NFL Power Rankings Week 14

By James Watkins

1. New England Patriots (1): I’d punish them more if this loss really meant anything, but it doesn’t. Every team has bad performances on the road now and again, and if the Pats win out they’ll lock up home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. If there’s one team I trust to win out, it’s New England.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (5): Beat the Patriots, then we’ll talk about the number 1 spot.
3. Minnesota Vikings (2): I wouldn’t worry too much about this loss, as Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the NFC right now. Not to mention, this was Minnesota’s third straight road game, a scheduling rarity that any team in the league would be hard-pressed to overcome.
4. Carolina Panthers (8): After going 4-3 in their first 7 games and looking rather underwhelming in the process, the Panthers have completely turned their season around. In their last 7 games, they’ve gone 6-1. The only problem is that lone loss came against the Saints, who now hold the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker in the division race.
5. Los Angeles Rams (4): The Rams have now had to face three division leaders in the past four weeks, which is a tough ask of any squad, let alone one as inexperienced as this. What’s more concerning than the loss to the Eagles is the fact that Jared Goff has seriously cooled off of late. Over this four game stretch, he’s posted a Total QBR over 60.0 only once.
6. Philadelphia Eagles (3): Nick Foles once threw 7 touchdowns in one game during the 2013 season. Two of those went to players who are still on the Eagles roster (Zach Ertz and Brent Celek). All is not lost.
7. New Orleans Saints (6): All they really need to win the division is to win out. They have games against the Jets and Buccaneers which should be easy victories for a team this talented. But the game that truly matters is their rematch with Atlanta in two weeks. Sean Payton can complain about the refs all he wants. It can’t mask the fact that the Saints were outplayed by the Falcons when it counted.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (9): Some might see this as a passing of the torch from one historic NFL defense in Seattle to their heir-apparent down in Florida. I see it as yet another game in Blake Bortles didn’t turn the ball over, which is vastly more important and the main reason Jacksonville is where they are now.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (10): It’s simple. Win out, and you’re in the playoffs. For a team that started 0-4, then 3-6, that’s a victory in itself. Even if the Chargers don’t make it this year, it’s clear first-year coach Anthony Lynn has won the support of the locker room. This can only bode well for the future.
10. Seattle Seahawks (7): The injuries in the secondary are finally catching up with this team. When Blake Bortles is picking you apart, you know it’s time to start worrying. Seattle has to show up in next week’s game against the Rams. Winning the NFC West might be their only chance to make the playoffs now.
11. Atlanta Falcons (13): In their most important game of the year so far, this hot-and-cold franchise stepped up big-time to keep themselves in the playoff picture. The defense held New Orleans to their first under-100 yard rushing performance since Week 4. Atlanta will need that level of toughness for the final three weeks, as they face divisional opponents from here on out (including the Saints one more time).
12. Dallas Cowboys (15): After he threw 5 interceptions and no touchdowns in 3 straight losses, Dak Prescott has now led the team to two division victories in a row and kept their playoff hopes intact. His combined stat-line for those games? 5 touchdowns, no picks.
13. Tennessee Titans (11): The NFL season has officially entered crunch-time, and the Titans have to keep winning in order to stay alive in the AFC South and prove they belong in the list of AFC contenders. Luckily, the football gods have gifted them a matchup with a battered Cardinals team that can’t score to save its life. Should be easy right…? Apparently not. Tennessee is a pretender.
14. Baltimore Ravens (12): Forget about the lost division title. All the Ravens have to worry about now is the gaggle of other mediocre teams vying for the wild-card spots in the AFC. Winning out should get them across the finish line, and they finish with games against the Browns, Colts and Bengals.
15. Detroit Lions (16): If it was possible to win every game with a fourth quarter comeback, I’d hand the trophy to Detroit right now. But it isn’t, and they still don’t have a running game. I’m sorry Lions fans.
16. Kansas City Chiefs (23): This was Kareem Hunt’s first 100 yard performance since Week 5. With a huge division game coming up against the Chargers on Saturday night, it’s crucial for Hunt to continue to look like his early season self.
17. Buffalo Bills (19): Raise your hand if you knew Joe Webb was still in the league. Yeah, that’s what I thought. Regardless, any win in the conditions we saw last Sunday is a win to be admired. Kelvin Benjamin finally made a serious impact for the Bills, scoring his first touchdown since joining the club.
18. Green Bay Packers (20): I mean, it’s really worrying that you needed overtime to beat the Browns, but Aaron Rodgers is back next week. He’s a magician, and he could drag any roster into the playoffs.
19. Oakland Raiders (14): Even in an increasingly winnable division, this team continues to disappoint. Having clawed their way back into relevance over the past few weeks, the Raiders could stake their claim as an AFC West contender with a win over Kansas City. Now they’ll have to win out for even a prayer in the wild card race.
20. Miami Dolphins (25): If Jay Cutler and the rest of the offense had played the entire season like they did on Monday night, this team might have actually challenged in the AFC East. What could have been…
21. Arizona Cardinals (22): Blaine Gabbert is the quarterback of a team that is mathematically alive in the playoff race with three games to go. It’s ok if you have to adjust your reading glasses for that sentence.
22. Fight For Old D.C. (17): At this point, the only thing you can ask yourself is this: “will Kirk Cousins really want to spend another season with his Fun Bunch in the NFL’s equivalent of Limbo?” I really don’t think the answer will surprise you.
23. Chicago Bears (26): Mitch Trubisky’s quarterback rating has broken 110.0 in both of the past two weeks. While the Bears couldn’t get the win against San Francisco, they absolutely obliterated the Bengals thanks in large part to the play of their young quarterback.
24. Cincinnati Bengals (18): I’d like to say I’m surprised that Andy Dalton was outplayed by Mitch Trubisky this past week. I’d really like to say that. But I can’t.
25. New York Jets (21): Whatever miniscule hopes they had for the playoffs are now finished, and they’ll have to move forward with Bryce Petty as quarterback. To top it all off, they have a good chance of losing out, with their final three games coming against teams who are a combined 26-13.
26. San Francisco 49ers (28): That’s two straight victories for San Fran. They’re quickly playing themselves out of the Sam Darnold/Josh Rosen/Josh Allen race, but I don’t think they much care, as they haven’t lost a game since Jimmy Garoppolo took over the starting job.
27. Houston Texans (24): Tom Savage has enough people against him this season. He doesn’t need the Texans medical personnel helping to break him down.
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (27): It’s all about Jameis when it comes to talking about this franchise, and the blame for this season’s failures has to fall primarily at the feet of their young quarterback. He’s average statistically speaking (62.6 completion percentage, 44.9 total QBR), and very rarely does he put his team in positions to win games.
29. Denver Broncos (31): Talk about turning back the clock to 2015. 4 sacks, a pick, 100 yards allowed, and not a single point given up. Denver’s defense isn’t what it used to be, but it’s not going quietly into the night.
30. Indianapolis Colts (29): Indy, you have two things to be happy about for next season. First, Jack Doyle is turning into a legitimate offensive weapon in any situation. Second, Ryan Grigson won’t be allowed anywhere near the Colts’ facilities.
31. New York Giants (30): At least take a look at Davis Webb.
32. 32. Cleveland Browns (32): C’MON! YOU WERE SO CLOSE! ARE YOU SERIOUS?