The New England Patriots are the hottest team in the league while the Packers and Titans fall in the Week 12 NFL Power Rankings.
The NFL is never lacking for drama, is it? Week 11 action brought some shocking upsets around the league, especially in the early window of Sunday afternoon games. These upsets are shaking up this week’s NFL Power Rankings.
One of the biggest surprises of the weekend? The Houston Texans getting another victory on the board this season, an impressive road win against the Tennessee Titans.
The New England Patriots are the hottest team in the NFL with five straight victories, improving to 7-4 after a big win against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football. How did the rest of Week 11 action turn out around the league and where do teams fall in this week’s NFL Power Rankings?
Detroit Lions remain at the bottom of Week 12 NFL Power Rankings
The Detroit Lions, shockingly, continue to give teams hell.
Dan Campbell vowed that his team would not roll over and quit, and frankly, it’s been really impressive to see his team deliver on that promise week after week.
Although the Lions are 0-9-1 after their loss to the Cleveland Browns, there is plenty for this team to hang its hat on.
Predictably, Tim Doyle under center didn’t go very well. He completed just 15 passes for 77 yards and two interceptions. That didn’t stop D’Andre Swift from having an outstanding game statistically with 14 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions have played relatively well in a handful of their games this year, certainly a bit better than a winless record through 10 games would indicate. Their defense held Baker Mayfield to just over 50 percent completion rate and two interceptions.
Losing is already tough enough, but losing and not having your future franchise quarterback on the field?
Well, that’s flat-out torturous for New York Jets fans.
The team’s latest loss came at the hands of divisional rival Miami, another team that is pretty hot right now.
Without Zach Wilson, the Jets turned to veteran Joe Flacco, who looked kind of bizarre wearing a number 19 jersey in Jets green.
Even though it might be slightly embarrassing for the Jets to have to be starting Joe Flacco at this point, he was able to get the ball to Elijah Moore who continues to be extremely impressive.
The rookie out of Ole Miss caught eight of 11 targets for 141 yards and a touchdown.
Moore has been on an absolute tear of late and his 62-yard catch and run against the Dolphins is the latest in Moore’s outstanding rookie highlight reel.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been making their case lately for the distinction of NFL’s worst team.
As a matter of fact, despite having multiple victories this season, it was hard not to put the Jags in that bottom spot after a very uninspiring game against the San Francisco 49ers at home.
The Jaguars were dominated by the 49ers in the time of possession battle and they continue to play uninspiring football under head coach Urban Meyer. Meyer could be one of the first head coaches to be fired in this year’s circuit. The Jaguars do not appear to have “the guy” to lead this franchise into the future with Trevor Lawrence.
The Houston Texans, if nothing else, helped make the Tennessee Titans look like the most confusing team in the NFL.
Houston got its second victory of the season, this one on the road against their division rivals out in Tennessee.
Tyrod Taylor had a pair of rushing touchdowns and the Houston defense picked off Ryan Tannehill four times en route to a victory.
Plays on Monday Night Football vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With five straight losses heading into their Monday Night Football matchup against the Buccaneers, the Giants are the coldest team in the NFL.
This franchise has not gotten nearly enough guff for passing on Justin Fields and Mac Jones.
How ironic for GM Dave Gettleman, who had literally never traded a pick before, to miss out on possible franchise QBs in his first draft day deal?
What does the future hold for the Giants? Do they have a shot against the Buccaneers on Monday night?
The Chicago Bears have lost two absolute heartbreakers in a row.
On Sunday Night Football in Week 11, the Bears came back only to get beat by the Pittsburgh Steelers on a late drive and after some questionable calls by the officials.
In Week 12 action, the Bears had a golden opportunity against the Baltimore Ravens after Lamar Jackson was a late scratch in this game due to illness.
Even with no Jackson, the Bears’ offense couldn’t do enough in this game. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields also had to leave this game after throwing just 11 passes, and he didn’t come back.
Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes in relief, but more lapses in end-of-game situations cost the Bears a shot at winning a game Matt Nagy’s crew desperately needed.
Falcons and Seahawks reeling in latest NFL Power Rankings
At least the Atlanta Falcons were the best-looking team on the field in Thursday night’s matchup against the New England Patriots.
As good as the Falcons looked, they played about as bad as we have seen in recent years.
The Falcons had three different quarterbacks throw interceptions against the Patriots. Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen, and even Feleipe Franks completed passes to the wrong team with Kyle Van Noy taking one back for a touchdown.
Just two weeks ago, the Falcons were 4-4 and looking like they might have something going, but that has quickly disappeared as they are now 4-6 and coming off of a brutal loss at home.
