JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser's pre-Week 13 2019 NFL power rankings. And we all know how important these are:
Rank.Team (record) | Comment
1. New England Patriots (10-1) | 1 | Flawed? Maybe. But still No. 1
2. Baltimore Ravens (9-2) | 2 | Harder and harder to keep them out of top spot
3. San Francisco 49ers (10-1) | 4 | Couldn't have been more impressive Sunday
4. New Orleans Saints (9-2) | 3 | Clutch victories such as Sunday earn postseason byes
5. Seattle Seahawks (9-2) | 5 | As good a road team as there is in the NFL
6. Green Bay Packers (8-3) | 6 | Really good – but good enough for the Super Bowl?
7. Minnesota Vikings (8-3) | 7 | Late-season bye will help as they push for playoff positioning
8. Kansas City Chiefs (7-4) | 8 | Got big bye-week boost with Jets victory over Raiders
9. Buffalo Bills (8-3) | 9 | Still overlooked, still good, still playoff-bound
10. Houston Texans (7-4) | 10 | Now leaders and favorites in balanced AFC South
11. Indianapolis Colts (6-5) | 11 | Could be playing for wild-card spot after Thursday loss to Houston
12. Dallas Cowboys (6-5) | 13 | Still your NFC East-leading Cowboys
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) | 17 | Inching their way back into the postseason chase
14. Los Angeles Rams (6-5) | 12 | Season now seriously in peril
15. Oakland Raiders (6-5) | 14 | Long trip East took its toll on silver and black Sunday
16. Tennessee Titans (6-5) | 18 | Four victories in five games have turned season around
17.Cleveland Browns (5-6) | 19 | Team of offseason may make a postseason push
18.Carolina Panthers (5-6) | 15 | Sunday may have been their last gasp
19.Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) | 16 | Lost must-win home game versus Seahawks Sunday
20.Chicago Bears (5-6) | 22 | Too late for Bears to save season in tough NFC
21.Atlanta Falcons (3-8) | 20 | Perplexing season drags on in the ATL
22.Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7) | 21 | Can't stop the run? Can't win in the NFL
23.Detroit Lions (3-7-1) | 23 | Injuries wrecked Year 2 of the Patricia Era
24.Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) | 24 | Can Philip Rivers snap out of recent funk?
25.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7) | 27 | Better-than-their-record Bucs heading to Jax Sunday
26.New York Jets (4-7) | 30 | The suddenly red-hot J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS
27.Arizona Cardinals (3-7-1) | 25 | Final five games will tell story on Year 1 of Kingsbury/Murray
28.Denver Broncos (3-8) | 26 | Still feeling like a team in need of a reset
29.New York Giants (2-9) | 28 | NFC's longest losing streak
30.Washington Redskins (2-9) | 31 | Selfie time!
31.Miami Dolphins (2-9) | 29 | Cooling off after midseason "surge"
32.Cincinnati Bengals (0-11) | 32 | No. 1 overall looks inevitable now
