy.

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

Are They Any Good?

A weird year of football features few stable contenders and one giant middle tier for everyone else. Eleven weeks into the season, very few teams are knocked out of a congested playoff pictured riddled with 5-5 and 4-6 squads.

Given the wide range of mediocrity, the pecking order changes regularly. A few weeks ago, the New York Jets led the AFC's wild-card contenders, while the Oakland Raiders served as the trendy up-and-comer. Among the flawed NFC East clubs, the Philadelphia Eagles looked the most poised to take the division.

Now, not so much. All three teams have dropped down the power rankings through losing streaks, placing their status as playoff threats in jeopardy. Do they have what it takes to salvage sinking ships?

New York Jets

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Somewhere along the way, the New York Jets inexplicably stopped playing defense.

Before falling to the New England Patriots in Week 7, they allowed 75 points through five games, four of which they won. They have since surrendered 133 points in their ensuing five bouts, four of which they have lost.

Formerly competing with the Denver Broncos to hold the league's premier passing defense, the Jets now rank No. 11 with 231.4 yards allowed per game through the air. The schedule offered them a reprieve last Sunday in the Houston Texans, who started T.J. Yates. A backup quarterback with no Arian Foster and one major receiver for Darrelle Revis to neutralize? Sounds perfect.

So naturally Yates threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Cecil Shorts added a 21-yard passing score to Alfred Blue. Not bothered by lining up against Revis, DeAndre Hopkins produced 118 yards and two touchdowns. ESPN.com's Bill Barnwell noted Houston bravely targeting the top cornerback:

This isn't the end of days, but rather an elite player getting the better of another elite player. Revis remains pivotal to New York's defense, which makes his concussion all the more concerning. According to ESPN.com's Rich Cimini, head coach Todd Bowles is not banking of his availability for a huge division showdown with the Miami Dolphins:

Miami marks one of four teams with a losing record the Jets conquered. Among their victories, only the Indianapolis Colts (5-5) break even, and the Week 2 upset looks far less impressive in hindsight. As Chris Ivory slows down, a team founded on running and defense is suffering on both fronts. The next two games against the Dolphins and New York Giants—technically a road game despite their shared stadium—will determine if they stay alive down the stretch.

Oakland Raiders

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

The Raiders had signaled their arrival at the Jets' expense. Against a then top-flight defense, Derek Carr compiled 333 passing yards and four scores in a 34-20 victory, propelling Oakland into the playoff picture at 4-3.

Since then, they have looked like the Raiders during a three-game losing streak. Coming up short against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings is understandable. Gaining 216 offensive yards and 13 points against the Detroit Lions? Not ideal.

Carr experienced a hiccup in an otherwise sensational second season, but he has no margin for error due to Oakland's No. 29-ranked defense. Yet the 24-year-old passer took the blame, per CSNBayArea.com's Scott Bair.

"

It really comes down to us. That’s the big thing that came out of it for me. I went back and watched it. It’s just like, man, this is completely on us. That is a good thing, because now we know we can go fix it. You can put a finger on it and say, ‘OK, well I missed something there. I missed something there.’ And you can go out and fix it and correct it.

"

The running game isn't helping either. Carr hadn't had an off day since Week 1, but running back Latavius Murray has fallen off with 76 rushing yards through the last two losses. In the team's four victories, he's averaging 110.3 yards per bout. 

Looking at its remaining schedule, Oakland will feel significant pressure to conquer the 2-8 Tennessee Titans this weekend. Things will get much tougher in December and January, when it faces the surging Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers. At 4-6, the Raiders probably can't afford to lose more than one of those games.

Even the San Diego Chargers aren't an automatic victory for a team third-worst against the pass. They're far better than recent iterations, but the Raiders remain too flawed to make a genuine playoff push.

Philadelphia Eagles

Jose Juarez/Associated Press

All four teams refuse to take the NFC East. The most talented among them—at least while the Dallas Cowboys missed Tony Romo and Dez Bryant—the Eagles failed to gain ground ahead of their weak adversaries.

Victories over the New York Giants and Cowboys put them in great shape, but they have unraveled during a three-game losing streak. In recent weeks, their defense has made the New Orleans Saints look like the 1985 Bears, surrendering 45 points and five passing touchdowns in back-to-back games.

Days after getting dismantled by Jameis Winston's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles relented 337 passing yards and five scores to Matthew Stafford, who led the Detroit Lions to their third straight win after a 1-7 start. After the game, an unnamed Lions player told NFL Network's Albert Breer he didn't see the Eagles put up much of a fight:

Outscored by 59 over those two debacles, Philadelphia now sports a minus-31 scoring margin, still second-best behind the Giants among the division's four squads. In the same scenario, any other listless 4-7 team is planning ahead to next year. The NFC East standings, however, leave the window open.

If Washington beats the Giants this weekend, the Eagles will trail both teams by a game. The season isn't over yet, but give it time. A treacherous upcoming schedule should swiftly knock them out of commission.

Week	OPP	Record
13	@ New England	10-0
14	Buffalo	5-5
15	Arizona	8-2
16	Washington	4-6
17	@ N.Y. Giants	5-5

If the Buccaneers and Lions are too much for them to handle, facing the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals won't end well. Their only true hope is to crawl to 8-8 and hope that does the trick.