NFL Week 14 Power Rankings

Week 13 is in the books, and a familiar team sits atop my NFL week 14 power rankings. After a dominating victory over the NFC leading Philadelphia Eagles, there should be little debate that the San Francisco 49ers deserve the top spot. In fact, the top seven teams are pretty clear to me; it’s after that group that things get a little murky. Between the injuries to key players, quarterbacks dropping like flies, bad coaching, and absolutely horrid refereeing, mediocrity runs rampant around the league. Let’s try to sort through the muck with my NFL Week 14 Power Rankings!

1. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS  9-3
2. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES  10-2
3. DALLAS COWBOYS  9-3
4. MIAMI DOLPHINS  9-3
5. BALTIMORE RAVENS  9-3
6. DETROIT LIONS  9-3
7. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS  8-4
8. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS  8-4
9. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS  7-5
10. BUFFALO BILLS  6-6
11. HOUSTON TEXANS  7-5
12. GREEN BAY PACKERS  6-6
13. LOS ANGELES RAMS  6-6
14. PITTSBURGH STEELERS  7-5
15. CLEVELAND BROWNS  7-5
16. CINCINNATI BENGALS  6-6
17. DENVER BRONCOS  6-6
18. ATLANTA FALCONS  6-6
19. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS  5-7
20. MINNESOTA VIKINGS  6-6
21. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS  5-7
22. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS  6-6
23. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS  5-7
24. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS  5-7
25. CHICAGO BEARS  4-8
26. TENNESSEE TITANS  4-8
27. NEW YORK GIANTS  4-8
28. ARIZONA CARDINALS  3-10
29. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS  4-9
30. NEW YORK JETS  4-8
31. CAROLINA PANTHERS  1-11
32. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS  2-10

NFL Week 13 Thoughts

• That little three game slide earlier this season was a minor hiccup. San Fran has now won four games in a row, and has been blowing teams out along the way. The 49ers are the closest thing we have to a complete team in the NFL. They have an elite defense, elite rushing attack, a good coaching staff, and are getting elite play from Brock Purdy. This team needs their big dogs to stay healthy though – the wheels fell off the offense when Deebo Samuel got hurt during the three game losing streak.

• The Eagles gotta get their defense together if they’re going to be considered legit Super Bowl contenders. Their defense has been downright bad the last bunch of weeks, and the secondary has been torched in three of the last four games. They only have nine sacks as a team the last four weeks combined, and things don’t get any easier this week as Philly heads to Dallas for a big showdown with the Cowboys. Add in the fact that over the last few weeks Jalen Hurts has not played to the level we’ve come to expect and the rushing attack hasn’t been efficient, and Philly suddenly has some things to sort out before the playoffs.

• Call me crazy, but I still have faith in the Buffalo Bills to hunker down and make a push for the playoffs. Their offense is elite, they have one of the better defenses in the league, and they have an elite quarterback in Josh Allen. The issues with the team are turnovers and penalties; Buffalo is one of the worst teams in the league in both categories. Doesn’t matter how good your team might be, if you can’t take care of the football and commit dumb penalties, you aren’t going to win many games. Eliminate one or both of those problems, and this is a dangerous team as long as Allen is healthy.

• It feels like there are more bad teams this season than I remember in years past – there’s a lot of teams in the playoff hunt that don’t look like they belong. This Colts team led by Gardner Minshew is really a potential division winner and playoff contender? Really? You sure about that? The Steelers and Browns each have seven wins and are starting backup quarterbacks; do we really believe either is a legit playoff team? I’m not sure anyone wants to even win the NFC South. The Broncos, Chargers, and Seahawks all have the talent to push for playoff spots, but each are badly flawed teams toiling through up and down seasons. Anything is possible in the NFL (“any given Sunday”, right?), but these current playoff projections are gross.

• Joshua Dobbs and the Minnesota Vikings were the talk of the league not too long ago. The recently acquired Dobbs led Minnesota to wins over Atlanta and New Orleans, the team had won five straight, and it looked like they might be able to stay afloat in the playoff race despite losing Kirk Cousins to a season ending injury. Two loses, six turnovers, and a bye week later, there’s been talk of Dobbs possibly getting benched. His possible replacements currently on the roster are journeyman Nick Mullens and rookie fifth round pick Jaren Hall. Life comes at you fast in the NFL…