The Seattle Seahawks will always have my respect and the respect of many based simply on the fact that Russell Wilson is their quarterback.
Given the way their offense has played since Wilson’s return, is it out of bounds to say that Mr. Unlimited came back a bit too early?
He hasn’t looked sharp.
The Seahawks, now 3-7 after a loss on Sunday to arguably the best team in the NFL (the Arizona Cardinals) face not only questions about their present but also about their future.
What’s going to happen beyond this season if the Seahawks can’t string together some wins and get into the postseason?
Dolphins and Washington sneaking up in latest NFL Power Rankings
The Dolphins have risen five spots in the last two weeks and after a 1-7 start to the season, they have suddenly gone on a little three-game winning streak without many really noticing.
Tua Tagovailoa led the Dolphins to 17 second-half points as the Dolphins improved to 4-7 on the season.
Rookie Jaylen Waddle made plays in this game, scoring on a one-yard run in the first quarter while racking up eight receptions on nine targets for 65 yards.
Even if the Dolphins can’t creep back into the AFC East discussion, they could wind up playing spoiler for a number of other teams as the season progresses.
Don’t look now, but the Washington Football Team has gutted out a couple of wins in the last two weeks, and a team that surprisingly made the playoffs a season ago at 7-9 is in the mix once again.
Taylor Heinicke made some nice plays down the stretch of this game for Washington and had three touchdowns among his 16 completions in this game.
Terry McLaurin torched the revamped Panthers’ secondary for almost 21 yards per reception as Ohio State wide receivers have had the best weekend of anyone in the country, apparently.
Former 3-0 Panthers and Broncos struggling to stay afloat in NFL Power Rankings
Cam Newton took a sack on the final play of the game as the storybook return to the Carolina Panthers was spoiled by the Washington Football Team.
Not that Cam’s return debut wasn’t full of fireworks.
The former MVP played well in his return debut with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.
Ron Rivera and Taylor Heinicke won this battle of returning former Panthers, however, as the opposing head coach and quarterback.
Carolina struggled badly with “Scary” Terry McLaurin in this game, giving up almost 21 yards per catch to the star receiver.
The Denver Broncos were on a bye week in Week 11, so they get shuffled around based on how bad they looked in last week’s loss to the Eagles as well as the results of the teams around them with similar records.
Vic Fangio will need to go at least 4-3 in the final seven games of the 2021 season in order to keep his job, in all likelihood.
Browns and Saints hanging on by a thread in latest NFL Power Rankings
Is there an uglier way to win than how the Cleveland Browns beat the Tim Boyle-led Detroit Lions?
I’m not sure.
Even if there’s not an uglier way to win, it doesn’t matter if it was the ugliest win of all-time — the Browns still won a game and improved to 6-5 on the season.
Eventually, the Browns are going to need Baker Mayfield to play way better than he has or difficult decisions are going to have to be made. It would be shocking if they let him go after this season, right?
Mayfield was not good in this game against the Lions and has not exactly made the strongest case for a long-term deal.
The New Orleans Saints are reeling after the loss of quarterback Jameis Winston.
Sure, they were able to rally for a week, but New Orleans has now lost three straight games and they got absolutely destroyed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, despite a short comeback bid.
Although Trevor Siemian is a very likable guy who does, in fact, look like he could be a Manning brother, the Saints don’t look like they’re going to be in the playoff picture for much longer with him as the primary guy under center.
Raiders and 49ers going opposite directions in latest NFL Power Rankings
The Las Vegas Raiders are in a tailspin.
They have had some really bad off-field distractions in the last month-plus, and on the field, they have completely collapsed.
The Cincinnati Bengals came into Las Vegas and the Raiders played them tight for most of the game, but the Bengals really pulled away late after an interception Derek Carr threw to Eli Apple.
It’s hard to pinpoint one particular area where the Raiders are simply not getting the job done as a whole this season. Against the Bengals, they had almost zero running game.
They are one of the league’s most volatile teams, but against the Bengals, they were definitely the bad version of the Raiders.
This team, shockingly, once led the AFC West.
The 49ers have won two games in a row with impressive offensive output in both games.
George Kittle returning to the lineup has been a spark for San Francisco, which was led in rushing in this game by wide receiver Deebo Samuel, one of the best and most versatile offensive weapons in the entire league.
49ers fans had to be absolutely thrilled to see all of Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle score touchdowns in this game against the Jaguars.
How far can Jimmy Garoppolo carry this team? The 49ers desperately need to get back into the postseason and they remain firmly in the mix with seven games yet to be played.
Buying the Eagles and Bengals in latest NFL Power Rankings
At 5-6, the Philadelphia Eagles look really impressive in recent weeks.
