A new king on the top of the NFL Power rankings. With the New England Patriots now among four teams with two losses, we have no choice but to put the Carolina Panthers and their perfect record on top of the league, while the Cleveland Browns occupy without competition the bottom.
1. Carolina Panthers, 12-0: They’ve won 16 games in a row, be it by demolishing teams or escaping with fourth quarter comebacks. Their schedule might not be too difficult, but staying perfect in the NFL is.
2. New England Patriots, 10-2: Tom Brady isn’t just having problems because of no receivers. His offense line isn’t doing a very good job, allowing him to get hit 42 times in the last three games.
3. Arizona Cardinals, 10-2: Carson Palmer has now thrown for over 350 yards five times this season, and is the secret MVP candidate no one is talking about.
4. Cincinnati Bengals, 10-2: Life is good when you play the Cleveland Browns, regardless of who the quarterback is, twice in one season.
5. Denver Broncos, 10-2: The Broncos keep putting Brock Osweiler in situations he can succeed in, which means keeping things short and simple. No one should be surprised it’s working.
6. Green Bay Packers, 8-4: The Packers need to forget about the Hail Mary, and focus on their offensive line, defensive and running game problems for this season to be better than usual.
7. Kansas City Chiefs, 7-5: During the last two games, Alex Smith is 18-of-21 with 3 touchdowns targeting Jeremy Maclin.
8. Seattle Seahawks, 7-5: Russell Wilson in the last three games? 76.7% completions, 11 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 148.2 passer rating.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers, 7-5: Have scored 30 points or more in four consecutive games, although that streak might be coming to an end with the Bengals, Ravens and Broncos coming up in the next three weeks.
10. Minnesota Vikings, 8-4: Maybe the biggest problem for Minnesota isn’t a lack of receivers, but a bad coaching staff which runs the ball just 8 times with Adrian Peterson on the field.
11. New York Jets, 7-5: Ryan Fitzpatrick has had five games this season with a 75 QBR or better. He’s had five in the previous two seasons combined.
12. Buffalo Bills, 6-6: Anytime Tyrod Taylor isn’t going to be slowed down (accounting for 4 touchdowns in win over Texans), the Bills are going to win.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-6: Jameis Winston might be making mistakes all along the way, but he’s the real deal, and threw the game winning touchdown pass to Mike Evans because he asked for the ball in the pre snap huddle.
14. Indianapolis Colts, 6-6: The Matt Hasselbeck magic couldn’t last forever, but it might not be necessary with the schedule the Colts have left, that includes three division games and the Miami Dolphins.
15. Houston Texans, 6-6: Heading into their loss against the Bills, they allowed just 40.3 rush yards before contact per game during their 4-game win streak. The Bills had 152 rush yards before contact.
16. Atlanta Falcons, 6-6: Have lost five games in a row, and Matt Ryan not doing anything but throwing to Julio Jones except in the end zone isn’t helping.
17. Philadelphia Eagles, 5-7: The Eagles scoring three non-offensive touchdowns was the first in the NFL since week 11 last season by the Packers.
18. New York Giants, 5-7: Have lost three in a row and four of the last five, with Eli Manning throwing six interceptions in the last four games.
19. Oakland Raiders, 5-7: On the same slide as the Giants, losing four of their last five, which in their division makes it impossible to make the playoffs.
20. Chicago Bears, 5-7: The moment you pile on too many compliments on Jay Cutler, he’ll find a way to disappoint you.
21. Baltimore Ravens, 4-8: The Ravens have lost 8 games this season by a total of 34 points.
22. Washington Redskins, 5-7: DeSean Jackson giveth, DeSean Jackson taketh away.
23. Miami Dolphins, 5-7: The good thing for the Dolphins? DeVante Parker is doing great. That’s about it.
24. Jacksonville Jaguars, 4-8: Blake Bortles, with 27 touchdowns, is third on the passing touchdown list this season behind Tom Brady and Carson Palmer.
25. Detroit Lions, 4-8: Still watching stunned in front of the TV probably.
26. San Francisco 49ers, 4-8: Quietly, Blaine Gabbert is making a case for himself to be a starter next season too.
27. Dallas Cowboys, 4-8: Awful to watch, hard to score against, and they have Dan Bailey. That about sums it up.
28. St. Louis Rams, 4-8: Too Gurley has just 18 carries for 60 yards with no touchdowns in the last two games. The Rams have lost five in a row.
29. San Diego Chargers, 3-9: The Chargers are so bad they can’t afford a single turnover, let alone three.
30. New Orleans Saints, 4-8: Nice fight against the Panthers, but giving up almost 32 points per game gets you into rebuilding mode eventually.
31. Tennessee Titans, 3-9: Marcus Mariota is going to make them smile from time to time, but this team is bad on so many levels.
32. Cleveland Browns, 2-10: A joke. Always have been, always will be it seems.