Week 13 NFL Power Rankings, The Bengals Make A Big Jump After Win

Nov 25, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader performs during the first half against the Oakland Raiders at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals defeated the Raiders 34-10. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

First of all, can you believe it is already week 13 in the NFL? It seems like just yesterday we were all picking our teams to go to the Super Bowl. Now many of us our hanging our heads and others are tense with anticipation as our teams try to hold on to hope every week.

Week 12 was fun, but now it is time to see where everyone stands in week 13.

#32 Kansas City Chiefs – Okay, now I am starting to feel bad for the Chiefs. Every time I watch the 1-9 Kansas City team, I always feel like they are so close to something. What that is, I don’t know. They lost again and here they are. Circle the wagons; it looks like they are going to be at 32 for a while.

#31 Oakland Raiders –Oakland is 3-8 and has been awful in their last three games. I was at last week’s matchup in Cincinnati and there is not one area of this team that doesn’t need improvement. Palmer cannot do anything. I am sure he will blame everyone else, like he did in Cincinnati. Their defense allowed 221 yards rushing and got crushed by Dalton’s arm. It’s not looking good for the silver and black.

#30 Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jags are 2-9 after their win in week 12 over the Titans. Since Chad Henne has taken over the offense, the team seems to be getting more done on the field. They snapped their seven game skid and are on the rise in the charts. Hey, 30 is better than 32!

#29 Philadelphia Eagles – The Eagles, 3-8, lost to Carolina on Monday night. Vick and McCoy were still out and the season just couldn’t get any worse for the team.

#28 New York Jets – Did the Jets even play this week? Oh yeah, they got their rear ends handed to them in nice wrapping paper, tied in a bow on Thanksgiving night. The Patriots made this Jets team look like fools and their fans taunted them as they headed into the locker room. What should the Jets be thankful for this Thanksgiving? That they are allowed to stay in the NFL!

#27 Carolina Panthers – At 3-8, the Panthers finally finished the game in the fourth quarter. The team got a much needed win at the expense of one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL and they did it under the Monday Night lights. Moving on up, Panthers.

#26 Tennessee Titans – Tennessee is 4-7 and dropped one to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, giving them only their second win of the season. Enough said.

#25 Arizona Cardinals – The Cards are 4-7 heading into week 13 on a seven game losing streak. They are set to play the Jets on Sunday afternoon, though. Both teams have been a joke lately, can they turn it around?

#24 Cleveland Browns – Cleveland got a big win last week over the Steelers. The Browns are now 3-8 and are a force to be reckoned with. They have held close to every team in their eight losses and will have a good shot at a repeat this Sunday against the Raiders in Oakland.

#23 San Diego Chargers – The Chargers lost another close one in week 12. The team is now 4-7 and their hopes at the playoffs are all but forgotten. They just can’t seem to put it all together to get a win.

#22 St. Louis Rams – The Rams are 4-6-1. They pulled it out last week against the Cardinals and kept a sliver of a playoff hope alive. Of course they would need a lot of help from their friends, but this is the NFL.

#21 Buffalo Bills – Andrew Luck had his way with the 4-7 Bills on Sunday, killing any post season hopes that the team once held. The Bills stay home against the Jaguars this week and even though the Jags have only won two games, with the play calling in Buffalo, anything is possible.

#20 Detroit Lions – The Lions lost a heartbreaker on Thanksgiving in overtime to the Houston Texans. The team played well, but the Texans just wouldn’t give up. At the end of the day, the loss came down to Jim Schwartz, a little red flag, and an NFL rule that is being reviewed.

#19 Miami Dolphins – Moving up two spots this week, the Miami Dolphins find themselves at 5-6 with a close win at home over the Seattle Seahawks.

#18 Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys are 5-6 and were another Thanksgiving Day casualty. They dropped one to RGIII and the Redskins 38-31. Their defense was really lacking in the loss and until they get healthy, the future doesn’t look good for Dallas. They do face a flailing Eagles team in week 13; can they get back up to .500?

