NFL Week 12 power rankings: Steelers, Eagles, Bills climb as Ravens, 49ers, Chiefs drop

The New York Giants are the worst NFL team right now. Fortunately, there are positives from this Giants season coming out of the bye week. For one thing, Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy Jr. are clearly building blocks for the future who can serve as centerpieces in this Giants offense. New York can also feel great about tight end Theo Johnson and this Giants front seven. It’s just the whole quarterback situation that leaves everything to be desired and, unfortunately for New York, the QB options next offseason aren’t exciting.

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If the NFL rumors are true coming into Sunday that head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke are going to be fired, the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the biggest winners in Week 11. Pederson and Press Taylor butchered this Jaguars offense and absolutely needed to go. The surprise is Baalke, who has a history of surviving power struggles, getting canned. A fresh start is exactly what Jacksonville needs and the changes up top are a long-term win for this franchise.

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Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins went about as bad as you’d expect for the Las Vegas Raiders. Fortunately, there are some glimmers of hope. Tom Brady is going to have a massive influence in the Raiders organization and that’s so much better than owner Mark Davis making the decisions. Las Vegas needs a new quarterback and it might be wise for Brady to encourage the front office to part ways with head coach Antonio Pierce after the season ends.

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Once the Minnesota Vikings took a two-score lead, it was over for the Tennessee Titans. Will Levis has proven he’s not a starting-caliber quarterback, but the Titans offensive line only made things worse for him on Sunday. The good news for Tennessee is that it remains in position for the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Granted, this isn’t the year you be quarterback-needy atop the draft order.

All things considered, the Carolina Panthers have to feel decent about where things stand stepping back out of the Week 11 bye. The front office turned Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Mingo into much-needed draft picks and Bryce Young has strung together consecutive wins. Now, the remainder of the Panthers schedule is about seeing what Young can do playing with a little more confidence and finding out if Jonathon Brooks, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Xavier Legette can be long-term core pieces of this Panthers offense.

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The calls for Jerod Mayo to be fired as a first-year head coach have stooped, perfectly aligning with the emergence of franchise quarterback Drake Maye. Sunday provided another glowing example of Maye making plays and showing star traits even with a bad supporting cast around him. While there are still six games ahead for the Patriots, we’re already thinking about the additions New England can make to this offense to make a big step forward in 2025.

It’s amazing to think about the fact that there were people who genuinely believed Cooper Rush might be a starting-caliber quarterback. It’s even more absurd that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thought not addressing all the needs on this roster in the offseason wouldn’t prove costly. Dallas is just as big of a mess as its stadium right now. It all falls on Jones, who is seemingly determined to take this franchise down with him as long as it increases the team’s brand value and net worth.

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Jameis Winston did his thing on Sunday, the good version, and it still wasn’t enough for the Cleveland Browns to beat the New Orleans Saints. That tells you where this Browns franchise is at this point. Cleveland needs to make some significant changes to this roster next offseason, but the coaching staff should remain in tact. Now sitting at 2-8, the bright side for the Browns is they’ll have their own top picks and it’s evident this franchise needs them.

The irony of the Week 11 loss for the New York Jets is that they probably win if Robert Saleh is still the head coach. Since firing Saleh, the Jets defense has been one of the worst in football and it added to that on Sunday with 12 fourth-quarter points allowed. At 3-8, the Jets season is clearly over but the fan base still has to deal with Aaron Rodgers teasing a 2025 return. Maybe a disastrous final stretch for New York will convince Rodgers to retire, allowing the Jets to blow this thing up.

Even before the game-winning drive, Anthony Richardson demonstrated why he needs to be the Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Richardson still missed a few easy throws, but there were also some drops. Even still, the second-year quarterback came through with 3 total touchdowns and engineered a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to win it. The Colts might not be a playoff-caliber team, but Richardson still gives them a bright future.

It’s starting to look like the New Orleans Saints should’ve made a head-coaching change weeks ago or even, perhaps, this past offseason. Complete domination for New Orleans on Sunday, which is especially impressive considering Marquez Valdes-Scantling was the leading receiver for the second consecutive game. It’s nice to see the Saints turn things around a bit and improve to 4-7, but the upcoming schedule includes the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders and Greem Bay Packers, so let’s not get too carried away with the rest of season outlook.

