NFL Power Rankings, Week 13: Seahawks hit top 10; Steelers fall Published: Nov 27, 2018 at 03:51 AM Elliot Harrison Quarterback play dominates the NFL landscape. Or , we should say. The numbers this current crop of pa sers are putting up stretch all manner of conventional wisdom, sabermetrics or the imagination of the 1930s-era league braintrust. If only Benny Friedman, Arnie Herber or Sammy Baugh -- the game's early throwers -- were alive to see the open windows the guys under center are seeing today. It's borderline ridiculous. Consider: A) The top six teams below all feature an elite quarterback.B) threw four touchdown pa ses on night and it was actually an off game for him, considering that day's pa ser rating (111.9) vs. his season mark (127.3 -- which, by the way, will be a single-season record if it stands).C) The league average pa ser rating is 94.7. Steve Young led the NFL with a 97.2 rating in 1996.D) Not even 20 years ago, a TD-to-INT ratio was considered to be 2:1. is cruising along at 20:1. Brees? 14.5:1. (And that was with a pick the other night that should've been DPI.) is sporting a 5:1 figure. is at 4.3:1. Ditto . is at 3.7:1. To put this all in perspective, Dan Marino retired having thrown approximately 1.7 touchdowns to every pick. Think about that. Dan freaking Marino.E) went 28 for 29 throwing the ball around the yard Sunday. went 22 for 23 on Monday. What more needs to be said? The sport has completely morphed over the last decade, with increased emphasis on penalizing illegal contact, high-tech gloves for receivers and player-safety rules making the offensive game completely incongruent with days past. It makes comparing players from different eras impo sible, unlike in the MLB or NBA. And for the purposes of the exercise below, teams can't contend without a premier player at quarterback -- unle s they have instant offense on defense (SEE: Bears). While this notion has been sold before, it's true now more than ever before. Even more than last year. OK, enough from me -- what's on mind? Looks like the could use Larry Wilson and Roger Wehrli today. St. Louis Football Cardinals (@BigRed_STL) Word. The updated league hierarchy sits below, with continuity at the very top and very bottom. Movement abounds everywhere in between, especially among those teams jockeying for wild-card position. Your take on squad is welcome ... is the place. Let the di sension commence! For more in-depth analysis on the updated league pecking order, tune in to NFL Network every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET for "The Power Rankings Show." Want to add YOUR voice? Provide your thoughts in a tweet to , and your comments could be featured on air. Previous rank: The rea serted their hold on the prime spot among the NFL's top-shelf teams again, taking the opening drive against Atlanta down the field as if was light fare, like a polite game of Frisbee golf among friends. hiccup enough to throw his first interception since Week 8. Let's be real: Pa s interference should have been called on Atlanta anyway. Brees' touchdown-to-interception ratio (a.k.a. his wonderful-play-to-not-so-wonderful-play ratio) is now up to 29:2, with four of his touchdown pa ses going to guys who might not Reggie Miller Jersey have been able to start for the University of North Texas in college. OK, so that's an exaggeration. The truth is, Brees is having the greatest pa sing season of modern times, surpa sing 's 2010 campaign. Previous rank: Following what might have been the were off last week, so I thought I'd try to name the five best games ever. Here we go: **1) 1999 NFC Championship Game: 11, 6.** Sent the to the -- and it required a clutch throw-and-catch for the ages to win. **2) 1951 NFL Championship Game: 24, 17.** The franchise had lost two straight title games and was becoming known as a strong offensive team that continually came up short. The handed the their first championship defeat after Cleveland won five titles in a row in the old AAFC and NFL. **3) XXXIV: 23, 16.** One yard short, first Lombardi -- 'nuff said. **4) 1989 Divisional Playoffs: 19, 13 (OT).** Jim Everett to Flipper Anderson to beat Lawrence Taylor and the second-seeded in OT. **5) Chiefs- two Mondays ago.** Football officially came back to L.A. in a prime-time game that will be remembered for years. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: My dad was a fan of the Dallas and then, after Lamar Hunt moved them out of Texas to K.C., a fan of the . So if, after reading the blurb above, you're wondering how last Monday night's cla sic stacks up in history, not to worry; while there is much ground to cover, I've got a list to digest below: **1) 1969 AFL Championship Game: 17, 7.** To get to IV, the had to beat the , AFL stalwarts and Western Divisional rivals. Oakland was the premier team in the AFL that season under first-year head coach John Madden. **2) IV: 23, 7.** Has to be here. Kansas City proved its league was every bit as strong as the NFL by adding an exclamation point to the ' win over the older league the year prior. **3) 1993 AFC Divisional Playoffs: 28, Oilers 20.** While the wild-card game that year (a 27-24 overtime win against the Steelers) was the better contest, this one featured Joe Montana leading Kansas City to an upset win over the Super Bowl-favorite Oilers. **4) 1971 Divisional Playoffs: 27, 24 (OT).