power rankings
1. Saints (10-1) - Drew Brees turns 40 in January. He’d be the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Just pointing it out ahead of time. 2. Rams (10-1) - From the truth is stranger than fiction department, Aaron Donald played like a stud on a defense that surrendered 51 points Monday night. 3. Chiefs (9-2) - Patrick Mahomes can’t always sling his way out of mistakes . . . and win. 4. Steelers (7-2-1) - Ben Roethlisberger may have thrown three picks against the Jaguars last week. But he was still a much better quarterback with the game on the line than Blake Bortles. 5. Patriots (7-3) - The days of Tom Brady running out and catching passes have ended, not that those days should have ever started. 6. Chargers (7-3) - How is it possible they allowed fake punts to work two weeks in a row? 7. Bears (8-3) - Not bad when you can play with a backup quarterback, rush for just 38 yards, and still win. That was the Thanksgiving formula over the Lions. 8. Texans (7-3) - They’re riding a seven-game win streak and have one of the league’s easiest schedules ahead. Talk about sitting pretty after an 0-3 start. 9. Vikings (5-4-1) - Kirk Cousins still isn’t a good bet in prime-time. After Sunday night’s stinker, he’s now 4-12 in his career. 10. Panthers (6-4) - Ron Rivera’s aggressiveness and going for the win with a two-point conversion might ultimately leave his team out of the playoffs. 11. Seahawks (5-5) - They’ve now rushed for 150-plus yards as a team in seven straight games. Who does that anymore? 12. Ravens (5-5) - Lamar Jackson had a terrific debut. But if he keeps running the ball 27 times, does anyone think he’ll last the rest of his rookie season? 13. Packers (4-5-1) - They’re 0-5 away from Lambeau Field and look like they’re wasting another year of Aaron Rodgers’ prime. That doesn’t bode well for Mike McCarthy. 14. Cowboys (6-5) - The NFC East looks like it’s going down to the wire, and Jerry Jones’ team is up top in the mix with three straight wins. 15. Colts (5-5) - They’re rolling with Frank Reich’s offense. Funny how the Eagles haven’t been the same since he left. 16. Redskins (6-5) - There are plenty of worse backups than Colt McCoy. He’s really not a huge downgrade from Alex Smith, at least the 2018 Smith. 17. Titans (5-5) - They beat the Patriots by 24 at home, then lose by 28 to the Colts on the road. Welcome to the NFL. 18. Falcons (4-7) - Stick a fork in them. They aren’t going to play for a championship this year in front of their home fans in Atlanta, host city for the Super Bowl. 19. Eagles (4-6) - Watching them this season, you sometimes forget they won the Super Bowl in February. At least they have the memory. 20. Bengals (5-5) - With the Browns on tap, this is Hue Jackson’s chance for a little payback. The Bengals, however, might be too beat up to help out the former Cleveland coach, who is now on staff. 21. Dolphins (5-5) -Ryan Tannehill is finally coming to the rescue. He’s returning from injury, saving Fins fans from another helping of Brock Osweiler. 22. Broncos (4-6) - If they can pull off a few more upsets, they might make some noise down the stretch. 23. Jaguars (3-7) - Owners of the NFL’s longest active losing streak. They should have stopped the bleeding last week against the Steelers. But they can’t get out of their own way. 24. Lions (4-7) - They’ve already matched their loss total from the previous two seasons. Probably not what new coach Matt Patricia is looking for. 25. Browns (3-6-1) - Played one of their best games before a bye week. They’re hoping they can pick up where they left off. 26. Giants (3-7) - Game-winning drives one week, completing a career-best 94.4 percent of his passes the next, wasn’t Eli Manning supposed to be headed to the bench? 27. Bucs (3-7) - What does it mean if the coach has to keep flipping his quarterback every few weeks? He doesn’t have a legitimate starter. 28. Bills (3-7) - Matt Barkley got them a win last week, but they’re turning back to rookie quarterback Josh Allen. Try guessing how that turns out? 29. Jets (3-7) - They’re returning from a bye week, licking their wounds following a beat down by the Bills. Good luck coming back from that embarrassment. 30. 49ers (2-8) - The only point of interest here is seeing if Nick Mullens can make a case for being a long-term backup option to Jimmy Garoppolo. 31. Raiders (2-8) - They probably tossed away the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft by beating the Cardinals. The good news? They still have a handful of other No. 1s in the same draft locked away. 32. Cardinals (2-8) - They now hold the keys to the top pick in the 2019 draft after falling in the Loser Bowl to the Raiders. Hard to imagine them crawling out of the basement and giving it up.