2021 NFL Power Rankings Week 18: Bengals, Titans take their divisions
By Randy Gurzi
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10. New England Patriots
It was labeled a battle between rookie quarterbacks as Mac Jones led his New England Patriots against Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, that wasn’t a fair billing as Jones plays for a much-better franchise — which is why this one was over as soon as it started.
That’s not to take anything from Jones who was surgical with 227 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-30 passing. He did get a lot of help from the run game as well as they went for 181 yards and four touchdowns, leading to a 50-10 blowout.
They’re now 10-6 and in second place in the AFC East by virtue of a tiebreaker with Buffalo but they still have a shot — and will still be in the postseason — thanks in large part to the stability Jones brought to the quarterback position.
team. 123. . . Previous: 5th. Dallas Cowboys. 9
9. Dallas Cowboys
It likely wouldn’t have mattered since the Green Bay Packers won, but the Dallas Cowboys were still in the race for the No. 1 seed when they took the field against the Arizona Cardinals — but they didn’t play like it until late in the third quarter.
Dallas fought back and pulled to within three and then had the refs miss a delay of game and fumble on the same play. While they can be mad about that, they’re the ones who had one miscue after another on offense and again fell to a playoff-caliber team.
There’s a lot to prove for this team since they can beat up on bad teams, but then find themselves full of excuses after failing to beat the good ones.