2013 Week Eleven NFL Power Rankings

By: Matt Harmon

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8)
  • The Jags got their first win and while they may still not be a very good team, it would not be more surprising if they grab some more wins before the end of the season. Sometimes it just helps to get the first. 

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-8)
  • Congratulations are in order to the Bucs, who also got their first win last night. However, with how bad the Dolphins looks and how disinterested they seemed, that win should have been a total blowout. However, subpar quarterback play and some of the stupidest penalties you will ever see kept the Dolphins in the game until the end. Tampa Bay does not look like a team capable of catching fire. 

30. Minnesota Vikings (2-7)
  • The Vikings beat the Redskins because their defense finally stepped up. Lets hope they get Christian Ponder back this week against the Seahawks, because he was playing the best football of his career before leaving with an injury. Sometimes it takes getting benched for a conservative quarterback to adapt that “nothing left to lose” mentality he needs to let it rip. 

29. Atlanta Falcons (2-7)
  • The Falcons are without a doubt one of the worst teams in the league now. You also have to begin to wonder, how great of a player is Matt Ryan really? Yes, there are a ton of injuries on this Atlanta roster, but he is not exactly elevating his teammates to his level of play. Instead, he is playing down to theirs. 

28. Buffalo Bills (3-7)
  • It is not a good sign that the Bills first round quarterback has been outplayed thus far by a guy they signed to their practice squad at the end of the preseason. E.J. Manuel has not been a good quarterback this season, but with a solid roster around him, the Bills have a chance to make some noise next season if he improves. 

27. Oakland Raiders (3-6)
  • The Raiders looked like they could be a sneaky playoff team a few weeks ago, but with Terrelle Pryor settling into a funk as a passer, and the offensive line and defense starting to look more and more like the potential 0-16 season, those hopes are dashed. Do not give up on Pryor yet though, he is still very raw, but had looked promising with an average at best supporting cast. 

26. St. Louis Rams (4-6)
  • The Rams are going to be a tough out the rest of the way. They have adapted the traditional Jeff Fisher formula of strong defense and a power running offense, and it fits them much better. Frankly, they are not that much worse of a team with Kellen Clemens behind center than they were with Sam Bradford. What does that say?

25. Houston Texans (2-7)
  • Case Keenum continues to put up big numbers, but like most young quarterbacks, he is struggling to carry his team to wins. Keenum still has a bright future, but it is a concern that this coaching staff will be fired at the end of this train wreck of a season, and the next group will not take the time to develop him. 

24. Miami Dolphins (4-5)
  • The Dolphins are a bad football team right now. Ryan Tannehill is not playing well while he gets destroyed behind an abysmal offensive line, they cannot run the ball at all, and some of their highest paid players are underperforming (Mike Wallace, Reshad Jones). 

23. New York Giants (3-6)
  • The Giants offense is still not clicking at all, though Andre Brown’s return rally did help. However, this defense might be legit, as it has played really well during their three game winning streak. 

22. Washington Redskins (3-6)
  • The Redskins look to be out of it, but they were in this exact same spot last season. This team is nowhere near the team it was when they rattled of seven straight wins to grab the NFC East crown. The defense is abysmal and the offense cannot seem to find consistent production on a week to week basis

21. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-6)
  • The Steelers do not get a ton of credit for beating a bad Bills team, but they are not as awful as the team that was destroyed by the Patriots in Week Nine. 

20. Baltimore Ravens (4-5)
  • The Ravens are still alive in the AFC North race, but like the Redskins, it is hard to see them duplicating their miracle run to the playoffs and a Super Bowl win of last year. In fact, they dropped in these rankings despite beating their best division rival, because it should have never been that close. 

19. Cleveland Browns (4-5)
  • The Browns are coming off their bye week and are lurking just around the corner from the Bengals in position to steal the AFC North from them. 

18. Tennessee Titans (4-5)
  • We may have seen the end of the Jake Locker era in Tennessee on Sunday. Locker is out for the season, and now the Titans are likely out of the playoff race, especially after losing to Jacksonville. With the titans on the outside looking in on the playoffs, there could be a coaching change, and it is hard to see a new staff wanting to build around an injury prone and still developing quarterback. 

17. San Diego Chargers (4-5)
  • The Chargers are certainly going to exceed preseason expectations, but we could be seeing their “fall back to the pack” moment. Defensive deficiencies and a lack of consistency on offense leaves them looking like a .500 team, and that may not be enough for a playoff spot. 

16. Dallas Cowboys (5-5)
  • The Cowboys are squandering their shot to run away with the NFC Least. Is there any doubt that the division will be decided in the Eagles and Cowboys Week Seventeen game on Sunday night football? And given recent history, is there any doubt the Cowboys will blow that game and miss the playoffs?

