NFL Power Rankings Week 12: Colts, Giants Slip, So Are Eagles or Pats No. 1?
NFL Power Rankings Week 12 see little shakeup at the top.
But a handful of other playoff teams and playoff hopefuls move around as the season's stretch run begins.
This will be a very a short week for six teams thanks to the triple-header on Thanksgiving, so that is sure to make for an interesting set of games.
So who's the best in the AFC? NFC? Each division?
Won-loss records don't always tell the whole story about how well a team is playing now, or how well they've played all season.
Check out these power rankings to find out.
No. 32 to No. 21
1 of 21
No. 32: Carolina Panthers (1-9)
Last Week's Rank: 32
They don't have a quarterback, they don't have running back, they don't have a fourth-quarter defense and they have a lame-duck head coach. Other than that, the Panthers are doing fine.
No. 31: Cincinnati Bengals (2-8)
Last Week's Rank: 29
T.O. is right, this team is "terrible": They blew a 31-14 second half lead at home to drop a seventh straight game.
No. 30: Denver Broncos (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 27
You'd have to say their home win against KC last week was an anomaly: They lost their fifth game in six tries.
No. 29: Detroit Lions (2-8)
Last Week's Rank: 31
They only climb in this week's polls because the Broncos and Bengals are worse. Without Matthew Stafford, this team's rebirth will be stuck in neutral.
No. 28: Arizona Cardinals (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 28
The Cardinals don't look anything like the playoff team they were a season ago: Since their surprising win over New Orleans, the Cardinals have lost five straight.
No. 27: San Francisco (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 26
The 49ers' hopes for a miraculous NFC West title seem a lot less likely after being shut out at home last Sunday against Tampa. Arizona and SF will settle the "who's worst" argument next Monday night: ESPN must love that.
No. 26: Minnesota Vikings (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 24
Although they're not there on this list, the Vikings have officially hit rock bottom.
No. 25: St. Louis Rams (4-6)
Last Week's Rank: 22
Two losses in a row should have killed their NFC West hopes—except the Seahawks just lost their third game in four weeks.
No. 24: Buffalo Bills (2-8)
Last Week's Rank: 30
Two wins in two weeks gives this club great hope for next season.
No. 23: Dallas Cowboys (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 25
They too have won a pair of games. Now things get worse: Saints, then at Indy, then the Eagles.
No. 22: Cleveland Browns (3-7)
Last Week's Rank: 20
Although they had that great run (defeating New Orleans, New England, and pushing the Jets to the brink), they have now lost two in a row.
No. 21: Houston Texans (4-6)
Last Week's Rank: 21
Sure, they lost the past two games via last-second touchdowns, but they are now alone in last place in the South and haven't won a game since October 17.
No. 20: Seattle Seahawks (5-5)
2 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 19th
Sunday: 34-19 loss at New Orleans Saints
Pete Carroll has to be glad that, in some ways, the NFC West is like the Pac-10: They are both automatic qualifiers.
If they win this terrible division, they do get a postseason berth.
But Seattle has lost three of four, and their only two wins since mid-October are against the woeful Cardinals.
So maybe the NFC West is less Pac-10 and more like the Big East. A bunch of mediocre-to-bad teams in which one has to get a coveted postseason spot.
No. 19: Tennessee Titans (5-5)
3 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 16th
Sunday: 19-16 loss vs. Washington
That didn't take long: Randy Moss comes to town, the team is mired in turmoil...and a three-game losing streak.
Moss really doesn't have anything to do with the Jeff Fisher-Vince Young feud, but it is quite a coincidence.
A month ago, the Titans looked like a reasonable contender for the AFC South. Now that looks absurd.
They aren't buried yet, but with Vince Young out for the year and Kerry Collins still hurt, what can they expect from Rusty Smith, a sixth-round rookie from Florida Atlantic?
Maybe he has some Tom Brady in him.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
No. 18: Washington Redskins (5-5)
4 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 23rd
Sunday: 19-16 win (OT) at Tennessee
Donovan McNabb, Mike Shanahan and the Redskins really deserve some credit for their win on Sunday.
Sure, it came against a team with even bigger quarterback-head coach problems than they had a few weeks ago. However, the Redskins were trounced at home just six days earlier and seemed to have no answers for an offense with a fast quarterback, a good running back and two excellent receivers.
The Titans offense is nowhere near as good as Philly's, but Washington did a great job against them.
And despite all the hating on McNabb, he was very good last week, completing 30 passes for 376 yards.
No. 17: Miami Dolphins (5-5)
5 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 15th
Sunday: 16-0 loss vs. Chicago Bears
Even with your third-string quarterback at the helm, a home shutout is never acceptable.
There are many questions about this Dolphins team.
The running game has not been good lately, Jake Long is hurt and Chad Henne is still out.
Maybe Bill Parcells left the front office a bit too early.
No. 16: Oakland Raiders (5-5)
6 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 11th
Sunday: 35-3 loss at Pittsburgh
The Raiders really laid an egg on Sunday.
