NFL Power Rankings, Week 12: It’s more bad news for the Bears

It feels like a lifetime ago when HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series followed the Chicago Bears through training camp and the preseason. The annual series produced some viral moments, like when Caleb Williams got the same kind of introduction as Chicago legend Michael Jordan did back in the day. Spirits were high in the Bears fandom as the series wrapped up. Hope had finally returned.

Just 11 weeks later, those hopes have been completely dashed. The Bears are on a four-game skid that has seen them fall to the NFC North basement (again). They’ve just lost their 11th straight meeting with the Green Bay Packers.

They also fired much-hyped offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, and the cycle of firing the head coach a year after drafting a promising rookie quarterback is likely to continue as Matt Eberflus’ seat heats up. This season has gone about as poorly as Bears fans could have feared.

If there’s any good news, it’s that the Bears didn’t fall too far in Week 11’s NFL Power Rankings. The bad news is that there’s not much room to fall because they’re already near the bottom.

1. Detroit Lions (Last week: 1)

Can anyone stop the mighty Lions this year? The way they’re playing, the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory feels inevitable.

2. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 2)

Josh Allen handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season with an emphatic touchdown run on 4th and 2. He continues to build his case for 2024 MVP.

This angle of Josh Allen’s TD run is amazing. Go Bills #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/3L2bCWQrRR

— Bills Run Deep (@BillsRunDeep2) November 18, 2024

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 5)

For the second time this year, the Steelers have won a game without scoring a single touchdown. One way or another, this team just finds a way to win.

4. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 3)

Nothing went right for Baltimore, which lost to division rival Pittsburgh on Sunday. Lamar completed just 50% of his passes, Justin Tucker missed two field goals, and Baltimore turned the ball over three times.

5. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 4)

Congratulations are for the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Their perfect season will again go unmatched for another year as Super Bowl favorites Kansas City finally took a loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 6)

Winners of six straight, the Eagles have a game-and-a-half lead in the division over Washington, plus a tiebreaker. Nick Sirianni’s seat seems to have cooled off after a troubling 2-2 start to the season.

7. LA Chargers (Last week: 13)

Head coach Jim Harbaugh pulled out all the stops in a gritty Sunday night win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He has Justin Herbert playing at an MVP level, and the Chargers are firmly in playoff contention.

8. Houston Texans (Last week: 12)

The Texans got the win on Monday Night Football over the reeling Dallas Cowboys, but CJ Stroud’s regression has to be concerning. He doesn’t look anything like the way he did in 2023 when he put together one of the best rookie quarterback seasons of all time and the playoffs are right around the corner.

9. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 9)

Another week, another Jordan Love interception that nearly cost Green Bay the game. If they had not miraculously blocked Chicago’s field goal attempt at the very end, Love’s egregious mistake earlier would have certainly been a much bigger deal in the postgame discussions.

10. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 7)

Losers of two straight, Atlanta is headed into its bye week in the wrong direction. It needs to right the ship right after its break if it wants to win its division. The Buccaneers won’t make it easy.

11. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 10)

I hate to drop the Vikings after a win, but let’s be honest. They barely beat the Tennessee Titans, including a very questionable call from the refs that turned a turnover-on-downs into a touchdown for Minnesota in what was a 10-point game.

Titans got a penalty for hitting a guy too hard.

Brutal beat.

This was a clean play, on 4th and goal, penalty cost them 7 points.pic.twitter.com/RbN8q8BMiC

— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) November 17, 2024

12. Washington Commanders (Last week: 8)

The Commanders are now 0-4 against winning teams this season, which suggests that they may have received a little too much praise and adoration in October. While the team has shown drastic improvement, question marks remain across the roster and coaching staff.

13. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 11)

Brock Purdy had an uncharacteristically bad game, finishing with just 159 yards, one touchdown, and one pick in their 20-17 loss to Seattle. It’s now a three-way tie for second place in the NFC West, with the Niners, Seahawks, and Rams all at 5-5, one game behind the Cardinals.

14. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 14)

Arizona had a bye week, so they stayed put.

