Week 12 has finally come to an end in the 2020 NFL regular season, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens played a bizarre mid-afternoon game on Wednesday, as NBC had already committed to showing the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The Steelers edged a Baltimore team that was missing 16 key players due to COVID-19 cases, 19-14. So the Steelers remain unbeaten, but several of their wins have been uneven; after Wednesday’s game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called it a “JV” effort to get the win.
Heading into Week 13, let’s look at the updated NFL power rankings to help you plan your sports betting.
NFL News: Power Rankings after Week 12
#1 Kansas City Chiefs (10-1)
Having Tyreek Hill and Patrick Mahomes on the same team is starting to seem unfair, along the lines of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. Mahomes put up almost 500 yards of offense, including his running and passing yards, against Tampa Bay, and Hill had 13 catches for 269 yards and three scores on 15 targets.
#2 Pittsburgh Steelers (11-0)
Which team is better? We won’t know until they meet — hopefully in the AFC Championship? For now, the Chiefs look more impressive.
#3 New Orleans Saints (9-2)
When will Drew Brees return? He fractured a bunch of ribs and had a collapsed lung, and he’s 41. Taysom Hill is running the offense now, and has a 2-0 record as the backup, but the Saints play an Atlanta team that walloped Las Vegas by 37 last week this Sunday.
#4 Seattle Seahawks (8-3)
The awakening of the Seattle pass rush has led to a terrific run since Week 8, as the team has stacked up 22 sacks, including six of Carson Wentz in Monday night’s victory. Jamal Adams is disrupting teams off the blitz and is the only safety or cornerback leading his team in sacks in the NFL. Carlos Dunlap came over from Cincinnati and has four sacks in four games, but he left the Philadelphia game with a foot injury and is questionable.
#5 Green Bay Packers (8-3)
Aaron Rodgers threw for 211 yards and four scores against Chicago last week and continues to put up monster numbers — but he’s only doing it against the bottom-feeders of the league, as Green Bay has just one win against a winning team so far this season.
#6 Tennessee Titans (8-3)
Three weeks ago, the Titans got humiliated by Indianapolis at home, but then they went to Indy and repaid the favor this past weekend, behind 140 yards and three touchdowns from Derrick Henry in the first half. He has three straight 100+ yard games against the Colts — and no other tailback has hit 100 yards against their D since the start of the 2019 season.
#7 Buffalo Bills (8-3)
The Bills tried to give their game away last week, handing Jacksonville the ball three times on seven offensive plays in the fourth quarter, but they still won. Those three possessions led to three Jacksonville points, a testimony to the Bills’ defense.
#8 Los Angeles Rams (7-4)
The Rams look great as long as Jared Goff can throw quickly and out of the play-action set. When he can’t, and when he gets pressure, bad things happen. He turned the ball over three times against San Francisco, and he has fumbled four times and thrown 10 picks so far in 2020.
#9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5)
It was impressive to see the Bucs rally from 17 points down against Kansas City; ultimately they just lost that game by three points. That made two straight losses to top teams (the Rams and the Chiefs), but the Bucs should make the playoffs anyway, with an easy finish to the season.
#10 Indianapolis Colts (7-4)
The Colts have a stout defense, but they still got gashed by Derrick Henry last week, and the week before, they gave up 28 first-half points to Green Bay before coming back to win in overtime.
#11 Las Vegas (6-5)
Derek Carr has looked transcendent at times, and he has looked dreadful at times. He was awful against Atlanta, throwing a pick-six and losing three fumbles via sacks. Tailback Josh Jacobs had an injured hip and then sprained an ankle. Thank goodness they have the Jets coming up.
#12 Baltimore Ravens (6-5)
Lamar Jackson will return against Dallas on Tuesday if he tests negative. They need that win in order to have a chance at the postseason.
#13 Cleveland Browns (8-3)
Does this ranking seem low for an 8-3 team? Their recent winning streak has come against bad teams, but their next matchup is against the Titans. If they can beat Tennessee with their pounding running game, they will shoot up the power rankings.
#14 Arizona Cardinals (6-5)
The Cards turned a 10-0 lead in New England into a 20-17 loss. It didn’t help that Zane Gonzalez missed what would have been a game-winning field goal in the last minute, and the late hit penalty on Isaiah Simmons really didn’t help, because it moved the Pats far enough forward for their game-winning field goal. Kyler Murray was contained in the pocket and struggled against Bill Belichick’s defense.
