Week 13 NFL Power Rankings: Lions, Cowboys, 49ers, and Dolphins All Meet at 8-3 Before the Weekend

The Week 13 NFL power rankings looked primed to shake up in the afternoon slate. However, in the end, the cream of the NFL crop came out ahead. But what does the rest of the list look like?

NFC Shake-up in NFL Power Rankings After Lions’ Traditional Thanksgiving Loss

32) Carolina Panthers (32)

The Panthers were down by seven points on their final drive facing a 4th-and-6. They decided the best answer they had was to run a WR screen to D.J. Chark Jr. If that doesn’t sum up how ugly things are for this offense, nothing will.

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They don’t trust the receivers to get open. They don’t trust the offensive line to sustain blocks. But ultimately, they don’t trust that Bryce Young can make the play he needs to make. There’s no excuse to run that play in that situation.

31) New England Patriots (31)

What happens when a stoppable force meets a moveable object? Well, it’s only a one-game sample, but the Patriots’ game against the Giants was a test of patience … or possibly psychosis.

Mac Jones was likely never going to be a high-end franchise QB because of his lackluster physical tools. However, there should be a congressional investigation surrounding the events of the past two seasons surrounding the young QB.

The mistakes he’s making are entirely inexcusable, but he looked like a competent player as a rookie, and they’ve completely destroyed him.

30) New York Giants (30)

The Giants had another uninspiring day at the office, but they came away with their fourth win of the 2023 NFL season despite scoring just 10 points.

On the surface, Tommy DeVito’s 17-of-25 day for 191 yards and a touchdown is impressive; he’s also taking drive-killing sacks at a high rate.

29) Arizona Cardinals (29)

Kyler Murray is still trying to get his footing in a new offense. He does not look particularly comfortable in the pocket yet, and the injury to Marquise Brown has severely hampered the Cardinals’ receiving talent on the outside. Additionally, Murray isn’t too interested in using his legs as a weapon, which could very well be by design in a lost season.

28) Washington Commanders (26)

Firing Jack Del Rio is only the first domino. From the minute new ownership came to town and this team underachieved, the writing was on the wall for Ron Rivera. The defense was already struggling before it traded away their two best edge rushers. They were already so deeply flawed on the back end that they no longer stood a chance.

However, Sam Howell is exciting. He still has a lot to learn, but the Commanders’ young quarterback can absolutely sling it.

27) Tennessee Titans (27)

The Tennessee Titans’ defensive line absolutely bullied the Carolina Panthers’ offensive interior. That version of the Titans’ defense is what we expected when the season commenced, but it’s not the unit we’ve gotten for most of the season.

The offensive line struggles have kept Derrick Henry under wraps most of the season, but he was able to find paydirt twice against the Panthers.

26) Chicago Bears (28)

The Bears struggled to manage the Vikings’ blitz for most of the night. Justin Fields played relatively well, but he also fumbled twice. However, the Chicago defense had a good day against the Vikings, and have been playing better football in recent weeks.

They turned Joshua Dobbs over four times on the night, and only allowed 4.7 yards per play over the course of the game, while being strong on third down.

25) Los Angeles Chargers (25)

The Chargers are always good for disappointment, but they’ve really turned up the volume this season. Usually, they tease us enough to believe before disappointing us in the end, but they’ve taken the suspense away in 2023.

We can predict the outcome of most Chargers games. It’ll be close until the fourth quarter, and then their defense will stop playing defense, forcing Justin Herbert and the offense to score on every single offensive possession just to keep pace.

At this point, Brandon Staley’s seat must be starting to flicker flames.

24) New York Jets (21)

In a development that should have shocked absolutely nobody, the Jets offense still looked horrific. While Zach Wilson is almost certainly one of the worst quarterback options in the NFL, Tim Boyle might be even worse.

We’re on Aaron Rodgers watch now, which still feels insane. However, without his arrival, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh might be undergoing a departure by the end of the season, if not sooner.

23) Cincinnati Bengals (18)

Jake Browning was somehow able to throw for 227 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it was not pretty. Multiple tipped passes found their way into Ja’Marr Chase’s hands, and his lack of experience kept the ball in his hands far too long far too often.

22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (19)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has officially become a problem. Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss had their way with the Bucs on the ground, and they allowed Gardner Minshew II enough freedom to burn them in the air.

Baker Mayfield continues to play well, but the Buccaneers offense got started slow against Indianapolis and was unable to catch back up.

21) Las Vegas Raiders (20)

The Raiders got up to a quick 14-point lead against the Chiefs, and it looked like the Kansas City armor was completely undone. But both teams eventually figured out who they were, and the Chiefs ran away with things late.

The Raiders’ defense allowed touchdowns on four of five offensive drives from the second to the fourth quarter of the game. Maxx Crosby gutted things out until the team forced him off the field late in the fourth quarter, which is a testament to his personal drive.

20) Los Angeles Rams (24)

The Rams swept the Seahawks and Cardinals in convincing fashion in 2023. If they played games strictly within their own division, they might be a playoff team. They absolutely bullied the Cardinals’ defense, and the Rams’ defense had an incredible day against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals’ passing attack.

19) Atlanta Falcons (23)

Desmond Ridder continues to play some pretty uninspiring quarterback, tossing two INTs and a TD while throwing for 168 yards against the Saints. Atlanta leaned on the run game, rushing it 41 times for 228 yards, picking up an incredible 15 first downs on the ground against one of the best run defenses in the NFL on a yearly basis.

However, the name of the game was the red zone. The Falcons’ defense didn’t allow the Saints to score a single time in their five red zone trips, and Jessie Bates III took an interception 92 yards for a Falcons touchdown.

18) Green Bay Packers (22)

Jordan Love is starting to play better. Over the past few weeks, we have seen the young quarterback making significant strides, and the young pass catchers are also playing more consistently. It helps that Green Bay’s pass protection, even without David Bakhtiari, has been outstanding.

Getting Christian Watson involved in the downfield passing attack could have a massive impact on the explosive potential of the Packers’ offense as the season progresses.

17) New Orleans Saints (14)

The New Orleans Saints’ season will very likely be one marred by missed opportunities. Despite moving the ball well for most of the field, they’ve consistently struggled in the red zone, and those issues persisted against the Falcons.

But their inability to defend the run, an uncommon occurrence for Saints teams over the past half-decade, was to blame for their loss against Atlanta, at least defensively.

16) Minnesota Vikings (15)

The Joshua Dobbs magic lamp has officially burnt out. Maybe Dobbs and the Vikings’ offense will come back to life after the bye week, but a four-turnover performance against a Bears defense that is far from sturdy doesn’t provide much hope for the now 6-6 Vikings.

While they are currently still in a playoff position, they don’t have much wiggle room, as three NFC teams are currently just one game behind.

15) Indianapolis Colts (17)

The Colts offense was moving and grooving against the unimpressive Buccaneers defense. They managed seven separate drives with three or more first downs while only going three-and-out on three of their 11 drives.

Taylor has really gotten things going in recent weeks. He managed 91 yards on 15 attempts despite missing out on a 20+ yard run, meaning he was consistently picking up chunk runs throughout the day. That’s also a testament to the Colts’ offensive line, who had Moss as the league’s leading rusher at one point.

14) Seattle Seahawks (12)

Although the 49ers undeniably have one of the best defensive units in the NFL, Geno Smith had an incredibly poor outing against that defense. Although 18 of 27 for 180 yards and an INT doesn’t sound like the end of the world, Smith looked rattled against San Francisco.

The injury from a week prior could have had a negative mental impact on him. He was not his quick-witted self, and his frantic footwork led to more inaccuracies than we’re used to seeing from him.

13) Buffalo Bills (13)

The Bills did just about everything right against the Philadelphia Eagles. They had a great first half and sustained long scoring drives in the second half.

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However, their decimated defense struggled to stop the Eagles in the second half, leading all the way to the end of regulation, where Philadelphia drove a bit down the field.

Whenever everything looked over, Jake Elliott hit a 59-yard field goal to even the game up at 30. The game had playoff vibes the entire way through.

12) Denver Broncos (16)

The Broncos are officially putting us all on blast. They were left for dead at 1-5, and rightfully so. However, they’ve rattled off five consecutive wins, including against the Chiefs, Bills, scorching-hot Vikings, and Browns. Those aren’t only wins, but quality wins.

Russell Wilson isn’t setting the world on fire, but he’s avoiding mistakes, and he’s using his legs as a weapon as both a passer and a runner. But it’s been their defensive revolution that’s created such an impressive turnaround.

11) Houston Texans (10)

The Texans drew the short end of the stick against the Jaguars. After a thorough beating the first time these two teams met, Houston finished this game just a few inches short of overtime after a questionable third-down call to throw the ball.

C.J. Stroud is every bit of the real deal. His ability to adjust from within the pocket and create outside of it allows him to let things develop downfield, where he has been an assassin in his rookie season. However, they weren’t able to make enough plays in the end to take a lead in the division.