** I know it was a lo s, yet -- like the "The Ice Bowl" did for the and -- this game featured the character of both teams. It took six quarters to finish and is still the longest game in NFL history. running back Ed Podolak gained 350 all-purpose yards that day! **5) Chiefs- two Mondays ago.** This narrowly edges out as well as Montana's nail-biter of a win over John Elway on Monday night later that same season. Also of note is the 1962 AFL Championship Game, which also spilled into OT. Then there's the 1986 regular-season finale, during which K.C. scored all of its points on special teams to make the playoffs. Oh, and how about Dante Hall beating the on a 93-yard punt return in 2003? All great. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: The file another one in the win column with their a typical AFC East matchup between these two. New York was game early on, but then Gronk on his way to hauling in a vertical strike from right up the seam. If there was a poster-worthy touchdown that could sum up Gronk's career, that was it. Perhaps the only shocker in the win was running back , who was at one point seemingly on his way to a 100-catch season, being "held" to one reception. The defense? Two hundred and sixty-four pa sing yards allowed, while the were limited to 26 minutes in time of po se sion. Not bad. Previous rank: Listening to the ' radio broadcast of their I heard NFL Network colleague Daniel Jeremiah say he felt like he was watching put together a perfect game after never having seen one from the Padres, of whom he is a lifelong fan. Twenty seconds after Jeremiah made that comment, Rivers got hot about having to call a timeout. Rivers is the guy fans love to hate for being so demonstrative on the field ... because he cares. Next play, Rivers rolls out, takes his time, then . Haters gonna hate, but they sure sound stupid doing it. Rivers is Canton-bound. Previous rank: sure makes those goal-to-go end-game scenarios intriguing. A week after diving in the Jags' end zone to Roethlisberger to sed the ball in the other team's end zone. Still, this is not an appropriate time to be anxious if you're a fan. Pittsburgh played consecutive games on the road, splitting against desperate teams clinging to scant playoff hopes, came in Denver, a tough place to play. Roethlisberger did pa s for well over 400 yards, while (13 catches, 189 yards) acted like he was in an arcade game. He might be forced to keep up the bean counting, because and the electric offense Fun. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: The won't allow opposing quarterbacks to climb the pocket -- but they lobbying hard to climb further up these rankings. In on , defensive coordinator Vic Fangio applied pre sure early with his front seven against , then refused to take his foot off the gas pedal. His MVP on Thursday was safety , who produced in the last two years -- and it beat all the others in importance, putting Chicago up a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Considering that was starting on three days' notice, every score was gonna count. Jackson and that defense won the game. Previous rank: When gets out of the pocket, it's mostly to throw the ball from a different platform. But when he decides , it's scarier. Watson was so effective on the move Monday night, be it rolling to his right before launching a perfect throw or taking off right up the gut of the defense for a huge gain. All of which provided a glimpse into the ' immediate future, and the past -- springs to mind. How about that Houston defense, too? Six sacks, eight QB hits and a staggering eight tackles for a lo s. That's a ton. So is . Previous rank: At 6-4-1, the are to grab a wild-card spot in the NFC. This is not to suggest that the NFC North is out of the question. Yet, with -- including at New England in Week 13 and at Seattle in Week 14 -- overcoming the 8-3 will be a walk. Worth noting here is that T.J. Warren Jersey Minnesota hosts Chicago in Week 17, which could prove crucial, should Matt Nagy's outfit stumble down the stretch. As far as is concerned, gue sing the will think twice -- or 20 times -- about blitzing (29-of-38, 342 yards, three TDs, 129.5 pa ser rating) too much again. Previous rank: No one seems to know the are doing it, but are they doing it. You can mark "six up, five down" in your QuickBooks or whatever you use at home. Or maybe you aren't so nerdy that you still write standings down in your Street Smith's, like so many of us '80s kids did. Pete Carroll has his kids playing, and it shouldn't be a reach to consider him a Coach of the Year candidate. Carroll has never won the award, not after two playoff campaigns with the , a pair of appearances with the or pushing a Seattle group that went 5-11 before his arrival to the Divisional Round in 2010. Hmm. **Side note:** If you think fans are simply rowdy, without any uber-nerdy deep-dive football fans in their midst, think again. Your friendly writer went to a friend's '80s-themed 50th birthday party. A real big guy with chocolate-looking hair (think Davey's hair and an all-white *linen* suit with a turquoise shirt cornered me. No hi, no hello -- before I could utter