NFL Power Rankings 2018: Week 13 Edition

Week 12 of the 2018 NFL regular season schedule is in the books. Now it’s time to see where all 32 teams rank. For reference purposes, here is a link to last week’s NFL Power Rankings.

BLG’S WEEK 13 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 - New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 1) - The Saints are averaging 41 points per game in their last five games. Scariest team in the league.

2 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 2) - Coming off their bye week, the Rams have a chance to advance to 11-1 with a win in Detroit.

3 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 3) - Andy Reid’s post-bye week magic will likely continue as KC is set to play Oakland.

4 - Chicago Bears (LW: 5) - The Bears won on Thanksgiving despite having to start Chase Daniel. It’ll be interesting to see if Chicago’s defense can help them keep these juggernaut offenses in check.

5 - New England Patriots (LW: 5) - The Pats will once again cruise to an easy AFC East title with the rest of the division being garbage.

6 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 7) - Philip Rivers has the third best passer rating in the league. He won’t win MVP over Drew Brees or Pat Mahomes but he should be in the conversation.

7 - Houston Texans (LW: 8) - Is this the week I finally buy in to the Texans? Nope. Eight wins in a row is really good, don’t get me wrong. But I just think this team has really beaten anybody great. They’re below the elites.

8 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 9) - Make it five wins in a row for the Fighting Frank Reichs. Making Sheil Kapadia proud. Indy has the ninth best point differential in the league.

9 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 10) - It seemed like most assumed the Seahawks would fall off this year but they haven’t. They’re still a quality team.

10 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 4) - After barely beating the Jags and losing in Denver this week, the previously red hot Steelers have cooled off.

11 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 12) - Lamar Jackson hasn’t been stellar but the Ravens have been able to win with him anyway. With Pittsburgh losing and Cincy imploding, the Ravens are still alive in the AFC North.

12 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 14) - The Vikings are hunting a wild card spot in the NFC.

13 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 15) - The Cowboys are now the favorites to win the division. Can they avoid blowing it down the stretch?

14 - Denver Broncos (LW: 18) - The Broncos are quietly solid? They ranked seventh overall in DVOA heading into this week and a win over Pittsburgh should only bump them up further.

15 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 21) - Don’t look now but the Browns are riding a two-game win streak. Baker Mayfield is the real deal.

16 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 11) - This fraud team has lost their last three in a row.

17 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 24) - The Eagles take a big leap here in part due to teams ahead of them dropping. Philadelphia hardly turned in a great game against New York but they ultimately did enough to keep their season alive.

18 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 13) - Mike McCarthy has been holding Aaron Rodgers and this team back for way too long now.

19 - Washington Redskins (LW: 16) - Doesn’t seem like they’re going anywhere fast with Colt McCoy as their starting quarterback for the rest of the season. The veteran threw three poor picks against Dallas on Turkey Day.

20 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 17) - The Titans followed an impressive win over the Pats with two straight losses. As a result, they’re likely out of the AFC South race.

21 - Detroit Lions (LW: 19) - The Lions need a new offensive coordinator; it’s time for Jim Bob Cooter to go.

22 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 21) - Getting Ryan Tannehill back really made a big difference for the Dolphins. Except not really.

23 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 20) - Injuries have certainly contributed to Atlanta’s struggles but excuses only go so far.

24 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 26) - Josh Allen is showing some promise ... as a runner, at least.

25 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 22) - The Bengals reportedly plan to replace Marvin Lewis with Hue Jackson. Imagine waiting all these years for a coaching change and then seeing an even worse head coach hired to replace the old guy. That’s what Bengals fans could be looking at.

26 - New York Giants (LW: 25) - The Giants stink. Eagles fans should be thankful the G-Men hired Pat Shurmur to be their head coach because he’s not good.

27 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 28) - The Bucs stopped their losing streak by beating the worst team in the league. Hooray.

28 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 27) - The Jags officially benched Blake Bortles for Cody Kessler. Good thing Jacksonville didn’t give Bortles a contract extension in the offseason. Oh, wait.

29 - New York Jets (LW: 29) - Next five games: @TEN, @BUF, HOU, GB, @NE. Not impossible this team loses out.

30 - Oakland Raiders (LW: 30) - The tank is back on.

31 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 31) - Their two wins have come over the team that ranks dead last in these rankings.

32 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 32) - Cruising towards the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.