NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 14 Edition

Week 13 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 11-1 (Last Week: 1) – The Cowboys are a one-point loss away from being 12-0. Dallas was fortunate that the officials didn’t throw a flag on Cedric Thornton hitting Sam Bradford in the face. Ex-eagle on ex-eagle crime!

2 – Oakland Raiders 10-2 (LW: 2) – The Raiders keep on rolling. The combination of Derek Carr and Amari Cooper is going to give opposing defenses nightmares for years to come.

3 – New England Patriots 10-2 (LW: 3) – Tom Brady has 201 wins in his career. Not bad.

4 – Kansas City Chiefs 9-3 (LW: 4) – Andy Reid is still very much one of the best coaches in the NFL. The Chiefs are a very good football team.

5 – Seattle Seahawks 8-4-1 (LW: 5) – Seattle has struggled on the road at time this year, but they’re still very dangerous at home. The Seahawks totally stomped the Panthers.

6 – Denver Broncos 8-4 (LW: 7) – Paxton Lynch’s second start wasn’t pretty, but the Broncos still got the win. Denver is now the sixth seed in the AFC playoff picture due to Miami’s loss.

7 – Detroit Lions 8-4 (LW: 8) – The Lions are in the driver’s seat in the NFC North. That’s good news for Eagles fans because it’s going to be harder for Minnesota to win the division and make the playoffs. Oh, hey, Detroit played a game this year where they weren’t trailing in the fourth quarter.

8 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-5 (LW: 11) – How about these Bucs? They’ve kind of come out of nowhere to rattle three impressive wins in a row: at the Chiefs, home versus the Seahawks, and at the Chargers. Tampa Bay could be an interesting young team to watch in the playoffs.

9 – Atlanta Falcons 7-5 (LW: 6) – Tough loss for Atlanta. They came pretty close to beating the Chiefs, but no cigar. The Falcons’ NFC South lead might not be safe for very long if the Bucs continue to surge.

10 – Pittsburgh Steelers 7-5 (LW: 14) – Pittsburgh looks like the best team in the AFC North when Ben Roethlisberger is healthy.

11 – Baltimore Ravens 7-5 (LW: 18) – The Ravens’ offense finally came alive in a win over Miami. Joe Flacco is clearly elite. Seriously, though, pretty good win for Baltimore over a Dolphins team that’s been hot lately.

12 – Green Bay Packers 6-6 (LW: 19) – It looked like the Packers were dead, but now here they are at .500 and only half a game back on the sixth spot in the NFC playoff picture.

13 – Arizona Cardinals 5-6-1 (LW: 21) – David Johnson is doing his best to keep the Cardinals’ playoff hopes alive. The second-year running back is a special player.

14 – Washington Redskins 6-5-1 (LW: 10) – Washington is only half a game up on the Vikings and Packers. Their playoff spot could be in jeopardy.

15 – Buffalo Bills 6-6 (LW: 13) – The Bills haven’t won in Oakland in over 50 years and that didn’t change on Sunday. Credit to Rex Ryan’s team for hanging tough, though.

16 – Miami Dolphins 7-5 (LW: 9) – After winning six games in a row, the Dolphins got blown out 38-6. Miami allowed one of the NFL’s worst offenses to score all over them.

17 – New York Giants 8-4 (LW: 12) – Remember how it was said the Giants aren’t as good as their record appears? Well, the G-Men just got blown out by the Steelers. More losses could be on the way.

18 – Minnesota Vikings 6-6 (LW: 15) – The Vikings have lost six of their last seven games. Eagles fans will be rooting hard against them in hopes of receiving a more favorable 2017 first-round draft pick. Minnesota has some soft opponents down the stretch so they might be able to get to 8-8.

19 – Tennessee Titans 6-6 (LW: 17) – The Titans return from their very late bye week with a game against the Broncos. The AFC South race could come down to the wire. Feel the excitement.

20 – Indianapolis Colts 6-6 (LW: 24) – Indy absolutely obliterated the Jets. With Andrew Luck healthy, the Colts have a real chance to win the division despite not looking very good for most of the season.

21 – San Diego Chargers 5-7 (LW: 16) – The Bolts have been in a lot of close games this year but they just haven’t been able to pull out enough of them to have a better record.

22 – Cincinnati Bengals 4-7-1 (LW: 26) – Marvin Lewis must be very thankful he ran into a reeling Eagles team. Maybe he’ll keep his job after all.

23 – Philadelphia Eagles 5-7 (LW: 20) – Even Doug Pederson admitted “not everybody” was giving full effort in the Eagles’ loss to the Bengals. Getting down 29-0 to a 3-7-1 team missing two of their best players in a must-win game is not a good look for Philadelphia. The Eagles’ slim playoff hopes are virtually gone.

24 – New Orleans Saints 5-7 (LW: 22) – Pretty bad performance from the Saints. Detroit’s defense hasn’t been very good this year. New Orleans’ high-scoring offense only put up seven non-garbage time points on the Lions.

25 – Houston Texans 6-6 (LW: 23) – Houston ranks near the bottom of the league in DVOA and point differential. Their record is starting to catch up with those signs. But they’re still first in their division somehow.

26 – Carolina Panthers 4-8 (LW: 26) – Cam Newton got benched before he didn’t wear a tie. Donovan McNabb doesn’t even know what that is. That was an awful joke, and now I feel very bad about myself, as I should.

27 – Chicago Bears 3-9 (LW: 29) – Kudos to the Bears for showing some fight despite having half of their roster on injured reserve. It’s a stretch to say Matt Barkley looks like a future solution in Chicago, but he hasn’t been as bad as most would have expected.

28 – Los Angeles Rams 4-8 (LW: 27) – A few days after failing to know which players were on the Patriots’ roster, Jeff Fisher received a contract extension from the Rams.

29 – New York Jets 3-8 (LW: 28) – J-E-T-S = Just End The Season.

30 – Jacksonville Jaguars 2-10 (LW: 30) – Gus Bradley is now 14-46 in 60 games. He can still get to 50 losses before he’s fired.

31 – San Francisco 49ers 1-11 (LW: 31) – 11 losses in a row for Chip Kelly. NFL insider Jay Glazer reportedly said Kelly is safe after this season, so it’s probably going to be Trent Baalke who gets the axe.

32 – Cleveland Browns 0-12 (LW: 32) – The Browns didn’t lose on Sunday! … because they had a bye. Cleveland’s best chance of earning a win this season could come this week with a home game against the Bengals. Can you imagine if the Browns get a victory over the team that just blew out the Eagles?