Losing to a hated rival on a blocked game-winning field goal attempt certainly hurts, but there are positives in that Week 11 loss for the Chicago Bears. First, Caleb Williams made plays with his legs and arm that you see from franchise quarterbacks and the offensive coordinator change made a difference. The best part of this for Chicago, the loss all but guarantees Matt Eberflus will eventually be fired and that’s the biggest step toward turning this franchise around.

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Last Monday’s win over the Los Angeles Rams was so important for the Miami Dolphins because of what it set up. Miami entered Week 11 three games back of .500, with an upcoming slate against the Raiders and Patriots. Tua Tagovailoa and Co. handled their business on Sunday and they should be able to do the same next week at home against the Patriots. From there, the playoff watch starts.

Related: Tua Tagovailoa rises in our NFL QB rankings

It’s the same tired story with the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow delivers an MVP-caliber performance that should be talked about on First Take and Get Up for an hour, then the Bengals find a way to botch it. Cincinnati’s defense was abysmal again on Sunday, but that’s nothing new. What also hurt is Evan McPherson missing two more field goals, moving him to a 71.4 percent success rate (39th) on the season. The most painful thing for Cincinnati is this roster could be even worse next season with the futures of Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson very uncertain.

The Atlanta Falcons defense is truly abysmal but that can’t even be this team’s biggest concern right now. Kirk Cousins and Co. have mustered just 23 total points in the last two games against the Saints and Denver Broncos. Cousins finished Sunday with a 66.9 QB rating, the third time in five weeks he’s finished with a QB rating under 76. From 6-3 to 6-5, what once looked like a safe lead in the NFC South is now in serious jeopardy. With the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings looming, we believe the Falcons’ losing streak will stretch into December.

That’s how the Los Angeles Rams offense is supposed to look. With the offensive line holding up, which it didn’t do in the MNF loss to Miami, Matthew Stafford picked apart this Patriots’ secondary with 4 touchdowns in the first three quarters. Meanwhile, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum were hyper-efficient against a woeful Patriots run defense. This is how the Rams offense should look against bad competition. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Eagles defense will provide a grueling test on Sunday Night Football in Week 12.

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The hope for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is that coming out of the Week 11 bye, wide receiver Mike Evans (hamstring) is ready to return. He’s going to be needed more than ever before with both Chris Godwin and Tristan Wirfs out. Even if Evans can’t go, Baker Mayfield and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen have proven they can maintain a sufficient offense despite a myriad of injuries. Plus, the Buccaneers schedule out of the bye (Giants, Panthers, Raiders, Chargers, Cowboys, Panthers and Saints) is very favorable.

Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks finally exercised their defense against the San Francisco 49ers. Just over a month removed from a brutal showing (36-24) at home against this same team, Seattle rallied on the road to stun the 49ers. Moving to 5-5, the Seahawks are somehow in contention in spite of an offensive line that is derailing this offense on every other drive.

The San Francisco 49ers can’t close out games. Much of the blame will be put on the shoulders of the defense that allowed the game-winning drive to Seattle. We’re going to put more of it on a 49ers offense that mustered up just 2 touchdowns and 277 total yards against a bottom-10 defense since Week 4. The NFC West is a mess right now so there’s still hope for the 49ers, but with the Packers and Bills looming, this hole might be too deep to dig out of.

The Denver Broncos knew they had the edge on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, with their strengths amplified against Atlanta’s weaknesses. Sure enough, Bo Nix and Sean Payton took advantage. Denver’s 6-5 record might not be stellar, but this team has already vastly exceeded expectations. Plus, the upcoming Broncos schedule (Raiders, Browns, Colts) sets up very favorable for this team to compete for a Wild Card spot.

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The Arizona Cardinals got the benefit of hitting their Week 11 bye on a high note. During the four-game win streak, including victories over the Dolphins and Chargers, the Cardinals’ offense ranked second in EPA per Play (0.17) and Arizona’s defense placed 11th in EPA per Play allowed (-0.036). It’s come together very quickly for Jonathan Gannon’s team. While the improvements offensively aren’t surprising, the defensive turnaround is stellar, especially with the context of the limited blue-chip talent on that side of the ball. Arizona has a legitimate shot at the NFC West crown.

The Houston Texans did what was expected of them on Monday Night Football, which is an improvement over how this team was playing in recent weeks. We saw how important a healthy Joe Mixon and Nico Collins are to this Texans offense, things C.J. Stroud hasn’t had for a majority of the season. Plus, Will Anderson Jr. will be back soon. All in all, there are reasons for optimism in Houston.