10) Cleveland Browns (8)

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was not playing well before being injured against the Broncos, and P.J. Walker certainly isn’t a viable starter at the NFL level. Cleveland is stuck between a rock and a hard place offensively, even though they really don’t need much on that side of the ball because their defense is so talented.

Usually, this would spell doom for a team, but offenses stink in 2023, and Cleveland has made do for most of the season, even without Deshaun Watson for significant spells.

9) Pittsburgh Steelers (11)

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense could still stand to improve, but the early returns after Matt Canada’s firing are impressive. Kenny Pickett is still too skittish in the pocket. He drops his eyes at the first sign of trouble and struggles to create unless he escapes the pocket.

But Pickett made quite a few impressive throws up the seam today, and he and the offense looked generally more impressive against Cincinnati. They’ve been on the cusp of these performances a few times but have fallen flat.

8) Jacksonville Jaguars (9)

Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville passing attack finally had a “big” day they’ve been missing for most of the season. He threw for 364 yards and found explosive passing plays to many of his targets.

Jacksonville’s defense has been their calling card in 2023, but Houston has moved the ball against pretty much every defense they’ve faced in 2023.

7) Detroit Lions (3)

Jared Goff is floundering. Goff is an excellent passer, but he cannot necessarily overcome a poor environment. He does a good job operating around the pocket and avoiding pressure, but he does not possess the ability to create. He’s turning the ball over too much, and those turnovers were a significant reason why Detroit lost again on Thanksgiving.

6) Baltimore Ravens (7)

Arguably, there is no more talented team in the AFC. At their best, it’s hard to argue anybody is harder to defend or harder to move the ball against than the Ravens. But it always feels so hard to trust this team.

Inexcusable turnovers seem to pop up consistently for this offense. Whether it be Lamar Jackson holding onto the ball to try to make a play or a poor handoff exchange, weird things seem to happen often to this offense.

But if they play clean football, they might be the most complete team in the league. A win against the Chargers won’t win them any awards, but in a congested AFC, every win counts in the race for the top playoff seed.

5) San Francisco 49ers (6)

Field position played a pretty key role in the 49ers’ offensive success in the first half, but their offensive potential remains insane. The group had five three-and-outs on the day, but every other drive consisted of multiple first downs (seven).

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As long as Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Christian McCaffrey remain healthy, the 49ers will be tough to beat in the NFC.

4) Dallas Cowboys (5)

While the 49ers have been Dallas’ Kryptonite over the past three seasons, arguably no team in the NFL is playing as well as Dallas has since their bye week. A few missed opportunities cost them the game against Philadelphia, but there’s a good argument to be made that they outplayed Philadelphia. But the Eagles know how to win ugly. Dallas hasn’t played in many of those slugfests since Mike McCarthy came to town.

Nonetheless, the Dallas offense is entirely different than what it was before the bye. They’re using motion at a high rate, and it’s blessed them with production. Dak Prescott is playing at the highest level he has since at least 2019, and he’s playing with more freedom of movement than we’ve seen since he broke his ankle.

Oh, and DaRon Bland has more touchdowns as a cornerback than most WRs across the league have.

3) Miami Dolphins (4)

The Miami Dolphins cruised to a victory on the league’s lone Friday contest of the season. Shoppers are no longer fast-rushing the local Target to be the first with their hands on a 60″ flatscreen television on sale for $199.99, but the Dolphins offense showed that sort of speed on Friday.

Jaylen Waddle finally seemed to find his groove, and the Dolphins’ passing attack mimicked the two-headed monster it appeared to be a season ago with Waddle and Tyreek Hill, with the rest being not much more than casual observers.

2) Kansas City Chiefs (2)

The Chiefs still aren’t back to what we’re used to seeing but watching their offense get into a groove in the middle of their game against Las Vegas felt like some normalcy in a weird season. Patrick Mahomes had a fantastic game, as he tends to do against the Raiders.

1) Philadelphia Eagles (1)

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles offense looked lost in the first half of an ugly weather game. However, they looked outstanding in the second half, including their MVP-hopeful QB. The game slowed down in the second half, with both teams sustaining long scoring drives.

The Eagles have been incredible at winning ugly games over the past two seasons. They don’t ever blink. The Bills absolutely needed a win to keep pace in an incredibly tight AFC, and even that and a monumental offensive effort late wasn’t enough to topple the Eagles.

Want to predict the rest of the 2023 season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? Looking for the most up-to-date NFL standings? What about a breakdown of team depth charts or the NFL schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with that and more!