2013 NFL Power Rankings

San Francisco 49ers: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#4)

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Last week: 5 (+1)

Record: 6-2

Remember when the Packers and 49ers were both 1-2? They’ve won a combined 9 straight games and the 4 losses between them are all against top-10 teams in these Power Rankings. Colin Kaepernick has improved drastically recently and the 49ers are now moving the chains at a 74% rate, as opposed to 70% for their opponents, a differential that is 8th best in the NFL and sharply climbing. The biggest thing working against them is that Super Bowl runner ups almost never make the Super Bowl the following year and even less frequently win it all, but they certainly have the talent to buck the trend if everything falls right.

Week 8 Studs

QB Colin Kaepernick

LT Joe Staley

Week 8 Duds

LG Mike Iupati

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Green Bay Packers: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#5)

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Last week: 8 (+3)

Record: 5-2

The Packers have blown out the Browns and Vikings over the past two weeks and were especially impressive against the Vikings in Minnesota. Even the final score of 44-31 doesn’t tell how much of a blowout it was as the Vikings needed incredible special teams to even get to that score. The Packers had 26 first downs and didn’t punt once all game, while the Vikings had 15 first downs and 4 punts. They are moving the chains at an 82% rate on the season, as opposed to 72% for their opponent, a differential that is 2nd in the NFL. Their schedule is pretty easy going forward, as they host Chicago, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh and go to the Giants, Lions, Cowboys, and Bears. If they can get healthy, they’ll be sneaky dangerous in the post-season, especially if they can get a first round bye and home field advantage.

Week 8 Studs

QB Aaron Rodgers

RB Eddie Lacy

RB James Starks

WR Jordy Nelson

RG TJ Lang

MLB Jamari Lattimore

Week 8 Duds

SS Morgan Burnett

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New England Patriots: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#6)

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Last week: 4 (-2)

Record: 6-2

It needs to be said. Tom Brady looks more like a former 6th round pick than a 3-time Super Bowl winner this year. ProFootballFocus’ grades him out as the 24th ranked passing quarterback out of 37 eligible. I thought it would get better when Rob Gronkowski returned, but in his 2nd game back Brady completed 13 of 22 for 116 yards, 1 touchdown, and an interception against a weak Miami defense and really didn’t look good. They won by 10 on the strength of their defense, which will get better with Aqib Talib expected to return this week and that’s the reason they’re still a top-10 team (along with the potential that Brady gets better), but you could argue they deserve to be 3 spots lower. If they don’t have a good showing against the Steelers this week, they’ll move further down.

Week 8 Studs

LE Rob Ninkovich

CB Kyle Arrington

CB Logan Ryan

Week 8 Duds

RE Chandler Jones

DT Chris Jones

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Kansas City Chiefs: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#8)

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Last week: 6 (-2)

Record: 8-0

The Chiefs are 8-0, but they haven’t beaten a team ranked higher than 12th on this list and 5 of their 8 wins have come against bottom-10 teams. On top of that, 5 of their wins have come by 10 points or less. They are overrated and could easily lose this week in Buffalo, where two other top-15 teams (Baltimore, Carolina) have lost and two other top-10 teams (Cincinnati, New England) almost lost. Also overrated is Alex Smith, who is 27-5 over the past 3 seasons and apparently gets all the credit for that, even though his defenses have allowed 13.4 points per game in those 32 games. The Chiefs have a great defense and a strong running game, but they won’t be able to get deep into the playoffs.

Week 8 Studs

LOLB Justin Houston

DT Dontari Poe

MLB Derrick Johnson

Week 8 Duds

RT Eric Fisher

C Rodney Hudson

MLB Akeem Jordan

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Cincinnati Bengals: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#9)

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Last week: 9 (+0)

Record: 6-2

I still question Andy Dalton and I don’t know how much better he is than someone like Alex Smith, but he has so much talent around him, especially with Marvin Jones in the middle of a breakout season. They have a strong running back tandem, a solid receiving corps, and a strong offensive line. Defensively, they are very strong, particularly on the defensive line. They’d be higher on here if they hadn’t lost top cornerback Leon Hall for the season and I question their back 7 without him, but you couldn’t tell he was gone in a 49-9 shelling of the Jets. They’re definitely in the mix in the AFC.

Week 8 Studs

QB Andy Dalton

WR Marvin Jones

RE Michael Johnson

LOLB Vontaze Burfict

CB Adam Jones

SS George Iloka

Week 8 Duds

None

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Carolina Panthers: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#10)

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Last week: 12 (+2)

Record: 4-3

Don’t look now, but the Panthers are a few plays away from 6-1 and have the 5th best point differential in the NFL, on the strength of the #2 scoring defense in the NFL. They are moving the chains at an 80% rate, as opposed to 71% for their opponents, the 3rd best rate in the NFL. Vegas knows how good they are and they probably will only be underdogs in 3 or 4 more games (vs/at New Orleans, at San Francisco, vs New England). I think this is a playoff team in the NFC. They are currently tied for a wild card spot in the loss column.

Week 8 Studs

LT Jordan Gross

LE Charles Johnson

Week 8 Duds

None

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Detroit Lions: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#11)

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Last week: 10 (-1)

Record: 5-3

Last year, the two problems for the Lions were turnovers and close losses and it looked like the Lions were re-living last year this week against the Cowboys before that amazing game winning drive. They won the game despite losing the turnover battle by 4, something that had only happened 19 times prior since 1989, as opposed to 393 losses. They did this by accumulating 623 yards of offense, as opposed to 268 for the Cowboys, only the 24th time since 1989 that a team won the yardage battle by that much (22-2 straight up). They are moving the chains at an explosive 78% rate, as opposed to 74% for their opponents and rank 10th in differential. They have a lot of promise going forward, especially if Matt Stafford continues playing at a borderline-MVP level (he’s ProFootballFocus’ 3rd ranked passing quarterback behind Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers).

Week 8 Studs

QB Matt Stafford

WR Calvin Johnson

RT LaAdrian Waddle

LG Rob Sims

C Dominic Raiola

MLB Stephen Tulloch

CB Chris Houston

Week 8 Duds

TE Joseph Fauria

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Dallas Cowboys: 2013 Week 9 NFL Power Rankings (#12)

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Last week: 11 (-1)

Record: 4-4

You can call it a crushing loss for the Cowboys, but they did not deserve to win that game. They were outgained by 355 yards, only the 24th time that had happened to a team since 1989 and lost despite winning the turnover battle by 4, only the 20th time that had happened to a team since 1989. They won’t always be able to force turnovers and they have a +9 turnover margin on the season and they’ve only forced 35 punts in 8 games. Their defense is horrible and their offense might not be good enough to keep up. They are clearly the best team in the NFC East, but they might not even make the playoffs in any other division in football.

Week 8 Studs

None

Week 8 Duds

LG Robert Leary

LE George Selvie

DT Nick Hayden

CB Brandon Carr

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