Week 12 NFL Power Rankings
By Liam McKeone
Your weekly power rankings for Week 12 of the NFL season.
32. Cincinnati Bengals (0-10)
Cincinnati is officially eliminated from playoff contention and well on their way to securing the first pick in next year’s draft.
31. Washington Redskins (1-9)
Dwayne Haskins is struggling, but he’s not getting much help either. This is a disaster of a team.
30. Miami Dolphins (2-8)
A two-game win streak is more than most expected at any point from Miami, but giving up 37 to an underwhelming Bills unit shows there’s still a lot of work to be done.
29. New York Giants (2-8)
A bye week hopefully means Daniel Jones’ weapons will get healthy.
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-7)
Turnover issues strike again and the Bucs don’t know any more about their future than they did at start of the season.
27. New York Jets (3-7)
The Jets beat up on the lowly Redskins with some encouraging offensive progress. Not a win that will catapult them up the power rankings, though.
26. Detroit Lions (3-6-1)
Jeff Driskel put up a good fight, but the Cowboys were just a better team. With no Matt Stafford, wins will be hard to come by.
25. Cleveland Browns (4-6)
The defense played well in their win against Pittsburgh, but they’ll be without their best player going forward and the offense still doesn’t look cohesive. Not an optimistic outlook.
24. Atlanta Falcons (3-7)
I don’t know what’s gotten into the Falcons, but they clearly aren’t on board with tanking for Chase Young. The defense has improved drastically, which is extremely impressive considering where they were at before the bye.
23. Arizona Cardinals (3-7-1)
The Cardinals stepped up and nearly stole one from San Francisco at home. Kyler Murray is very fun to watch, and while this Arizona team still isn't very good, there's a lot of potential to play late-season spoiler to playoff hopeful opponents.
22. Denver Broncos (3-7)
The last quarter was as bad as it can get, but the first three were encouraging enough to give Denver a small boost in the rankings.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6)
Nick Foles didn’t look good, which isn’t a big surprise in his first week back, but this was a massive divisional matchup. He needed to be better.
20. Los Angeles Chargers (4-7)
Philip Rivers collapsed in the face of a defense that couldn't stop Ryan Tannehill last week.
19. Chicago Bears (4-6)
Ah, boy. Someone will be without a job after this Bears season, but it’s impossible to know if it’ll be Matt Nagy, Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Pace, or all three.
18. Carolina Panthers (5-5)
Kyle Allen’s magical run comes to an end as he throws four ugly interceptions. Losing to the Falcons is a huge blow to their playoff chances.
17. Tennessee Titans (5-5)
Tennessee will come off a bye this week to play Jacksonville, and it’s a must-win if they want to stay in wild-card contention.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-5)
The end of the game overshadowed a lot of the play, but Pittsburgh’s offense looked terrible throughout the night. The defense can only do so much.
15. Los Angeles Rams (6-4)
Todd Gurley proved he was still alive this week, but beating this version of the Bears isn’t worth much right now.
14. Indianapolis Colts (6-4)
Another grind-it-out win against a divisional foe. With the Texans’ flop against Baltimore, Indy stays in the running for the AFC South title.
13. Oakland Raiders (6-4)
Knock on wood if you’re with me! Jon Gruden and Derek Carr have Oakland keeping pace with Kansas City in the AFC West. Given the injuries and how close every game has been, they may fall off a cliff soon, but for now, they’re fun to watch.
12. Houston Texans (6-4)
So, uh… What happened here? The Ravens are really good, but the Texans were supposed to be, too. Deshaun Watson was bound to have a truly terrible game eventually, but this was a surprising moment for it to happen.
11. Dallas Cowboys (6-4)
The Lions shouldn’t have been in the game for as long as they were, but Dak Prescott continues to play some outstanding football as Dallas picks up another W.
10. Buffalo Bills (7-3)
Dropping 37 is a great sign for an offense that can struggle to produce at times. It was against the Dolphins, however, which is an asterisk this year.
9. Philadelphia Eagles (5-5)
The defensive front is now more than healthy enough to cover for the issues on the back end. But the lack of receiving options outside of Zach Ertz becomes abundantly clear against upper-echelon units like the Patriots.
8. Minnesota Vikings (8-3)
They didn't look good doing it, but the Vikes picked up the win at home and avoided a brutal loss to the spiraling Broncos.
7. Kansas City Chiefs (7-4)
Patrick Mahomes looked solid and the Chiefs took care of business. If the defense can muster even one turnover per game, it would make all the difference, so Monday night was very encouraging in that regard.
6. Green Bay Packers (8-2)
Coming off a bye, the Packers will look to make a statement on Sunday Night Football against the Niners.
5. Seattle Seahawks (8-2)
A bye week for Seattle, and they’ll come off it this week to face off against the Eagles in Philly.
4. New Orleans Saints (8-2)
New Orleans bounced back in an annihilation of the Bucs after dropping a home game to the Falcons. Michael Thomas continues to make an MVP case.
3. San Francisco 49ers (9-1)
The Niners just barely escaped, but escape they did. Jimmy Garoppolo made the throws when it counted.
2. New England Patriots (9-1)
The offense is struggling mightily but the defense continues to roll in what can only be described as a bizzaro season for New England. Still, great teams grind out wins against other great teams, and a November bout in Philly is just that.
1. Baltimore Ravens (8-2)
Everything is going right for the Ravens right now. Nobody can stop their offense and they became the first team to completely, utterly shut down Watson. Nobody wants to play Baltimore right now.