a word, he gave me the kind of grim look Dr. Leonard McCoy would have been proud of and said: "Top five *defenders* of all time? I would have had Earl (Thomas) before that salute he gave the crowd a few weeks ago, but I have to go Cortez Kennedy. Has to be Cortez Kennedy. That is the correct answer." My response: "Can I buy you an appletini?" (I did eventually give him my top five: , Kenny Easley, Cortez Kennedy, Jacob Green and .) /content:power-ranking Previous rank: The have enjoyed little in the way of respect from the national crowd over the last month. -- a home game, no le s -- won't be bringing home that brand of bacon any time soon. With Baltimore at 6-5, though, and with the and losing, gue s who is Here is the deal: Presuming the have not one but quarterbacks, and arguably three. Their defense ranks first in the NFL in both total and scoring D. The question mark the running game, although that concern now seems to have been answered. has 233 rushing yards over the last two weeks, often picking up green in chunks. And that's the i sue with trying to stop rookie QB Lamar Jackson: Defenses are forced to play 11-on-11 in the run game. Flacco, meanwhile, is a non-factor after handing the football off. Edwards' succe s reminds me of how ran up huge numbers as a rookie with ... who is Baltimore's third viable quarterback. You heard me. Previous rank: The moved into a tie for first place by for the eighth time on . Along the way, they were helped by a large dose of -- and a small cup from the refs. was all speed and want-to. Meanwhile, two mi sed calls were huge factors, those being the hold on and the (very) apparent helmet-to-helmet hit on . My brother threw on a beanie cap when Dallas was up 17-13, then refused to take it off indoors after the 'Boys had gone up 31-13. Before those mi sed penalties, he told me the beanie was his "good luck cap and gave Dallas plus-two invisibility with the refs." Then the officiating crew mi sed those two calls. That s#$^ works. Previous rank: The are 6-5, having won five straight behind a quarterback who is a candidate for league MVP. Don't misunderstand me: was far from perfect on Sunday. He even managed the rare feat of throwing two interceptions in le s than a minute of game clock -- to the . 's exploits aside, Luck rebounded by bringing Indy back from 10 points down in the second half with exemplary play, setting up to move into wild-card position, Back to Luck: Where would the be without him? Analysts say that all the time regarding and the , yet Luck's play is as valuable as that of anyone this side of . Previous rank: Ron Rivera must feel like his riverboat is sinking. The letting riddle their secondary time and again when it mattered most. No play was bigger than the deep ball to , that tied things up late. a week after shanking an extra-point try and mi sing another field-goal attempt. There is no underrating the lo s, which allows the , and to pull ahead of Carolina after the were in the driver's seat in early November. And in front of the home folk, too. Rivera: "Can't allow big plays over the top." Yep. Previous rank: Maybe a 4-6-1 record will be too much for the to overcome. If is the best player in pro football, as so many people suggest, then Green Bay should have a chance to make the postseason. In the meantime, speculation about Mike McCarthy and his inability to win more than one with Rodgers is running rampant, inasmuch as it pertains to the coach's future in Green Bay. You will make few allies in this busine s by levying any criticism at the quarterback. Thus, all fault will land at McCarthy's feet. Although Rodgers will tell you himself that he mi sed in the end zone late. From this vantage point, the key moment of the game centered not on Rodgers' arm but the fourth-down call to run in the third quarter -- and you can put on the head coach. made the clutch stop, and it was Minnesota's ball. sure didn't help. What help? The ' next opponent: Previous rank: What an odd way for the to weave their way back into Denver patched together over a contender while putting forth an exhibit of how timely plays, often hidden in the box score, can win games. The rolled up more than 500 yards of offense -- including 452 through the air from their quarterback -- held the football for 35 minutes, and still lost. The pulled ahead by converting Pittsburgh's turnovers into touchdowns, including a third-quarter drive with an exchange rate of 37 seconds from interception to score. Otherwise, the offense muddled around most of the day. Then Vance Joseph and Co. won when their nose tackle JaKarr Sampson Jersey They'll take it. Previous rank: on Turkey Day. Yeah, I know they lost. But this team is all sorts of banged up, and coach Jay Gruden had Washington ready to play. A few stanzas changed the shape of the game, like (a great effort that could have victimized any quarterback) or the no-call on the defensive holding of ... which was far more evident than the hold the refs mi sed on . Troy Aikman, who I am pretty sure is not a favorite among Washington fans, was appropriate in mentioning Gruden toward the end of the broadcast. Gruden has kept this group together despite many moving parts and, last we checked, his team is still in a tie for first place in the NFC East. