Week 12 saw several top guns flex their muscles.
The Philadelphia Eagles emerged from an epic battle with the Buffalo Bills with a gutty overtime win. Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen traded haymakers before Hurts scored the game-winner.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys blew out lesser opponents, while the Kansas City Chiefs rebounded from a loss, and the Baltimore Ravens pushed the L.A. Chargers closer to extinction.
And let’s not forget the Denver Broncos. They notched their fifth straight win.
On the flip side, the 10-loss Carolina Panthers fired head coach Frank Reich, who joined Josh McDaniels on the scrap heap.
As for the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Mac Jones sank further into the abyss.
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Here’s the Power Rankings heading into Week 13
1. Philadelphia Eagles (10-1): Outduelling Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in back-to-back weeks has Jalen Hurts back in the MVP conversation.
2. San Francisco 49ers (8-3): With their domination of the Seahawks on Thanksgiving night, the Niners have now won 10 straight division games. Hey NFC West, who’s your daddy?
3. Kansas City Chiefs (8-3): Hard to believe they went scoreless in the second half in three straight games. They stopped the streak against the Raiders.
4. Baltimore Ravens (9-3): Record-wise, they’re the top team in the AFC. They just don’t play like it against inferior opponents.
5. Miami Dolphins (8-3): They cruised to an easy win over the Jets, but need to clean up their act (three turnovers) if they expect to beat the better teams.
6. Dallas Cowboys (8-3): They continue to beat up on the cream puffs. Counting their Thanksgiving rout of the Commanders, they’ve outscored their last three opponents by a 127-37 margin.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3): Beating Houston gives them some breathing room in the AFC South.
8. Detroit Lions (8-3): Three interceptions last week against the Bears. Three fumbles on Turkey Day against the Packers. There aren’t many more ways Jared Goff can self-destruct.
9. Denver Broncos (6-5): Five straight wins, and 15 takeaways by the defense in the last four games. It took awhile to get going, but they’re doing everything right on all fronts.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4): They canned offensive coordinator Matt Canada and had their first 400-yard offensive output in more than three years. Coincidence?
11. Buffalo Bills (6-6): The good news? Josh Allen is back to being the awesome version. The bad? They still couldn’t beat the Eagles.
12 Cleveland Browns (7-4):Deshaun Watson is done for the year. Dorian Thompson-Robinson suffered a head injury. P.J. Walker has been ineffective. Is it time to go to the bullpen and bring up Joe Flacco from the practice squad?
13. Houston Texans (6-5): C.J. Stroud’s fourth straight 300-yard passing game didn’t produce a win, but it kept his star on the rise.
14. Indianapolis Colts (6-5): With the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL, the Gardner Minshew-led Colts actually have a shot at the postseason. Stranger things have happened.
15. Minnesota Vikings (6-6): Their sixth one-score loss took a bit of wind out of their sails in the playoff hunt.
16. Green Bay Packers (5-6): Jordan Love was no match for the Lions defense Week 4. Eight weeks later, the Lions defense was no match for the Packers quarterback.
17. LA Rams (5-6): Thanks to back-to-back wins, they’re one game out of the final NFL playoff spot. If they can stay healthy, they just might snag it.
18. Seattle Seahawks (6-5): They’ve dropped three of their last four, they have no offense, and Dallas and Philadelphia are on deck. Can it get much worse for Pete Carroll’s crew?
19. Atlanta Falcons (5-6): They rolled back into first place in the NFC South, but they’re far from punching a playoff ticket.
20. Cincinnati Bengals (5-6): If they are to have any chance of winning games without Joe Burrow, they’re going to need to have success running the football. With Joe Mixon gaining just 16 yards against the Steelers, let’s just say they’re 0-for-1.
21. LA Chargers (4-7): It’s not going out on the line to suggest Brandon Staley will eventually join Frank Reich and Josh McDaniels on the unemployment line.
22. Las Vegas Raiders (5-7): The boost from a coaching change has worn off. The losses are starting to pile up again.
23. New Orleans Saints (5-6): The red zone is not their friend. Pick-six, fumble, you name it, they’ve done it to stop drives cold in the money area.
24. Tampa Bay Bucs (4-7): If the NFC South wasn’t so bad, they’d be out of the division race. But they’re only one game out in the loss column behind New Orleans and Atlanta.
25. New York Jets (4-7): Only the Jets could throw up a Hail Mary with a few seconds remaining in the half, and have it returned for a 99-yard pick six.
26. Tennessee Titans (4-7): If you need to dial up a win, just play Carolina. That worked well for the struggling Titans.
27. New York Giants (4-8): Might there be a quarterback controversy in the works? Tyrod Taylor is eligible to come off injured reserve Week 14. But local hero Tommy DeVito has won two straight games. Good luck with that, Brian Daboll.
28. Chicago Bears (4-8): They became the first team this year to win a game without scoring a touchdown. And they’ll happily take it.
29. Washington Commanders (4-8): They entered Week 12 having surrendered the most points per game in the league. That status didn’t change for their defense after the Cowboys racked up 45 on Thanksgiving.
30. Arizona Cardinals (2-10): The Kyler Murray effect was good for one win. But they’re back to being one of the worst teams in football.
31. New England Patriots (2-9):It’s gotten so bad, Bill Belichick can’t beat an undrafted third string rookie quarterback.
32. Carolina Panthers (1-10): Frank Reich didn’t make it through his first year at the Panthers helm. David Tepper, an owner with a quick hook, had seen enough after 11 games.
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