Phil Agius
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The Eagles won the best game of Thanksgiving week in the NFL against the Bills to stay on top of the Pickswise NFL Power Rankings with a shiny 10-1 record.
The team at the bottom didn’t change either, but the Panthers have changed their head coach in their latest bid to avoid having to hand over the #1 pick in the draft to the Bears.
You can check out our NFL Week 13 predictions and look at the NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.
Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 13
1 (-) Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles survived a scare against the Bills with characteristic grit but they are only 3rd favorites for the Super Bowl at +460 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, which has the Chiefs and 49ers at +430. The importance of their next game for the rankings will be realised when you see who is now sitting at #2.
2 (up 3) San Francisco 49ers
That’s right, the 49ers’ demolition of the Seahawks was their 3rd straight win, cancelling out the 3-game losing run that came before it. The Californian crew looked back to their brilliant best and a 3-place jump sets up a #1 vs #2 clash at the Linc on Sunday afternoon. The 49ers are 3-point road favorites, so there’s some extra motivation for the 10-1 Eagles already.
3 (down 1) Dallas Cowboys
The next 3 teams are all moving down not because they did anything wrong — in fact they all won — but just to accommodate the 49ers’ rise. The Cowboys feasted on the hopeless Commanders on Thanksgiving, but there still aren’t many notable wins on their record, as good as they can look when punishing the stragglers.
4 (down 1) Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens improved to 9-3 with a road win over the Chargers to keep hold of the #1 seeding in the AFC. They have a tough run coming up now, though with the Rams, 49ers, Jaguars, Dolphins and Steelers remaining on their schedule.
5 (down 1) Kansas City Chiefs
The win over the Raiders was one of the better offensive performances by the Chiefs in recent weeks, as they caught some balls and decided to score points in both halves. They are 4-1 on the road now, heading into an appearance against the Packers on Sunday Night Football.
6 (up 4) Buffalo Bills
The Bills missed their chance to take down down the #1 Eagles, but the fact that they went so close to what would have been a deserved win earns them respect from the rankings. This is high for a 6-6 team that’s only 10th in the AFC playoff race, but the fact that they’re 9th in FanDuel’s Super Bowl betting despite that record shows their potential to beat anyone in the playoffs if they can get in.
7 (up 2) Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins can rival the Cowboys as cupcake schedule kings as, having just beaten the Tim Boyle Jets, they next face the Commanders, Titans and Jets again! They are now 5th favorites for the Super Bowl at +900 with FanDuel.
8 (down 2) Detroit Lions
The Lions failed to break their Thanksgiving Day losing streak in a surprising but deserved home loss to the Packers but they still have the lead in the NFC North and are -900 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to keep it.
9 (down 1) Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars crucially avoided being swept by the Texans on Sunday, but it was a close-run thing. They next embark on a tour of the AFC North with their first 2 opponents, the Bengals and Browns, both missing their starting QBs — so that’s a break from the schedulers.
10 (up 4) Denver Broncos
The Broncos were down in 30th place in these rankings following their 70-20 mauling by Miami in Week 3 dropped them to 0-3, but they are 20 places higher after extending their winning run to 5 games against the Browns. Reducing Cleveland from its back-up QB to its third-stringer when the game was finely poised at 14-12 helped, but the 6-5 Broncos are undoubtedly better now than during their sloppy start.
11 (down 4) Cleveland Browns
The Browns could be on to their 4th starting QB of the season this week if veteran Joe Flacco, signed last week, is asked to fill in for Dorian Thompson-Robinson (concussion). It’s fitting that the drama is taking place while the Browns stay over in Hollywood in between their road games against the Broncos and Rams.
12 (down 1) Houston Texans
The Texans, like the Broncos, are 6-5 followinga slow start even though they couldn’t quite beat the Jaguars for a second time. Their clash with Denver this week is much more interesting than it was expected to be a few weeks ago.
13 (up 5) Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers moved into 2nd in the AFC North with their win over the Bengals at 7-4, and that’s despite QB Kenny Pickett throwing only 1 TD pass in the last 6 games. Fans thought firing OC Matt Canada would lead to Jaylen Warren being fully unleashed, but instead we got the rejuvenation of Najee Harris — plot twist!
14 (down 1) Cincinnati Bengals
Jake Browning did not do much wrong in his first start for the Bengals, with just one bad late pick, but the Bengals became the first team this season to be out-gained by the Steelers — and by some distance at 421-222. That’s 3 straight losses for the Bengals and with no easy games remaining on their schedule, their slide down the rankings may well continue.