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: If you happened to watch "The Power Rankings Show" last Tuesday (on NFL Network every Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET), you might have noticed that one of the two analysts not named James Jones predicted accounting for four touchdowns against the . And, well, As for the defensive side of things, major props Edmond Sumner Jersey to , who was a terror late in getting a big sack, then causing a false start (through sheer left tackle terror) that turned a third-and-3 into a third-and-8, which Cincy ultimately couldn't convert. His look was that of a guy who knows he wasn't the best boyfriend in his last relationship, then sees his ex with a guy in a brown turtleneck, parking (then re-parking) his Range Rover in front of his favorite club. Previous rank: The Josh Adams-is-starting-fanaticism spent its first life Sunday. Other than on one drive, the ground attack was mostly so-so, as , and not the ground game, was asked to carry the offense While not exactly spectacular, Wentz played more like a wily vet, taking what openings the ' defense would allow and calmly hitting his receivers. The ' franchise quarterback averaged more than 8 yards per throw while not turning the football over. Given that this showdown morphed into the kind of traditional, tight NFC East to s-up straight from the Bill Parcells-Buddy Ryan days, not giving the ball away played big. As did special teams -- delivered with the game on the line, in the same venue against same old Big Blue. The NFC East is still within reach. Previous rank: The did not look like a team playing for its playoff life on night. Never mind that they were facing a superior club and suffered a couple of weird turnovers was the butter on the roll). The sense of urgency just wasn't there. With over half the fourth quarter gone and New Orleans up three touchdowns, Atlanta took its sweet time on offense. Rodney Harrison (no relation) pointed it out immediately. At 4-7, and with coming up, securing that wild-card spot will be awfully tough. Previous rank: A sure way to lose in the NFL is to fail to score points. And a sure way to fail to score points is to get stuck in the red zone ... and suffer negative plays ... and commit too many penalties on offense. Because if you were to take a quick glance at , you'd think Tenne see ran near-perfect offense. went 22 for 23. The eclipsed 100 yards rushing on 23 carries. But upon closer inspection, you'd see too many tackles for a lo s, and a ground game inflated by . Previous rank: on . You don't have to get blown out to suffer an ugly defeat in the NFL. The got outcoached, and I don't say that often, if ever. I don't even recall writing it. There were virtually no offensive adjustments, especially to the pre sure the were forcing up the middle. Going for two made zero sense following in the third quarter that put Detroit up 13-9. That mi sing point made a difference when the game was tied at 16 with le s than 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, putting pre sure on the to go down and score. Perhaps with a one-point lead, they could've played conservatively (Blount had a fine day on the ground) to, in turn, force to try to win the game. Instead, to and Chicago never looked back. The red-zone plays were terrible, only to be surpa sed by the listle s route ran that led to the interception. Awful. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: So the did everything they needed to do to steal a road win Sunday -- . Miami created turnovers, made hay on special teams and even posted the first sack on Indy's offensive line since early October. Adam Gase got his starting quarterback back, while and contributed a few pops in the run game, but none of it was enough. would not let his lose, atoning for two first-half picks with nearly flawle s second-half throws. The playoffs are probably out of Miami's future, but you never know, with , plus Methinks the must defeat the to have a Griese's chance. They've done it before, though, plenty of times. Previous rank: Don't sleep on these , who finally got some ROI on first-round quarterback Allen might not have been point guard on the K-Gun out there but he did deliver for a 75-yard touchdown. Foster had only caught five balls coming in ... all season. Prior to Allen's heave, Buffalo ran a designed bootleg on second-and-6, building off the Wyoming product's considerable athleticism. Late in the game, with the clinging to a seven-point lead, Allen managed a ferocious Jags pa s rush, ducking and sprinting through the Jacksonville front seven Just like that, instead of facing third-and-long deep in their own territory, Sean McDermott's squad was 45 yards downfield in field-goal range. You're welcome. Previous rank: Gue s Marvin Lewis calling defensive plays didn't do diddly-poo. The allowed 35 points in the first 32 minutes of including four touchdown pa ses. It seems weird to say, but at 5-6, Cincy is likely already out of the postseason race. With road games looming and seven wins will be about the most the can hope to accomplish with with a thumb injury. **Side note:** Thumbs up do go to backup QB , who, if you didn't watch this game (we know you didn't; it's cool), performed admirably in a pinch. The kid showed poise and mobility out of the pocket, and he delivered several on-time, accurate throws. After seeing him fit a laser to on one of the ' late drives, it was apparent Driskel was T. J. Leaf Jersey owning his opportunity, not playing as though the game was bigger than his skill set. Am I overrating Driskel's showing, Cincy fans? Don't think so. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: for fans. Despite the 3-7 record coming in, there existed hope in corners of New Jersey, Manhattan and the Big Blue locker room that this team could run the table, or perhaps drop only one game down the stretch and steal the NFC East. You know, the ol' *shoot for the stars, hit the ceiling* kind of deal. That was predicated on beating an team that had dropped three of its last four games. The built an early 19-3 lead, then were tripped up by a series of miscues, poor decisions and unfortunate occurrences -- from , to mysteriously being parked on the sideline, to bad fourth-down defense (SEE: conversion), to not one but two defensive holds of Jr. going uncalled late on the same play. Even on New York's lateral-palooza at the end of the game, Beckham was blatantly tripped with no call. Sucks. /content:power-ranking Previous rank: made the most of Sunday, leading the Bucs to a blowout win versus the visiting . No turnovers from the much-maligned Winston, who spread the ball around to eight different receivers. Six of those players caught three or more, with posting his second 100-yard game in as many weeks. The oft-overlooked Tampa WR1 also pa sed the 1,000-yard plateau for the fifth straight year, making him only the third receiver to ever pull off that trick in his first five NFL seasons, next to Randy Mo s and . Nice company, huh? /content:power-ranking Previous rank: It was a tale of three games for the Jags There was surviving the initial onslaught, as connected on a deep ball to put Buffalo up 14-zip that left shaking his head in a manner. Then Jacksonville punched back, evening the score at 14-14 and playing like an outfit that wanted to be relevant in late December. Cool. Until following the play that changed the game: after caught an apparent go-ahead touchdown, Fournette engaged in fisticuffs while Moncrief and defender grappled for the ball on the ground. The replay booth determined that the Jags receiver's butt hit the Ralph Wilson turf at the 1-yard line, and Fournette was ejected. Jacksonville's offense went in reverse, ultimately settling for a 43-yard field-goal attempt ... after being on the 1! Wide left. **Side note:** Put me in the camp that doesn't fault Nathaniel Hackett for this season's offensive follies. I see three reasons for Jacksonville's struggles: 1) Fournette has played in just five games, and is averaging 3.5 yards per carry even when he's been on the field. 2) Receivers haven't caught the ball (even when they did, they still dropped it). 3) /content:power-ranking Previous rank: The were this past weekend against the Bucs -- until the defense fell apart in the third quarter. The Niners are , eyeing the prospect of picking near or at the highest rungs of the 2019 . Defense will probably be the order of the day in late April, between linebacker and the failure to get stops on third down in Tampa. The real i sue for that side of the ball is the inability to produce takeaways. The Niners forced exactly zero from the Bucs (who have been -stiles all year), marking the seventh time this season that San Francisco has failed to manufacture even one interception or fumble recovery. Previous rank: The suffered -- but not without putting up a fight. The score (34-17) looks ugly, but Oakland took an early lead on the stingiest defense in pro football and was only down three late in the third quarter. That's precisely when the ' defense failed to hold, allowing Baltimore QB to engineer a 17-play, 71-yard drive -- complete with four third-down conversions -- that took forever. Which is about how long this awful season is taking to run its course. Previous rank: The were up 7-zip, feeling pretty good about themselves ... then got Gronked. lost Gang Green to stay with the division bully in an attempt to salvage the season. If there were any suspense in the ' potential chase for .500, it's been suffocated, just like the hopes that New York would generate any kind of run game. Remember last month, when and friends Yeah, me neither. At least New York made up for it by allowing New England to put up over two hundy on the ground. Previous rank: The were up 10-zip in the first quarter on Sunday. Should we just stop the blurb right there? Because that's about when Arizona quit playing. It's not often that you see a team jump out to a 10-0 lead, then allow 45 unanswered points. The pulled off a similarly ignominious feat in XXII, scratching out 10 points before Doug Williams threw the ball all over the park in a 42-10 win. Sound familiar? The Cards made a bad day on defense into for , who started Sunday's game by throwing 25 consecutive pa ses that hit neither the ground nor any Arizona defenders. fans on Twitter have called for the team to inhabit this spot -- and in some cases, 33rd or 34th. I understand their enthusiasm now. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.