NFL

2019 NFL Power Rankings: Week 13

After the Week 12 NFL slate, it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills who found themselves taking the biggest leap forward in our rankings, while the Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons were among the teams to fall the most in our Power Rankings.

Here are our Week 13 NFL Power Rankings:

Teams Ranked 32nd to 23rd

Rank Team nERD Rec Playoff Odds Off. NEP Rank Def. NEP Rank Change
32 Miami Dolphins -14.82 2-9 0.00% 29 32 0
31 Cincinnati Bengals -10.91 0-11 0.00% 27 29 -1
30 Washington Redskins -10.53 2-9 0.00% 30 26 1
29 New York Giants -8.03 2-9 0.00% 26 24 -1
28 New York Jets -6.64 4-7 0.50% 31 11 1
27 Detroit Lions -5.63 3-7-1 0.00% 20 27 -3
26 Jacksonville Jaguars -5.4 4-7 1.10% 23 23 0
25 Oakland Raiders -4.87 6-5 14.20% 11 30 -7
24 Arizona Cardinals -4.62 3-7-1 0.00% 8 31 3
23 Carolina Panthers -4.18 5-6 0.30% 25 18 2

One team who has steadily dropped in our rankings over the past month has been the Detroit Lions. After losing their starting quarterback Matthew Stafford to a back injury in Week 9 against the Oakland Raiders, the Lions have gone on to lose their last four games – including a loss to the Washington Redskins last week.

The Lions now have a 0% chance of making the playoffs and will be mathematically eliminated after this week should they lose to the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, or should the Minnesota Vikings win their game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

This Lions team has been injury-riddled all season, which has caused for both their offense and defense to struggle. Per our schedule-adjusted metrics, the Lions offense ranks 20th across the league in terms of Net Expected Points (NEP), while their defense ranks 28th.

One team who took a significant step back in our rankings this week is the Oakland Raiders. While this team has gone on to win three of their last four matchups, they took a brutal beating last week against the New York Jets by a score of 34-3 – causing them to drop 7 spots in our rankings.

This Raiders offense has been rather impressive this season, ranking as the 11th best offense across the league, per our numbers. They have, however, struggled on defense and are currently allowing 25.8 points per game to opposing teams – the 9th most in the league.

There is a lot to look forward to with this team, if you’re a Raiders fan. Per Over The Cap, the Raiders currently have the youngest team in the league, with their average player age being 26.5 years old. They also have the 9th most cap space heading into the 2020 season.

Teams Ranked 22nd to 13th

RankTeamnERDRecPlayoff OddsOff. NEP RankDef. NEP RankChange
22Chicago Bears-3.595-60.20%3240
21Atlanta Falcons-2.743-80.00%1028-4
20Los Angeles Chargers-2.274-70.50%13250
19Denver Broncos-1.143-80.30%246-3
18Cleveland Browns-1.085-617.00%14221
17Tampa Bay Buccaneers-0.64-70.00%18154
16Buffalo Bills-0.478-382.80%16207
15Indianapolis Colts-0.056-535.30%19140
14Los Angeles Rams0.076-58.40%227-1
13Pittsburgh Steelers1.316-547.00%283-1

After winning two straight divisional games against the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, there was some hope that this Atlanta Falcons team might go on a little run to close out the second-half of the 2019 NFL regular season. That came to a quick halt after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bay by a score of 35-22 last week.

There have been a lot of ups and downs with this Falcons team, but they have struggled to find consistency in their game. They’ve particularly struggled on the defensive side of the ball. After holding the Saints and Panthers to a combined total of 12-points in Week 10 and Week 11, this defense looked like they were starting to turn things around. They then fell back into old habits against the Bucs’ last week, allowing for them to score five touchdowns. Per our numbers, the Falcons defense now ranks as the fifth-worst defense across the league.

With a 3-8 record, the Falcons now have a 0% chance of making the playoffs this season. This will be the second straight season they have missed the playoffs.

One of the more surprising teams this season has been the Buffalo Bills. With just five weeks remaining in the NFL regular season, the Bills are currently sitting at an 8-3 record with an 82.8% chance of making the playoffs.

After their win against the Denver Broncos last week, the Bills find themselves moving up seven spots in our rankings this week. While they still have a negative nERD (-0.47) - a metric that measures how many points above or below average a team is – it’s hard to ignore this team's 8-3 record.

Unfortunately for the Bills, their schedule over the next five weeks is not going to be easy. Per TeamRankings, the Bills have the toughest schedule to close out the 2019 season. Three of the five opponents they’ll face to finish the season currently rank within the top-5 of our rankings, including the Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, and Dallas Cowboys.

Teams Ranked 12th to 1st

RankTeamnERDRecPlayoff OddsOff. NEP RankDef. NEP RankChange
12Tennessee Titans1.696-528.70%2152
11Philadelphia Eagles2.015-627.50%1580
10Houston Texans2.347-477.30%9170
9New Orleans Saints3.49-299.90%616-1
8Seattle Seahawks4.079-298.90%7131
7Green Bay Packers4.938-397.20%5190
6Kansas City Chiefs6.017-495.60%3120
5Minnesota Vikings6.198-394.80%410-1
4Dallas Cowboys7.756-573.40%2211
3San Francisco 49ers13.5110-199.40%1220
2New England Patriots14.3910-1100.00%171-1
1Baltimore Ravens14.829-299.70%191

After winning four of their last five games, the Tennessee Titans find themselves moving into the top-tier of our rankings this week, pushing the Pittsburgh Steelers out.

The Titans have been impressive since Ryan Tannehill took over as the starting quarterback back in Week 7. He’s led this team to a 4-1 record since being the starter and has a chance to lead this team on a playoff run with five weeks remaining in the regular season.

While that won’t be easy for Tannehill and the Titans – considering they have the 9th hardest schedule to close out the 2019 season – they have momentum in their favor heading into the final five weeks. Since Tannehill took over as the quarterback for the Titans, their offense has gone from ranking 30th to 21st in a matter of 5 weeks, per our numbers. Their defense has also been one of the most consistent all season, currently ranking 5th across the league, per our numbers.

Outside of the Titans entering the top-tier of our rankings this week, there was very little movement within the top teams. Five teams stayed in the same position as last week, while six teams jumped up or moved down just one spot.

The Baltimore Ravens find themselves back at the top of our rankings as the number one team this week, after beating the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 45-6 on the road in Week 12.