15 (up 4) Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are on the rise again after back-to-back divisional wins over the Seahawks and Cardinals, and while they are growing stronger with RB Kyren Williams exploding back onto the scene with a 204-yard day, they now also get to face a seriously beaten up Browns team.
16 (down 4) Los Angeles Chargers
Well, yeah, at some point we have to stop rating the Chargers on their potential and recognize that they are not making the most of it and have a 4-7 record that puts them 13th in the AFC playoff race. They will be a much bigger drop coming if they can’t win in New England this week.
17 (down 1) Seattle Seahawks
The tough-looking run in the Seahawks’ schedule has arrived and it’s not going well so far. After being crushed by the 49ers, they have the Cowboys on TNF this week, then the 49ers again, then the Eagles. It looks like a battle just to stay above .500 at this point.
18 (up 4) Green Bay Packers
There was no fluke about the Packers’ win in Detroit on Thanksgiving, with Jordan Love and his young receiving crew impressing. They are 6.5-point home underdogs against the Chiefs, but they might have more backers now than would have been the case a few weeks ago.
19 (down 4) Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings made a mess of things against the Bears on Monday Night Football. They might easily have overcome 4 interceptions by Josh Dobbs to still win, but they handed Justin Fields a shot at the end and he took it well. The Vikes go into their bye week contemplating a QB change, so let’s see what solutions they come up with.
20 (-) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts remain in 20th for a 3rd straight week, which is about as exciting as it gets in this region of the rankings. That might seem harsh given that they have won 3 games in a row, but it’s hard to earn big rewards for wins over the Panthers, Patriots and Buccaneers.
21 (up 5) Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons finally start doing some of the things people have been begging them to do all season, such as handing the ball off to Bijan Robinson and passing the ball to Drake London. It worked pretty well against the Saints. Who knew? As it’s the Jets this week; maybe they will even take the chance of targeting Kyle Pitts more than twice in a game. Too much too soon?
22 (down 1) Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders have their bye this week to think about where to go after fairly creditable but non-threatening performances against the Dolphins and Chiefs in their last 2 games.
23 (down 6) New Orleans Saints
The Saints have lost 4 of their last 6 games and things are reaching crisis point with their receiving corps, with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed potentially both joining Michael Thomas in sitting out this week’s game against the Lions. Tough times.
24 (down 1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs are 4-7 following 6 losses in their last 7 games, so they need to take advantage of this week’s appealing matchup of a home game against the reeling Panthers.
25 (up 2) Chicago Bears
The Bears didn’t even need to score a touchdown to beat the Vikings on Monday, which is both nice for them and worrying that they couldn’t get one at the same time. They have their bye this week to think of ways to do better when they take on the Lions again in their first game back.
26 (down 1) Tennessee Titans
The Titans beat the Panthers, but they get leapfrogged by the Bears, who had a more relevant victory. This week’s showdown between Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor would have been a neat one for fans of running the ball, but now it looks like we’re getting Henry vs Zack Moss instead.
27 (down 3) Arizona Cardinals
It was 2 steps back for the Cardinals as they were run over by the Rams this week, and that suggests they may not have the mental fortitude to hold up against the Steelers’ rushing attack this week either. At 2-10 they remain in position to benefit if Carolina wins a couple of games after its coaching change.
28 (up 2) New York Giants
The Giants have back-to-back wins! Albeit against the Commanders and Patriots, but they still count.
29 (down 1) Washington Commanders
With 5 losses in their last 6 games, the win being over the Patriots and now coming off an embarrassing loss to the Cowboys, things are not great in Washington. The combination of their defense and the Dolphins’ offense this week could be spectacular.
30 (down 1) New York Jets
The Jets tried to fix their quarterback situation only to make it much worse with the switch from Zach Wilson to Tim Boyle, but somehow he is apparently going to be trotted out again to face the Falcons. Good luck with that.
31 (-) New England Patriots
Speaking of bad quarterback situations, here come the Patriots — who have allowed only 20 points in their last 2 games but lost them both as they scored only 13. Surely even the Chargers can’t find a way to lose to this bunch?
32 (down 2) Carolina Panthers
The Panthers fired Frank Reich, meaning this is the last chance I have to ask why more isn’t made of the fact that his name is what a German speaker calls France. It’s all good news for the Bears, anyway, as they look set to emerge from this mess with the first overall pick in the draft.
