Week Twelve Power Rankings

The king has fallen. The president's been shot. The mighty warrior has had a spear thrown through his breastplate and fallen off his horse into a sticky puddle of mud.

Field Vision director of data science Jackson Taylor has accumulated net success rate to see how well versus how bad teams won or lost this past week:

Ok, stop being so dramatic. The Chiefs are 9-1. Everything's fine. Here's how everybody else fared i:

Out of Rankings: Washington Commanders, San Francisco 49ers

Honorable Mention(s): Indianapolis Colts & Houston Texans

10. Baltimore Ravens (Previous ranking: 7)

The Ravens are not very good when they don’t run the football. Lamar Jackson is one of the league’s elite quarterbacks with plenty of perfect passer ratings on his resume, but in critical games, particularly in the division, his passing numbers either plummet across the board (see Sunday) or Lamar has one massive mistake that costs the Ravens the game (see the interception in the most recent AFCCG). Derrick Henry was on track to win the all-time rushing title, but if the Ravens forget their mountain of a running back, he’ll have to be content with another Pro Bowl appearance.

9. Green Bay Packers (Previous ranking: NR)

By the tip of a finger, the Packers find themselves in the Power Rankings. Frankly, the Packers should have lost to the Bears being that they allowed a previously lifeless offense to display a pulse for the first time in nearly a month. Jordan Love’s headshot sits adjacent to erratic with his terribly timed turnovers. The Packers’ real story (and my choice for Coach of the Year despite him definitely not receiving a vote) is Matt LaFleur’s prowess. From under the oppressive wing of Aaron Rodgers, we all believed that LaFleur was just a guy (JAG), but he’s proven through the development of Jordan Love, whenever he can be smart with the pigskin.

8. Arizona Cardinals (Previous ranking: NR)

I fully expected Jonathan Gannon to be unemployed by this point in the season, but clearly, I am very wrong. The defense isn’t keeping Gannon his job, but rather Kyler Murray’s offense working. Despite being an Air Raid baby, Kyler’s offense is based around the run game, giving the Cardinal defense, employing some of the league’s best safeties, the necessary break on the sideline. Marvin Harrison Jr. needs to get more involved in the action to avoid Internet dorks calling him a bust by the end of the year, though. Despite being on a bye week, their lead in that division must be acknowledged.

7. Minnesota Vikings (Previous ranking: 10)

The Vikings are back, but they are winning in a lot quieter fashion. Sam Darnold isn’t who he was at the beginning of the season, but that ought to be good enough to get this team to the playoffs. If the Titans had not scored their 98-yard TD from Westbrook-Ikhine, the Vikings win becomes more impressive. There’s not a ton to say about his pretty solid team.

(A to Z Sports)

6. Los Angeles Chargers (Previous ranking: 9)

The Chargers nearly charger-ed all over us on Sunday Night after coming so very close to a collapse against the Bengals. Justin Herbert legitimately has an MVP case and has the effective eccentricities of Jim Harbaugh working for him. The LA defense is real despite their new head coach being a former quarterback and their previous coach supposedly being a former defensive coordinator. JK Dobbins’ arrival further emphasized the toughness and grit Harbaugh insists upon and the Chargers desperately needed.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (Previous ranking: 4)

Forget everything you know about the Baltimore Ravens defense. Forget Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and even Haloti Ngata. The Steelers are 2-0 this year when scoring no touchdowns while the rest of the league has won just two games of that nature combined. Against that particular opponent, at this particular time of year, is huge for this particular team. The Steelers are winners in eight games this year, which may propel them to a playoff spot if you would have asked a preseason predictor, but now, they are real players to host multiple playoff games. Russell’s renaissance and Mike Tomlin’s consistency break through the bivouac of the AFC North, which is still the NFL’s harshest division (don’t look now, but Jameis Winston is cooking). Pittsburgh can prove exactly nothing until the playoffs, but so far, they have proven most of us categorically wrong.

4. Philadelphia Eagles (Previous ranking: 8)

The Eagles are flying higher than they should be frankly. With their coach showing the same decision-making problems nearly every week and their kicker missing two chip shot kicks, they still managed to beat the Commanders, a hampered Jayden Daniels in tow. Philly’s pure talent at all the important positions is only rivaled by San Francisco. Like, they have a Heisman Trophy winner as their #2 receiver, come on…Their large, comfortable lead in the NFC East is also a surprise like the other Pennsylvania team, but like their neighbors, they can’t really prove squat until January.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (Previous ranking: 1)

The Chiefs were bound to lose at some point this year. A team of that many flaws could not stay spotless through the length of an NFL season. The positions of weakness emphasized by Buffalo are not new problems. The left tackle spot has been thrown into further question with this year’s second rounder being a recent healthy scratch. Jaylen Watson’s broken ankle weakened a secondary just getting used to missing L’Jarius Sneed. Patrick Mahomes is not having a Mahomesian season, but when the Chiefs needed him most, down by nine to Buffalo (not the final possession, he scored with ease. The Chiefs had not lost since Christmas of 2023. They needed a loss the same way every kid should break at least one bone in childhood: you live and you learn.

2. Detroit Lions (Previous ranking: 3)

Ben Johnson is reminding me of the 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes. They dropped 59 on Wisconsin in the B1G title game to force themselves into a playoff position. Though Johnson probably would have been a candidate no matter what after this season, the offense’s insistence on continuous scoring in all their blowouts this year is pretty apparent. The Lions are flat out dominating everyone, but hanging 52 on the Jags isn’t as impressive knowing that the Bears threw 35 on them with Shane Waldron still calling plays.   

1. Buffalo Bills (Previous ranking: 2)

(CBS Sports)

If you come at the king, you’d best not miss, and the Bills have had the most shots against the Chiefs over the last few years. Despite not being in the same division, the Bills and Chiefs play twice just about every year. The Bills and Chiefs were fairly even teams, explaining why Buffalo held only the homefield advantage edge in Vegas. Josh Allen’s touchdown kept his team’s hopes alive for the top seed if Kansas City were to stumble again this season, which would give them another home playoff game likely against Mahomes. The Bills should be riding high, but this is typically the high point of their season, but let’s hope things are different this year.

 Now before we gather totals, Jackson Taylor also measured EPA trends after Week 12, excluding the third phase and empty stats:

Biggest Mover(s): Philadelphia Eagles (up 4 spots) & Baltimore Ravens (down 3 spots)

New Appearance(s): Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals