NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Initial Standings Post Thursday Night Football

The Week 14 edition of Thursday Night Football didn't have much to offer from a power-ranking perspective. 

Before the season started, it was reasonable enough to think a contest between the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars would have huge ramifications for both teams. Injuries to the former and a full-blown collapse for the latter spoiled the plans. 

Still, the game featured a fun outburst from Tennessee's Derrick Henry, who ripped off 238 yards on 17 carries in the 30-9 win, eliminating the Jaguars from playoff contention in the process. 

Heading into a weekend slate with much more to offer, here is where things stand. 

2018 NFL Power Rankings 

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

Dallas Cowboys 

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Flash in the pan or something more? 

The Dallas Cowboys have rattled off four consecutive wins and taken command of the NFC East in the process. One could point to the arrival of Amari Cooper as a spark. A detractor, though, could say Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington weren't great competition—and they caught the New Orleans Saints away from home on a short week for a Thursday game. 

As always, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It's hard to fault the Cowboys for taking care of business, but they did beat an iffy Philadelphia team, a bad Atlanta defense and a Washington team away from home on a holiday and missing its starting quarterback. 

Still, Cooper has five or more catches in four of his five outings as a member of the team, which has also allowed the coaching staff to do some interesting things with the offense: 

Since Week 9, Ezekiel Elliott has a minimum of 60 yards per game, north of 120 three times and three rushing scores. 

Thursday game comments aside, the Cowboys ended up holding a Drew Brees-led attack to 10 points, too. On the year, the Cowboys are only allowing 18.6 points per game, good for the second-best mark in the league. 

It all adds up to an interesting playoff run for the Cowboys, provided this isn't a fluke. If it's not, few teams could argue they sport better momentum down the stretch. 

Chicago Bears

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

It's a good thing the rest of the NFC North is a mess. 

The biggest threat in the division is a 6-5-1 Minnesota Vikings team they already beat once and don't see again until the final game of the year. 

The Bears squeezed every last drop out of the breathing room with Chase Daniel starting at quarterback in place of Mitchell Trubisky. This caught up to them in Week 13, where Daniel threw one touchdown and two interceptions during a 30-27 loss to the four-win New York Giants. 

News on the Trubisky front continues to improve: 

The problem for the Bears now is rediscovering that consistency they had before the Trubisky injury. It's a trial by fire right away, as the return will see the Bears have to welcome the Los Angeles Rams to town for a national showdown. 

Trubisky has thrown 20 touchdowns against nine interceptions this year, but the numbers got a nice boost from two games against teams with five wins or less in which he combined for nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Take out those two and he's thrown multiple touchdowns in a game four times. 

Against stiffer competition like the Rams, a 37-sack defense allowing 20.1 points per game will need more in the way of help from the offense than usual. It should be interesting to see if Trubisky can return in stride and provide the necessary balance, as the team's status as a Super Bowl contender may await if he can. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Don Wright/Associated Press

The Jaguars got some attention in the intro for a recent collapse, but the Pittsburgh Steelers might have one of their own in progress. 

Funnily enough, the Steelers have now dropped two in a row after beating the Jaguars by just four points. First up was a 24-17 loss to Denver, a 6-6 team. More understandable was the second, a 33-30 loss to the superb Los Angeles Chargers—though coughing up 18 points in the fourth quarter at home makes the pill a tad tougher to swallow. 

Pittsburgh's defense regressing was always a possibility given the unit's bad start to the season. Good opponents plus season-long wear and tear have factored in here as well. 

This has taken a toll on the offense as well, with Ben Roethlisberger throwing five touchdowns against six interceptions over the last three games. His unit is now going to go without one of its main pieces: 

The schedule also plays into the idea things could get even worse for the Steelers. 

Maybe not in Week 14 thanks to a game against Oakland, but dates with New England and at New Orleans still await, as does a season-ending bout with Cincinnati—the Bengals are bad, but the rivalry always takes its toll. 

Then again, if the Steelers can come out of the four-game stretch looking good and fend off a Baltimore team right behind them at 7-5 in the AFC North, it's hard to ignore them as legit title contenders.