A thousand apologies for last week’s absence ladies and gentlemen, but the RankKing is back with the Power Rankings once again. We have a new leader at the top, and a new low at the bottom. I also put in what the Power Rankings would have been last week here so there wouldn’t be any confusion towards the number scale. Here we go;
Power Rankings – Week 15
Now that all that confusion is thrown out the window, let’s get things started for this week’s Power Rankings.
#32
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12)
Previous Rank – 31
Well, it’s a weird thing to see, but the team that was always in last place in last year’s rankings finds themselves here again. Jacksonville, welcome home. It begs to be seen if this team can find life after firing Meyer who basically ruined them from the start. We will have to see though. You never know in the NFL as the Jaguars will face the New Yor Jets this weekend.
#31
Detroit Lions (2-11-1)
Previous Rank – 32
The Lions are finally out of last place in the Power Rankings. It comes to after an odd, but very entertaining win that they had over one of the best teams in the NFL; the Arizona Cardinals. Goff had three touchdowns on the day, and it was a weird, but satisfying thing to see. The Lions will now look to keep the train rolling as they’ll face a team that has been down in the dumps lately; the Atlanta Falcons.
#30
New York Jets (3-11)
Previous Rank – 29
The Jets offense has shown a little improvement, but not enough to crack the Dolphin’s win streak last weekend. Their defense let Duke Johnson be the best running in fantasy football last weekend. That should tell you, something people. The Jets are in really close range of coming in last place if they lose this week. Their opponent; the Jacksonville Jaguars.
#29
Houston Texans (3-11)
Previous Rank – 30
The Texans were able to get another win under their belts when they beat the Jaguars last weekend. Davis Mills looks to be finding his rhythm as the quarterback for the Texans, but this week will be interesting if Brandin Cooks can’t go because of COVID. They will face the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend.
#28
New York Giants (4-10)
Previous Rank – 28
This one ended about as bad as you could think for Giants fans. Daniel Jones got placed on IR, Mike Glennon threw three picks, Sterling Shepard landed on IR again, and Saquon just can’t get back to his old self. This team is bad, and honestly, they could lose out the rest of the season. It all depends man because they’ll have to decide between Glennon and Fromm to start this week when the Giants take on the Eagles.
#27
Chicago Bears (4-10)
Previous Rank – 27
The Bears suffered another loss this time to the Minnesota Vikings. It just seems like the curtain is about to fall on the head of Matt Nagy on this pitiful performance this season, but he has two chances left to try to get something done. This week the Bears might have a chance when they take on the Seattle Seahawks who have been playing terribly as of late.
#26
Carolina Panthers (5-9)
Previous Rank – 26
The Panthers are falling further and further down the drain here as the continuing quarterback problem comes into play here. They came up with virtually no offense to the Buffalo Bills. It has been a tough season for the Panthers going from Darnold to Walker to Newton and just finding no success really. Things might be going from bad to worse for them now as they’ll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week.
#25
Seattle Seahawks (5-9)
Previous Rank – 25
The Seahawks fall yet again as they took another loss to the Los Angeles Rams this past week. It seems weird why they are absolutely terrible this season. You figure that when Wilson came back from his finger injury that they would have picked right back up from where they were, but they have almost been worse. Defensive issues, Wilson’s issues, Pete’s issues, it doesn’t matter. The Seahawks are trending in the wrong direction, but maybe a matchup with the Chicago Bears is exactly what they need.
#24
Atlanta Falcons (6-8)
Previous Rank – 23
The Falcons are coming off a thrashing from the San Francisco 49ers. They are trying to play with virtually only with like four good players on their entire team, but still with Calvin Ridley being away, this team is hurting. Still, get your health together man, we are still wishing you the best here. The Falcons will however, need to pull something together in order to make something of this season. They will need to win against their opponents this week; the Detroit Lions.
#23
Washington Football Team (6-8)
Previous Rank – 22
Well, we assumed the Football Team wasn’t going to do great with both Heinicke and Allen out with COVID, but the defense just went and fell apart against the Eagles this past week. Jalen hurts scored three total touchdowns and Miles Sanders had his second straight game of going over 100 yards. Washington will need to get it together to come close in this division again. They will face the Dallas Cowboys this week.
