NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 13 Edition

Week 12 of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.

1 – Dallas Cowboys 10-1 (Last Week: 1) – The Cowboys have run away with the NFC lead. Much to the dismay of Eagles fans, the road to the Super Bowl will go through Dallas. The bad news for the Cowboys is their post-season competition won’t be as soft as their regular season schedule.

2 – Oakland Raiders 9-2 (LW: 2) – The Raiders are riding a five-game winning streak. Oakland has to hope Derek Carr’s pinky will be OK.

3 – New England Patriots 9-2 (LW: 3) – Bill Belichick’s team didn’t have their best performance against the lowly Jets, but you can never count out Touchdown Tom Brady.

4 – Kansas City Chiefs 8-3 (LW: 6) – Kansas City gutted out a tough win in Denver. Andy Reid still has a chance to win the AFC West since the Chiefs already have one win over the Raiders this year.

5 – Seattle Seahawks 7-3-1 (LW: 3) – What happened? Seattle dominated the Eagles in Week 11 only to manage five measly points against the Buccaneers, who were 1-4 at home, on the road. The Seahawks’ offensive line is certainly an issue.

6 – Atlanta Falcons 7-4 (LW: 8) – Atlanta is averaging 32.5 points per game, which is pretty good. The Falcons dropped 38 on the Cardinals’ top-ranked defense.

7 – Denver Broncos 7-4 (LW: 5) – If the season ended today, the Broncos would miss the playoffs. They currently rank 7th in the AFC playoff picture. The defending Super Bowl champions need to step up down the stretch.

8 – Detroit Lions 7-4 (LW: 9) – Another week, another game where the Lions trail in the fourth quarter … and still somehow win. It’s not insane to suggest this team could be 0-11, but here they are. Detroit’s win over Minnesota puts them in good position to win the NFC North.

9 – Miami Dolphins 7-4 (LW: 10) – Make it six wins in a row for the Dolphins. Miami got good contributions from Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso in their win over Chip Kelly. Go figure.

10 – Washington Redskins 6-4-1 (LW: 7) – Kirk Cousins posted big numbers in a Washington loss.

11 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-5 (LW: 21) – The Buccaneers are suddenly looking legit. Tampa Bay beat the Chiefs in Kansas City last week. Now they’re coming off a shutdown win over the Seahawks. The Bucs are only 0.5 games out of the sixth seed in the NFC.

12 – New York Giants 8-3 (LW: 12) – The Giants might be one of the least impressive 8-3 teams ever. New York ranks 14th in point differential, 14th in DVOA, and tied for 23rd in turnover differential. They’re much closer to being average than they are closer to being one of the league’s best teams. New York has a tough final stretch so maybe the losses are coming.

13 – Buffalo Bills 6-5 (LW: 14) – Rex Ryan’s team quietly owns the fifth best point differential in the NFL. The Bills might not make the playoffs, but they’re certainly an above average team.

14 – Pittsburgh Steelers 6-5 (LW: 16) – The Steelers rank sixth in point differential. Pittsburgh will be fighting the AFC North lead.

15 – Minnesota Vikings 6-5 (LW: 13) – Sam Bradford’s 3.5-yard average target depth on Thankgiving is tied for the lowest in a game all season, per Pro Football Focus. The Vikings’ offense isn’t good for a number of reasons but he’s one of them.

16 – San Diego Chargers 5-6 (LW: 19) – The Chargers probably aren’t making the playoffs but Philip Rivers and co. could prove to be pesky for the rest of the AFC West teams vying for playoff positioning.

17 – Tennessee Titans 6-6 (LW: 20) – The Titans are very fortunate the Bears’ receivers dropped touchdown passes at the end of the game. Tennessee still has a chance to win the AFC South.

18 – Baltimore Ravens 6-5 (LW: 22) – Baltimore currently ranks first in the AFC North. It will be either them or the Steelers who wins the division.

19 – Green Bay Packers 5-6 (LW: 27) – The Packers faced a must-win game against the Eagles and they get the job done. As it turns out, Aaron Rodgers is still really good.

20 – Philadelphia Eagles 5-6 (LW: 11) – The Eagles were 4-0 at home this season before Monday night. They were outscoring opponents 108 to 38. Jim Schwartz’s defense was allowing an average of 9.5 points per game. Philadelphia was not able to sustain that home success against Green Bay, allowing the Packers to score 27 points. The Eagles’ playoff hopes are now on life support with five games remaining.

21 – Arizona Cardinals 4-6-1 (LW: 15) – Arizona’s defense was no match for the NFL’s best scoring offense. The Cardinals’ season is effectively over as Arizona ranks 12th in the NFC playoff picture.

22 – New Orleans Saints 5-6 (LW: 24) – New Orleans is averaging 30.1 points per game. The only problem is they’re also giving up 29 points per game.

23 – Houston Texans 6-5 (LW: 17) – Houston’s record is starting to even out to reveal the true quality of their team. The Texans rank 25th in point differential (-42) and 30th in DVOA.

24 – Indianapolis Colts 5-6 (LW: 18) – The Colts expect to have Andrew Luck back this week, so that’s good news for them. Without him, they’re dead in the water.

25 – Carolina Panthers 4-7 (LW: 23) – The reigning NFC Champions are having a down year but at least they’re showing some fight. The Panthers only lost by three points in Oakland.

26 – Cincinnati Bengals 3-7-1 (LW: 25) – The Bengals look real bad. This season will be the worst of Marvin Lewis’ career if Cincy doesn’t win another game. But he’ll still probably keep his job, because it’s the Bengals.

27 – Los Angeles Rams 4-7 (LW: 26) – The great news for Jeff Fisher is that the Rams only need to go 3-2 in their last five to reach 7-9. He can still do it!

28 – New York Jets 3-8 (LW: 28) – The Jets blew a chance to beat the Patriots. Shocker to see New York is going nowhere fast with Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starting quarterback.

29 – Chicago Bears 2-9 (LW: 29) – Matt Barkley would have led a game-winning drive over the Titans if not for some drops by Bears receivers in the end zone. Poor Barks .

30 – Jacksonville Jaguars 2-9 (LW: 30) – The Jags showed some good fight in a loss to Buffalo, but that won’t stop me from pointing out Gus Bradley is now 14-45 in 59 games.

31 – San Francisco 49ers 1-10 (LW: 31) – 10 losses in a row for Chip. The 49ers are totally going to fire Trent Baalke and replace him with Tom Gamble, aren’t they.

32 – Cleveland Browns 0-12 (LW: 32) – Four games stand between the Browns and a winless season. Cleveland’s remaining schedule: bye week, vs. Bengals, @ Bills, vs. Chargers, @ Steelers. The Cincy game might be their only chance at a win.