15. Philadelphia Eagles (5-5)
  • Everyone is talking about Nick Foles as the reason this team looks to be finding some consistency, and no doubt his insertion into the starting line up has been huge, but it is the improvement of the defense that is the reason this team looks poised to win the NFC Least. The biggest catalysts to the defensive improvement have been the best set of 3-4 defensive ends in the NFL this season, Fletcher Cox and Cedric Thornton. Cox is a former first round pick, and the more dynamic pass rusher, while Thornton is a former undrafted player who has risen from anonymity to become a run stuffing dynamo along the Eagles d-line. 

14. Arizona Cardinals (5-4)
  • With the logjam that is sure to be created for the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture, it is hard to imagine the team with Carson Palmer at quarterback sneaking in. However, with a swarming defense and some talented players on offense, anything is possible. 

13. New York Jets (5-4)
  • The Jets and their stellar defense come off their bye week in the best position of the mediocre AFC wild card contenders to snag the sixth seed.

12. Cincinnati Bengals (6-4)
  • When the Bengals get good quarterback play, they are a top ten team, and when they too often do not, they are an average squad. It really is that simple. Such is life with Andy Dalton as your starting quarterback. 

11. Chicago Bears (5-4)
  • You can already hear the rumblings come from Chicago fans that their team is better off with Josh McCown as the starting quarterback over Jay Cutler. The sad thing is, McCown is giving them every reason to believe that. McCown is not the player Cutler is, but you have to wonder if the coaching staff is beginning to believe that if they can get this type of play out of McCown then they can move on from Cutler and bring in their own guy in the draft to groom. 

10. Green Bay Packers (5-4)
  • The Packers are at the point of bringing in Jon Skelton. Gross. This is a team that will continue to drop in the Power Rankings and could drop out of the playoff picture all together after a ridiculous amount of injuries. Seriously, consider some of the names of Packers players injured at some point this season: Aaron Rodgers, Seneca Wallace, Eddie Lacy, James Starks, Casey Heyward, Morgan Burnett, Randall Cobb, James Jones, Jermichael Finely, Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Brian Bulaga, and there is probably more.

9. Indianapolis Colts (6-3)
  • The Colts offense is way too easy to defend. They cannot run the ball a lick with some running back they gave up a first round pick for and consequently teams like the Rams are just selling out to rush the passer; which the Colts are incapable of defending with a poor offensive line. T.Y. Hilton is an exciting young player, but he is not a number one type receiver, and there are virtually no other consistent threats in the passing game. These guys do not fit the profile of a Super Bowl contender. 

8. San Francisco 49ers (6-3)
  • The 49ers got beat at their own game by the Panthers on Sunday. Right now, Colin Kaepernick is struggling with some subpar weapons, because he is limited as a passer. He was exceptional with guys like Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis who excel at getting separation on defenders. Player like Anquan Boldin, Kyle Williams, and even Mario Manningham do not afford you that same luxury. 

7. Carolina Panthers (6-3)
  • The Panthers announced themselves to the world by beating a good team on the road in a close game. With Ron Rivera learning the error of his conservative ways and becoming the man we know and love as Riverboat Ron, this team has transformed itself into a legitimate contender in the NFC. Not many coaches learn that lesson in the midst of their first head-coaching job, so hats off to Riverboat Ron. 

6. Detroit Lions (6-3)
  • The Lions have a very easy schedule going forward and, with every team in their division facing quarterback injuries, look primed to run away with the NFC North. They still must become more disciplined though. Some of the penalties they committed against the Bears on Sunday will get them booted out of the playoffs very early

5. New England Patriots (7-2)
  • The Patriots come off their bye week to face the red hot Carolina Panthers. Bill Belichick will no doubt have tricks up their sleeves to spoil the Panthers’ fun. 

4. New Orleans Saints (7-2)
  • The Saints looked impressive on Sunday night, to put it lightly. However, with the Panthers just one game back on them in the NFC South, they cannot afford to get complacent. The Saints will likely need to beat the Panthers twice to ensure themselves the division crown, and a home playoff game; something they desperately need.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (9-0)
  • The Chiefs come off their bye week to face the Denver Broncos in their first big test of the season. Despite what everyone may think, the Chiefs can absolutely win that game, but they need Alex Smith to recapture the form he showed in the 49ers 2011 playoff victory over the Saints.

2. Seattle Seahawks (9-1)
  • So the Seahawks are plenty capable of scoring points huh? The Seahawks never dropped far in these rankings despite the disaster narrative being bandied about by national media. The Seahawks did not have a stiff test in the Falcons on Sunday, but they have plenty of weapons on offense, and a late bye will only help this whole team get the infusion of good health it needs. 

1.    Denver Broncos (8-1)
  • Peyton Manning looks set to play on Sunday, despite a few ankle maladies. Look out for how he looks under the pressure of the Chiefs pass rush. The Broncos would be wise to mix in some screens to Knowshon Moreno and especially Demaryius Thomas, to slow down that ferocious Chiefs pass rush. This team has no shot without Manning, so doing what ever needs to be done to protect him should be of the highest priority.

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