Although NFL Power Rankings lists are arbitrary and 100 people could compile 100 different acceptable ways to rank the 32 teams in the NFL right now, it feels like people are going to take serious issue with a 5-6 team being ranked this high, but that’s too bad.
The Eagles’ run game is legit. Jalen Hurts is blossoming before our very eyes, and teams that excel in the trenches can make noise in January and February.
Could this Eagles team go on a little run and be the 2021 version of the 2019 Titans?
Maybe. They look pretty darn good right now.
Coming off the bye week, the Cincinnati Bengals went on the road and got themselves a nice and much-needed win against the Las Vegas Raiders to improve to 6-4 on the season.
Ja’Marr Chase is having an unbelievable rookie season and caught what would really end up being the game-clinching touchdown in this game against the Raiders.
Cincinnati is a tough team to play against when they have a lead. As much flak as their offensive line has received, they were pretty outstanding in the run blocking department in this game and they’ve got tight ends and receivers that can spring Joe Mixon and the rest of their backs for big gains.
Although their ranking doesn’t change coming off of two losses prior to this game, the Bengals are a fun team and would be a blast to see in the postseason.
Colts and Vikings coming out of nowhere for quality wins in NFL power rankings
Jonathan. Taylor.
No, 90s kids, not Jonathan Taylor Thomas — NFL MVP candidate Jonathan Taylor.
Taylor has at least one touchdown in eight straight games and is fresh off of one of the most dominant individual performances you’ll see all season with five total touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills.
The Colts continue to climb in the NFL Power Rankings after their third straight victory. Frank Reich has this team playing outstanding football in the month of November and with the Titans’ injuries piling up, could the Colts be a darkhorse candidate to come back and take the AFC South?
It’s looking like they might.
The Minnesota Vikings, just a couple of weeks ago, were bordering on irrelevant.
After wins on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers and at home against the previously top-ranked Green Bay Packers?
They are anything but irrelevant.
The Vikings have some of the best offensive weaponry in the NFL and when Kirk Cousins is on, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. There are times when Cousins puts up good stats but doesn’t pass the eye test as anything better than average, and then there are times like we saw on Sunday against the Packers where he steps up in a big way.
The Vikings need that version of Cousins to stick around for the remainder of the 2021 season.
Chargers and Steelers duke it out for position in latest NFL power rankings
The Pittsburgh Steelers rallied, but they made one grave mistake in coverage late on Sunday night against the Chargers to drop to 5-4-1 on the season.
Pittsburgh is obviously still hanging around in the AFC playoff race, but what is this team’s identity?
What version of Ben Roethlisberger is Pittsburgh getting over the final seven games of the season? Is this defense good enough to get to the postseason?
If Cam Heyward has anything to say about it…
Unfortunately, the Steelers couldn’t overcome the star power of the Chargers late in the fourth quarter.
At 6-4, I’m tempted to move the Chargers into the top 10, but we’ll wait one more week and see what happens.
The Chargers have run hot and cold this season, which is not atypical of really any team in the NFL this season.
When they are hot, they are hot.
Austin Ekeler had four touchdowns in a brilliant performance against the Steelers while Justin Herbert nearly became just the third player in NFL history with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards.
Herbert found Mike Williams late in this game for a long touchdown as the Steelers erased the Chargers’ fourth-quarter lead.
Herbert might be the best QB in the NFL right now, folks.
Are the Bills and Bucs contenders or pretenders in latest NFL power rankings?
Are the Buffalo Bills a pretender?
They just got absolutely torched in their own house by Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts, dropping to 6-4 on the season.
Besides a road win earlier this season against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills have been beating up on bad teams, but they’ve also got a really bad loss this month against Jacksonville.
Perhaps Buffalo’s season-opening loss to the Steelers was less of a fluke and more of an omen.
This is one of the most talented rosters in the league, but they are now second place in the AFC East with the white-hot Patriots passing them by.
Plays Monday Night Football against the New York Giants
Regardless of the outcome of the Buccaneers’ Monday night game against the New York Giants, this is a team that has not looked like the team that won the Super Bowl last season.
The Bucs have lost two in a row heading into that matchup, one they are obviously expected to win against a reeling Giants team, and they could use a get-right game.
Tampa Bay’s offense has been hit hard by injuries this year, as has their secondary, which has really struggled this season.
Their last three weeks? Loss, Bye, Loss.
The Bucs need to figure things out quickly. Luckily for them, the rest of the NFC South continues to look bad week after week.
Ravens and Titans are tough to figure out in NFL Power Rankings
Ugly wins are still wins.
