NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 12 Edition

Week 11 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.

WEEK 12 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 – Dallas Cowboys 9-1 (Last Week: 1) – Nine wins in a row for the Cowboys. Dallas is a one-point loss away from being 10-0.

2 – Oakland Raiders 8-2 (LW: 2) –  Derek Carr continues to shine as the Raiders continue to win and stay on top of the highly competitive AFC West.

3 – Seattle Seahawks 7-2-1 (LW: 3) – Seattle looks like they could be the best team in the NFC once again. Russell Wilson is healthy and playing so well that he’s actually catching touchdown passes now. It would be interesting to see the Seahawks and the Cowboys play each other right now.

4 – New England Patriots 8-2 (LW: 4) – Tom Brady somehow hadn’t played the 49ers in San Francisco until beating them on Sunday. He did it with relative ease.

5 – Denver Broncos 7-3 (LW: 6) – Mixed bye week for the Broncos. The good news for them is that the Chiefs lost, but the bad news is that the Raiders won. Denver returns from their week off to play at home against Kansas City.

6 – Kansas City Chiefs 7-3 (LW: 5) – Losing to the Buccaneers at home is the vintage random Andy Reid loss of the season for the Chiefs.

7 – Washington Redskins 6-3-1 (LW: 10) – Washington is 6-1-1 since starting the 2016 season with two straight losses. Kirk Coupons is probably going to get a lot of money this offseason.

8 – Atlanta Falcons 6-4 (LW: 8) – The Falcons’ lead in the NFC South shrunk during their bye with the Bucs getting a win. Next up for Atlanta is a home game against the Cardinals.

9 – Detroit Lions 6-4 (LW: 9) – The Lions somehow have a winning record despite trailing in the fourth quarter of every game this year. This team might actually win the NFC North. How?

10 – Miami Dolphins 6-4 (LW: 14) – Adam Gase has done a nice job of turning things around for Miami. The Dolphins are riding a five-game win streak after starting 1-4. Miami had to play two West Coast teams on the road in a row (San Diego, Los Angeles) and they defeated the challenge.

11 – Philadelphia Eagles 5-5 (LW: 7) – The Eagles aren’t a bad football team — Philadelphia still owns the league’s third best point differential — but they’re clearly not ready to be considered in the class of elites. The Eagles just aren’t a road team this year, either. They’re 1-5 in those games while sporting a 4-0 home record. . The Birds might have had more of a chance against the Seahawks if Nelson Agholor didn’t ruin the game for them.

12 – New York Giants 7-3 (LW: 12) – New York’s defense has played well, but you can’t convince me this team is as good as their record indicates. The Giants rank 18th in point differential, 16th in DVOA, 30th in turnover differential, and dead last in time of possession. They’re closer to being an average team than they are an actually good team.

13 – Minnesota Vikings 6-4 (LW: 15) – Minnesota ended their four-game losing streak with a tough win at home over the Cardinals. The Vikings have an opportunity to reclaim the NFC North lead with a win over the Lions on Thanksgiving. Eagles fans will be rooting for a Detroit win on Turkey Day in order to make the Vikings’ 2017 first-round pick owed to Philadelphia more favorable.

14 – Buffalo Bills 5-5 (LW: 16) – Rex Ryan’s team ranks 10th in the AFC playoff picture. The Bills don’t have a shot of winning the division with the Patriots on top and they’re behind the Dolphins right now as well. Buffalo is kind of just treading water right now.

15 – Arizona Cardinals 4-5-1 (LW: 11) – Seattle is in the driver’s seat for the NFC West so the Cardinals will have to hope for a wild card berth, if anything. Arizona currently projects as the 10th seed in the NFC playoff picture. Losing to the Vikings means they lost a potentially valuable tie-breaker with Minnesota.

16 – Pittsburgh Steelers 5-5 (LW: 18) – The Steelers got a free win on Sunday by having the honor of playing the Browns.

17 – Houston Texans 6-4 (LW: 13) – Houston still ranks seventh to last in point differential. Their division lead is shrinking as the Colts start to catch up to them.

18 – Indianapolis Colts 5-5 (LW: 21) – Andrew Luck is bailing out the Colts from a bad start to the season. Indy can still push for the AFC South title if they can beat the Texans.

19 – San Diego Chargers 4-6 (LW: 19) – The Bolts return from their bye week to play the Texans.

20 – Tennessee Titans 5-6 (LW: 17) – It looked like the Titans were on the rise after a dominant win over the Packers. That’s no longer the case. Tennessee is now 0-2 against the Colts this year after getting swept in the season series.

21 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5-5 (LW: 26) – Kudos to the Bucs for the most random and unexpected win of the week by beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Oddly enough, Tampa Bay is 1-4 at home and 4-1 on the road this season.

22 – Baltimore Ravens 5-5 (LW: 20) – Baltimore’s top-ranked run defense slowed down the Cowboys’ running game but the Ravens couldn’t defend against the pass. John Harbaugh’s team remains first in the AFC North standings due to a head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh.

23 – Carolina Panthers 4-6 (LW: 27) – Had the Panthers not blown a significant lead over the Chiefs last week, they’d be a .500 football team right now. They’ve rebounded a little since a rough 1-5 start.

24 – New Orleans Saints 4-6 (LW: 24) – New Orleans’ defense has allowed the third most points in the league. If only there wasn’t always pressure on their offense to carry the team every week.

25 – Cincinnati Bengals 3-6-1 (LW: 22) – The Bengals have one win in their last six games. Is Marvin Lewis‘ job finally going to be in jeopardy if the struggles continue?

26 – Los Angeles Rams 4-6 (LW: 25) – Jared Goff completed 54.8% of his attempts for 4.3 yards per attempt, zero touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 65.8 passer rating. Hardly an impressive debut for the No. 1 overall pick from the 2016 NFL Draft.

27 – Green Bay Packers 4-6 (LW: 24) – Green Bay owns the eighth worst point differential in the NFL after getting outscored 89 to 49 in the past two weeks. The Packers are riding a four-game losing streak. Mike McCarthy deserves to be on the hot seat.

28 – New York Jets 3-7 (LW: 28) – The Jets are turning back to Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starting quarterback. Season saved!

29 – Chicago Bears 2-8 (LW: 29) – Chicago got bit hard by the injury bug this year. The Bears have a whopping 13 players on injured reserve, and starting quarterback Jay Cutler could be the next to end up on the list.

30 – Jacksonville Jaguars 2-8 (LW: 30) – Gus Bradley’s record with the Jaguars in 58 games is now 14-44. Allow me to remind you he received a contract extension prior to this season.

31 – San Francisco 49ers 1-9 (LW: 31) – Everyone thought Chip Kelly’s 49ers would be really bad this year, and they are. San Francisco is 6-20 since parting ways with Jim Harbaugh.

32 – Cleveland Browns 0-11 (LW: 32) – The Browns are five games away from ending the season without a win. At least they can look forward to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.