Week 12 AP NFL power rankings: Ravens fall; Seahawks, Titans come back

A fun week of NFL action produced some excellent games and some pretty terrible ones. Just when we think we know which teams are contenders (or pretenders), a surprise result comes out of nowhere and completely changes our thinking. This should make for a very exciting last few weeks.

This week’s voters were Matt Stagner, Pete Sweeney, Ron Kopp and myself.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (1st)

The best team in the world has the best player in the world.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (2nd)

They’re starting to beat up on the bad teams — which is a sign of a really good team.

3. New Orleans Saints (3rd)

They went with Taysom Hill and hardly skipped a beat.

4. Seattle Seahawks (6th)

Thursday night’s version of the Seahawks is very scary.

5. Green Bay Packers (4th)

After disappearing for most of the second half, they were fortunate to have their game against the Colts go into overtime.

6. Buffalo Bills (8th)

A week without Josh Allen simply isn’t as much fun.

7. Tennessee Titans (11th) | This week’s high riser

As the game goes on, the better Derrick Henry becomes.

8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5th)

In Tampa, it seems to be two steps forward, one step back.

9. Los Angeles Rams (13th)

Despite all of the holds, the Rams’ pass rush was devastating.

10. Arizona Cardinals (9th)

The loss to the Seahawks could be one that they regret at the end of the year.

11. Baltimore Ravens (7th)

What has happened to this team’s offense? Chiefs fans will hope they can rekindle the spirit of 2019 for Thanksgiving.

12. Indianapolis Colts (14th)

A great win — but this game should have never gone to overtime. They need to find a killer instinct.

13. Las Vegas Raiders (12th)

Their A+ game was almost enough to sweep the Chiefs, but they simply scored too quickly. Some say that Jonathan Abram still hasn’t found Travis Kelce.

14. Miami Dolphins (10th)

After playing so well for a few weeks, they laid an egg against Denver. Still a good team.

15. Cleveland Browns (16th)

They hit Carson Wentz so much that he started passing the ball to them on purpose.

16. San Francisco 49ers (17th)

A week of rest for San Francisco. No team has ever needed it more.

17. Carolina Panthers (18th)

XFL star P.J. Walker impressed for the most part. My compatriot Efe Obada racked up his second sack in two weeks.

18. New England Patriots (15th)

Beat the Ravens one week, lose to the Texans the next. Go figure.

19. Los Angeles Chargers (22nd)

Justin Herbert (and his fresh new haircut) had a scare against the Jets. Not good.

20. Chicago Bears (20th)

Tyler Bray time in Chicago?

21. Minnesota Vikings (21st)

One of the league’s hottest teams lost to one of the coldest. Not good for their playoff chances.

22. Denver Broncos (26th)

A solid defensive performance produced an excellent win for Denver.

23. Atlanta Falcons (23rd)

A lackluster showing after some promising performances. Time to start preparing for the future.

24. Houston Texans (28th)

Deshaun Watson was incredible against the Patriots. Whoever ends up coaching the Texans next year should count their lucky stars.

25. New York Giants (27h)

The best team in the NFC East had themselves a week off.

26. Detroit Lions (19th) | This week’s big faller

Matt Patricia is now 13-27-1 as the head coach of the Lions.

27. Philadelphia Eagles (25th)

Has any player ever declined as much as Carson Wentz has?

28. Washington Football Team (29th)

Alex Smith picked up his first win in two years. Chiefs Kingdom will be cheering for him on .Turkey Day.

29. Dallas Cowboys (30th)

The CeeDee Lamb catch was one of the plays of the year. If you haven’t seen it, then you have to check it out.

30. Cincinnati Bengals (24th)

I think we’re all sad for Joe Burrow right now.

31. Jacksonville Jaguars (31st)

The Jaguars peaked after the first drive. After that, they were miles off the pace.

32. New York Jets (32nd)

The first team to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.