Patriots Wire Week 12 Power Rankings: Patriots remain still, Chiefs fall

The New England Patriots took care of the San Francisco 49ers, but remained at the third spot on our rankings despite being passed by the Raiders in the AFC playoff standings.

1. (Last Week: 1) Dallas Cowboys (9-1): The Cowboys took some early punches against a veteran Baltimore Ravens team that was primed for a big upset. But Dallas fought back, as good teams do, to pull away in the second half. They just keep rolling.

2. (Last Week: 2) Seattle Seahawks: (7-2-1): Seattle is officially the scariest team in football. Kam Chancellor is back, and it seems as if the Legion of Boom as a whole is too. Russell Wilson, who I believe is the second best quarterback in the NFL, is playing some of the best football of his career. Here come the Seahawks.

3. (Last Week: 3) New England Patriots (8-2): Tom Brady returned home to throw for four touchdown passes in the rain, as the Patriots played well on both sides of the ball, albeit against one of the very worst teams in pro football. Nothing else to see here, moving along. On to New York.

4. (Last Week: 6) Oakland Raiders (8-2): Thanks to their comeback win over the Houston Texans in Mexico City, the Raiders now have the number one seed in the AFC due to a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker over the Patriots. The Raiders are in the midst of a special season, sort of like an AFC version of Dallas this season.

5. (Last Week: 5) Denver Broncos (7-3): The Broncos were able to rest during their late bye week. Now, Kansas City comes to town for a game with major AFC playoff implications.

6. (Last Week: 7) New York Giants (7-3): That’s five straight wins for the Giants. On offense, Eli Manning is finding his talented receivers, who seem to always be open. On defense, the pass rush is starting to catch fire, and Landon Collins has emerged as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

7. (Last Week: 4) Kansas City Chiefs (7-3): That’s an excruciating 19-17 Chiefs’ loss to the Buccaneers. Kansas City may have been looking ahead to Denver.

8. (Last Week: 9) Washington Redskins (6-3-1): Washington is an explosive bunch led by the boastful Kirk Cousins, who seems to be celebrating wins with catch phrases.

9. (Last Week: 8) Atlanta Falcons (6-4): The Falcons main concern at this point is hanging onto the NFC South lead. They are just one game ahead of Tampa Bay, and have a history of faltering late in the season during the Matt Ryan era.

10. (Last Week: NR) Miami Dolphins (6-4): The Dolphins are winners of five straight and suddenly a threat to the notion that the AFC West is sending three teams to the playoffs. To help their case, they host the San Francisco 49ers next week, and the two teams ahead of them, Kansas City and Denver, play each other, meaning one will probably lose barring a crazy tie.

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