#15 Miami Dolphins (7-4)
Ryan Fitzpatrick is back at quarterback because of Tua Tagovailoa’s thumb injury, and at the age of 38, FitzMagic threw a pair of touchdown passes in an easy win over the Jets. It is the Miami defense that is the strength of the team; Xavien Howard had an interception in his third consecutive game and leads the NFL with seven picks.
#16 Minnesota Vikings (5-6)
Kirk Cousins led the Vikings on a 75-yard, seven-play drive to deliver a 28-27 win. He’s in the middle of a great run right now, but remember that he was on pace to break 30 interceptions earlier this season.
#17 New England Patriots (5-6)
Don’t look now, but the Pats have won three out of four after knocking off the Cardinals. Cam Newton had the play of the game, a 14-yard scramble on third and 13, and then Isaiah Simmons hit him late, moving the Pats closer to that field goal. Next up is a trip to the West Coast to face the Chargers.
#18 Atlanta Falcons (4-7)
Could Raheem Morris take the “interim” off his head coaching title? The Falcons are now 4-2 since firing Dan Quinn, and the Falcons had five takeaways and five sacks against the Raiders last week. They scored 43 points without Todd Gurley or Julio Jones.
#19 San Francisco 49ers (5-6)
Give Kyle Shanahan credit, because he knows how to win games with little talent on the field. The 49er defense had four turnovers against the Rams, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, back from a hamstring injury, had 11 catches for 133 yards.
#20 Los Angeles Chargers (3-8)
Clock mismanagement, shoddy defense, and poor decision-making all combined to make the Chargers’ loss to Buffalo look ridiculous. This is ruining what is a transcendent rookie season by Justin Herbert.
#21 Houston Texans (4-7)
Do you think that Deshaun Watson would like to be traded to a team with sensible management? The Texans are said to enjoy the job that interim head coach Romeo Crennel has done so far. Hmmm.
#22 Carolina Panthers (4-8)
Jeremy Chinn returned two fumbles for touchdowns for the Panthers on Sunday, but the Panthers still couldn’t stop the Vikings from coming back to win. Chinn was the first player to accomplish that feat since 1950 — and in his case, the fumbles came on consecutive plays from scrimmage. But that defense, overall, just can’t get stops.
#23 Denver Broncos (4-7)
Drew Lock should return at quarterback on Sunday, but he’s become a turnover machine in recent weeks…so the Chiefs should roll.
#24 New York Giants (4-7)
Daniel Jones is questionable for Sunday’s game against Seattle, which would put Colt McCoy at the helm. Hmmm.
#25 Washington Football Team (4-7)
Could Alex Smith lead Washington to an NFC East title? He’s doing enough to keep the ball moving, and tailback Antonio Gibson has had a terrific rookie season, with 115 yards and three touchdowns against Dallas on Thanksgiving. The front seven is feasting on teams that cannot block well.
#26 Dallas Cowboys (3-8)
The national sports media has been roasting Mike McCarthy for his fake punt in the fourth quarter against Washington. Dallas was only down four points and had a 4th and 10 from their own 24. The play lost a yard. The Cowboys also lost their starting offensive tackles on the same drive to injury. This team would still be bad, even if Dak Prescott had not gotten injured, and it’s because of dreadful coaching.
#27 Philadelphia Eagles (3-7-1)
What is wrong with Carson Wentz? Will he and Doug Pederson both be out the door at the end of the season? Wentz is only the sixth quarterback since 1950 to have a season passer rating that is more than 24 points below the combined rating he posted over the last three seasons.
#28 Chicago Bears (5-6)
The Bears have lost five games in a row. The defense has fallen apart — and that was supposed to be the strength. The Packers gashed the Bears on the ground and through the air. And the quarterbacking duo of Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles is another disaster.
#29 Detroit Lions (4-7)
The Lions fired head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn after the Thanksgiving debacle. Darrell Bevell, the former offensive coordinator, is now the interim head coach. You might remember him as the coordinator who called that infamous pass for Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX, when the Seahawks had been running all over the Patriots and were on the doorstep for a title-winning score. However, Malcolm Butler jumped the route and intercepted Russell Wilson, giving the Patriots yet another title. How will things work out for him in Detroit?
#30 Cincinnati Bengals (2-8-1)
The Bengals are playing out the string now that Joe Burrow has gone down for the season. A bright spot came against the Giants when Brandon Wilson returned a kickoff 103 yards for a score.
#31 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-10)
Mike Glennon started at quarterback on Sunday in his first game since 2017 — and almost beat Cleveland. CAn he beat Minnesota this week?
#32 New York Jets (0-11)
Five more games until the Jets win the Trevor Lawrence Lottery.
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