NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 11 Edition

The tenth week of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.

WEEK 11 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 – Dallas Cowboys 8-1 (Last Week: 4) – Much to the chagrin of Eagles fans, the Dallas Cowboys have the best record in the NFL. The only thing separating Dallas from a perfect record is a one-point loss in Week 1. The Cowboys have won eight straight games since then. Rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott is a beast and has a case for being NFL MVP.

2 – Oakland Raiders 7-2 (LW: 2) – The Raiders return from their bye week to play three straight home games.

3 – Seattle Seahawks 6-2-1 (LW: 7) – The Seahawks earned one of the toughest wins of this NFL season by going into Foxborough and coming out with a win over Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Seattle’s defense hasn’t been dominant as usual but Russell Wilson is playing great.

4 – New England Patriots 7-2 (LW: 1) – Entering Week 10, it seemed like the Patriots were by themselves on a top tier in the NFL. New England is obviously still really good, but they’re mortal after all.

5 – Kansas City Chiefs 7-2 (LW: 5) – Five wins in a row for Andy Reid. Big Red needed a big comeback to beat the Panthers on the road and his team stepped up in the clutch. No style points for this victory, but they got the job done.

6 – Denver Broncos 7-3 (LW: 6) – The Broncos won a game on a blocked PAT return. It certainly looked like Will Parks stepped out of bounds on the return, so Denver is fortunate to have escaped the Superdome with a win they might not have deserved.

7 – Philadelphia Eagles 5-4 (LW: 10) – The Philadelphia Eagles are arguably the best home team in the NFL. The Birds are 4-0 in games played at Lincoln Financial Field. They’ve outscored opponents 108 to 38 there. The Eagles are a good football team. Their losses have been close and they’ve beaten some good teams decisively this season. Philadelphia’s defense shut down the top offense in the NFL despite being injured and undermanned at the cornerback position.

8 – Atlanta Falcons 6-4 (LW: 3) – Atlanta’s offense is capable of being shut down by a top defense. Their own defense is also capable of being exploited.

9 – Detroit Lions 5-4 (LW: 8) – Perfect bye week for the Lions. All three of their NFC North rivals lost. Detroit could easily be 0-9 right now. But they can still win their division. What a weird season.

10 – Washington Redskins 5-3-1 (LW: 15) – Washington has found ways to win despite missing key players such as Trent Williams, Jordan Reed, and DeSean Jackson.

11 – Arizona Cardinals 4-4-1 (LW: 12) – The Cardinals should have been able to handle the lowly 49ers a lot more comfortably than they did. Still, a win is a win.

12 – New York Giants 6-3 (LW: 14) – The Giants rank 19th in point differential (-2). With games against the Bears and Browns coming up, New York could soon be 8-3. And yet they’re not even very good. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

13 – Houston Texans 6-3 (LW: 13) – The Texans rank seventh to last in point differential (-27). They’re arguably the worst team in the NFL with a winning record.

14 – Miami Dolphins 5-4 (LW: 18) – Miami is 4-1 in their last five games. It sure looked like they were dead at 1-3 but here they are.

15 – Minnesota Vikings 5-4 (LW: 9) – The Vikings have lost four games in a row since starting out 5-0. More bad news for Minnesota: replacement offensive tackle Jake Long is likely out for the season. More losses are on the way for this team. That’s good news for the Eagles, who own Minnesota’s 2017 first-round pick.

16 – Buffalo Bills 4-5 (LW: 11) – Buffalo returns from the bye to face a struggling Bengals team.

17 – Tennessee Titans – 5-5 (LW: 24) – The Titans are an ascending team. They smacked the Packers around in order to advance to .500. DeMarco Murray has been surprisingly good for Tennessee. The former Eagles running back threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown against Green Bay.

18 – Pittsburgh Steelers 4-5 (LW: 20) – The Steelers showed good fight and almost took down the Cowboys, but ultimately came up short. Still, Pittsburgh played the best football they have in weeks. And they have the Browns up next. This team is still alive.

19 – San Diego Chargers 4-6 (LW: 17) – The Bolts can sure score (second in points) but they sure can’t defend (fourth in points allowed).

20 – Baltimore Ravens 5-4 (LW: 23) – John Harbaugh’s team is on top of the AFC North thanks to a free win over the Browns.

21 – Indianapolis Colts 4-5 (LW: 22) – Bye week. Indianapolis needs a win over the Titans this Sunday to stay alive in the AFC South race.

22 – Cincinnati Bengals 3-5-1 (LW: 21) – The Bengals are thoroughly unimpressive. It’s probably time to move on from Marvin Lewis, but it probably won’t happen because it never does.

23 – New Orleans Saints 4-5 (LW: 19) – New Orleans beat the Seahawks at home and almost came away with a win over the Broncos if not for a potential missed call. The Saints are still pretty dangerous when playing at home.

24 – Green Bay Packers 4-5 (LW: 16) – The Packers are not a good football team. They got taken to the woodshed by the Titans on Sunday. Green Bay is 8-11 in their last 19 games. They’re mediocre at best.

25 – Los Angeles Rams 4-5 (LW: 26) – Jeff Fisher is totally on pace to go 7-9 as the Rams refuse to play Jared Goff in favor of the awful Case Keenum. What a fun season for L.A. fans. Here’s the most Fisher stat possible: the Rams have won two games this year without scoring a touchdown.

26 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-5 (LW: 27) – Not a bad weekend for the Bucs. They beat up on the Bears while all three of their NFC South rivals lost. This is just a ridiculous play from Jameis Winston.

UNREAL JAMEIS WINSTON pic.twitter.com/QAkpXG1zbN

— Finish Line (@FinishLine) November 13, 2016

27 – Carolina Panthers 3-6 (LW: 25) – The Panthers were very close to being one game short of .500 after starting out 1-5, but they blew it and choked in a loss to the Chiefs. Very disappointing season for the reigning NFC Champions.

28 – New York Jets 3-7 (LW: 28) – Turning from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Bryce Petty didn’t really make a difference for the Jets. They’re still really bad.

29 – Chicago Bears 2-7 (LW: 29) – The Bears could have actually been somewhat alive in the NFC North if they won. They’d have been 3-6 with a 2-0 record in the division. But now Chicago is definitely dead.

30 – Jacksonville Jaguars 2-7 (LW: 30) – Gus Bradley is now 14-43 in 57 games. His quarterback is the king of garbage time.

King of garbage time Blake Bortles career yards and TDs by quarter:
1st: 1679, 4
2nd: 2426, 16
3rd: 1967, 13
4th: 3560, 28

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) November 14, 2016

31 – San Francisco 49ers 1-8 (LW: 32) – San Francisco showed some fight in a close loss on the road to the Cardinals. For that, I’ll award Chip Kelly some pity points for a moral victory.

32 – Cleveland Browns 0-10 (LW: 31) – The Browns have six games left: PIT, NYG, CIN, @ BUF, SD, and @ PIT. Do they win a game this year? Maybe they can beat the Bengals?