NFL Power Rankings: Week 14 Edition

Dec 7, 2022 - 12:19 PM

Now that Week 13 of the 2022 NFL season is in the books, it’s time for everyone’s favorite meaningful exercise: NFL Power Rankings! What differentiates these rankings from the others is that they’re the only truly accurate ones in the entire universe. And so let’s take a look at how all 32 teams stack up ahead of Week 14.

BLG’S WEEK 14 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 - Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 2) - The team with the best record in the NFL isn’t always necessarily the best team in the NFL. But how can you not give the top spot to the 11-1 Eagles at this point? The Birds just outbullied a Tennessee team that has a reputation for being tough and forcing opponents to really grind it out to beat them. The Eagles defeated their Week 13 opponents with ease and did it in dominant fashion. The offense is cooking with NFL MVP candidate Jalen Hurts leading the way. No one is talking about Philly’s run defense as a major weakness after shutting down Derrick Henry. Heck, even the Eagles’ struggling special teams unit showed they can turn in a good game. The Eagles have earned the right to be thought of as Super Bowl favorites, not just Super Bowl contenders.

2 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 3) - The Bills have not let things snowball for them after narrowly losing to Minny in overtime; they’re 3-0 in their last three games. Speaking of winning streaks, Buffalo has now defeated the Pats in three straight outings for the first time since ... a stretch from 1999 through 2020. The Bills are also now on the board with their first AFC East win this season.

3 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 1) - Joe Burrow is apparently the Chiefs’ kryptonite. In three straight losses to Cincy, they’ve allowed him to throw for eight touchdowns to just one interception. KC’s loss opens the door for Buffalo to reclaim the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff picture.

4 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 6) - Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury has understandably overshadowed a big win over a Miami offense that was practically scoring at will. The 49ers have allowed an average of 11.4 points per game through their last five outings. DeMeco Ryans’ defense, anchored by NFL sack leader and DPOY candidate Nick Bosa, is going to keep the 49ers competitive. That said, the downgrade from Jimmy G to Brock Purdy does leave less room for error.

5 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 5) - The final score of the Cowboys’ blowout win over Indy doesn’t really tell the story of the game. It was a competitive affair until Dallas capitalized on the refs inexplicably ruling a Dak Prescott interception as an incompletion. The Cowboys deserve credit for ultimately making their opponent quit. But it’s also a nice to get help in the form of the opponent quitting.

6 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 8) - With a win over Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow should be lingering in the MVP conversation. The Bengals have a fairly tough road the rest of the way but it’s not hard to imagine Burrow leading them to a strong finish. They look poised to seize the AFC North and enter the playoffs as a dangerous team once again.

7 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 7) - It’s very annoying how this team continues to gaslight everyone into thinking they’re actually very good. They’re really due for some losses after reaching a 9-0 record in one-score games. They can’t keep avoiding bad luck forever.

8 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 4) - Tua Tagovailoa had his worst game of the season against an elite defense. Sure didn’t help that he was without both of his starting offensive tackles.

9 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 10) - Lamar Jackson is on track to miss at least one game and potentially up to three due to injury. With Cincy surging, the Ravens are in jeopardy of another late-season collapse. Even if they hold on to make the postseason, it’s hard to feel great about their chances of doing damage once it starts. Jackson has been downright awful in the playoffs to this point in his career.

10 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 9) - The Titans losing in Philly wasn’t about them beating themselves as much as it was getting totally outclassed by their opponent. A.J. Brown going off against his former team was met with the Titans firing GM Jon Robinson.

11 - New York Jets (LW: 11) - While Mike White is an upgrade on Zach Wilson, he’s still Mike White. The ceiling is only so high.

12 - Washington Commanders (LW: 12) - There’s a case to be made the Commanders’ tie is more of a win for them than it was for the G-Men. Washington gets a bye before playing them again in Week 15 ... at home in Landover, Maryland. They have a real opportunity to move ahead of New York in the NFC playoff picture.

13 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 16) - “Deshaun Watson scored fewer points in his return than the number of accusations against him.”

14 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 14) - The Seahawks are looking a little shaky. They followed up back-to-back losses with a performance where they needed a last-minute touchdown to beat John Wolford.

15 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 17) - Never. Count. Out. Touchdown. Tom.

16 - New England Patriots (LW: 13) - I’m not going to say that coaching doesn’t matter in the NFL. But only to a point, right? The Patriots supposedly have one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, coaches of all time. And they’re merely 16-14 with him since Tom Brady left.

17 - Detroit Lions (LW: 21) - The collective probably likes to talk about teams who aren’t as good as their record indicates more than teams who are better than record indicates. The Lions fit in the latter category considering how they rank 17th in point differential and 14th in DVOA. They have an opportunity to boost their playoff chances by beating a Minny team that belongs in the former category.

18 - New York Giants (LW: 18) - The G-Men are 1-3-1 in their last five games with the sole win being a one-possession victory over the worst team in the NFL. More losses could be on the way considering they have the NFL’s second-toughest remaining strength of schedule.

19 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 15) - Sean Payton is going to be coaching Justin Herbert next year.

20 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 22) - If the Steelers go 3-1-1 or better down the stretch, they can keep their streak of non-losing seasons since 2003 alive. Their remaining five games: vs. BAL, at CAR, vs. LVR, at BAL, vs. CLE. Not going to be easy ... but not impossible.

21 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 19) - Had they not blown a 13-point lead to Tampa, their playoff chances would’ve jumped to 28%. Instead, the loss dropped their chances to 0.6%. And now they currently owe the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to Philly. Tough look.

22 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 20) - It’s getting to be Desmond Ridder time, if it wasn’t already. Not much left to learn by playing Marcus Mariota at this point.

23 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 26) - Even in one of the worst seasons of his career, Aaron Rodgers still owns Chicago. The Packers might be able to win another game this week with Sean McVay’s squad up next.

24 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 27) - The Raiders are 3-0 since their embarrassing loss to Jeff Saturday. They have a chance to play spoiler to some teams down the stretch.

25 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 24) - The Cards return from their bye to host the Pats. Who cares.

26 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 23) - The Jags weren’t able to build on their big win over Baltimore, instead getting blown out by Detroit.

27 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 25) - Matthew Stafford is done for the season. The Rams should shut their other key players down and try to get right for 2023. Time to evaluate the young guys ... and Baker Mayfield, too, I guess.

28 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 28) - The Panthers return from their bye to play in Seattle. They really need to lose more to ensure they can draft a desired QB.

29 - Denver Broncos (LW: 29) - 14 touchdowns. That’s how many the Broncos have scored this year. It’s four fewer than any other team. And it’s 30 fewer than Philly’s NFL lead.

30 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 30) - The Colts showed some fight for a bit before flat out quitting against Dallas.

31 - Chicago Bears (LW: 31) - No quarterback has ever gotten more praise for leading his team on a six-game losing streak than Justin Fields has.

32 - Houston Texans (LW: 32) - Houston’s remaining games: at DAL, vs. KC, at TEN, vs. JAX, at IND. Pretty decent chance they lose out. Maybe they win one. Even if they do, they’re poised for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.