#17 Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings come into week 13 at 6-5. They excel on the ground and on defense, but their passing game is holding them from big wins. Add that with their tough division and the Vikings are still going to need to win out to keep hopes alive.

#16 New Orleans Saints – The Saints were dealt a heavy blow on Sunday against the 49ers. Brees’ three touchdown passes weren’t enough and now the Saints are 5-6 heading into the final stretch of the season.

#15 Washington Redskins – RGIII took care of the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, placing his team one step closer to .500 for the season. He put up four touchdowns and threw for 311 yards. Morris wasn’t too shabby on the ground either, posting 133 yards and one touchdown of his own. This team is going to be knocking on the post-season door if they keep putting up numbers like this.

#14 Pittsburgh Steelers – This team did not look good on the ground or through the air. They were a turnover machine against the Browns and their future is not looking bright going forward, as long as Roethlisberger is out. At the time of writing this, there was less than a 50% chance the quarterback would return for the team’s next game in Baltimore. This seems like a team that is poised to lose a lot of ground if they can’t pull it together this week.

#13 Indianapolis Coltss – At 7-4, Indy is winning games in a mediocre schedule. They are poised for the number one wild card berth in the AFC, but will face their real challenge with they play Houston twice in the last three games of the season.

#12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The Buccaneers have been playing well, but took one to the chin last week on a big field goal miss and shady performance by their secondary. At 6-5, their playoff hopes are still within reach, but they will have to play at a higher level moving forward.

#11 Seattle Seahawks – Seattle is 6-5 after a tough road loss to Miami. They are a team with a lot of potential, though and great opportunity this season and in the future.

#10 Cincinnati Bengals – That’s right, those rascally Bengals are sitting at 6-5 and tied for the second AFC Wild Card berth. The whole team played as a cohesive unit and the defense had their best game of the season. It looks like the Bengals are the real deal, but you can never really tell with Cincinnati. They have a good matchup this week in San Diego. If the team can pull out another win, they will seat themselves in good position for the rest of the season.

#9 Green Bay Packers – The Packers were blown out by the Giants in week 12. The team couldn’t get anything going and Rodgers took five sacks from New York’s defense. They are still 7-4, but clearly need to play better than last week.

#8 New York Giants – Manning has been struggling for weeks and just when you start to think that the quarterback has lost his touch, in pure Eli fashion he comes out in Week 12 and throws for 243 yards and three touchdowns. The Giants’ defense aided his cause and the team is now 7-4.

#7 Denver Broncos – Kansas City threatened Denver for a minute, but the Broncos pulled it out and are now 8-3. Peyton Manning is in playoff form and the Broncos don’t look to be slowing down.

#6 Chicago Bears – The Bears have been battling injuries like many teams at this point in the season. Now with Forte down, the Bush signing is finally paying off. The backup running back ran for two touchdowns last week and the Chicago is now 8-3.

#5 Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens are 9-2, but have been playing teams really close and doing just enough to stay alive in their wins. Flacco is just an average quarterback and if it wasn’t for Ray Rice, the team would be looking at a different record right now.

#4 San Francisco 49ers – There is a quarterback controversy brewing in San Fran and one that looks to continue through the end of the season. They have two starting-caliber field generals and both are playing very well. However, this eventually has to take a toll on the locker room. As I am writing this Harbaugh is naming Kaepernick his week 13 starter, or Smith. They’re both his guys. Just pick, man.

#3 New England Patriots – Tom Brady has his team ready to go on another Super Bowl run. The 8-3 Pats have been crushing their opponents 108-43 in their last two games. Looking at their losses over the season, the most the team has lost by is two points in week two. This team is for real and they are ready for another.

#2 Atlanta Falcons – Julio Jones was the man in week 12. The Falcons are 10-1 and are still picking up wins. How will this translate into the playoffs?

#1 Houston Texans – This team has held tight to this spot for a few weeks now. Houston is 10-1, but has had two extremely close overtime wins in the last two weeks. Can they keep it going? Who knows, but it is fun to watch.