Each week members of The Game Haus will collaborate to determine our NFL Power Rankings. We rate teams from 1-32 and add the points received to give us our final answer.
Our voters: Zac Stone, Joe DiTullio, Michael Packard, Savannah Dean, Ben Hendricks, Manny Finale, Pranay Malempati
Most Browns fans are Ohio State fans. Most Browns fans hate Baker Mayfield for planting an Oklahoma flag at the 50 yard line. Most Browns fans freaked out when it was rumored he would be the first pick. Still mad?
Mayfield absolutely lit up the Bengals for their first road win following 25 road losses, one shy of an NFL record. Granted, the Bengals are on pace to have the worst defense in NFL history, but past Browns quarterbacks still would not have done what he did.
Two of the best three teams were on a bye so it was not the most exciting week, but four teams deserve to be highlighted. The Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers will be playing football in January. The Chargers were expected to be good, but are exceeding expectations. If it was not for the emergence of Patrick Mahomes they would run away with the division. The Bears have been a nice surprise and have shown they can win without their first round quarterback. The Texans were expected to be good, but with the Jaguars struggling it should be an easy division championship.
The fourth team is the Steelers. They had been on fire, than drop a game to a struggling Broncos team. This should be no concern, seeing as the two Ohio teams pose no threat and the Ravens are facing an uphill battle. The concern here is more about how they will fare in the playoffs.
This week’s rankings may be the weirdest rankings when comparing to where we started. That being said, week 13 ladies and gentleman.
The New Orleans Saints have a nice grip over their division, and their 31-17 victory over the Falcons shows it. As Drew Brees continues to achieve milestones, the Big Easy keeps commanding respect of the league. The most important thing they need to do is to keep winning as they are now. Even with more weapons than even Sean Payton knows what to do with, the Saints should not be satisfied with their current success. They should be solidifying home field advantage come playoff time.
– Manny Finale
The Rams had the week off to head into December tied with the best record in the league at 10-1. They will travel to Detroit this week to try to improve on their incredible season. They currently do not control their own destiny if they want the road to the Super Bowl to go through Los Angeles, so they must keep winning and have the Saints drop a game.
– Zac Stone
Kansas City had a bye week, so not much happened to change where they stand in the AFC. While the top seeds all won, Kansas City still holds the number 1 seed going into the home stretch of the season.
– Pranay Malempati
New England wasn’t going to slip up against the Jets coming off a bye. They have won seven of their last eight and having already beaten the Chiefs, are in good position to get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if Kansas City slips up again. Rex Burkhead is returning from injury, which should help them down the stretch.
– Joe DiTullio
The Bears continue to be the surprise team in the NFC. In a division with the Packers and Vikings, they were not considered a team that can win the division, yet here they are heading into week 13 in first place. Chase Daniel had an impressive game in Mitchell Trubisky’s absence, throwing for two touchdowns and completing 27 of 37 passes.
– Zac Stone
Well, how was that for a bounce-back game, LA? Philip Rivers had a sublime performance, starting the game with a record 25 straight completions and ending 28/29 with three touchdowns in a 45-10 blowout victory. Unfortunately, Melvin Gordon sprained his MCL, so this team will have to keep chugging along without him for about a month. On the other hand, this defense is playing lights-out right now, having allowed 20 points just once in the last seven games. It will face a big test against Pittsburgh’s offense next week.
– Pranay Malempati
In an AFC South showdown on Monday night, the Houston Texans stood tall in their 34-17 win against the Tennessee Titans. Quarterback Deshaun Watson had 280 total yards and three touchdowns, running back Lamar Miller had 162 yards and a touchdown on the ground and the Texans defense, while giving up a ton of yards, prevented the Titans from scoring points after they raced out to a 10-0 lead. Houston gets a fiery 4-6-1 Cleveland Browns team in what should be a good game.
– Michael Packard
This team won against the Jags in the last second last week but was unable to do that for the second straight week when facing the Broncos. Big Ben threw a pick in the end zone with less than two minutes left. This ended their winning streak. This team needs to step it up and be the team that every NFL fan knows they can be or else they might blow the divisional win in the end.
