NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Broncos nosedive, Commanders streaking
By Randy Gurzi
. Previous: 17th. Atlanta Falcons. 18. team. 44.
18. Atlanta Falcons
A loss to the Washington Commanders dropped the Atlanta Falcons to 5-7, but it’s not as bad as it seems. Not only are they much better than expected, but they’re still just a half-game out of first place in the NFC South with Tampa Bay losing and falling to 5-6.
Even so, this feels like a missed opportunity. Atlanta was trailing by six and moved the ball to the Washington two-yard line but had one play go backward as Marcus Mariota ran for a two-yard loss. On the very next play, he went for Crodarrelle Patterson in the end zone but it was tipped into the air by Daron Payne and Kyle Fuller picked it off.
There are no moral victories but if they can shake this one off and win at home against Pittsburgh (they are 4-2 in Atlanta), they could go into their bye on a high note.
. . Previous: 15th. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 17. team. 48
17. Tampa Bay Bucs
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not a good team this season. They did reel off two wins in a row to improve to 5-5 on the year but then managed to score just 17 points this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, who have been struggling mightily on defense. The result was a loss in overtime, which happened despite Tom Brady getting two cracks at the win.
There is good news for the Bucs, however, since they’re still in first place despite a 5-6 mark. The Atlanta Falcons are a half-game behind them at 5-7 but even the last-place Panthers have a chance at 4-8. Making it due to a terrible division isn’t an ideal way to enter the playoffs but once in there, anything can happen.