#22
Cleveland Browns (7-7)
Previous Rank – 15
Cleveland is in trouble man. It is ture that both Baker and Keenum were unable to go because of COVID last weekend, but their team is losing thread closer and closer coming to the end of the season. COVID continues to plague this team, and because of that the Raiders were able to pull out a win over them. We will see if these issues present themselves again when they take on the Green Bay Packers this week.
#21
Las Vegas Raiders (7-7)
Previous Rank – 24
Vegas pulled out a last-second win over Cleveland. They played decent, but key players were left out in the cold in terms of what they did for the team. Let’s hope they can things back on track when they have divisional matchup this weekend against the Denver Broncos.
#20
Denver Broncos (7-7)
Previous Rank – 16
Speaking of Denver, they come right after Vegas on our Power Rankings here this week. The reason seems odd because they lost a close one to the Bengals this past weekend. So why the large droppage? Teddy Bridgewater suffered a huge hit to his neck which landed him in the hospital unable to finish the game. That now leaves Drew Lock to finish the job. He will need to do everything in order to get this team prepared as they’ll face the Las Vegas Raiders this weekend.
#19
Miami Dolphins (7-7)
Previous Rank – 21
The Dolphins’ win streak continues as they have now won six straight games. Tua continues to have his struggles as threw two interceptions against a weak Jets team, but the team had other plans. Calling up Duke Johnson, he rushed for over 100 yards and had two rushing touchdowns on the evening. This was crazy and shows how bad the Jets run defens really is. They will look to continue their winning streak as they’ll face the Saints Monday night.
#18
Philadelphia Eagles (7-7)
Previous Rank – 21
The Eagles pulled off a big win over Washington as Jalen Hurts returned to action with three total touchdowns on the day. This team is starting to show some signs of life in their division. However, their coach recently just tested postive for COVID so it remains to be seen as to how this team is going to be coached this week when the Eagles take on the New York Giants.
#17
New Orleans Saints (7-7)
Previous Rank – 19
The Saints pulled off huge upset victory over the Buccaneers. it wasn’t just an upset though as they completely shut out Brady and the entire Buccaneers offense not letting them score a single point. The offense of the Saints didn’t do much though as they relied soley on three field goals for the victory. This week is going to be tough though as it appears both Hill and Siemian have been ruled out for the moment due to COVID, so Ian Book might get the start this week against the Dolphins.
#16
Minnesota Vikings (7-7)
Previous Rank – 18
The Vikings didn’t need to do much, but they got the victory over the Chicago Bears. Kirk played less than ideal in this one, but he was able to get out the win with Chicago having its own issues to work with. This Minnesota team is playing okay, but they should be playing a lot better with the talent they have. That’s all I am saying. They will face the Los Angeles Rams this week.
#15
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6-1)
Previous Rank – 17
The Steelers had a duty last weekend. That duty was to not lose to the Tennessee Titans. They fullfilled that duty and more with an intense defensive performance against Ryan Tannehill and the rest of the Titans. The offense was okay by the Steelers, but Najee was virtually nonexistant in the contest. Things are looking up though as the Ravens and the Browns both lost, and the Steelers are behind one game to the division leaders; the Bengals.
#14
Cincinnati Bengals (8-6)
Previous Rank – 14
The Bengals won last weekend, but it wasn’t by much. They narrowly won over a beaten-down Broncos team that was without Teddy-Two Gloves. However, the Bengals pulled out the win nonetheless. They now are atop of the AFC North Division for the first time in a long time. Keaton would be proud of this, but the time is not just up yet. This week, the Bengals will face off against the Baltimore Ravens.
#13
San Francisco 49ers (8-6)
Previous Rank – 13
The 49ers overcame the Atlanta Falcons with ease last weekend, and now they are looking to make a name for themselves in their division with both the Cardinals and the Rams thriving as well. Jimmy G and the 49ers will put things down the whole way when they face the Tennessee Titans this Thursday night!
#12
Los Angeles Chargers (8-6)
Previous Rank – 10
The Charges came close to knocking off the Chiefs last weekend, but overtime brought the hammer down upon the men of lighting bolts; Travis Kelce. The tight end gashed them inside and out and thrusted them into submission. Now, the Chargers are going to be without some key starters because of COVID if they can’t get healthy fast enough. They will still most likely come out as a winner though as they’ll face the Texans this week.
