We;re halfway through November, and well over half of the NFL still has a reasonable chance at playoff spots. The AFC North remains completely above .500, and the AFC South has two strong teams. How do they all currently stack up against one another? Here are the Week 11 power rankings
32. New York Giants
Last Week: 32
It’s a shame Tommy DeVito’s mom couldn’t buy him a win. Or a remotely close game. It certainly looks like the Giants will be in the Caleb Williams sweepstakes.
31. New England Patriots
Last Week: 29
Mac Jones threw the worst interception you’ll ever see, and then Bailey Zappe said “Hold my beer.” Switching from Jones to Zappe is like switching from Mountain Dew to Mello Yello- they are the same person, and the Patriots are doomed.
30. Carolina Panthers
Last Week: 30
I would spend pay-per-view type prices to not have to watch another down of the Panthers’ offense this season. And by the looks of it, so would Bryce Young.
29. Arizona Cardinals
Last Week: 31
Kyler Murray is back, and is already doing Kyler Murray things- scrambling around, extending plays, and leading game-winning drives. If the Cardinals to decide to keep him, pairing him with Marvin Harrison Jr. (Or Tee Higgins in free agency? Eyeball emoji) should be a top priority.
28. Tennessee Titans
Last Week: 26
Are the Titans the most boring team in football? The Patriots may be bad and boring, but at least there’s something thrilling about watching the empire fall. The Titans have nothing entertaining about them, save for Tyjae Spears when he gets his touches.
27. Green Bay Packers
Last Week: 27
There were holes for Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris big enough to build a new Primanti Brothers restaurant. The Packers cannot stop anybody in the run game.
26. Chicago Bears
Last Week: 28
Wait, I stand corrected- the Bears are the most boring team in the league. Everyone who watched their Thursday night game with the Panthers should be entitled to financial compensation.
25. Atlanta Falcons
Last Week: 24
I look forward to Arthur Smith scheming plays where a backup tackle reports as eligible and is the No. 1 read while Kyle Pitts blocks and Bijan Robinson is on the sideline- a real offensive genius at work.
24. Washington Commanders
Last Week: 21
The Commanders don’t have the best record, but I’d argue Sam Howell is the most talented quarterback from the 2022 draft class, and they give teams hell every week.
23. Denver Broncos
Last Week: 25
The Broncos earned a big win over a Bills team that needed a win desperately. They are still alive in a very deep AFC.
22. New Orleans Saints
Last Week: 19
The Saints might be at the top of the bad teams pyramid. Even at 5-5, this team is not to be taken seriously. Right now, they’re playing for the right to get dominated at home by the Cowboys in the Wildcard round.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last Week: 22
Jigsaw couldn’t come up with a more torturous trap than watching an NFC South team play for three hours. The Buccaneers topped the Titans, but my Lord, was that an uneventful time. Mike Evans is still great, though.
20. Los Angeles Rams
The 3-6 record would usually signify a team should be lower, but if it was Matthew Stafford under center against Green Bay, they are just a game under .500 and still in the hunt for a Wildcard appearance. Now, it’s much harder.
19. New York Jets
Last Week: 16
Remember in Semi-Pro when Jackie Moon blocked Scootsie Doubleday’s shot to prevent the Flint Tropics from scoring another point because he promised free corndogs to the crowd if they scored 125 points without even having corndogs? That’s what Ty Conklin did to Garrett Wilson on the hail mary to end the game.
18. Las Vegas Raiders
Last Week: 23
If Antonio Pierce doesn’t get the full-time job in Las Vegas, something is wrong, and there will be a protest aimed at Mark Davis. The Raiders went from laughing stock with a numbskull head coach and subpar pretty boy at quarterback to a .500 record and vying for a playoff spot in the matter of two weeks.
17. Indianapolis Colts
Last Week: 20
The Colts are Yosemite Sam- crazy, unhinged, and fun. The game in Germany may not have been the best embodiment of that, but they’ve put up points like crazy this season (entered the week scoring the seventh most points/gam) and Shane Steichen has this team in the hunt even without Anthony Richardson.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last Week: 17
The Steelers are likely going to be a playoff team, which is great. They will also likely get their brakes blown off if they think having a quarterback go 14-of-23 for 126 yards will get them past the Wildcard round.
15. Los Angeles Chargers
Last Week: 14
That was a pretty typical Chargers’ loss. Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen play like Batman and Robin, but what good is it when The Joker is your head coach and defensive play-caller?
14. Cleveland Browns
Last Week: 15
What a comeback that was by Cleveland. Now, they need to take care of business at home against a Steelers team they lost to in Week 2 to get to 7-3.
13. Minnesota Vikings
Last Week: 13
I seriously don’t know how Josh Dobbs keeps doing this, but if the Vikings do decide to not pursue a future with Kirk Cousins, they seem to have a guy in the building for 2024.
12. Seattle Seahawks
Last Week: 12
The Seahawks continue to get little to no attention, but they are 6-3 and continue to take care of business. They face the 49ers twice in the next month- those games will determine the NFC West.
11. Buffalo Bills
Last Week: 8
No team goes out of their way to make everything as hard as possible quite like the Buffalo Bills. If they continue to play like this against the Eagles, Chiefs, and Cowboys, they’ll miss the playoffs altogether.
10. Houston Texans
Last Week: 13
To quote Big Sean, “This is not a drill, this the real thing.”
C.J. Stroud isn’t just the best rookie quarterback in the league, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league, period. Houston may not have many superstars, but the results don’t lie. At 5-4, and with an easy remaining schedule, they look like a team that will be in the playoffs.
9. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last Week: 5
Every team has a burn the tape game- that was Jacksonville’s. Take it in, move on, and get back on the horse, because Houston is right behind you.
8. Miami Dolphins
Last Week: 7
The Dolphins face a hungry Raiders team this week in Miami. All due respect to the Raiders, Miami should win this handedly.
7. Dallas Cowboys
Last Week: 10
That was the most complete game the Cowboys have played in a long time. CeeDee Lamb continues to be the Grim Reaper, Brandin Cooks had a huge game, Michael Gallup was heavily involved, and Dak Prescott had five total touchdowns.
6. San Francisco 49ers
Last Week: 9
That was quite the way to end a three-game skid. Chase Young and Nick Bosa are already making miserable music for opposing linemen, and Deebo Samuel showed how much valuable he is in his return.
5. Baltimore Ravens
Last Week: 3
The Ravens are the Chargers, but if they actually won more games. They have blown so many big leads over the past two seasons- Miami last season, Buffalo last season, Pittsburgh this year, and now Cleveland. Now they have the Bengals on the horizon. A two-game losing streak could be in their future.
4. Cincinnati Bengals
Last Week: 4
The Bengals lost to a good Texans team in a thriller. That said, if Tyler Boyd catches the ball in the end zone, they win. They are still as dangerous as anyone in football, and I think they beat Baltimore on Thursday.
3. Detroit Lions
Last Week: 6
Detroit is 7-2, and they have shown they can win in multiple ways. Their defense is capable of shouldering more of the load if the offense is struggling, and their offense is capable of scoring 41 points against another high-scoring offense. They are the definition of a complimentary team. An NFC Championship Game in Detroit would feed families.
2. Kansas City Chiefs
Last Week: 2
The Chiefs, and the No. 1 team, were idle this week as they gear up to face one another next week on Monday Night Football.
1. Philadelphia Eagles
Last Week: 1
And now, the week-long conversation about the Super Bowl rematch begins.
