NFL Power Rankings: Week 14

by Tim Culver

Before you sharpen your pitchforks, a short note on how we’ve come to rank the teams as we have: all NFLTR writers have compiled their own rankings, which we’ve compiled and averaged in the list below.  We hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor, and feel free to agree, disagree, or roast us in the comments below.

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#1)  Houston Texans

The “inadvertent whistle” on the Chris Johnson fumble was a call that would have been worthy of a 60 minutes segment if made by replacement refs.  Instead, it was made by the overpaid officials and ignored.  That’s been a huge (yet ignored) story of this year I just can’t get over.  Anyhow: the defense showed up at the start of this one instead of waiting until late in the game to bring their talent.  When this team is clicking on both sides of the ball, it’s impressive to see and they’ve clinched their postseason birth.  The fact that the Colts refuse to let them clinch the division will only help motivate this group to keep the pedal down until they secure top playoff seeding.

#2) New England Patriots (  1)

It’s a challenge writing original material about a team that continues to use the same formula to play successful football year after year after year.  The Pats are again the first team to clinch a playoff berth and are now playing for position.  They’re going into two huge match-ups against the Texans and 49ers, but unlike their opponents have the benefit of home field and a four-game division lead.

#3) Denver Broncos (  1)

The frightening thing is that this team continues to improve.  The defense swarms and creates turnovers while the offense just refuses to be stopped.  Peyton keeps marching towards an MVP and they have an absurdly easy last few games (excepting the Ravens, but even they look pretty beatable right now).  Given the schedules, I think this team plays its way into a bye week, which, in turn, makes it really hard not to see them playing for the AFC title.  The main regular season objective should be to keep Peyton healthy.

#4) Atlanta Falcons  (  1)

This is about the least impressive a 11-1 team could possibly look.  Strangely, if the playoffs started today, I’d characterize them as a dangerous and under-performing underdog in any match-up.  In this particular game the defense looked a bit too bendy, but did well not to break.  Possession discrepancy seemed to prevent the Falcons offense from finding its pace, but Brees gifted them the ball for a sufficient number of do-overs.  Either way, they’ve got to hang up high in the rankings because they’re winning games others find ways to lose, but nobody’s going to feel too confident making this group favorites against the likes of the Niners, Packers, Giants, or Bears.

#5) San Francisco 49ers (  3)

Did anyone else get the sense that Harbaugh is hedging his Kaepernick decision with some ridiculously conservative play calling?  I feel like if either Smith or Kaepernick would have been in there with the training wheels off, the 49ers would have won that game comfortably.  As it is, the Rams seemed comfortable on defense and stole another result from this group.  This division race is hardly over and the Seahawks are looking very good.  Kaepernick didn’t play poorly, but Harbaugh put himself right under the microscope with his bold choice in the midst of a playoff run.

 

#6) Green Bay Packers (  3)

A glaring weakness going into the Vikings game was the pass protection, but they protected Rodgers well and were allowed to weather a huge game from AD.  They got a huge boost in the division race from the Seahawks, and in a year where division races are sparse, this is shaping up to be a great one.  This could come down to who is upset by the Lions, so the Packers need to exercise care with next week’s assignment.

#7) Chicago Bears 

They didn’t do much to beat themselves this week, they just faced a strong test from a tough opponent.  To add insult to injury, the Packers held off the Vikings and they now trail in the division race.  This division race might be the only one to go down the the wire, but even if the Bears can’t gain back their position, they’re going to be a scary opponent in the playoffs.  They really need to win on the road next week to force the issue, as the Packers will likely get a tough test from the Lions.

#8) Seattle Seahawks (  5)

If Wilson were wearing a Luck jersey, he’d be putting considerable pressure on RGIII for the RotY.  He played a stunningly impressive game against one of the league’s top defenses and led a controlled, patient drive down the field in overtime to throw for the winning touchdown.  Marshawn Lynch continues to be a huge threat and the defense did well to contain Cutler, even if they didn’t get the pressure they’d hoped for.  They play three of their last four in front of their 12th man, and have one last shot at the Niners.  This team has the potential to make all kinds of noise before this season is over.

#9)  Baltimore Ravens (  3) 

This is really a game the Ravens should have won.  They’ve been playing unimpressive football and winning, and now they were torn apart by Charlie Batch and the flailing Steelers.  Now they’re looking at a very tough schedule to finish out the season and could see a real surge from the Steelers.  There’s no doubt that the potential is there to play well and move strongly into the playoffs, but they’ll need a much better showing to keep down RGIII, Peyton, Eli, and Dalton.

#10) New York Giants (  2)

This was not a good weekend for the Giants.  First they watch Dallas climb back to an even record and then they lose a tight one to the ‘Skins.  Well, they’ve done well coming out of tight races in the past, so maybe they’re trying to bring back the old magic.  Either way, this is going to be a tight three-horse race and the Giants have some big time opponents coming up.

