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John Sigler

NFL power rankings, Week 12: Haves and have-nots continue to separate

Week 11’s NFL games brought us a lot of what was expected — great teams kept up their pace and bad teams fell behind as the playoff picture continued to crystalize. With the New Orleans Saints resting during their bye week, they wound up being spectators to a lot of movement around them.

So how does this impact our NFL power rankings? Here’s where he put every team:

32
Carolina Panthers (1-9)

Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Last week: 32

Just how much worse can things get for Carolina? It’s tough to find another team experiencing more dysfunction around the league.

31
Arizona Cardinals (2-9)

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 29

The Cardinals made a fight of it, but their roster has too many flaws from top to bottom to compete with playoff teams.

30
New England Patriots (2-8)

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 30

The Patriots were on bye this week.

29
Chicago Bears (3-8)

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last week: 28

The Bears had the Lions right where they wanted them — until Detroit overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter to win in the game’s final minute.

28
Tennessee Titans (3-7)

Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images

Last week: 27

Tennessee looked totally outmatched by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

27
Washington Commanders (4-7)

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 25

The shine has come off of Washington in recent weeks. Too much pressure got to Sam Howell which led to too many sacks and interceptions against the New York Giants on Sunday.

26
New York Giants (3-8)

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 31

What a win for the Giants, who looked like a team dead in the water, having lost seven of their last eight games. Their defense was firing on all cylinders.

25
Los Angeles Chargers (4-6)

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Last week: 23

Questionable play calling, poor personnel management, and some classic Chargers blunders led to an avoidable loss to the Green Bay Packers. Imagine where they’d be if they had hired Sean Payton?

24
Las Vegas Raiders (5-6)

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 22

The Raiders’ post-Josh McDaniels resurgence was fun while it lasted. They had nothing for slowing down the Miami Dolphins offense and their defense was at the mercy of Miami’s playmaking defense all afternoon.

23
Green Bay Packers (4-6)

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Last week: 26

The Packers found a way to win, but it was costly. Star running back Aaron Jones left the game with an injury that could sideline him for a while. Can Jordan Love elevate this team alone each week? That’s unclear.

22
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6)

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 19

The Buccaneers were no match for the Super Bowl-contending San Francisco 49ers, but at least Mike Evans got to pad his stats in a decisive loss.

21
Indianapolis Colts (5-5)

Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last week: 21

The Colts were on bye this week.

20
Atlanta Falcons (4-6)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Last week: 20

The Falcons were on bye this week.

19
Los Angeles Rams (4-6)

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 24

The Rams surprised a lot of people by sweeping the Seahawks, though it remains to be seen whether Cooper Kupp will miss time with a new injury.

18
New York Jets (4-6)

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 16

The last few Zach Wilson believers have left the building.

17
New Orleans Saints (5-5)

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 17

The Saints were on bye this week.

16
Cincinnati Bengals (5-5)

Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 15

The Bengals didn’t just lose to the Ravens last Thursday night: they lost Joe Burrow for the season with an injured throwing hand.

15
Minnesota Vikings (6-5)

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Last week: 13

Joshua Dobbs gave the Vikings everything he had, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a stingy Denver Broncos defense.

14
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4)

Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 14

This was a, well, memorable game for Kenny Pickett, though it certainly wasn’t one of his best.

13
Denver Broncos (5-5)

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 18

It took five field goals from Wil Lutz, but Sean Payton’s Broncos extended their winning streak to four games. He’s got them trending in the right direction.

12
Cleveland Browns (7-3)

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 12

The Browns have the best defense in the NFL, though we still need to see whether they can do enough offensively to compete with real playoff teams.

11
Buffalo Bills (6-5)

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 11

The Bills played with their food a bit and dragged this one out, but the Jets didn’t seriously challenge them.

10
Seattle Seahawks (6-4)

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 7

The Seahawks have to quickly regroup and prepare for a Thanksgiving Day prime-time game with the 49ers, possibly without their starting quarterback and running back. Geno Smith and Kenneth Walker III both exited the loss with injuries.

9
Houston Texans (6-4)

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 10

The legend of C.J. Stroud continues to grow. He threw three interceptions but cleaned up his mess by ending the day with 336 yards and two touchdown passes.

8
Kansas City Chiefs (7-3)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Last week: 2

We’ll see how the Chiefs perform on Monday night against the Eagles.

7
Jacksonville Jaguars (7-3)

Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images

Last week: 9

The Jaguars made it clear that the AFC South runs through Jacksonville. Trevor Lawrence turned in a very impressive performance after getting beaten up by the 49ers defense a week ago.

6
Miami Dolphins (7-3)

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 8

The Dolphins looked like a playoff team while dismantling the Raiders. Superstar cornerback Jalen Ramsey was in rare form with two interceptions, though he injured himself in a hard fall to the turf on his second takeaway.

5
Dallas Cowboys (7-3)

Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Last week: 6

Shouts out to Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, who returned his fourth interception for a defensive touchdown this season on Sunday. He’s filling in very well for the injured Trevon Diggs.

4
San Francisco 49ers (7-3)

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Last week: 5

The 49ers looked every inch a Super Bowl contender on Sunday, though they’ll be missing star safety Talanoa Hufanga with what appears to be a season-ending knee injury.

3
Baltimore Ravens (8-3)

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 4

Overlook the Ravens at your own peril. Losing tight end Mark Andrews is going to be a challenge, but they’ve consistently drafted and developed players to fill in for him like Charlie Kolar. It’s time those investments paid off.

2
Detroit Lions (8-2)

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Last week: 3

The Lions are here to stay. Dan Campbell is guiding his team through real adversity. It’s unreal how easy they make it look to play offense in the NFL sometimes.

1
Philadelphia Eagles (9-1)

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 1

We’ll see how the Eagles perform on Monday night against the Chiefs.

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