NFL Power Rankings 2020: Week 12 Edition

Week 11 of the 2020 NFL Season is in the book and now is the time to do everyone’s favorite meaningful exercise: NFL Power Rankings! Let’s take a look at how the 32 teams stack up against each other. Don’t forget to hear me talk about the league landscape on my national podcast: the ODDcast! (The episode will be posted here later.)

BLG NFL WEEK 12 POWER RANKING

1 – Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 1) – There have been 16 teams to start 10-0 since 1970. 10 of them have gone on to make the Super Bowl. The story is on the Pittsburgh side.

2 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 2) – The Chiefs were in danger of being swept away by Jon Gruden but thanks to this guy from Patrick Mahomes they were able to secure the victory. Unfair. The bad news for KC is that their defense is a concern.

3 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 3) – Taysom Hill was pretty efficient in his first NFL start as a quarterback: 78.3% completion, 10.1 yards per attempt, 108.9 passer rating. It’ll be interesting to see how he holds up with Drew Brees potentially returning before Week 15.

4 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 10) – It’s very anecdotal but I like the edge the Rams play with. Their defense is tough. It’s annoying how Sean McVay is so cowardly, but he’s obviously doing some good things in terms of the plot.

5 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 13) – Big jump for the Colts but they deserve it. They are fifth in points differential and fifth in DVOA. They are at least the third best team in the AFC.

6 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 4) – For the second season in a row they are an above average team that people don’t fear as much as they should. Vibes of fraud.

7 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 8) – Goodbye week for Buffalo with Miami and New England losing. Bills will come back to welcome LAC.

8 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 11) – Seattle’s porous defense was not as bad over the past two weeks. If they can just be respectable, they should be in good shape with Russell Wilson in the lead. Seattle has a shot at going 8-3 with a terrible Philly team they still have afterwards.

9 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 6) – Two of Tom Brady’s last three games have been really bad. He recorded just 4.5 yards per attempt Monday night and he could easily have had at least four total turnovers. It is not fully cooked, but it is at least a little cooked.

10 – Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 12) – Getting the Raiders up despite being defeated because they look like a quality team. Definitely the one that belongs to the playoffs.

11 – Miami Dolphins (LW: 5) – What happened, Dolphins !? You looked so awesome. And then you lose to Denver ?! I just hope for a trap game. Interesting to see Tua Tagovailoa on the bench so soon after taking over, but he’s still the starter heading into Week 12.

12 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 7) – The cards are good but they are not yet big. They could be next year after improving the roster even further and gaining some playoff experience for Kyler Murray.

13 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 14) – The Titans have a tenacity towards them. Nice response after losing last week. Now they will have Indy again this weekend.

14 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 9) – The Ravens are 1-3 in their last four games. Lamar Jackson had six touchdowns for six total turnovers during that span. Far from its MVP form. If the season ended today, Baltimore wouldn’t even be in the playoffs.

15 – Cleveland Browns (LW: 15) – On the bright side, the Browns advanced to 7-3 with a win over Philly. On the dark side, they don’t really look very good. Can still reach 8-3 with a game against the Jags following.

16 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 18) – No Teddy Bridgewater, no Christian McCaffrey, no problem. The Panthers won by 20 points despite PJ Walker throwing two red zone picks. Matt Rhule is a good head coach.

17 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 16) – The Vikings had to beat Dallas to maintain their unlikely playoff hopes. They didn’t beat Dallas.

18 – New England Patriots (LW: 17) – The Pats had to beat Houston to maintain their unlikely playoff hopes. They didn’t beat Houston.

19 – Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 22) – The Bolts never look easy. But Justin Herbert is a stud and that’s what matters most overall.

20 – Chicago Bears (LW: 20) – The Bears will return from their bye to welcome Green Bay. Looks like Mitchell Trubisky could be back with Nick Foles still stoned. That will really settle things!

21 – New York Giants (LW: 23) – Mixed week off for the G-Men. It’s good to see Philly lose, bad to see Washington and Dallas win. The Giants can go 4-7 with a win over Cincy this week. Reason to feel good with them with the way Joe Judge makes this team fight so fiercely … literally and figuratively.

22 – Denver Broncos (LW: 27) – The Denver defensive line was able to take advantage of the Miami offensive line to score six sacks. The Broncos’ running game was essential to their offensive success. Bad win to draft a quarterback to replace Drew Lock, which is necessary.

23 – Houston Texans (LW: 28) – The Texans finally beat a team that wasn’t the Jags! Deshaun Watson playing well came with a win for once. Did you know he hasn’t cast a pick since week 5?

24 – Washington Soccer Team (LW: 29) – Alex Smith might actually be able to lead the soccer team to a division title. A win over Dallas at Thanksgiving would be huge.

25 – Dallas Cowboys (LW: 30) – The Cowboys fought well against Pittsburgh before the bye and they beat Minny on the way out. An encouraging turnaround from Mike McCarthy’s group. Another threat to win the NFC East!

26 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 24) – They will come back from their bye to face LAR, whom they previously defeated in October. They’ll have a significant rest advantage with LAR coming out of Monday Night Football, but that might not matter. Don’t think they’re sweeping the series this season.

27 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 19) – Big drop for the Bengals with Joe Burrow sidelined for the season with a major knee injury which could also impact his 2021 availability. Terrible development for Cincy.

28 – Detroit Lions (LW: 21) – I guess Matt Patricia is still only employed because the Lions didn’t want to change head coach in a short week. Losing to Houston on Thanksgiving should get him fired.

29 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 25) – One has to wonder how much the success of Taysom Hill has been linked to the fact that Atlanta is horrible. They allow the second most passing yards per game.

30 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 26) – The Eagles are terrible and there are no easy fixes. They’re screwed. Carson Wentz absolutely deserves to be put on the bench.

31 – Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 31) – Jake Luton has three times more interceptions than touchdowns after throwing four picks against Pittsburgh. I’m starting to think the Jags might need to draft a quarterback.

32 – New York Jets (LW: 32) – Second week in a row the Jets have had the perfect tanking result: looking competitive when lost. It’s time to stay the course and get that top pick!