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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/NFLPowerRankers on 2024-12-10 21:14:56+00:00.
Welcome to week 14 of the r/NFL Power Rankings! What a week for Football brainfarts! The Bengals, 1-7 in one score games until Monday, were by all accounts, outplayed by a completely average Cowboys showing. Even though Philadelphia won, the Panthers are playing like they took that $3 million bet personally. In the North, Dan Campbell is fighting off two of the strongest wild card teams in NFL history, while Chicago is busy suffering without Eberflus to guide their defense. Kansas City is on regular season autopilot, will they be able to keep it up into the playoffs? The Rams won a second straight, a healthy Nacua being the difference maker to come out on top against Buffalo. Will Seattle be able to hold onto their NFC West lead with the Packers and Vikings up in consecutive weeks? Will Atlanta stop their four-game slide against Vegas? Discuss! 29/32 Reporting
| # | Team | Δ | Record | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lions | – | 12-1 | After Alim McNeill went down with a head injury, the Detroit Lions defensive line rotation sported a whopping ONE player that was on the active roster November 4th (the day before the Za’Darius Smith trade). That was Pat O’Connor, who was signed to the roster October 19th following the Aidan Hutchinson and Kyle Peko injuries. Against Green Bay, O’Connor put on an absolute CLINIC. Despite not lighting up the stat sheet, the Eastern Michigan alum (played with Maxx Crosby in 2015-2016 for a lil fun fact) was constantly in the Packers’ backfield, disrupting timing and putting their IOL through a spin-cycle. His timing off the snap was immaculate every time; shoutout Pat fucking O’Connor. Next up is another Black and Blue alternate jersey game, this time with Josh Allen and the Bills coming to town. Time to see what half the linebacking rotation can do with TWO weeks of practice under their belt. | |
| 2. | Bills | – | 10-3 | Another week, another week of Josh Allen making the history books and locking up the Mvp. Despite his heroics and being called an alien by Mcvay, Allen was a one man show on Sunday and wasn’t able to overcome the combined efforts of Kyren Puka and Stafford. This game left little doubt the Bills still have a lethal offense having put up 30+ points in the last 7 games. Bills fans can rest easy knowing it will take a (herculean effort like the Rams displayed) to best this team. The one seed may be lost but if the Bills keep playing like they have all season the Chiefs should be scared, there would be no greater satisfaction than for the Bills to advance to the Superbowl with a win in Arrowhead. The Bills have the perfect chance to right their image with a duel against the elite of the NFL in the Detroit Lions. This game looks to be a shootout and it is crucial that the Bills defense can at least show some fight this week and maybe even generate a turnover. | |
| 3. | Chiefs | +1 | 12-1 | Another week another close win. The team has some legitimate question marks, but they continue to play great situational football and beat playoff teams. All eyes in Kansas City are on the Bills / Lions and Steelers / Eagles games. If the NFC teams can win those the Chiefs need two wins in the last 4 weeks to secure the 1 seed. With the Christmas game nonsense it would be incredible for the team if the other two top teams in the AFC could drop another game this week and the Chiefs can secure the bye before the Steelers game. In that scenario it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff load manages over the last two weeks of the season. | |
| 4. | Eagles | -1 | 11-2 | An Eagles power ranker blurb-writer staring into a Jalen Mills mask: We’re frauds. Hacks. Fakes. No, don’t talk about yourself like that! What about Saquon! What about Quinyon! No. We suck. We could barely beat the Panthers. We only lost because Legette has legs for hands. That joke probably sounded better in your head. Fair. But no, really. This is a repeat of 2023. We win a couple games against some good teams, then it all comes crashing down. Hell, BG is now on the radio talking shit about the team! You’re spiraling. That was taken out of context. He was just saying— It doesn’t matter what he was trying to say, I’m very sensitive. Look, this team is flawed, sure, but so is every team at the top! The Bills just gave up 44 points to the Rams! The Lions are winning, but their games are close. The Chiefs are relying on pure voodoo at this point. The Eagles may be flawed, but they have the best run game in the NFL, a top 5 defense, and enough weapons in the passing game to always be a threat. A threat to my sanity! Jalen looked like he had the worst game of his career! All day to throw, and absolutely abysmal passing numbers. We’re 11-2. Breathe. We’re in the playoffs. Sure, we probably won’t get the bye week, but there’s of potential here! That’s exactly the issue! This team is all potential! We have yet to see 4 strong quarters of football And then what? What? What then? What happens when you watch the Eagles win a good game? What if they beat the Steelers this week in a blowout? Well, that’s an AFC team, doesn’t really help us all that much with seeding, so– Go fuck yourself. | |
| 5. | Vikings | – | 11-2 | ||
| 6. | Steelers | – | 10-3 | Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston squared off again on Sunday, but this time with a very different outcome. While Winston looked inspired last time, he looked flustered and mistake-prone. Wilson, while more restrained, had a solid outing and managed the game well enough to put his pieces in the right place to win. Statistically, the game was pretty close, even time of possession was evenly split at 30 minutes. The deciding factor was that the Browns simply committed more penalties, converted less 3rd downs, and turned the ball over more. Elandon Roberts had a pretty impactful game and Warren and Friermuth picked the team up at key moments. This wasn’t the most spectacular contest on Sunday, but it was still another key win for Pittsburgh. Looking forward to the postseason, with the Bills losing, the Steelers are firmly in command for the 2nd seed and can even afford a loss along the way. However, if the Chiefs lose to Pittsburgh and any of their division rivals, Pittsburgh would be the #1 seed and earn a bye. | |
| 7. | Packers | – | 9-4 | The No.1 thing that will kill the Packers in the end will be the linebackers. Detroit ate them alive this game. So much play action and so many screens, the Lions picked apart the defense on plays that demand the backers stay disciplined and be in position to get to the ball in a timely matter. Detroit was also so effective on 4th down because of the linebacker play. They know they can, for the most part, pick up a 4th and short. It’s literally like they’re making a shorter first down, the only need 8 yards in three plays instead of 10. Out linebackers clearly didn’t get the memo because several times they found themselves in a 3rd and long and Detroit played for the 4th and short and the Packers didn’t really do anything to prevent it. Or maybe the linebackers knew it and just aren’t good enough to stop it. Probably the latter. The Packers are still a very good team and hang with the best of them but it’d be nice to, like, actually beat them one time this year. Perhaps we’re saving those wins for the playoffs | |
| 8. | Ravens | – | 8-5 | Much like the Ravens I’m on a bye this week. | |
| 9. | Chargers | – | 8-5 | I could write up a basic recap of the tragedy that was Sunday’s game, but frankly, NBC did everything in its power to talk only of Mahomes and KC during the broadcast, and I’m uninterested in giving them any more conversation. Instead, I’d like to bring up a potentially devastating playoff scenario for the Chargers that nobody is talking about, where they would be on the outside looking into the wildcard race by the end of week 16. The Miami Dolphins, who have been completely ignored by the media despite winning four out of their last five, are now only two games back from LA and hold tiebreakers over them. Who do both of them play in the next two weeks? The Chargers host the Bucs and Broncos, two above .500 squads who have won three in a row and are fighting just as desperately to stay in the playoff picture. Meanwhile, the Dolphins draw a Texans team whose record is not at all indicative of how poorly they’ve played this year, and the Niners, who are on a terrible Super Bowl hangover and will most likely miss the postseason. They then play two last-place teams to end the year, giving them every opportunity to hold their spot. This season could get ugly in record time for LA. | |
| 10. | Broncos | – | 8-5 | ||
| 11. | … |
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