NFL Power Rankings, Week 14: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 13

18. Atlanta Falcons

You can’t help but wonder how close we are to the Atlanta Falcons pulling the plug on the Kirk Cousins experiment and moving forward with first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.

There is absolutely no way that Penix could have possibly done worse against the Los Angeles Chargers than what we saw from Kirk “Four Picks, One Chain” Cousins. The Falcons were coming off of a bye and playing at home against a team that had to travel all the way from the West to play in the 1:00 ET window, and they couldn’t muster up any better than 13 points thanks to Cousins’s ineptitude.

It was truly an appalling performance from Cousins, especially coming off the bye. He was telegraphing passes, putting the ball in harm’s way consistently, and being loose with it in the pocket. Again, there’s simply no way that Penix could have been worse. 

The playoffs are soon to be on the line for this Falcons team, which once had a pretty solid lead on the rest of the NFC South. The stakes are being raised week after week and with Penix in the back pocket, you can’t help but wonder when the Falcons will go to the rookie.

17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers are another team that is just hard to get a beat on right now.

At their best, I think you can buy what the Bucs are selling. They’ve got tons of skill position talent. They’ve got playmakers defensively. They’ve got a charismatic leader at quarterback in Baker Mayfield, who has thrived since coming to Tampa Bay.

Unfortunately, the injuries have really piled up for this Buccaneers team this year and it’s worth wondering if there are too many holes letting in water and this ship will eventually sink. Although that’s a valid question, the Bucs got a much-needed win on Sunday to keep pace with the Falcons in the NFC South and the Falcons look rough lately. I think this division is a toss-up at worst, so why not the Bucs?

Unlike early in the season, the running backs are really dominating for this Tampa Bay team with Bucky Irving emerging as one of the best all-around threats in the league lately. There’s little doubt that this Bucs team is worse than it was a year ago in some ways, but I still believe they can be interesting in the postseason.