– Savannah Dean
It was a huge win at home for the Vikings. With the Seahawks and Panthers playing quality football, this was a must win for them to stay in the wild card hunt. The division is still up for grabs, especially with a division win against the Packers Sunday night. The Vikings stuck to their usual path to success, with Kirk Cousins completing passes for nearly 350 yards and three touchdowns. Adam Thielen and Stefan Diggs continue their bid for the best receiver duo in the league.
– Zac Stone
After a slow start to the season, the Seahawks have emerged as legitimate playoff contender after a statement win against a strong Panthers’ squad. Trailing in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks rallied back to steal a win on a last-second field goal. Seattle will look to stay hot this week when they host the 49ers.
– Zac Stone
In a match-up of 5-5 playoff hopefuls, it was slugfest of a game that the Indianapolis Colts managed to squeak out a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins. Miami managed to get out to a 10-point lead in the third quarter after a Adam Vinatieri missed field goal and a Kenyon Drake touchdown. However, the Colts came roaring back by controlling the clock in the fourth quarter (12:06-3:54) and held the Dolphins to -1 yards on their final two drives while the Colts scored 13 unanswered points including a walk-off field goal by Vinatieri. The Colts head down south to take on a 3-8 Jacksonville Jaguars that has lost eight straight games.
– Michael Packard
Carolina lost a tough one against the Seattle Seahawks this past Sunday. Christian McCaffery and Cam Newton came out guns blazing. But Carolina’s defense couldn’t hold off Russell Wilson. Coach Ron Rivera and the defense will need to learn from this 30-27 defeat if they are to move forward. Though their playoff chances are still alive, they cannot afford to ease up now.
– Manny Finale
The Cowboys playing on Thanksgiving is American as Thanksgiving itself. Dallas came away with a key divisional victory behind a fantastic game from Ezekiel Elliot and another encouraging performance from the newly acquired Amari Cooper. They continue to overachieve in an extremely disappointing NFC East, and they will likely control their own destiny moving forward. Their toughest test of the season lies ahead as they face the 10-1 Saints in Jerryworld next week.
– Ben Hendricks
Lamar Jackson threw two picks against the Raiders but helped the team rally at home for the win. He is now 2-0 as a starter and their defense is slowing getting back to the top like they were in the beginning of the season. They sit at 6-5 and vying for a wild-card spot. With the Steelers losing, the Titans losing and Jackson leading the Ravens to their second straight win, you can’t count this young quarterback and team out.
– Savannah Dean
Dropping a divisional contest in a division this tight is never good. Not to say their loss to the Cowboys doomed Washington, but if the NFC East comes down to tiebreakers (which it very well might), this does not bode well for their playoff hopes. Colt McCoy will have to be better if Washington wants to position themselves for a playoff berth. Three interceptions is not going to get the job done, and their three featured backs are going to have to combine for more than 80 yards if they want to make up for less-than-great quarterback play. But hope is not lost just yet.
– Ben Hendricks
The Broncos, who beat the red-hot Steelers on a shocking last-minute, end zone interception by defensive lineman Shelby Harris, now have back to back wins against AFC title contenders. They move to 5-6 and are only one game behind the second wild-card spot. With their next four games against teams with losing records, Denver has a real opportunity to make a playoff push.
– Pranay Malempati
Being an Eagles fan is probably extremely frustrating this season. The talent is there, it’s just not living up to its potential. Either that or it’s injured. Barely escaping with a win against one of the teams fighting for the first overall pick is not great, and it paints a picture of an up and down, disappointing 2018-2019 campaign. But as with the other two teams in the hunt in their division, the Eagles will likely control their own destiny. It’ll be a race to the finish in the NFC East, so Philadelphia isn’t dead yet.
– Ben Hendricks
In a crucial game to keep up in the AFC South race, the Tennessee Titans fell flat in their 34-17 loss to the Houston Texans. Sure, the Titans had 365 yards of offense but outside of a handful of plays, a lot of the yardage came from dink-and-dunk plays that happened to get meaningful yards. Tennessee was in the game, but momentum went all in favor of Houston when the Titans went for it on fourth-and-1 on the goal line to take the lead, but couldn’t convert. The next play for the Texans was a 97-yard Lamar Miller touchdown run to put them up by 11. The Titans have an easy schedule the rest of the way, starting with the floundering 3-8 New York Jets at home next Sunday.
