Crowe - NFL Week #11 Power Rankings

Crowe - NFL Week #11 Power Rankings

As we hit Thanksgiving week, we find ourselves facing another Holiday season that begins with the World still battling the effects and day-to-day effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, with that in mind, it’s time to look around our NFL Nation and see what we’re thankful for after 10 weeks of the 2021 season.

In New England, Patriots fans are especially thankful for rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Not only has Jones come in and win seven of his first eleven games including his last five straight, but he’s made New England forget about how Cam Newton looked at QB last season. Right now, Jones has the Pats offense rolling to 175 points in those five wins. But, at least for now, let’s keep those comparisons to the G.O.A.T. Tom Brady on the side. Similar styles? Yes, for sure, but on far different levels in far different places in their careers.

Around the NFL, fans are thankful for parity. With a new 17-game schedule this season, more and more teams are still in the hunt. In the NFC, we have 15 of 16 teams (all but the winless Lions) in contention or within two games of the final seventh seed. Meanwhile, in the AFC, 12 of 14 are still in the hunt at .500 and above as only the Dolphins, Jets, Jaguars and Texans are missing the party for the moment.

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Finally, the NFL is thankful that they’ve got to week 11 without any full postponements of games due to the coronavirus. Sure, we’ve seen our share of games missed by individual players (Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger top the list), but unlike 2020, we haven’t seen any games moved around from week to week. Here’s hoping that fact remains just that through the rest of the season. Although this week’s news about Antonio Brown’s alleged vaccination card as well as a few high-profile tests around the league have brought some new concerns to the forefront.

Now, here’s to week 11’s top 10:

 

10. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4, Last week: not ranked)

After weeks of calling for their premature demise, fans around the NFL may have witnessed the rebirth of the Chiefs with their 41-14 rout of the Raiders Sunday night. Patrick Mahomes looked his familiar part, passing for five touchdowns and 406 yards. We’ll see if was just a passing glimpse of the past or a continuing sneak peek into KC’s future this Sunday when they host the 7-2 Cowboys.

 

9. Baltimore Ravens (6-3, Last week: ranked 6th)

Baltimore had 10 days to sit and stew about their disappointing showing in Miami, a 22-10 loss to the Dolphins. Now, they’ll head to Chicago in hopes of maintain a slim half-game lead over the Steelers in the AFC North.

 

8. New England Patriots (7-4, Last week: not ranked)

Welcome back to the top 10 New England Patriots. With a 25-0 shutout of the Falcons Thursday night combined with a 45-7 bashing of the Browns on Sunday, the Pats are now winners of five straight and firmly in the hunt for an AFC playoff spot, currently as the fifth seed. Not only is the defense surging, ranked 2nd in the league in points allowed at 16.1 points per game, but the offense has outscored their opponents 175-50 over the past five games. Beware NFL, the Evil Empire could be back. And what’s worse Falcons fans, 28-3=25 and that’s how much the Patriots beat Atlanta by.

 

7. Los Angeles Rams (7-3, Last week: ranked 5th)

Two primetime performances. Two losses. Two straight games with two interceptions thrown by Matthew Stafford. Two straight games with Stafford throwing an interception returned for a touchdown. Not a great time for Stafford to start looking like the guy who played in Detroit for all those years. So far, the additions of Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. have done but add up to two games the Rams did not win. No team needed the bye week more than these Rams.

 

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3, Last week: ranked 2nd)

Count me as one who did not expect the Bucs to follow a loss to the Saints with a 29-19 defeat in DC against Washington following Tampa Bay’s bye week. If we thought TB12 was going to be angry coming off the bye week, imagine how he feels coming in to face the Giants Monday night, a team he lost two Super Bowls to while with the Patriots, after two straight losses. He’ll feel better though when he gets buddies Rob Gronkowski (ribs) and Antonio Brown (ankle) back healthy. On the other side of the ball, there’s a dangerous sign. Tampa Bay’s defense has averaged giving up 32 points a game in those two losses.

 

5. Buffalo Bills (6-3, Last week: ranked 8th)

Balance. It’s usually the key to success and the Bills are no exception. After struggling to try to find their running game for several games, Buffalo ran past the Jets 45-17 to the tune of 139 yards rushing and four touchdowns. It was a much-needed victory and swagger-builder for the Bills who suddenly have the Patriots nipping at their heels in the AFC East.

 

4.  Arizona Cardinals (8-2, Last week: ranked 1st)

After a week winning with Colt McCoy at quarterback in place of the injured Kyler Murray, the Cardinals Cinderella stretch hit Midnight with Cam Newton and the Panthers spoiling all the fun. No one saw a 34-10 drubbing coming but the Cards will be happy to see Murray and hopefully, wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green back this Sunday in Seattle.

 

3. Dallas Cowboys (7-2, Last week: ranked 7th)

Welcome back Cowboys! Dallas deflected any talk of things going South and a possible two-game home losing streak by drubbing the Falcons 43-3. It was a much-needed boost of the ego to America’s Team and its number one overall offense that struggled one week prior at home to Denver. Can they keep it going against the Chiefs in a game that resembles a litmus test for both teams? They’ll have to do it without their top wide receiver Amari Cooper, who landed on the COVID-19 list on Friday leaving him out for the KC game and his availability for Thanksgiving Day against the Raiders as well.

 

2. Tennessee Titans (8-2, Last week: ranked 3rd)

It wasn’t aa easy as expected, but it was a home win over the Saints that’s cemented the Titans into the current top spot in the AFC. Sure, they needed to stop a possible game-tying two-point conversion after watching New Orleans rally in the final seconds to preserve the win, but that’s what good teams do, bring home the “W.” Up next, Tennessee has the Texans and Jaguars at home wrapped around a trip to Foxboro to play the Patriots.

 

1. Green Bay Packers (8-2, Last week: ranked 4th)

Give Green Bay credit, they’ve won in all sorts of fashion on the road to their eight wins. It hasn’t just been the Aaron Rodgers show this season. Rodgers has been surrounded by a ground game led by Aaron Jones, until his knee injury this week that will see him miss 1-2 weeks and A.J. Dillon. He’s also been able to lean on a top 3 defense that just shutout Russell Wilson for the first time in his career just one week after limiting Patrick Mahomes to one touchdown and 13 points. The question now is can the Packers stay atop our rankings when the Cardinals, Bucs and Rams haven’t been able to do the same the past month.

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Games to watch in week 11:
Colts at Bills – The league’s best current RB – Jonathan Taylor takes on the league’s #1 defense in a playoff rematch from 2020.
Bengals at Raiders – Winner stays out of the .500 category and moves forward in the AFC Playoff Chase.
Cowboys at Chiefs – We’ll see which team is really for real at the end of this one. Will we see a combined 100 points?
Steelers at Chargers – A pair of teams looking to rebound after tough non-winning Sundays last week. Also, a pair of teams whose defenses have been ravaged by injuries and COVID-19.

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Last week:
10. Saints
9. Chargers
8. Bills
7. Cowboys
6. Ravens
5. Rams
4. Packers
3. Titans
2. Buccaneers
1. Cardinals