NFL Power rankings entering Week 14 of the 2024 season (previous rankings in parentheses):
1. Detroit Lions (1): Now 11-1 for the first time in club history after ending a seven-game skid on Thanksgiving, they will look for their first-ever 11-game winning streak this Thursday night. Two massive games coming up with the Packers and Bills coming to Ford Field and threatening Detroit’s very precarious position atop the NFC standings…although I hope they don’t discourage any more pass attempts from RT Penei Sewell , 335 pounds, who was sacked in his only opportunity on Turkey Day.
2. Philadelphia Eagles (2): Should they be considered the best team in the league? They have a very strong case and will overtake the Lions atop the conference table this week if they beat the Panthers and Detroit loses. A little-known aspect of Philly’s success has been the arrival – literally and figuratively – of Zack Baun, who seems to be making an impact every week and is ranked by NFL analytics site PFF as the No. 1 off-ball linebacker #1 in the league.
3. Buffalo Bills (3): Should they be considered the best team in the league? They have a very strong record after winning their fifth straight AFC East title and riding a seven-game winning streak – during which the Bills are averaging 30.4 points. Like Philadelphia, the Bills only need one mistake from the team ahead of them in the standings (Kansas City) to position themselves for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
4. Green Bay Packers (5): A team that won six of its final eight regular season games in 2023 before a strong playoff performance is 7-1 since Week 4 and will look to win at Motown for the second year in a row while potentially upsetting the NFC North. A team that unfortunately has no No. 1 receiver has three guys between 450 and 500 receiving yards, and none have reached 700 yet. That doesn’t seem like a problem.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (4): Beat the Bolts on Sunday night and KC is the AFC West champion for the ninth straight season – that might even be good if they don’t need to win a record 15th straight game by one score to get there. However, given the protection status of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a defense that seems vulnerable as of late…
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (6): In the four games since being acquired from the Jets, WR Mike Williams has been targeted A time – his game-winning 32-yard TD catch in Washington. If volatile WR1 George Pickens goes off the rails at any point, this offense is in serious trouble.
7. Baltimore Ravens (7): Their five losses are by an average of 4.4 points, and they are playing with the least accurate kicker in the league – in 2024 at least. Justin Tucker’s 10 missed kicks this season are the most in the league after missing a career-worst three times (1 PAT, 2 FGA) in Sunday’s five-point loss to Philly.
8. Washington Commanders (9): The last time Washington had as many as three 40-point games in a season – 1991 – the Lombardi Trophy came to the nation’s capital.
9. Minnesota Vikings (8): A 10-2 team probably deserves a little more respect and air time. But the Vikes are also riding a five-game heater – hotter? – in which their average margin of victory is 5.4 points against opponents who are all currently at .500 or (much) worse. The next step? A visit from the 6-6 Falcons and old friend Kirk Cousins.
10. Seattle Seahawks (10): Since their Week 10 bye, they have a neutral turnover differential and are averaging 81 rushing yards per game. Somehow that translates to a 3-0 record.
11. Arizona Cardinals (11): Trey McBride is the first tight end in league history with at least a dozen receptions in consecutive games. Naturally, his only touchdown this season came on a running play.
12. Los Angeles Chargers (13): Quarterback Justin Herbert is reaching new levels of efficiency for what may still be an overly conservative offense. But he joined Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay version) as the only players to have at least 2,500 passing yards and fewer than two picks in his first 12 games of a season. Herbert, whose interception rate is the lowest in the league (0.3%), averaged 10.5 over his first four seasons.
13. Denver Broncos (14): Add another sack and a 71-yard pick-six to OLB Nik Bonitto’s quiet (but growing) case for Defensive Player of the Year.
14. Houston Texans (12): If LB Azeez Al-Shaair receives a significant suspension for his brutal hit on Jags QB Trevor Lawrence, an already suspect defense at the second level could be in serious trouble against upcoming opponents (Dolphins, Chiefs, Ravens) who exploit the midfielder. the land.
