JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser's pre-Week 13 2021 NFL power rankings. And we all know how important these are …

Rank.Team (record) | Prev. | Comment

1. Arizona Cardinals (9-2) | 1 | Bye
2. Green Bay Packers (9-3) | 3 | Because he's Aaron Rodgers – running or throwing
3. New England Patriots (8-4) | 5 | Oh yeah … they're back
4. Baltimore Ravens (8-3) | 8 | So consistent … year after year after year
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-3) | 9 | Good teams win road games like that
6. Tennessee Titans (8-4) | 2 | Still two games up in AFC South with tiebreaker over Colts
7. Kansas City Chiefs (7-4) | 7 | Bye
8. Buffalo Bills (7-4) | 13 | Patriots versus Bills next Monday … huge
9. Dallas Cowboys (7-4) | 4 | Still well in control in NFC East
10. Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) | 15 | Final six games versus over-.500 teams
11. Los Angeles Rams (7-4) | 6 | Up next: At home versus Duuuval
12. Las Vegas Raiders (6-5) | 21 | Five of six remaining games versus over .500 teams
13. Indianapolis Colts (6-6) | 11 | Still playing as well as any wild-card contender
14. Denver Broncos (6-5) | 18 | Quietly very much in contention
15. San Francisco 49ers (6-5) | 19 | Better by the week
16. Los Angeles Chargers (6-5) | 10 | So good at times, so inconsistent other times
17. Cleveland Browns (6-5) | 14 | Up again, down again year continues
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-5-1) | 12 | Oof … and into last place in AFC North
19. Minnesota Vikings (5-6) | 16 | Schedule could keep them contending until the end
20. Miami Dolphins (5-7) | 24 | League's hottest sub-.500 team by far
21. Philadelphia Eagles (5-7) | 17 | Next four versus sub-.500 teams, so they're still in it
22. Atlanta Falcons (5-6) | 25 | Got right in Duval Sunday
23. New Orleans Saints (5-6) | 20 | Four consecutive losses, last two by 36 total points
24. Washington Football Team (5-6) | 22 | Still very much in the wild-card chase
25. Carolina Panthers (5-7) | 23 | Cam's back … but that may not be enough
26. New York Giants (4-7) | 28 | Big Blue still hanging around bottom of the contenders
27. Chicago Bears (4-7) | 27 | Arizona, Green Bay next two weeks
28. Seattle Seahawks (3-8) | 26 | Long, long, long year in the Northwest
29. New York Jets (3-8) | 31 | Hurt their draft position Sunday
30. Houston Texans (2-9) | 29 | Helped their draft position Sunday
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) | 30 | Three consecutive losses after brief midseason surge
32. Detroit Lions (0-10-1) | 32 | Closing in fast on No. 1