This week more so than others, it's important to remember that power rankings are not about strictly who has the best record. At least for me, it's a ranking of the teams that have the greatest chance to win the Super Bowl this year, at this time.
With the craziness in the AFC North, AFC West and NFC South, it can get tough to look past a team's position in the standings, and instead think about which teams, in a vacuum, are better. Without furhter adieu, let's get to the rankings.
32. Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 29)
Sorry Raiders, I tried to defend you for so long, saying you were more competitive than the other bad teams. But at some point, you’re going to have to produce a win, and I simply can’t put an 0-10 team anywhere but the last spot in these rankings.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 32)
Jacksonville has been outscored by 124 total points this season, 11 more than the Raiders. There’s just not anything redeeming about this team right now. Oh, and their cornerback Dwayne Gratz was arrested during the bye week for trying to pay for something in gum. There’s a metaphor out there to draw between not having cash on-hand to pay for something and how poor the Jaguars have been, but I’m coming up blank.
30. Tennessee Titans (LW: 31)
Did you have time to recover from the money pun? Good.
After the Monday night game against the Steelers, I’m actually kind of sold on Zach Mettenberger. I think Mettenberger can be a Drew Bledsoe-like gunslinger out of the pocket if he has protection. Unfortunately, for now, the defense is so poor it won’t matter for the rest of his year.
29. Washington Redskins (LW: 26)
It’s always something in Washington. Always. The Redskins can’t go a single year without a major soap opera going on in the locker room. This week, it’s the Jay Gruden/Robert Griffin III exchange in the media. On the field, Griffin is constantly being pushed out of the pocket, which makes it tough for him to do anything. On defense, the secondary is one of the worst units in the league.
28. New York Jets (LW: 28)
Bye week for the Jets, so not much to discuss here. They have two games coming up against the Bills and Dolphins, both tough defenses. New York doesn’t have enough weapons on offense to keep up with either of them.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 30)
Mike Evans is good. Really good. Unfortunately, the secondary in Tampa Bay is awful, yet now and they simply can’t run the ball.
26. Carolina Panthers (LW: 21)
Carolina has the sixth worst scoring differential in the league, and the defense simply hasn’t been able to stop anyone. Cam Newton is clearly not the same quarterback his was last season, whether that be from a lack of protection or if he’s dealing with an injury and even in the weak NFC South, I’m counting them out of the race behind the Falcons and Saints.
25. New York Giants (LW: 20)
For the first couple weeks of the season, it’s totally fine for coaches and players to give the standard “Just give it time, we’re implementing a new system” answer under a new offensive coordinator. However, the clock is starting to tick on the Giants. They may, in fact, actually just be bad, and the new system may not be right. The offensive line can’t block to give Rashad Jennings any running room, and Eli Manning is just making poor decisions with the football.
24. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 23)
The Vikings actually kept their game against the Bears to one score, but Jerick McKinnon hardly touched the ball, and Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t able to do anything in the passing game, despite facing one of the worst defenses in the league.
23. Chicago Bears (LW: 27)
Finally, the Bears actually put together a solid offensive performance that they are capable of with the weapons on that side of the ball. But at 4-6, they have no chance of making a playoff push and there’s certainly no guarantee with two games against the Lions in their final six contests.
22. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 25)
I feel comfortable putting Atlanta here, despite the fact that if the season ended today, they’d be in the playoffs. As I’ve already mentioned, this isn’t a listing of the NFL standings, which is why the Falcons are still so low. They haven’t won a single game outside of their division this season, Julio Jones has been a bit of a disappointment, and the running game is made up of a bunch of average backs, which has stifled their performance all year.
21. New Orleans Saints (LW: 14)
I likely had New Orleans far too high last week. I was optimistic that they wouldn’t lose two home games in a row, but alas, they face another losable game on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Brandin Cooks’ season is over on the injured reserve, and I don’t have faith that Marques Colston can all of a sudden turn his season around. This is a Mark Ingram and Jimmy Graham offense, which will really limit what Brees’ options are.
20. Buffalo Bills (LW: 19)
The Bills defense is good. The Bills offense is bad. Without a healthy Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, the gameplan has become very one-sided with the general ineffectiveness of Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon. Orton has just one touchdown in his past two games and is barely averaging over five yards per completion during that span. Don’t be surprised to see E.J. Manuel if Orton struggles again in what is a must-win game if the Bills want to try to compete for a Wild Card spot.
19. St. Louis Rams (LW: 22)
After struggling to bring pressure during the first half of the season, St. Louis’ defense is starting to turn around. Robert Quinn is finding success once again rushing the quarterback, and it’s clear the Rams are starting to trust the secondary more, which paid off against the Broncos. Peyton Manning and Denver were held to just seven points. Still, the Rams have not been consistent enough this season for me to be convinced that they’ll compete week-in and week-out.
18. Houston Texans (LW: 24)
Behind Bruce Arians and Mike Pettine, Bill O’Brien should be receiving some discussion for Coach of the Year. He’s found creative ways to use J.J. Watt on offense and defense, and Ryan Mallett looked pretty good against Cleveland. If Arian Foster can come back healthy (or Alfred Blue can look as good as he did against the Browns) Houston could still make some noise for a possible Wild Card spot.
