Week 12 Power Rankings

By Matt Stuart | Published November 23, 2023 | No Comments

This NFL season looks as wide open as it ever has. There are genuine divisional races all over the place. As teams jockey for playoff positioning, wins are becoming much more important and so are loses. Unfortunately, quite a few teams will have to get to the finish line without their starting quarterback. The Bengals and Browns saw their chances of making the playoffs diminish with injuries to Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson respectively.

The Ravens lost tight end Mark Andrew for the season, in what was otherwise another dominant offensive performance from Baltimore. The Niners hope that are now all set to make their playoff push with a quick return to form from Brock Purdy and the biggest statement of week 11 was made on the road by the Eagles as they took down the Chiefs and remain atop the NFC.

As for everyone else. Well it’s the usual mix of genuine hope, fleeting opportunities and outright despair. Or as I like to call it, the Power Rankings.

Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) – They beat the champs. Well in the regular season at least. They still might have to do it one more time though.
San Francisco (7-3) – The Niners are starting to look like the team that we thought they would like come end of November.
Detroit Lions (8-2) – The Lions almost blew it against the Bears.
Kansas City Chiefs (7-3) – Drop pass here, drop pass there. Story of their season.
Baltimore Ravens (8-3) – They lost TE Mark Andrews for the season, but should be able to ride it out.
Dallas Cowboys (7-3) – The Cowboys will be judged come playoff time as for now they look like a contender.
Miami Dolphins (7-3) – Their offense struggled against the Raiders, but that defense is starting to look like they can carry the load when needed.
Jacksonville Jaguars (7-3) – After steamrolling the Trans, they can put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division if they can beat the Texans this week.
Cleveland Browns (7-3) – The Browns keep winning, but their QB situation could doom them down the stretch.
Houston Texans (6-4) – A win against the Jags and winning the AFC South goes from plausible to likely.
Seattle Seahawks (6-4) – They may regret that loss against the Rams could January.
Buffalo Bills (6-5) – They are back above .500, but with games against the Eagles and Chiefs coming up, it might not last too long.
Minnesota Vikings (6-5) – The Vikings will go as far as Joshua Dobbs and a lot grit can take them.
Cincinnati Bengals (5-5) – Losing Joe Burrow for the season, after they had clawed their way back into the drivers seat, feels like a cold hand dealt by fate.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) – “Blame Canada! Blame Canada!” The Steelers fired Matt Canada and now Kenny Pickett has nowhere left to hide.
Denver Broncos (5-5) – Suddenly the Broncos are on a four game winning streak and are the hottest team in the AFC. Yep the NFL has lost its mind.
New Orleans Saints (5-5) – The Saints get their first crack at their most hated rivals, the Atlanta Falcons.
Indianapolis Colts (5-5) – Will Jim Irsay and fellow white billionaires ever catch a break.
Las Vegas Raiders (5-6) – In another place and another time the Raiders probably win that game against the Dolphins.
Los Angeles Rams (4-6) – Well they swept the season series against the Seahawks. This week they can sweep the Cards.
Los Angles Chargers (4-6) – With a brutal schedule coming up, finding enough winnable games to make the playoffs, is going to be hard.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) – If they are going to make a run in the soft NFC South, their next four games are the time to do it.
Washington Commanders (4-7) – It’s a shame the Commanders poor defense has wasted an impressive season from Sam Howell.
Green Bay Packers (4-6) – Jordan Love rekindled some nice early season magic and beat the hapless Chargers. Now can he keep doing it.
Atlanta Falcons (4-6) – The Falcons are back on Desmond Ridder as their quarterbacks, at least till next April.
New York Jets (4-6) – Can we say it once and for all. The Zach Wilson era is over in New York.
Tennessee Titans (3-7) – The Titans offense is in sharp decline and so seems their future.
Chicago Bears (3-8) – Justin Fields could have just six games left this season or six games left in his tenure as the Bears starting quarterback.
New York Giants (3-8) – Tommy DeVito got a win. Now he gets the Patriots.
New England Patriots (2-8) – Mac Jones versus Tommy DeVito. Come on America who you got?
Arizona Cardinals (2-9) – Kyler Murray me be back, but the Cardinals are still tanking.
Carolina Panthers (1-9) – Will they ever win another game.