NFL Power Rankings: Reviewing Week 13 Standings After Sunday's Action

Well, the NFL was interesting for one week.

With the Dallas Cowboys getting Tony Romo back and the Green Bay Packers looking like they got it together just in time, it seemed like the football world was back to normal.

In the words of Lee Corso: "Not so fast." Romo's done for the year, the Packers lost to the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins are in first place in the NFC East.

What a time to be alive. Let's take a look at this week's power rankings after Sunday's games.

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

Notable Rankings

No. 2: Denver Broncos

The legend that is Brock Osweiler continues to grow.

He now has a higher winning percentage against Tom Brady than Peyton Manning. He is undefeated as an NFL quarterback. He may have won the starting job from Manning for the rest of the year.

ESPN's Ed Werder thinks what we all believe right now:

Osweiler, in snowy conditions, threw for 270 yards and a go-ahead touchdown with 1:09 remaining. C.J. Anderson finished the job with a 48-yard touchdown in overtime for the 30-24 win, handing the New England Patriots their first loss of the year.

The Broncos have found new life under Osweiler. Even in horrid conditions, he led Denver to victory. He's the hot hand and passed the biggest audition of his life. It's his job for the rest of the year.

No. 7: Kansas City Chiefs

Outside of the Carolina Panthers, you'd be hard-pressed to find a hotter team in the NFL right now than the Chiefs.

Kansas City won its fifth game in a row on Sunday, beating the Buffalo Bills 30-22. It would still need to take a miracle to pass the Broncos in the AFC West race, but the Chiefs are zeroing in on a wild-card spot, and it's all because of that insane running game.

Out goes Jamaal Charles, in comes Charcandrick West and now Spencer Ware leading the charge. With those two running as effectively as possible, Alex Smith is playing some of the best football in his career during this winning streak. He's completed 66.6 percent of his passes and thrown six touchdowns to zero interceptions. He also has not thrown an interception since Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers, which means that's pretty good, per the NFL's Jon Zimmer:

The schedule gods are ever in the Chiefs' favor. They're at home for three of their final five games. The two road games? Oakland and Baltimore. Both are very winnable. 

No. 19: Detroit Lions

Who would've thought that front office changes would make teams play better? That isn't normally the case, but the Lions are 3-0 since owner Martha Ford fired general manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand.

Not only are the Lions winning, but they're winning with defense. Detroit has only allowed 14.3 points per game over the last three games, including holding the Packers to 16 points in Lambeau Field.

The offense finally woke up on Thanksgiving against the Philadelphia Eagles, erupting for 45 points, and Calvin Johnson caught three touchdowns. He's only gone over 100 yards once this season, but his performance against the Eagles may be the confidence boost he needs to have a strong end to the year.

Don't count the Lions out of the playoff hunt just yet.

No. 28: Dallas Cowboys

Remember the time when the Dallas Cowboys got Tony Romo back and had a legit chance to win the NFC East?

Yeah, about that.

The Cowboys are done for the year, and so is Romo after injuring his left collarbone against the Carolina Panthers on Thanksgiving. Even though the Cowboys are two games out of the division race, Matt Cassel under center makes it feel like Dallas is 12 games back.

It sure felt that way during the halftime show on Thursday, at least for Rich Eisen of the NFL Network:

If the Cowboys, by some miracle, come back to win the division, it'll be the comeback of the century. That just doesn't seem realistic right now.