They had a chance to prove they belonged in the discussion of top AFC teams, and they were embarrassed against Pittsburgh.
They didn't have to win the game to keep up appearances that they are a playoff team, but they had to do better than allowing five unanswered touchdowns.
The stats might have been even worse than the final score: Three-for-14 on third down, three turnovers and 182 total yards.
Richard Seymour may have just wanted to get off the field.
No. 15: San Diego Chargers (5-5)
7 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 18th
Sunday: 35-14 win vs. Denver
The Chargers looked great on Monday night and they cleared a huge hurdle, returning to .500 for the season.
Now the hard part begins: Indianapolis, Oakland and Kansas City are the next three teams up.
But if they play as well in those matchups as they did last night, they should win the AFC West.
Rivers has been outstanding virtually all season, and now the other receivers are stepping up in Antonio Gates' absence.
The defense has been outstanding, so once Gates gets healthy, the Chargers could run the table.
No. 14: Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
8 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 17th
Sunday: 31-13 win vs. Arizona
An 18-point win over the Cardinals is not enough to say that the Chiefs are back as the favorite to win the AFC West: Oakland and San Diego are now just one game back.
But snapping their two-game losing streak was critical.
The running game was tremendous once again, so it was especially encouraging to see Dwayne Bowe have a fantastic game: Six catches, 102 yards, two touchdowns.
Romeo Crennel's defense didn't quite atone for their poor performance last week against Denver: The Cardinals still rushed for 100 yards and passed for nearly 300. But they came up with a handful of big stops on third down.
No. 13: Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4)
9 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 14th
Sunday: 24-20 win vs. Cleveland
It may be hard for Colts fans to swallow, but technically, the Jaguars are in first place and ahead of Indy: If the season were to end today, they would have the tie-breaker.
That definitely could change, especially since the rematch is at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Still, the Jaguars have won three straight. No matter how they've done it (Hail Mary, last second drives), they've won three straight, while the Colts have dropped two during that stretch.
Sure, the Colts have lost games to two of the league's best teams (Philadelphia and New England). But the Jaguars are playing pretty good football lately. The front seven kept Peyton Hillis, the running back, under wraps, but not Peyton Hillis, the receiver: 21 carries, 48 yards.
And when they absolutely needed their offense to step up, they did, scoring back-to-back fourth quarter touchdowns.
David Garrard, however, cannot turn the ball over four times and expect to win again.
No. 12: Chicago Bears (7-3)
10 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 13th
Sunday: 16-0 win at Miami
The Bears were great on Thursday night, and for going on the road with a very short week, they deserve some praise.
In any circumstance (even when the opposing team is down to a third-string quarterback), a shutout is a big deal. And for the first time in weeks, the running game looked impressive against a pretty stout Dolphins front seven.
But Jay Cutler cannot keep turning the ball over if this team expects to win the NFC North; he now has eight turnovers in the last four games.
The Giants gave Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli a great blueprint for slowing down Michael Vick, so if the Bears do that next week, they should climb inside the top 10.
No. 11: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3)
11 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 12th
Sunday: 21-0 win at San Francisco
Again, Josh Freeman was very efficient and careful with the football. And the running game was great, producing over 150 yards.
But this week, it was the Bucs defense that carried them to a victory.
They sacked Troy Smith six times, forced two turnovers and recorded a shutout.
With Baltimore up next, they had better play that type of near-flawless game. And with two games remaining against Atlanta and New Orleans, if they keep up that fine play, they still have a shot at a stunning division title.
No. 10: Indianapolis Colts (6-4)
12 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 6th
Sunday: 31-28 loss at New England
The Jaguars may have a slight upper hand in the division, but the Colts are still the better team.
Indianapolis has plenty of issues they need to work out, be it injury, play in the secondary, pressuring the quarterback or a non-existent running game.
But they do have Peyton Manning. And only New England can make the future Hall of Famer make the three bad throws he did Sunday. Fortunately, they don't have to play the Pats again this calendar year.
Losses at Philadelphia and at New England are nothing to be ashamed of, especially since they were extremely close, last-second losses.
No. 9: New York Giants (6-4)
13 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 9th
Sunday: 27-17 loss at Philadelphia
The Giants managed to keep Michael Vick on planet Earth Sunday night, so that earns them a stalemate on this week's rankings.
But after such a fantastic stretch, the Giants have now lost consecutive divisional games, and that has to be a worry to Tom Coughlin—though he has to be more worried about his team's love for turnovers.
They gave the ball to Philadelphia five times on Sunday, twice more than they did a week earlier against Dallas.
Eli Manning is the biggest culprit of them all: He already has 21 turnovers and is just a handful shy of his career worst—29.
Of course that season, 2007, he led the Giants to a Super Bowl win.
No. 8: New Orleans Saints (7-3)
14 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 10th
Sunday: 34-19 win vs. Seattle
The Saints were pretty impressive on Sunday.
Seattle may be an average team, but they are still alone in first place in their division and the Saints pounded them.