– Michael Packard
Season. Over. After losing to the Vikings on Sunday night, the Packers have fallen to 4-6-1. They still have Aaron Rodgers and miracles happen, but with the weapons he has to work with it seems nearly impossible. Outside of traveling to Chicago they do have a favorable schedule, but that still will not be enough.
– Zac Stone
The Atlanta Falcons had a rough week. They were facing a blue-hot New Orleans Saints last Thursday and lost 31-17. Falcons fans are very likely pulling their hair as their team is losing playoff ground. But things could have been a lot worse against the Saints. The Falcons’ defense defense will need to crank it into overdrive to help Atlanta get back into the playoff conversation.
– Manny Finale
The Browns are becoming a strong team. Their team is made up of many rookies but they are all shining. They destroyed the Bengals on Sunday. Baker Mayfield is dangerous and so is Nick Chubb. This team could match their 2010 win record of seven if they continue to play like this.
– Savannah Dean
This team is not the same team as they were the first few weeks of the season. Their defense is ranked dead last and now quarterback Andy Dalton is on injured reserve. A.J. Green has yet to return and their upcoming schedule isn’t the easiest. They are still technically in the hunt for the wild card race. Their backup Jeff Driskel didn’t look to bad, but their season is most likely over.
– Savannah Dean
While they played the Colts hard, the Dolphins were not able to pick up a win on the road. The team really isn’t all that talented and are somehow 5-6. They are still in the playoff race, but it will be very difficult to do given their current two-game skid. Miami will get the Bills next week for a chance to go .500 for the season.
– Joe DiTullio
LeGarrette Blount had a nice day. Outside of his day on the ground, it was not the happiest of Thanksgivings. Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions and although the game was close, it never felt like they pressured the Bears. This team is not terrible, we have seen them have outstanding days, but they still have a lot of work to do before they compete.
– Zac Stone
Tampa Bay’s latest victory may have come against a dismal San Francisco 49ers, but performance has seen improvements nevertheless. Jameis Winston was sharp in this game, completing over 70% of his passes and exceeding 300 yards. Plus, he threw two touchdowns and no picks. That being said, the Bucs are far from out of the woods
– Manny FInale
After Jalen Ramsey talked trash about Buffalo rookie quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills were able to beat the Jags 24-21. Allen has surely shown flashes of potential and Buffalo should be excited for their future, even if they likely won’t do anything big this year.
– Joe DiTullio
This game, a 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, was the epitome of the Jacksonville Jaguars season. Inexcusable turnovers, inability to score in the red zone and discipline issues all reared their ugly head, and everything in the aftermath hasn’t made things better. Leonard Fournette, who was ejected from Sunday’s game for fighting with Bills’ player Shaq Lawson, was suspended one game, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was fired and quarterback Blake Bortles was benched on Monday, which will probably effectively end his tenure in Jacksonville. Now it is all about going through the motions for the rest of the season, and the Jaguars host the surging 6-5 Indianapolis Colts next week.
– Michael Packard
Good for the Giants for playing hard against the Eagles. Divisional games bring out the best in bad teams. More kudos to New York for losing that game. They’re still in lottery position, which is the only good thing about this season. Keep losing.
– Ben Hendricks
It wasn’t likely that the Jets would beat the Patriots, but they hung in tough for three and a half quarters. With Sam Darnold injured, Josh McCown started at quarterback for the Jets and played solidly. Todd Bowles is likely coaching for his job down the stretch, although he hasn’t gotten a lot of talent to work with over his tenure.
– Joe DiTullio
The 49ers looked dead when they traveled to Tampa Bay. They have a solid quarterback who has been injured. At this point, why even try to win a game? When Jimmy G is back this team will look completely different, why not try to give them the top pick to help him next year?
– Zac Stone
The Raiders again lost a game and stayed in striking distance of the number one overall pick. While Derek Carr still hasn’t thrown a pick since their bye six weeks ago, he had nothing to be proud about, completing under 50% of his passes this week. They have another blowout loss upcoming against Kansas City next game.
– Pranay Malempati
The Cardinals felt good after the first quarter on Sunday, up 10 against one of the top teams in the league. Unfortunately that feeling would not last long, surrendering 45 unanswered points to the Chargers. They remain in a tight race with the 49ers and Raiders for the coveted top pick.
– Zac Stone
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