#11
Buffalo Bills (8-6)
Previous Rank – 11
The Bills got the victory after a beatdown of the Carolina Panthers. The AFC is currently going to have a huge issue with deciding what teams will make the wild card with all the similar records. Right now, the Bills are in there, but they need to keep that spot. Hopefully, good news will be in the ears of Josh Allen and company this weekend when they face a team they fought in shitty conditions; the New England Patriots.
#10
Baltimore Ravens (8-6)
Previous Rank – 9
The Ravens almost did it man. They almost overcame the Green Bay Packers in a crazy fashion. With Lamar being out, Tyler Huntley took the starting role and in true Lamar fashion had four total touchdowns; two passing, and two rushing. However, their coach got greedy again and decided to go for two again. That cost them as they lost by one point to the Packers. They also were knocked out of the wild card because of it. Things need to get better for the Ravens as they’ll face the Bengals this week.
#9
Indianapolis Colts (8-6)
Previous Rank – 12
What a performance by the Colts (aka Jonathan Taylor and the defense) last weekend against the Patriots. Sorry, but honestly Wentz had five completed passes all game. They ran down the throats of the Patriots in a similar fashion as to what the Pats did to the Bills. The Colts are really starting to make a name for themselves in the AFC, and they will have a tough task on hand for them this week when they face the Arizona Cardinals.
#8
Tennessee Titans (9-5)
Previous Rank – 8
The Titans lost to the Steelers, but don’t move down in the rankings? That seems like madness, but honestly, they still have a good enough record to keep themselves here. We will find out if they truly belong here at the top though as they will face off against the 49ers tonight with a newly activated AJ Brown off of IR.
#7
New England Patriots (9-5)
Previous Rank – 4
The Pats took a step down last weekend when they were knocked off in a run-first dominant effort by the Colts. Mac Jones did turn the ball over twice, but the entire offense struggled as a whole unless your name was Hunter Henry. The defense also just couldn’t find a way to stop Taylor as a big run-first defense. The Pats will need to step up to secure a spot in the high spots of the AFC. This week they’ll face the Buffalo Bills again.
#6
Kansas City Chiefs (10-4)
Previous Rank – 7
The Chiefs got the win over the Chargers in a dynamic fashion. However, now they are facing some big COVID issues including Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill being put on the COVID list. This does not help the Chiefs’ struggles on offense as they will be facing the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Mahomes hasn’t been playing his best, and without those weapons, they might be in trouble against Pittsburgh this week.
#5
Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
Previous Rank – 6
Dallas had a lot of issues in this last matchup against the Giants, but they came away with the win which is what every Dallas fan wants to hear. They still are atop of their division and will be looking to make it stay that way when the Boys go and take on the Washington Football Team for the second time.
#4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-4)
Previous Rank – 3
The Bucs were shut out. That sentence seems weird enough to say with all the weapons they have, but the weapons are in trouble. Fournette and Godwin have found themselves on IR, and Mike Evans is questionable. Brady finds himself almost like he did in New England with literally nothing to throw to. We will see if he can keep his G.O.A.T. status in check when he and the Bucs take on the Carolina Panthers.
#3
Arizona Cardinals (10-4)
Previous Rank – 2
The Cardinals simply found a way not to show up against one of the worst teams in the NFL last weekend when they lost to the Detroit Lions. Things have to get back on track for them as they have come so far with how well they’ve done this season. Murray will look to get the team back in order when he and the Cardinals take on the Indianapolis Colts this week.
#2
Los Angeles Rams (10-4)
Previous Rank – 5
The Rams find themselves in a wonderful spot after coming away with the victory over the Seattle Seahawks Tuesday. Stafford and the entire offense looked great, and the defense didn’t allow a single passing touchdown from Russell Wilson on the day. Cooper Kupp is a god, and we should treat him like that. The Rams will face off against the Vikings this weekend.
#1
Green Bay Packers (11-3)
Previous Rank – 1
The Packers were able to hold off the Ravens by one point, but one point was all they needed as Rodgers got the job done. They lead everything by their record, and they have been performing out of this world for most of the season. The entire Green Bay crew will look to get everything settled when they face off against the Cleveland Browns this weekend.
thoughtsfromthebench.com 