New Orleans did an outstanding job protecting Drew Brees from a front seven that has recorded plenty of sacks this season and Chris Ivory nearly earned another 100-yard rushing effort.
The Saints pass defense could have turned in a better effort against a mediocre Seahawk offense, however.
Aside from allowing 366 yards in the air, Seattle converted seven of their 12 third-down attempts. And New Orleans didn't record a sack either.
That, accompanied by two more Drew Brees interceptions (he now has thrown at least one pick in six straight games, 14 this season), is a concern.
No. 7: New York Jets (8-2)
15 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 5th
Sunday: 30-27 win vs. Houston
What are we to make of the Jets?
They probably should have lost the games to Cleveland and Detroit, only to win in the final seconds.
And they dominated Houston for three quarters, only to collapse in the fourth and return with a miracle drive at the end.
It's hard to say whether this is an average team that has a penchant for occasionally playing excellent, or an excellent team that has a penchant for occasionally playing average.
But because they continue to win (one loss since the season opener), they have to be considered the latter.
No. 6: Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)
16 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 8th
Sunday: 35-3 win vs. Oakland
Pittsburgh bounced back nicely from their embarrassing home defeat a week ago against the Pats.
The matchup of Oakland's exceptional rushing offense against Pittsburgh's exceptional rush defense was not surprisingly won by the Steelers.
What was a bit surprising was how well they defended the pass. Pittsburgh may have Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and a great pass rush, but in the second half of games (both this year and in 2009), their pass defense has been pretty miserable, whether they have a big lead or not.
Against Oakland, they really clamped down, forcing two second-half interceptions, totaling six sacks and allowing less than four yards per pass attempt.
The only concern for head coach Mike Tomlin: 14 penalties.
Well, that and his quarterback saying stupid things to opposing defensive lineman.
No. 5: Baltimore Ravens (7-3)
17 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 7th
Sunday: 37-13 win at Carolina
At this point, there isn't much separating the Ravens and the Steelers.
Last week, both teams lost to great opponents, and this week, both cruised to huge wins.
But the Ravens had more trouble with the lowly Panthers than the score indicated. Early in the fourth quarter, Brian St. Pierre cut the Ravens lead to 20-13. Only a pair of interceptions-turned-touchdowns from the former stay-at-home dad made the game a blowout.
Although the Steelers clobbered the AFC West co-leading Raiders, because the Ravens have a road win in Pittsburgh, they get a slight edge this week.
No. 4: Atlanta Falcons (8-2)
18 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 3rd
Sunday: 34-17 win at St. Louis
Falling a spot means essentially nothing. The only reason they did drop to fourth was because the Packers' win was much more impressive. Atlanta can take it right back with a win next week against Green Bay.
Sunday's game at the Rams was a bit closer than the score indicated. Midway through the fourth quarter, with the score 23-17, the Rams had a chance to take the lead, but Sam Bradford was intercepted near the goal line.
Still, they came up with the big play on defense that they needed and salted the game away for another victory.
No. 3: Green Bay Packers (7-3)
19 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 4th
Sunday: 31-3 win at Minnesota
Certainly a crushing win over the Vikings at the Metrodome isn't what it was a year ago: Minnesota just canned their coach, Brett Favre has been terrible this season and the team is a mess.
But the Packers' win was still a huge achievement.
They swept the series from last season's division winner. They kept the Vikings scoreless for the final 51 minutes of the game. And Aaron Rogers was nearly flawless throwing the ball against a pretty good defense.
Most importantly, they didn't let Adrian Peterson run wild.
And with a trip to Atlanta on the schedule Sunday, the Packers could claim the title "best in the NFC" with a win.
No. 2: Philadelphia Eagles (7-3)
20 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 2nd
Sunday: 27-17 win vs. New York Giants
Last week, Michael Vick and the offense were the stars. This week, the defense stood up and grabbed the spotlight.
Philly's defense forced five turnovers from the Giants, and allowed almost nothing on the ground.
They didn't sack Eli Manning, but they hurried him enough to force several off-line throws, including three very costly interceptions.
Vick was once again extremely accurate with his passes and LeSean McCoy came up huge in the clutch.
With wins over Atlanta, Indianapolis and the Giants during the last month, it's hard to say there's a better team in the NFC than Philadelphia.
No. 1: New England Patriots (8-2)
21 of 21
Last Week's Rank: 1st
Sunday: 31-28 win vs. Indianapolis
Although the consecutive fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Peyton Manning to Blair White revealed a familiar vulnerability in the Pats secondary, New England is still the best team in football.
Consecutive wins over Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, the conference's last two champions and perennial Super Bowl favorites, prove that the loss at Cleveland was a total fluke.
Although the Vikings didn't prove the axiom, since getting rid of Randy Moss, New England's offense is vastly improved.
Brady has been flawless the past two weeks, and the duo of BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead is tremendously productive for two guys who no one outside of New England had heard of a few months ago.
If the young defense and their many rookies/second-year players continue to get better each week, the Pats have the inside track on the AFC's top seed—if they can edge out the Jets in two weeks.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")