#11) Indianapolis Colts ( 4)

Andrew Luck threw enough passes that we’ll just simplify and say that he played two games worth of football, one horrible and one stellar.  This is the type of game that the defense would have given up on a year ago, but they tightened up very late in the game and Luck did the rest.  With two games left against the impressive Titans, this unlikely win was a huge one.  They’re looking more and more like a wildcard lock.

#12) Pittsburgh Steelers ( 3)

Charlie Batch played much better than his numbers, but his receivers dropped/fumbled some key long passes.  The Steelers really needed this game to take some pressure off Big Ben when he returns.  Given all the rest of the key loses from AFC wildcard contenders, the Steelers can start to look more realistically forward towards catching the Ravens instead of looking back at their wildcard challengers.

#13) Cincinnati Bengals ( 1)

A statistical look at this game isn’t all that impressive for the Bengals, yet the Chargers are more dangerous than their record would contend and they were playing for jobs.  The Bengals maintained a balanced approach on offense, capitalized on another strong game from Green-Ellis, and refused to let Rivers get comfortable in the pocket.  If the Bengals can keep from dropping a game against the Cowboys and Eagles, they’ll likely be in position to challenge for the division.

#14) Washington Redskins ( 2)

They’re officially back in it and they’ve got the most preferable schedule of the division contenders.  They’re tough games are at home against the Ravens and Cowboys and the Ravens have struggled recently.  This balanced attack is just what’s needed against the likes of Baltimore and Dallas, so there’s a true shot here in D.C.  If they make it to the postseason there’s going to be an irritating fad in coaching of Shanny-esque “throwing in the towel” speeches on tap.

#15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (  5)  

They lost to a very good team and I still prefer their chances to the other .500 or worse contenders, but they really didn’t want to see a Seahawks win over the Bears.  In the remaining games, the Bucs defense needs to keep things close early, which might be a tough ask against the Saints.  The Broncos got a huge lead and took Doug Martin out of the game.  This is a strong offense, but you don’t want to see them playing one dimensional football.  They did well to make things interesting late against the Broncos, but that was not the blueprint they’re looking for.

#16) New Orleans Saints (  5)  

For a huge stretch of the Falcons game, they really did look like the better team (the defense especially played a mostly strong game), but they dug too deep a hole, were embarrassingly bad in the red zone, and Brees was high-school sloppy.  They’re essentially out of the wildcard hunt, but worse, they’ve still got a miserable schedule left.  This group is no more than a spoiler alert for the rest of 2013.  This whole situation will likely work out to the benefit of Sean Payton, but I’m not at all convinced that he’d have made so much of a difference this year.

#17) Dallas Cowboys ( 1)

It’s a talented (though injury depleted) group that hung 33 points on the Cowboys and ran up and down the field.  It’s nice to see Murray back in the backfield, but when he’s fully recovered they’re going to need to rely on him heavily.  Romo is playing great quarterback recently but defenses are developing game-plans with the assumption that the Cowboys can’t run.  They’ll need a balanced attack to push for the playoffs seriously, but they’re capable of it.

#18) Minnesota Vikings (  1) 

I don’t care who you root for, it’s really hard not to be a fan of Adrian Peterson.  It’s too bad that a few poor decisions by Ponder ended a couple of drives that should have produced points.  The defense didn’t play poorly, but really needed to pressure Rodgers more than they did. It seems unfair that a team that has played so competitively and impressively in big games has to finish up against the Bears, Texans, and Packers while teams in the AFC can’t seem to find a way out of the wildcard chase, but I really don’t see how this group gets a 17th game.

#19) St Louis Rams 

Janoris Jenkins is doing impressive work on behalf of all future draftees with “character concerns”.  Fisher did very well in this particular chess match as he seemed to structure his defense around the assumption that Harbaugh wouldn’t opt for shots down the field.  Offensively, the Rams made sure not to do any more than the very minimum to win this game, but either way, this unit just went 1-0-1 against one of the league’s top defenses.  It’s likely that they’ve left themselves with too much work to earn a playoff spot, but this team will factor heavily in the playoff picture, with games remaining against the Vikings, Bucs, and Seahawks.

#20) Miami Dolphins 

If the Dolphins find themselves out of a wildcard spot at the end of the season, they’re going to look back at this one as one of the most winnable games.  The defense limited Brady with four sacks and an interception but crucial mistakes made things far too easy for the Patriots.  Like just about everyone else in the AFC, they’re still in the wildcard hunt, but with games remaining against the Niners and Pats and an uphill battle to fight, it’s looking more like the Dolphins will miss out on postseason play.