15. Denver Broncos (Last week: 16)

How fun are the Broncos to watch right now? A week after nearly knocking off the defending champs, they blew the Atlanta Falcons out of the water 38-6. They now sit at the 7th seed for the AFC playoffs and have three winnable games coming up.

16. LA Rams (Last week: 17)

Beating the Patriots will get the Rams a slight bump up the rankings, but not much. They still have a hole to climb out of if they want to make the playoffs.

17. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 18)

The Dolphins are finally playing the way we expected this season, but it may be too little, too late, as the calendar has nearly turned to December.

18. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 15)

Quarterback Joe Burrow is playing some of the best football of his life and will likely not come close to the playoffs, that’s how bad the Bengals have been outplayed. Head coach Zac Taylor’s seat is white-hot at this point.

Through the first 11 games, on the 4-7 Bengals, Joe Burrow has 3,028 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.

Players to achieve 3,000+ passing yards, 27+ touchdowns, and 5 or fewer interceptions through the first 11 games, along with their team’s final records:

-…

— Jacob Kaye (@JacobKaye_) November 18, 2024

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 19)

Tampa Bay had a bye week, so they stayed put.

20. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 21)

The NFC West is chaos right now, with three teams tied at 5-5 and just one game back of the division lead. Seattle beating San Francisco on Sunday makes the playoff picture even more uncertain as they split the season series with their division rival.

21. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 22)

With the return of Anthony Richardson, the Colts handled their business against the crumbling New York Jets, but the team still has a long way to go before they can be taken seriously.

22. New England Patriots (Last week: 20)

The Patriots may have already won their last game of the season, which would likely land them the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

23. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 25)

After dropping seven games in a row, the Saints have won back-to-back games, but make no mistake: this team is still headed for a full rebuild.

24. Chicago Bears (Last week: 23)

Heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching. Excruciating. There aren’t enough words to describe Chicago’s season thus far. They’ve lost four in a row, started and capped by losses on a Hail Mary and a blocked field goal. It doesn’t get much worse than this.

25. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 24)

Carolina had a bye week, but they got bumped back one spot anyway.

26. New York Giants (Last week: 29)

Usually, I keep teams at their previous ranking during their bye week. But the Giants finally benched Daniel Jones, giving them hope for the season. Plus, I couldn’t in good conscience place them behind a single team on the rest of this list.

27. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 32)

The Titans lost, but they at least put up a good fight.

28. Las Vegas Raiders (Last week: 27)

The only positive from the Raiders’ season so far is that rookie tight end Brock Bowers is “as-advertised” and more. He looks to be a reliable weapon for whichever quarterback Las Vegas drafts next year and for years.

Brock Bowers’ 17 Game Pace:

?119 Receptions
?1,200 Yards
?5 TD’s

The most receptions by a rookie TE?

Sam LaPorta: 86

The most receptions by a TE?

Zach Ertz: 116

You are witnessing the GREATEST season from a Rookie TE in NFL History. pic.twitter.com/4zgBt04UlV

— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) November 19, 2024

29. New York Jets (Last week: 28)

Just over a month after firing head coach Robert Saleh, the Jets have now fired GM Joe Douglas. An era is over, and it comes to a close in the most Jets-like manner possible.

30. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 30)

Mike McCarthy can’t survive this season, can he? His tenure in Dallas has been nothing but disappointing playoff collapses, and now they won’t even make the playoffs.

31. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 31)

Unlike the teams above and below Cleveland on this list, the head coach should get very little blame for what’s happening. Kevin Stefanski is legit, and if Cleveland is foolish enough to make him the scapegoat, I can think of no fewer than a half-dozen teams that would gladly bring him aboard as their new head coach.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 26)

The Jaguars are currently slotted for the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If this holds, they will become the first team in the common draft era to select first overall three times in five years.

The Jaguars could become the first team in the common draft era to select 1st overall 3 times in a 5-year span.

Jacksonville (2-8) currently holds the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/SCYcdUYfvY

— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) November 14, 2024

For years, there have been rumors of the Jaguars being moved to London for the NFL’s first international team, but I have a feeling London might say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”