15. Atlanta Falcons (15): Maybe some (old) home cooking will do Cousins some good. He averaged 266.1 yards and two passing touchdowns in his 44 appearances at US Bank Stadium in Minnesota, where he will visit on Sunday. Over the last three weeks, all losses combined, Cousins has averaged 241.3 yards and two picks without a single TD pass.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20): Did you have RB Bucky Irving as the first rookie to pass 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2024?
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17. Miami Dolphins (16): These ugly “narratives” are alive and well, Tua, although your 5-0 record against the Jets should fuel a more favorable one this week.
18. Los Angeles Rams (18): The only rookies with more than four sacks in the league in 2024 are Los Angeles’ Braden Fiske (6) and Jared Verse (4½), whose pressure helped seal Sunday’s victory in New Orleans.
19. Cincinnati Bengals (17): They have allowed an average of 33.9 points in their eight losses. QB Joe Burrow and Co. expected to overcome this?
20. Indianapolis Colts (21): They have the second-easiest remaining schedule in the league…which probably would have been a lot more useful if the Browns had done Indy a big favor and beat Denver on Monday night.
21. San Francisco 49ers (19): It’s legitimately been a tragic season, LT Trent Williams and CB Charvarius district both have lost children in recent weeks. Between the lines, a struggling team’s most reliable play Sunday night was a kickoff return by Deebo Samuel Sr. — averaging 34.7 yards. The fact that there were six tells you everything you need to know about how else snow work in Buffalo has gone.
22. New England Patriots (22): Among NFL players with at least 25 rushing attempts this season, none averaged more yards per carry than rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s 9.1.
23. Chicago Bear (23): Interim coach Thomas Brown advocates “leadership, accountability and reliability.” Quarterback Caleb Williams has largely done his part lately, setting a rookie record with 232 passes (and counting) without an INT.
24. Carolina Panthers (24): Eddy Piñeiro entered Week 13 as the most accurate field goal kicker in league history (89.7%), but two misses in an overtime loss to the Bucs left him behind Harrison Butker and Tucker.
25. New Orleans Saints (25): The devastating knee injury to TE/FB/RB/KR/QB Taysom Hill is going to take a significant portion of the unpredictability out of this offense.
26. Dallas Cowboys (27): That’s two W’s in a row with the next three games against teams no better than .500. Is Mike McCarthy really about to coach himself to an extension?
27. Cleveland Browns (26): Whether it’s Joe Flacco or Jameis Winston, it’s amazing how extremely productive — and entertaining — this offense is when led by veteran quarterbacks not named Deshaun Watson. Winston threw six touchdowns Monday night – four to his teammates and two to the Broncos.
28. New York Jets (28): Rodgers has preached all season about the need for this offense to score at least 30 points per week. It still hasn’t happened.
29. Las Vegas Raiders (30): Need proof that DE Maxx Crosby is unique? According to Next Gen Stats, he didn’t miss a beat six games. Talk about a unicorn.
Maxx Crosby played every defensive snap for the Raiders for the 6th straight game (67 snaps), extending his streak to 387 consecutive snaps, the longest by a defensive lineman in the NGS era (since 2016).
Crosby has 3 of the 4 longest streaks on a DL since 2016.
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– Next Generation Statistics (@NextGenStats) November 29, 2024
30. Tennessee Titans (29): WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has 20 receptions this season…and eight have gone for touchdowns. Based on that, it might be wise to target him more than three times per game.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (31): A team that hadn’t shown much fight this season suddenly showed admirable fire on Sunday — all it took was seeing its franchise quarterback nearly decapitated.
32. New York Giants (32): Do you think it’s gotten ugly here? A team that has allowed at least 120 rushing yards in seven straight games just placed Pro Bowl DL Dexter Lawrence (dislocated elbow) on injured reserve. Imagine what this means for Baltimore RB Derrick Henry’s owners when the fantasy playoffs begin in two weeks.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Eagles, Lions and Bills mix as best team
