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

A lot has changed in the NFL over the course of the past few weeks.

The Kansas City Chiefs went from a Super Bowl contender to a team with a realistic shot of missing the playoffs. The Atlanta Falcons went from fighting off the Super Bowl hangover narrative to crawling within a game of the NFC South lead. And the Buffalo Bills went from surefire playoff team to horrible team to somewhere in the middle now.

It's been a wild month of football, and it's only going to get crazier in December as numerous teams at the top of the mountain duke it out.

Here's a look at a fresh set of power rankings, analysis for each conference and a pick for a team in the middle of the pack who will have a firm hold on a top-10 spot in the power rankings by the regular season's conclusion.

NFL Power Rankings

1. Philadelphia Eagles (10-1)

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-2)

3. Minnesota Vikings (9-2)

4. New England Patriots (9-2)

5. Los Angeles Rams (8-3)

6. New Orleans Saints (8-3)

7. Carolina Panthers (8-3)

8. Atlanta Falcons (7-4)

9. Seattle Seahawks (7-4)

10. Tennessee Titans (7-4)

11. Jacksonville Jaguars (7-4)

12. Detroit Lions (6-5)

13. Los Angeles Chargers (5-6)

14. Baltimore Ravens (5-5)

15. Buffalo Bills (6-5)

16. Kansas City Chiefs (6-5)

17. Washington Redskins (5-6)

18. Arizona Cardinals (5-6)

19. Cincinnati Bengals (5-6)

20. Oakland Raiders (5-6)

21. New York Jets (4-7)

22. Green Bay Packers (5-6)

23. Dallas Cowboys (5-6)

24. Houston Texans (4-6)

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7)

26. Chicago Bears (3-8)

27. Indianapolis Colts (3-8)

28. Miami Dolphins (4-7)

29. Denver Broncos (3-8)

30. San Francisco 49ers (1-10)

31. New York Giants (2-9)

32. Cleveland Browns (0-11)

AFC Analysis

This is looking more and more like a two-horse race each week, though we've seen teams come out of nowhere to secure a wild-card spot and sneak into the Super Bowl after getting hot.

However, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are on respective rolls right now and have the most offensive talent in the conference by a wide margin. If they manage to secure the top two seeds (and that almost seems inevitable at this point), then a 2016 AFC Championship rematch perhaps looms on the horizon.

Pittsburgh and New England will play a key Week 15 game on Sunday, December 17, with the winner likely securing the conference's No. 1 playoff seed.

If there's anyone below them that could possibly sneak into a top-two berth, it's the Jacksonville Jaguars despite their disappointing 27-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh earlier this year and will jump over the Steelers in the standings if (a) the Jags win the AFC South and (b) the Steelers and Jags are tied alone in the ledger.

Pittsburgh finishes the regular season with three of five games at home, however, including a matchup with the winless Cleveland Browns. That two-game edge might prove to be too much for Jacksonville to overcome.

NFC Analysis

The scheduling gods treated the NFL well this year, because the NFC's top teams are going to face off numerous times before the end of the year.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a one-game edge on the Minnesota Vikings for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, but they are about to embark on a three-game road trip that includes matchups with the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.

Minnesota doesn't have it easy, either, with road tilts versus the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers in the next two weeks.

The New Orleans Saints host the Panthers in an NFC South clash on Sunday, and they also will see the Falcons twice in a three-week span.

Seattle and Los Angeles still need to face off one more time, and Carolina is paying a visit to Atlanta on New Year's Eve.

Whoever earns the No. 1 seed will deserve it this year, as that team will have gone through a gauntlet to claim the top spot leading into the postseason.

The guess here is that team will be Philadelphia, though don't be surprised if the Vikings or an 8-3 team goes on a run and sneaks into a No. 1 spot if the Eagles fall to Seattle and Los Angeles.

Team on the Rise

The Los Angeles Chargers, who started the season 0-4, now have a realistic shot at winning the AFC West. It's easy to be a prisoner of the moment, but after watching the Bolts dismantle the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day to move to 5-2 in their last seven games, the pick here is that they end up winning their division.

The Kansas City Chiefs lead the division at 6-5, but they are in a tailspin after going 1-5 in their past six games, including a loss to the 2-9 New York Giants.

The Denver Broncos are done at 3-8. The Oakland Raiders are hanging around at 5-6, but the Los Angeles Chargers currently own the head-to-head tiebreaker against them after a 17-16 road win earlier this year (L.A. will host Oakland in Week 17).

The Bolts do not face a team with a record better than 6-5 down the stretch (that team just so happens to be the Chiefs), and they will play host to the 0-11 Browns as well. A Week 15 matchup with the Chiefs could be for the division crown (so could the aforementioned Oakland game).

If the Chargers were to win the division, they would join the 1992 Bolts as the only teams in league history to start 0-4 and make the postseason.