This was once again a very challenging week for my power rankings. It was another week of a good amount of bye weeks, which means some teams stagnated, and there continues to be parity that will drive anyone's rankings crazy. Still, the teams in the bottom five and top five have started to separate themselves, establishing the favorites for the playoffs (and the No. 1 overall pick).
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 32)
Unfortunately for the Jaguars, no team played poorly enough to get the low spot on the totem pole. Jacksonville was on a bye week, but just picturing Blake Bortles throwing an ill-fated pass into triple coverage in my head was enough to keep the Jags here.
31. Tennessee Titans (LW: 29)
The Titans were a Shonn Greene goal line fumble away from actually being in the game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, but alas, they lost their seventh game in eight tries.
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 28)
Mike Evans is the real deal. Outside of Evans and Gerald McCoy, though, there’s very little to hype about Tampa Bay for the remainder of the season. The return to Josh McCown as the starter is the worst move I can think of a team making this season (seriously, just see what you have in Mike Glennon) and the secondary has been dreadful.
29. Oakland Raiders (LW: 30)
Despite still being winless on the year, the Raiders are at least more competitive than the three bottom teams. They were at least in the game against the Broncos for the first quarter, but the wheels really came off in the second half. Still, there’s at least a little more talent to like in Oakland than in Tampa or Tennessee.
28. New York Jets (LW: 31)
New York seriously tried to give away their upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The offense couldn’t do anything in the second half, and the victory ended up being far more about the Steelers being bad than the Jets being good.
27. Chicago Bears (LW: 26)
Chicago is allowing more points per game than any other team (30.8), and they’ve now lost three games in a row. The Bears’ schedules gets easier now toward the end of the season, but their season is completely over now, and there’s already calls for Mark Trestman to be fired and Jay Cutler to be benched.
26. Washington Redskins (LW: 24)
Washington was on a bye, but now that I had a week to think about it, I’m certainly convinced that the Texans are a better football team, and the Falcons played well enough against the Bucs to leapfrog them. However, any of these teams in the next five spots could really be put in any order. For Washington, the offensive line is going to continue to be a problem, and the secondary is still the team’s biggest weakness, by far.
25. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 27)
The Falcons’ offense certainly didn’t mow the Buccaneers over like I thought, but they’re all of a sudden back into the mix in the NFC South. They now have two upcoming games against the Panthers and Browns, which are both winnable, but there’s just too many holes on this roster for me to feel good about them.
24. Houston Texans (LW: 25)
I have the Texans lower than most people this week, and it’s mainly because we have no real idea of what’s going to happen with Ryan Mallett. He’s only attempted four passes in the regular season in his entire career, and the rest of our knowledge on him only stems from the preseason. He could definitely be just as good as Ryan Fitzpatrick, but I think it’s very doubtful that he’s considerably better.
23. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 23)
Bye week for the Vikings, which means it’s time to just have more debates about Teddy Bridgewater versus the rest of the rookie quarterbacks in this year’s draft. For the record, I still think Bridgewater is the best quarterback in this class, and he’ll be good enough to pick up another two wins before the season ends.
22. St. Louis Rams (LW: 22)
No movement on St. Louis this week, mainly because of how different they’ve been in the two halves this season. Againt the Cardinals, the Rams looked like a top 20 team, playing the Cardinals tough. In the second half, Austin Davis threw two interceptions and lost of a fumble, which resulted in two defensive touchdowns. Davis now has four touchdowns and six interceptions in the second half of games compared to eight touchdowns and three picks in the first (there’s also a difference of 33 points in his quarterback rating between the two halves), according to ESPN. It eventually got so bad that he was replaced by Shaun Hill.
21. Carolina Panthers (LW: 19)
After having such a good defense last season, the Panthers now have the sixth worst scoring differential in the league. Cam Newton is tied for being sacked the most times of any quarterback, and Carolina has allowed the most quarterback pressures of any offensive line, per Pro Football Focus.
20. New York Giants (LW: 21)
New York gets a bump from the Panthers being so awful, but there’s still not much for Tom Coughlin to be excited about. Odell Beckham has been better than most everyone expected, but the running game has been a problem with Rashad Jennings out, and the defense is allowing the most rushing yards per game, and the seventh most passing yards.
19. Buffalo Bills (LW: 20)
Thursday night’s game against the Bills and Dolphins is the first “loser goes home” matchup of the year. Whichever teams loses will likely be out of the running for the Wild Card, and the Bills are my favorite to lose that game. Kyle Orton really isn’t that good, and while the defense has been amazing, there’s not enough consistent offensive weapons outside of Sammy Watkins to make them competitive.
18. Miami Dolphins (LW: 13)
Miami has been allowing the fifth fewest points of any team this season, and the offense continues to click despite missing Knowshon Moreno. Lamar Miller has been an effective ballcarrier, but the pass catching might hold them back from pushing any further or a Wild Card spot.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 12)
On a week-by-week basis, it’s impossible to predict which Steelers team is going to show up. They have a relatively easy game coming up against the Titans, but then close out the season with the Saints, Bengals, Falcons, Chiefs and Bengals again, which are all losable games for this team.
16. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 7)
After looking so good to start the season, the Bengals are probably the least likely team in the AFC North to win the division. I had them too high last week, which accounts for the big swing, but there’s just no excuse for Andy Dalton to finish last week’s game with a quarterback rating of 2.0.
15. San Diego Chargers (LW: 16)
San Diego has lost three in a row, but Philip Rivers now only has to face the Raiders and Rams in his next two games. The Chargers have to go 2-0 in that stretch if they want to keep up with the Chiefs in the Wild Card race.
14. New Orleans Saints (LW: 15)
Remember when Marshawn Lynch knocked the New Orleans Saints out of the playoffs when the Seahawks won the division at 7-9? Well, there’s a pretty solid chance that this time, the 7-9 Saints will get a chance to host Lynch and a Wild Card Seahawks team in New Orleans. That’s not to totally hate on the Saints, I think their offense has really improved these past few weeks, but of all the potential playoff teams, New Orleans is the worst.
13. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 14)
The AFC North is a total toss-up at this point. However, the Ravens probably have a worse chance to win the division than the Steelers and Browns, given that they only have on divisional game left in the season, and they have to go on the road against the Saints and Dolphins in two out of their next three games.
12. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 18)
San Francisco kept its season alive against the Saints, but lost Patrick Willis for the year. Still, there’s a decent chance the 49ers can get into a Wild Card spot, and the defense is now fifth in rushing yards and seventh in passing, but I’m not sure if the passing offense has enough to get them past the Wild Card round in the postseason.
11. Cleveland Browns (LW: 17)
As an unabashed Browns fan, it could certainly seem homer-ish to put them inside the top 12. But let me assure you, I don’t want to put them here, because I’m afraid they’ll disappoint me, and it’s probably going to happen at some point this season, I just know it. Still, facts are facts. The Browns are 6-3, and are leading the AFC North. If the season ended today, they’d be hosting a playoff game, and that’s entering a three-game stretch where Cleveland faces the Ryan Mallett-led Texans, an awful Falcons defense and offensive line, and the Bills, who could be out of the playoff race by then.
10. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 11)
The Chiefs have the best passing defense in the league, and are the fifth best rushing team between Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis. Each game, they stick to their gameplan and end up coming out with a win. If it wasn’t for a terrible game in Week 1 against Tennessee, the Chiefs would be 7-2.
9. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 10)
Dallas’ defense without Justin Durant concerns me, but the Tony Romo to Dez Bryant connection could be enough to get them into the postseason.
8. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 8)
Russell Wilson has been pressured on 42.8 percent of his dropbacks, which is tied for the most in the league. On the snaps that he’s pressured, Wilson is completing just 45 percent of his passes, per Pro Football Focus. He’s also had to throw 20 passes away, and has statistically been one of the worst deep ball throwers in the league. In short, the offensive line is really holding Seattle back, and the success of Wilson.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 9)
Mark Sanchez is living proof that Chip Kelly’s offense really might be quarterback-proof. It also helps that the Eagles have forced 16 takeaways this season, but having Darren Sproles back really helped the offense against the Panthers, and if they beat the Cowboys in three weeks, they’ll cruise to a division victory.
6. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 1)
With Carson Palmer’s injury, I had no choice but to move Arizona down. There’s simply no way I can say that Drew Stanton can be the quarterback of the best team in the league, However, I think there’s no discernable difference between Stanton and other mid-level quarterbacks such as Dalton and Flacco, so the Cardinals’ playoff spot is safe.
5. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 5)
A bye week for the Colts last week, and now they’re heading in to a game against the Patriots that could vault them into a top three spot at this time next week.
4. Green Bay Packers (LW: 6)
I’m not going to add any analysis that hasn’t already been said about the Packers this week. Aaron Rodgers is having an MVP-caliber season, and Jordy Nelson is one of the three best receivers in the league right now. Although they may not win the NFC North, the Packers are my favorite to make the Super Bowl out of that conference.
3. Detroit Lions (LW: 4)
It’s easy to see how close Detroit’s game was against the Dolphins and just say it wasn’t a convincing win. However, when watching that game, the Lions’ defense couldn’t have been any more convincing in their dominance up front, and when Matthew Stafford got the ball at the end of the game, I had no doubt that the offense would find a way to win that game.
2. Denver Broncos (LW: 3)
Just another five-touchdown game for Peyton Manning. If it wasn’t for the Broncos’ head-to-head loss to the Patriots, they’d be the No. 1 team this week.
1. New England Patriots (LW: 2)
It seems strange for the Patriots to move up after a bye, especially to the top spot, but again, it’s all about that head-to-head victory. With the Cardinals dropping out, New England was the easy choice to take over. Tom Brady has thrown at least three touchdowns in each of his past four games, and has four games with a quarterback rating of at least 100 in that stretch. The Patriots are good, and the huge win over the Broncos a few weeks ago proves that.