NFL Power Rankings Week Twelve-The One That Got Away

The NFL season has reached its wind down phase where every team is fighting for positioning. Some will be right in the middle of a race for their division lead. Others are trying to sneak into the playoffs with hope of making a run there. A different set of teams will be looking to not finish at the bottom of the league. In any event these final weeks games should not be taken lightly and these teams better dare not let games slip out of their hands.

 

1. New Orleans Saints 9-1 (Last week #1)
The Saints versus anybody right now could score 40 points. The 2000′ Ravens, the 85′ Bears, the 2002′ Buccaneers, etc. To any defense a team is rolling out this year… good luck.

 

2. Los Angeles Rams 10-1 (Last week #2)
Aaron Donald has 14.5 sacks and could seriously challenge the single season record. Is there any defender that opposing quarterbacks fear more in the league?

 

3. Kansas City Chiefs 9-2 (Last week #3)
The Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to score 51 points and lose the game. Patrick Mahomes is on his way to a 5,000 passing yards season.

 

4. Pittsburgh Steelers 7-2-1 (Last week #6)
The Steelers average 29.9 points per game on the season and are riding a six game winning streak. To say they don’t miss LeVeon Bell sounds crazy but it’s true.

 

5. New England Patriots 7-3 (Last week #5)
The Patriots come off their bye week with four games remaining against the lowly AFC East. The other two games are versus Minnesota and at Pittsburgh.

 

6. Houston Texans 7-3 (Last week #8)
The Texans are a team nobody is talking about but they should be. They’ve won seven straight and will finish off the season with six games where they will be the favorite.

 

7. Chicago Bears 7-3 (Last week #9)
The Bears have won four straight games, allowing only 15.2 points per game. They’ve forced 10 turnovers in that span.

 

8. Los Angeles Chargers 7-3(Last week #4)
The Chargers missed a real opportunity to close the gab between them and Kansas City. They still have a top ten offense and a defense that doesn’t yield a ton of points.

 

9. Carolina Panthers 6-4 (Last week #7)
The Panthers gift wrapped a loss for their fans for the holiday. The decision to go for that two point conversion was just as silly as the play they called.

 

10. Minnesota Vikings 5-4-1 (Last week #10)
Minnesota is 2-3 when they have multiple turnovers in a game. They’re winless when they record three or more turnovers.

 

11. Washington Redskins 6-4 (Last week #11)
A gruesome injury to starting quarterback Alex Smith has left the Redskins in limbo. Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez will be called upon to lead this team to the playoffs.

 

12. Seattle Seahawks 5-5 (Last week #17)
The Seahawks won a statement game last week and are inching closer to a playoff spot. Imagine having to host them in the wild card round of the playoffs.

 

13. Dallas Cowboys 5-5 (Last week #20)
Dallas can really make a push for a division title if they can continue their win streak. They’re only allowing 19 points per game, ranking them third in NFL.

 

14. Miami Dolphins 5-5 (Last week #15)
Ryan Tannehill will be back in his starting role this weekend. In other news, Dolphin fans are wondering when they will start scoring touchdowns instead of kicking field goals.

 

15. Cincinnati Bengals 5-5 (Last week #12)
The Bengals have lost two straight games ,averaging 17.5 points per game. They’re now on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.

 

16. Tennessee Titans 5-5 (Last week #14)
The Titans look impressive one week and the next week they look just as unimpressive. They average 23.4 points per game in their wins and 12.2 points per game in their losses.

 

17. Indianapolis Colts 5-5 (Last week #21)
Andrew Luck and the Colts are on a four game winning streak, averaging 36.5 points per. Don’t look now, but they have a real chance to make the playoffs.

 

18. Baltimore Ravens 5-5 (Last week #18)
Lamar Jackson looked like he was wearing his Louisville jersey on Sunday. Coach John Harbaugh needs to keep a creative mind when it comes to his rookie quarterback. If he does, good things will happen.

 

19. Philadelphia Eagles 4-6 (Last week #13)
The Eagles are significantly worse on offense without Frank Reich and Jay Ajayi. They rank 24th in points per game and 19th in yards gained.

 

20. Atlanta Falcons 4-6 (Last week #16)
The Falcons blew an opportunity to put themselves smack dab in the middle of the playoff hunt. A two game losing streak has all but mathematically eliminated them from a playoff spot.

 

21. Green Bay Packers 4-5-1 (Last week #19)
Is the combination of Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers starting to fail? Let us not forget a couple of weeks ago it was all Ty Montgomery’s fault.

 

22. Cleveland Browns 3-6-1 (Last week #22)
Could the Browns go from a winless season to a non-losing one?

 

23. Denver Broncos 4-6 (Last week #26)
The Broncos are ranked seventh in the league with 31 sacks on the season. Phillip Lindsay is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and 7.8 yards per reception.

 

24. Detroit Lions 4-6 (Last week #27)
Outside of Miami and whatever quarterback they were rolling out that weekend, the Lions have defeated all elite quarterbacks for their wins. They defeated Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton, all at home.

 

25. Jacksonville Jaguars 3-7 (Last week #23)
The Jaguars have lost six straight games and it’s just getting worse. Imagine how we thought of them five or six weeks ago.

 

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-7 (Last week #24)
Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick…as the Wresting legend The Rock would say…”IT DOESN’T MATTER who the starting quarterback is!” Just expect interceptions during that game.

 

27. Buffalo Bills 3-7 (Last week #25)
The Bills are great against the pass, allowing a league low 202.4 yards through the air. They are the worst in the league at passing, averaging 159.8 passing yards per game.

 

28. New York Giants 3-7 (last week #30)
The Giants play two teams with crappy pass rush, Eli Manning gets time to throw, the Giants win two straight games. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

29. New York Jets 3-7 (Last week #28)
The Jets got to a merciful bye week at a time when all else was failing. Their next opponent will be a Patriots team coming off of a loss, which is kind of unfair.

 

30. San Francisco 49ers 2-8 (last week #31)
The 49ers pass rush looks like it’s not in too much of a hurry during games. They made the Giants offensive line look like the cream of the crop.

 

31. Oakland Raiders 2-8 (Last week #32)
The Raiders collected their second win of the season in large part because they didn’t turn the ball over and they forced two turnovers on defense.

 

32. Arizona Cardinals 2-8 (Last week #29)
The Cardinals have way too many turnovers on the season. 21 to be exact. They rank 31st on points per game and 32nd in total yards per game.