NFL Power Rankings Week 12 | Cardinals, Packers, Buccaneers

I can admit with no shame that this was the most difficult Power Rankings of the season. Figuring out an order in which to put all of the five and six win teams kept me up all night. Well not quite, but it did spin my head right round for the better part of a couple hours. As it is the top three didn’t flinch, but beyond that it was sheer chaos.

1) Arizona Cardinals: 9-2 (1st last week)

The Cardinals had a bye, so they stay at the top of the table. Neither the Packers nor the Bucs did enough to top them over the weekend.

2) Green Bay Packers: 9-3 (2nd last week)

The Rams practically gifted the Packers their ninth win of the season with penalties and turnovers. But on paper the Packers got a win against a solid team at the top of the conference.

3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-3 (3rd last week)

Indy gave the Bucs all they had, but Brady and the Bucs came out of Lucas Oil with a big win against a streaking team.

4) Baltimore Ravens: 8-3 (8th last week)

Another week, and another narrow win for the Ravens. They thrive in tight games which will serve them well late in the season and into the playoffs.

5) Kansas City Chiefs: 7-4 (6th last week)

The Chiefs had a bye week which will serve a streaking team well. They have won four straight, and will come out of their bye looking to strike out the side in the AFC West over the next three weeks.

6) New England Patriots: 8-4 (9th last week)

Not only are the Pats the best team in the AFC East, but they are one of the favorites for home field in the conference after rattling off their sixth straight win.

7) Cincinatti Bengals: 7-4 (13th last week)

I may have been a bit harsh dropping the Bengals down to 13 last week, but I haven’t forgot about the losses to the Jets and the Browns before their bye week and subseqential smackdown of the down and out Steelers.

8) Tennessee Titans: 8-4 (5th last week)

That’s two straight losses for the Titans. The Pats loss is much more understandable than the one against the Texans or the Jets. The Titans need a bye, but more than anything they need King Henry back.

9) Los Angeles Rams: 7-4 (4th last week)

I understand the Rams have suffered three straight losses, but there is something in me that believes this team is better than what they have shown. Matt Stafford doesn’t look healthy, and there could be more under the surface to the Rams problems.

10) Buffalo Bills: 7-4 (9th last week)

It wasn’t an easy task playing on Thanksgiving, away from home after losing three of the last six. Josh Allen and company are a long way form where they were at the start of the season. They can prove something over the next two weeks against he Pats and the Bucs.

11) Dallas Cowboys: 7-4 (7th last week)

A Cowboys team that is rolling would never lose a Thanksgiving game in Dallas, especially against a struggling Raiders team. Dak and the Cowboys haven’t been the same since their bye week.

12) San Francisco 49ers: 6-5 (17th last week)

The Niners have won four of their last five and look like a playoff caliber team. The NFC West is tough, but the Niners will keep the Rams and Cardinals honest for the final stretch of the season.

13) Los Angeles Chargers: 6-5 (10th last week)

It would be foolish to drop the Chargers to far down the totem pole after a divisional loss on the road to the Broncos. The AFC West is one of the toughest in the league and Denver proved that last week.

14) Indianapolis Colts: 6-6 (16th last week)

The Colts lost to the Bucs to bring an end to their three game win streak, but they played the defending champions tough and are creeping up on the Titans in the AFC South.

15) Miami Dolphins: 5-7 (24th last week)

I may have jumped the Dolphins ship way to hard, but they are one of the hottest teams in the league, and have one of the top defenses in the NFL over their four game win streak.

16) Cleveland Browns: 6-6 (15th last week)

I’m not too sold on the Browns. They played the Ravens close, but everyone does. It’s true their division is one of the toughest divisions in football, but I think they are the weakest link of the four teams in the ACF North.

17) Denver Broncos: 6-5 (19th last week)

The Broncos have won three of four, and are back in the thick of things in the AFC West. They are just a game back of the Chiefs in a very narrow AFC West.

18) Las Vegas Raiders: 6-5 (22nd last week)

The Raiders put an end to a three game skid in Dallas on Thanksgiving. If that’s not worth a jump up of four spots, I don’t know what it.

19) Washington Football Team 5-6 (23rd last week)

Taylor Heinicke and Washington have won three straight after their bye week and hold final Wild Card spot in the NFC. They had just two wins at the beginning of the month, and now they are a playoff contender.

20) Pittsburgh Steelers: 5-5-1 (14th last week)

The Steelers showing against the Bengals was their worst of the year. They are winless in their last three, including the tie to the Lions.

21) Minnesota Vikings: 5-6 (12th last week)

The Vikings followed their huge win over the Packers with a loss to the Niners on the road.

22) Philadelphia Eagles 5-7 (18th last week)

The Eagles lost a divisional game on the road after the run game led by Jalen Hurts came to a halt in the Meadowlands. 5-7 feels a long way away from 6-6, how do Hurts and the Eagles respond?

23) Carolina Panthers 5-7 (20th last week)

Any of the buzz that Cam Newton brought to Charlotte has been silenced after his five completion performance against the Dolphins. He was benched in the second half leaving the Panthers back at square one.

24) Atlanta Falcons 5-6 (26th last week)

Atlanta needed a game against the Jaguars after getting stomped in back to back weeks by the Cowboys and the Patriots. They beat the lowley Jags, so they aren’t moving too far up the list.

25) New York Giants 4-7 (27th last week)

NY got a much needed win over a division opponent, but the teams at the bottom of the worst division in football, the NFC East, have to win every now and then considering they have to play each other twice a year.

26) New Orleans Saints 5-6 (21st last week)

If there’s anything worse than getting beat down it’s getting beat down at home on Thanksgiving. The Saints are in a free fall, and it seems like they don’t have a parachute. They have lost their last four after a great start to the season.

27) Chicago Bears 4-7 (28th last week)

Chicago squeaked out a win agains the Lions on Thanksgiving, which is admirable. But beating a winless team by a last second field goal won’t jump you to high up the rankings.

28) Seattle Seahawks 3-9 (25th last week)

Seattle have a problem. Everyone thought getting Russell Wilson back would fix the Seahawks woes, but they have scored a total of 30 points in the three games Wilson has been back under center.

29) New York Jets 3-8 (30th last week)

The Jets got a double dose of good news over the weekend. Rookie QB Zach Wilson came back from his knee injury, and got the second win of his young career.

30) Houston Texans 2-9 (29th last week)

The Texans lost the battle of futility against the New York Jets, so naturally they sit beneath the Jets in the rankings.

31) Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-9 (31st last week)

The Jags offense put up another dud against the Falcons. That makes five straight games that Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville have failed to score 20 points or more.

32) Detroit Lions: 0-8-1 (32nd last week)

The Lions were up on the Bears going into the fourth quarter, but lost on a last second field goal in yet another one possession loss. That’s five losses by one score or less and a tie for a Lions team that has to start thinking they are the unluckiest in team in history.