Jim Harbaugh has done it again. The Los Angeles Chargers roster coming into the season didn’t look particularly impressive, especially on the defensive side of the ball and at wide receiver. With Harbaugh, Justin Herbert is playing the best football of his career, the Chargers are playing physical and disciplined football and this defense has done a 180. This is just another example of why Harbaugh is one of the best football coaches of our era.

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The Washington Commanders are the second-best team in the NFC East. If you asked Washington’s coaching staff and front office if they’d consider being a Wild Card contender that is considered one of the 10 best NFL teams in 2024, they’d sign up for it in a heartbeat. So, while Jayden Daniels (89.6 QB rating, 59.5% completion rate and 232 pass ypg in last four games) is hitting a bit of the rookie wall, Washington remains in a phenomenal spot moving forward.

A nail-biting win for the Green Bay Packers. Blocking the game-winning field goal saved the day, but what should be remembered even more from that Week 11 performance are the issues Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur are experiencing in the red zone. Entering play on Sunday, the Packers ranked 29th in red-zone touchdown rate (47.06 percent). Love had an interception and a failed fourth-and-goal run. If Green Bay wants to challenge the elite tier of the best NFL teams, this problem needs to be fixed.

It’s a step forward for the Minnesota Vikings. The offense isn’t quite as efficient since the season-ending injury to Sam Darnold and this ground game has become far less efficient. Fortunately for Minnesota, Sam Darnold played well against an above-average defense and that’s all you need when Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is cooking up clinics like this.

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Last year, drops cost the Baltimore Ravens a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fast forward to Sunday, and self-inflicted wounds cost Baltimore again. Fumbles by Derrick Henry (at the Ravens’ 36-yard line) and Isaiah Likely (Ravens’ 13-yard line) gifted the Steelers six points. Justin Tucker, who is either playing injured or he is just finished as an NFL kicker, missed two field goals. Needless to say, those 12 points proved costly in an 18-16 loss to Pittsburgh. We still believe the Ravens are one of the best teams in the NFL, but John Harbaugh’s club can’t seem to get out of its own way in big games against physical opponents.

The Kansas City Chiefs are no longer undefeated, which will finally yield more discussion about this team’s issues. Patrick Mahomes is getting hit because of the turnstile at left tackle and while DeAndre Hopkins was a very nice addition, he’s not a true No. 1 receiver who can’t get separation quickly and make plays when Mahomes is pressured seconds after the snap. Equally concerning, the Chiefs pass defense has taken a massive step backward since the season-ending injury to corner Jaylen Watson. Kansas City’s margin for error is thinner than it’s been in previous years. With that said, this is the team’s first loss of the season and they can flip a switch when the playoffs begin.

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The rest of the NFL world is starting to buy into the Philadelphia Eagles again. After losses in September to the Falcons and Buccaneers, Philadelphia went on a five-game winning streak out of its bye week. However, many attributed that to facing some of the worst NFL teams – Browns, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars and Cowboys – so Thursday Night Football in Week 11 was the litmus test. The Eagles outgained the Commanders by nearly 200 total yards and averaged 2.0 yards per play higher than Washington’s offense. With an outstanding defense and elite playmakers on offense, the Eagles are one of the best NFL teams in 2024.

Never question Mike Tomlin and never bet against him when his team is the underdog. The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 20-6-3 at home as the underdog under Tomlin, once again doing it against the Ravens. Pittsburgh doesn’t play the prettiest style of football, but they made the best NFL offense play ugly and that played right into the strengths of this Steelers defense. Since that bizarre loss to Dallas back on Oct. 6, the Steelers have won five consecutive games and that includes victories over two of the best NFL teams (Ravens and Commanders). There’s nothing left to question, Pittsburgh is for real.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills did it again, taking down the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season. It came because in the biggest moment, Josh Allen drove the dagger into the Chiefs’ heart and ended their undefeated season with a touchdown run that will be on NFL highlight reels for years to come. Just remember, Buffalo beat Kansas City in their regular-season matchup last season and we saw what happened when the rivals had a rematch in the playoffs.

Also Read: See where Buffalo ranks in Sportsnaut’s NFL offense rankings

That’s how you handle one of the worst NFL teams. It only took a half for the Detroit Lions, with Jared Goff throwing for 200-plus yards and the backfield tandem of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs accounts for three first-half touchdowns. The Lions are the best NFL team right now and we remain steadfast in our belief that Detroit is a tier above the other best NFL teams in 2024.

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