#21) Buffalo Bills ( 2)

It isn’t quite as easy to shut down a Henne-led Jaguars offense as it is some of the earlier iterations of Jags attack.  On this given week, the offense showed up to match the other unit’s efforts and the result was impressive.  Let’s be ridiculous here for a moment and point out that three of the last four games on the schedule are at home and they’re all winnable.  I know it sounds crazy, but this team has the prerequisites for a reasonable 9-7.

#22) Detroit Lions (  1)  

Impressive late play by the Colts and some seriously flexible defending by the Lions secured the most recent heart-breaker of the year.  This is a tough team to rank, because they’re clearly better than their record, but they just can’t seem to put together complete games.  With games left against the Packers and Bears, I still think they’re going to factor heavily in the division, but these loses have been brutal.

#23) Cleveland Browns ( 1)

As an offense that’s struggled to produce all year, you’ve got to get excited about the prospect of facing the Raiders D.  Weeden put up the type of yardage that you’d want, but they left a lot of points on the field.  There’s another chance upcoming for the offense to prove themselves as they face the Chiefs at home next week.  If you’re a defensive enthusiast, it’s going to be fun watching the Browns defense against the Chiefs.  If you’re just a true fan of football, tune out.

#24) New York Jets ( 2)

I’m going to start off with something less obvious than the major story at issue.  While it’s true that six of their opponents were either the Cardinals offensive line or Ryan Lindley, the Jets defense played one hell of a game.  The rest of the season is going to be a wild ride, as this team really should be out of it by now, but somehow finds itself in the middle of a wildcard race.  I don’t see any quarterback play that makes this anything more than an interesting story, but stranger things have happened.

#25) San Diego Chargers (  3) 

Silver lining: They can’t possibly continue to ignore the offensive line in the draft.  Unfortunately for Chargers fans the schedule is soft enough from here out that they’ll likely damage their draft position before the year is out.  Norv will almost certainly lose his job, but the more interesting decision will concern A.J. Smith, who could be saving a seat for John Spanos, but what’s needed is an upgrade, not a passing of the torch.  These corrections all should have been made two years ago, and now they need to turn things around while Rivers still has an arm.

#26) Tennessee Titans ( 1)

Jake Locker has teamed up with Christian Ponder to make sure that this league isn’t devoid of rookie-like quarterback play.  I understand that the Texans are a strong defensive group, but that’s all the more reason not to beat yourself.  The quick lead meant that the Titans lost all offensive balance.  Locker’s got four more games to secure his position, and playing from behind might actually be one of the best ways to do it, but this week he didn’t look like the answer.

#27) Philadelphia Eagles ( 1)

It’s strange that Bryce Brown can play under intense scrutiny for his whole life up to this point and still not have leaned how to carry a football.  Luckily, that’s a relatively correctable problem and he otherwise looks like a serious threat.  Foles had a strong game as well, which is nice to see as Vick’s concussion continues to seem more and more problematic.  The defense is a total mess, Romo and the Cowboys are a dangerous bunch but 21 points in the 4th quarter isn’t acceptable.

#28) Carolina Panthers (  3) 

Rightfully lost in the stories out of Kansas City this weekend is the less important fact that Ron Rivera’s defense gave up 27 points to Brady Quinn and the Chiefs.  The Panthers didn’t have an ideal lead-up to this game either, but this is the type of performance that will be looked on harshly when assessing whether or not Rivera coaches this team next year.

#29) Arizona Cardinals ( 2)

Another hard-luck game for the Cardinals defense.  People are going to point at the struggles in the passing game and clamor for a new QB, but the real issue is the line.  Even a significant upgrade to Kolb or Skelton is still going to struggle to make plays with the level of protection that this group has been given.  I really don’t think this group can beat any of the teams remaining on this year’s schedule.

#30) Oakland Raiders 

There’s not much to talk about here.  The defense is terrible, the offense is either injured or past its prime, and they’ve got no second round pick in the upcoming draft.  Unlike a number of other struggling teams, they don’t even have the pleasure of playing spoiler, as the remaining games on the schedule are against the Broncos, Chiefs, Panthers, and Chargers.

#31) Kansas City Chiefs ( 1)

The fact that the Chiefs showed up and played a competitive game of football following Saturday’s tragedy is impressive.  There aren’t many of us who have any idea what it’s like to go through something of the magnitude of what Romeo Crennel did and it’s a testament to him and his team that they showed up and went to work.

#32) Jacksonville Jaguars (  3) 

Henne set the bar pretty high with his last few performances, but he struggled against an impressive Bills effort.  The running game was non-existent, and Henne just couldn’t complete enough of his passes to put together a true aerial threat.  The defense continued to disappoint as well.  They limited Fitzpatrick but gave up well over 200 rushing yards.  With the Chiefs win, they took a significant step towards the top draft pick.