17. San Diego Chargers (LW: 15)
Yes, the Chargers beat the Jaguars to move to 6-4, but among this group of 6-4 teams, I feel the worst about San Diego. The return of Ryan Mathews seemed to help the offense, but Philip Rivers hasn’t thrown for over 300 yards since Oct. 12 and he only had one touchdown against Oakland after being shut out by the Dolphins.
16. Cleveland Browns (LW: 11)
Brian Hoyer looked borderline awful against the Texans, but the running game has really let him down recently. Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell combined to average just 3.8 yards per carry, which isn’t going to help the passing game. Sunday will mark the return of Josh Gordon, though, which can only help the offense, and Crowell could be a game-changing back if he could just solve his ball security problems.
15. Miami Dolphins (LW: 18)
The Dolphins are allowing just 18 points per game. That’d be tough enough to beat as it is, but Ryan Tannehill has now completed at least 70 percent of his passes in each of the past three games and has only thrown two interceptions in his past five. This team seems to be clicking at the right time.
14. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 13)
There’s certainly some recency bias in bumping the Steelers over the Ravens, but after watching how effective Pittsburgh’s offense was in the second half against Tennessee, I have to make them the favorites to make the playoffs over Baltimore. The Ravens, after all, just moved a safety over to play corner, promoted a corner off their practice squad and signed Danny Gorrer to also help the secondary, who is now on his third team in 2014.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 17)
It always seems like no matter how bad Pittsburgh’s defense is, the commentators for their games on television are going to throw around adjectives such as “tough” and “gritty.” The Steelers’ defense is not good, but the offense has a ton of potential. Their productivity on offense makes them more of a contender than Baltimore, but had it not been for Zack Mettenberger’s pick-six at the start of Monday’s game, it’s very likely the Titans win that game.
12. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 12)
It’s not often I leave a team stagnant after playing a game (win or loss), that’s generally reserved for the teams on bye. But San Francisco really shouldn’t have beaten the Giants. It took five Eli Manning picks to seal the deal for the 49ers, including one that was in the red zone and would have put the Giants ahead in that game. Colin Kaepernick hasn’t had a multi-touchdown game in over a month, but the defense has been good enough to win games, and they could be getting NaVorro Bowman back this week.
11. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 16)
I still can’t figure out the Bengals. Andy Dalton followed up a game when he had a passer rating of 2.0 by throwing three touchdowns and completing 72.7 percent of his passes. If Dalton can string a few games together, the Bengals have the inside track to win the AFC North, but there’s no telling what their last six games hold, with three of them coming against divisional opponents.
10. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 8)
If Seattle loses to the Arizona Cardinals this weekend, there’s a real chance that they won’t make the playoffs. Although the Seahawks are the best rushing team in the league with Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, their leading receiver, averages less than 50 yards per game. They simply aren’t being successful enough in the passing game to be all that convincing right now.
9. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 9)
The NFC East is clearly a two-horse race between the Cowboys and Eagles, and they face each other twice in a three-week span starting on Thanksgiving. Coming off a bye week, there’s a good chance that the Cowboys can capitalize on Philadelphia’s struggles and take over the division.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 7)
In the past two games, LeSean McCoy is averaging just 3.06 yards per carry. If the Eagles want to push back after a humiliating loss to the Packers, they’re going to need more out of the running game. However, Aaron Rodgers have been destroying everyone this season, so I’m not holding the loss too much to Philadelphia. The Eagles have a very easy game upcoming against the Titans, which should give them a week to get back on track.
7. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 10)
Everyone has been using the fact that Kansas City has not thrown a touchdown to a receiver this season to knock them down. However, even more notable is the fact that the Chiefs haven’t allowed a single rushing touchdowns all year. This defense is no joke, and with Jamaal Charles healthy, they might even be able to contend for a division title.
6. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 5)
Yes, the Colts lost, but it was to a top five team, and the game was very competitive for one half. The loss of Ahmad Bradshaw is big (and it’s tough that they weren’t able to land Ben Tate before the Vikings) but Andrew Luck and the passing game will keep them competitive every week.
5. Detroit Lions (LW: 3)
By almost any metric, the case is there to definitively state that Detroit has the best defense in the league. They are tied for eighth in sacks, tied for sixth in interceptions and rank first in scoring defense and yards allowed per game. The offense only has to score 17 points per game, because their opponent is likely going to be held to less than that.
4. Denver Broncos (LW: 2)
This the lowest point the Broncos have been at this season, literally in my power rankings and figuratively speaking. The Rams dominated the entire game against them, and if Emmanuel Sanders misses extended time, the consistency of the passing game could be a problem with Wes Welker having the worst season of his career. Still, the Broncos are the Broncos, and Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning.
3. Green Bay Packers (LW: 4)
In the first half of their past three games, the Packers have outscored opponents 100-9. That is all.
2. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 6)
Last week, I slid the Cardinals down over concerns of what they’d do without Carson Palmer. They answered this week with a lot of defense. A good comparison to draw is with this year’s Kansas City Royals in the MLB. If the Royals had the lead in a game and took it to the seventh inning, you weren’t coming back. If Arizona takes a lead into the fourth quarter, it’s winning.
1. New England Patriots (LW: 1)
There’s definitely a compelling argument to make to put the Packers or Cardinals at the top spot. But right now, if I feel comfortable about any team making the Super Bowl, it’s the Patriots. They are clearly the best team in the AFC (and have already beaten the Broncos to prove it). New England has a balanced attack on offense, and the secondary is stacked enough now to go up against the best offensive weapons (as they did on Sunday against Andrew Luck).