The Baltimore Ravens haven’t been the prettiest team in the NFL all season, but they are certainly going to be hanging around until January, aren’t they?
Even with Lamar Jackson missing this road game against the Chicago Bears, backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was able to lead the Ravens to victory and the defense stepped up in a big way down the stretch.
Baltimore is now 7-3 this season and everyone knows that when Lamar Jackson is healthy, this team is as lethal offensively as any in the NFL offensively.
Although they have appeared out of sorts at times in recent weeks, the Ravens are among the NFL’s elite.
Injuries have caught up to the Tennessee Titans.
This team is extremely weird.
They have some of the best signature wins of any team in the NFL this season, and they also have some of the worst and most confusing losses, most recently Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.
This ranking is a bit less reflective of the strong work the Titans have done thus far and more reflective of how I anticipate a steady fall over the course of this season for the Titans.
Losing Derrick Henry is huge, and obviously, Ryan Tannehill needs him as a backbone to have sustained success.
His four picks against the Texans were ugly.
Rams and Cowboys drop in latest NFL Power Rankings
The Dallas Cowboys defense is legit, but since Dak Prescott has come back from injury, they have struggled offensively.
Part of that is the fact that they have struggled to stay healthy as a unit offensively with wide receiver Amari Cooper missing Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and CeeDee Lamb going down with a concussion early on.
Dallas’ offense cost them an opportunity to go into a tough environment and capitalize on a pretty stellar performance from the defense.
What Dallas team is going to show up down the stretch this season? Are they going to have enough to beat Las Vegas on Thanksgiving?
Talk about a tough time to play three games in 12 days.
The Los Angeles Rams have looked like a completely different team the last two weeks than we had seen for most of the season leading up to that point.
Of course, they literally are different with players like Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller joining the fold, but since Miller was acquired in a trade with the Broncos, the Rams are 0-2 and they got themselves a bye week at just the right time.
The bye week for the Rams feels like an NBA coach calling a timeout when the opposing team goes on a big run to close the gap on a big lead if you catch my drift.
Things don’t get any easier for the Rams coming out of the bye with a road trip to Green Bay in Week 12 to face off against a Packers team that is going to be ticked off after a tough, close loss to the Vikings.
Patriots and Chiefs stay hot, keep rising in Week 12 Power Rankings
Remember that blip of time where the Patriots weren’t good?
That was fun for just about everyone after their two decades of pure dominance.
The Patriots are back to being very good again, this time with Mac Jones looking like one of the biggest steals in the 2021 NFL Draft.
With Jones catching fire, the Patriots’ defense playing great football, and the running game complementing things very well, New England looks like one of the top four teams in the NFL right now.
I’m sure plenty of people will disagree, but that’s just the way it is and the sooner we all accept it, the better. No team in the NFL is hotter than New England right now with five straight victories and they get the ailing Titans at home in Week 12.
The Chiefs look back to being the Chiefs.
Sigh…
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense looked out of sorts for their standards early in the season and the Kansas City defense was playing horribly.
The recent trade acquisition of Melvin Ingram hasn’t been earth-shattering in terms of Ingram putting up sack numbers or anything like that, but since he’s come aboard, Chris Jones is playing out of his mind.
Kansas City’s defense shut down Dak Prescott and the ailing Cowboys, and now they head into their bye week on a four-game winning streak with the Denver Broncos coming to town the first weekend in December.
Things are looking up for the Chiefs, whose losing record just weeks ago feels like it happened in a different season completely.
Packers drop to 2, Cardinals reclaim top spot in 2021 NFL Power Rankings
The Packers were only able to hold the top spot in our NFL power rankings for one week.
Green Bay faced a suddenly inspired Minnesota Vikings team on the road and took a loss in the final seconds on a Vikings field goal.
Aaron Rodgers was still slinging the ball all over the place in this game, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns.
The Packers seemingly had a real shot at winning this game late but an interception was overturned and the Vikings took advantage.
Green Bay is still an outstanding overall team with an MVP at the quarterback position. They shouldn’t be counted out by any means after this loss.
The Arizona Cardinals went on the road and beat a Russell Wilson-led Seattle Seahawks team.
Regardless of Seattle’s record or the status of Wilson’s finger, going on the road with your backup quarterback and beating the Seahawks is impressive.
Some people were calling Colt McCoy “GOAT” McCoy.
Kliff Kingsbury’s squad is playing some of the best “team” ball in the NFL right now and over the course of the whole season. With a fully healthy roster, the Cardinals are dynamic and extremely difficult to beat.
They have proven themselves to be difficult to beat even without some of their best players. They take the top spot in the NFL power rankings back after relinquishing it for a couple of weeks.