NFL Power Rankings: Week 13 Edition

Week 12 of the 2020 NFL season is in the books and now it’s time for everyone’s favorite meaningful exercise: NFL Power Rankings! Let’s take a look at how all 32 teams stack up. Don’t forget to hear me talking about the league’s landscape on my national podcast: The ODDcast!

BLG’S NFL WEEK 13 POWER RANKINGS

1 - Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 1) - They’re bound to be 11-0 after taking care of a Baltimore team ravaged by COVID-related absences.

2 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 2) - The reigning Super Bowl champions might very well be the repeating Super Bowl champions. The greatness of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid has Kansas City feeling like the NFL’s version of the prime Golden State Warriors. It’s unfair.

3 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 3) - They’re 2-0 with Taysom Hill. Of course, it helped that their Week 12 opponent played without a quarterback. The Saints need Drew Brees to get healthy pretty soon because eventually Hill won’t be good enough for them to get by with.

4 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 6) - Aaron Rodgers has the best passer rating in the league this season at 117.6. Pretty good thing the Packers have going for them.

5 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 7) - Josh Allen is fortunate that LAC refused to take advantage of his mistakes that would’ve allowed them to get back into the game.

6 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 8) - Good week for Seattle. They won and saw both LAR and AZ lose. Having D.K. Metcalf on your team must be nice.

7 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 13) - The Titans are bullies. Their offensive line paved the way for Derrick Henry to pulverize an Indy defense that’s been pretty great this year. A.J. Brown is another physical weapon who fits their identity. Huge win for Tennessee to take first place in the AFC South.

8 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 5) - Not having DeForest Buckner kinda hurt! The Colts may have blown their shot to win the division but they should still be able to get a wild card spot.

9 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 11) - Miami didn’t look all that great despite beating NYJ by 17 points. A win over Cincy this week puts them at 8-4 but then they have at KC, vs. NE, at LV, and at BUF to finish the season. Going to need Tua Tagovailoa to get healthy and quickly progress in his development.

10 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 4) - Jared Goff’s last four games: four touchdown passes, 10 total turnovers. He’s just a quarterback the Rams can win with but not a guy they’re going to win because of.

11 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 9) - Tom Brady is tied for the second most interceptions thrown. Seven of his 11 have come in the Bucs’ last four games. There was also a point in Sunday’s game where Brady reached going 0/20 on his last 20+ yard attempts. The 43-year-old is showing his age.

12 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 15) - The good news for the Browns is they’re in good position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The bad news for the Browns is they aren’t looking nearly as good as their 8-3 record indicates. They struggled to beat Jacksonville.

13 - New England Patriots (LW: 18) - The Pats are still alive in the AFC playoff picture and especially so if the playoff contingency plan (eight teams per conference) goes into effect. Can’t count them out.

14 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 12) - Kliff Kingsbury’s continued cowardice must stop. He opted to kick a field goal with his shaky kicker on 4th-and-1 late against New England. Even if the kick was made, the opposition had plenty of time to at least tie the game.

15 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 17) - Potential Offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Jefferson scored two touchdowns to help keep Minny’s playoff hopes alive. Kirk Cousins has been better recently with 12 touchdowns and one interception over his last five games.

16 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 14) - The bad news is that Baltimore is likely to lose to Pittsburgh and drop to 6-5. The good news is that they have some winnable games and still have a reasonable chance to make the postseason. But it’s no guarantee.

17 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 10) - No team’s playoff odds dropped more (24.1%) in Week 12. Just an awful blowout loss for the Raiders. Could be the one that keeps them out of the postseason when it’s all said and done.

18 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 16) - Teddy Bridgewater’s return to Minnesota was not a success. On the bright side, the Panthers have found a stud in eventual Defensive Rookie of the Year Jeremy Chinn. Defensive touchdowns on back-to-back snaps!

19 - Houston Texans (LW: 23) - Deshaun Watson hasn’t been the problem in Houston this year. That much was apparent with the Texans drubbing Detroit on Thanksgiving. Watson is up to 15 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions since October 11.

20 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 26) - The 49ers are not totally dead in the NFC playoff picture. They’re probably not going to make it but they might be able to at least get to .500.

21 - New York Giants (LW: 21) - Don’t look now but the Giants are first in the NFC East after winning three straight games. It remains to be seen if they can stay on top with Daniel Jones getting hurt and some tougher games coming up.

22 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 29) - Raheem Morris is 4-2 as interim head coach. He’s doing his part to earn consideration in Atlanta’s search. But should the Falcons start anew?

23 - Washington Football Team (LW: 24) - Washington’s lead in the NFC East was short-lived but they might soon regain it. Alex Smith offers some level of competency, Antonio Gibson is looking like a weapon, and the defense is a quality unit. The Football Team could very well win the division.

24 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 19) - Anthony Lynn removed any doubt that he should be fired. Down 10 points at the 2-yard line with no timeouts and 24 seconds left and the Chargers … RUN THE BALL!? Justin Herbert deserves better.

25 - Chicago Bears (LW: 20) - Remember when the Bears were 5-1 and it didn’t feel like their success was sustainable? Yeah, well, they’ve lost five in a row and will likely miss the playoffs. Neither Mitchell Trubisky nor Nick Foles is the answer at quarterback.

26 - Denver Broncos (LW: 22) - You know how fans sometimes say things like “I could do a better than [enter NFL quarterback’s name here]!’? Yeah, well, Kendall Hilton’s performance as an emergency quarterback reminds us that that hyperbolic notion definitely isn’t true.

27 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 25) - It looked like the Cowboys were turning a corner and about to go on a run to win the NFC East. Instead, they’re currently last in one of the worst divisions in NFL history. Too many injuries to overcome at this point.

28 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 27) - The Bengals gave a good effort in Joe Burrow’s first missed game but they’re just not a threat with Brandon Allen under center.

29 - Detroit Lions (LW: 28) - Firing Matt Patricia was long overdue but at least they finally got it done. Firing Bob Quinn was also necessary. Interested to see what happens with Matthew Stafford beyond this season. Probably best to get value for him in a trade and start the rebuild.

30 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 30) - The Eagles produced a mere 180 passing yards against the NFL’s worst pass defense. And that figure includes a garbage time drive in which a Hail Mary occurred. Philadelphia’s offense is pathetic and Carson Wentz deserves a lot of blame. It’s time to blow things up in Philly.

31 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 31) - The Jags fired David Caldwell after he clinched his seventh double-digit loss season in eight years. Why did the Jags keep him around for so long? They went 37-86 during his tenure.

32 - New York Jets (LW: 32) - The Jets have seen enough to know Sam Darnold isn’t the answer. Only need five more losses to clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.