The stakes were high when the Eagles hosted the 49ers on Sunday. We said in last week’s Pickswise Power Rankings that the #1 spot would be the prize for winning that game and so we have no hesitation in moving the 49ers back to the top.
We have a change in the last place too, and it’s one which would have seemed unthinkable for much of the last two decades.
You can check out our NFL Week 14 predictions and look at the NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.
Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 14
1 (up 1) San Francisco 49ers
Few will complain about the 49ers being considered the best team in football after what they did to the previously 10-1 Eagles on Sunday. Their 3-game losing run appears to be fully in the rearview mirror now, and the #1 seed in the NFC is back on the agenda after their fourth straight win. Sportsbooks are in full agreement, with FanDuel making the 49ers +320 odds favorites for the Super Bowl.
4 (up 1) Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens benefit from San Francisco’s hard work, moving up a place on their bye week. They also benefit from being the only team in the AFC North with its original quarterback after Kenny Pickett joined Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow on the sidelines. They are only fourth favorites for the Super Bowl at +650 odds, however.
3 (down 2) Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have been brotherly shoved off top spot, having occupied that position in these rankings since after the Week 8 games. Their odds for the Super Bowl have shifted from +460 to +500 at FanDuel Sportsbook after a costly head-to-head loss against the Niners.
4 (down 1) Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys drop 1 spot despite winning as they found the Seahawks to be much harder work than expected in 41-35 win that had 70 more points scored than one other Week 13 game. Fourth may still be considered generous, though, as they’re only 6th in FanDuel’s Super Bowl odds at +900 despite their 6-0 home record.
5 (up 1) Buffalo Bills
Doing nothing also worked well for the Bills this week, as they move ahead of the stumbling Chiefs on their bye week. If the Chiefs have any argument with that, they can beat the Bills on Sunday to reclaim their spot.
6 (down 1) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are only 2.5-point favorites against the Bills at Arrowhead, which suggests the sportsbooks weren’t too impressed with their loss to the Packers either. That’s 3 defeats in 5 games, so if Patrick Mahomes wants to put on a laser show against Josh Allen this week to make amends, we’re here for it.
7 (-) Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins don’t get any reward for crushing the Commanders because destroying bad teams is not a new trick for them. They now have a 3-game lead over the Bills in the 2-team AFC East.
8 (-) Detroit Lions
The Lions hung on to beat the Saints but a 33-28 final score was not we expected when they raced into an early 21-0 lead. They have a rematch against the Bears this week, having made hard work of getting the win in the first meeting.
9 (up 1) Denver Broncos
The Broncos are still rising despite having their 5-game winning streak snapped by the Texans. They were close to making it 6, though, and their uncompetitive days seem to be far behind them now.
10 (up 8) Green Bay Packers
Are the Packers for real? It sure seemed that way as they took down the Super Bowl champions on Sunday for their fourth win in 5 games. That’s back-to-back wins over the Lions and Chiefs and their remaining 5 games are all winnable too. A big jump was required.
11 (up 1) Houston Texans
The Texans seem to produce plenty of drama every week and this time it was their defense that made the crucial late play to deny the Broncos on Sunday. It’s game on in their AFC South fight with the Jaguars and Colts now but the loss of Tank Dell to injury is a blow.
12 (up 3) Los Angeles Rams
The Rams’ win over the Browns was much tighter than the final score of 36-19 suggests, but it was their third straight success and they get to move above the team they beat.
13 (down 2) Cleveland Browns
First the good news: Joe Flacco looked really good as the fourth starting quarterback of the season for the Browns. The bad news is their defense did not look like the unit that began the season with no Denzel Ward and Myles Garrett clearly hampered by his shoulder injury. If the D returns to form, Flacco showed enough to suggest he could still steer this team to the playoffs.
14 (-) Cincinnati Bengals
Jake Browning led the Bengals to an impressive win over the Jaguars on Monday night and it’s a massive break for the team that Joe Burrow’s injury looks like it did not end their playoff chances after all. A win over the Colts this week would be another huge step toward that goal.
15 (down 6) Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars got the good news on Tuesday that Trevor Lawrence’s ankle injury may not be as serious as it looked, although he must be doubtful to be ready for this week’s now increasingly important game against the Browns. Wide receiver Christian Kirk’s injury appears to be a longer-term issue too.
16 (up 1) Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks’ loss to the Cowboys on TNF was actually their most promising effort for a while as Geno Smith and DK Metcalf went crazy, even though the team lost a third straight game to fall to 6-6.
17 (down 1) Los Angeles Chargers
Winning and covering despite scoring only 6 points is an achievement of sorts, and the Chargers did shut out the putrid Patriots in the lowest-scoring game of the season so far. It does seem a long time since we saw an elite game from Justin Herbert, though.
18 (up 2) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts rise again after reaching 7-5 with a fourth straight win. Just don’t mention that they were over the Panthers, Patriots, Buccaneers and Titans as it takes some of the shine off it.
19 (down 6) Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers turned back into pumpkins with a 24-10 home loss to the Cardinals. The good news for them is that losing their starting quarterback is not as devastating as it is to other teams and Mitch Trubisky has already thrown as many TD passes as Kenny Pickett had in the last 6 games.
20 (up 1) Atlanta Falcons
Well the Falcons have won back-to-back games, so they get a small rise, but a 13-8 win over Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian and the Jets is not one to tell the grandkids about.
21 (down 2) Minnesota Vikings
This is one of those harsh ones as the Vikings fall despite not playing this week, but they will certainly be moving in the right direction again if the return of Justin Jefferson provides a spark after he missed the last 7 games. Hopefully a week off was long enough for Kevin O’Connell to decide which of Josh Dobbs, Jaren Hall or Nick Mullens will be playing quarterback this week.
22 (up 1) New Orleans Saints
The Saints move up despite losing 3 straight games but a 5-7 record obviously means they’re still right in the fight for the NFC South title! They may have to do it with Jameis Winston, though, after another tough day for Derek Carr.
23 (up 3) Tennessee Titans
The Titans put in a stronger effort against the Colts this week, but the Panthers are still the only team they’ve beaten in their last 5 games. At 4-8 and 15th in the AFC playoff rankings, they’re just about done now, though.
24 (up 3) Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals got a second win since Kyler Murray’s return in impressive fashion against the Steelers, but they get a tough draw this week against the 49ers.
25 (down 3) Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are another team to be punished for their inactivity this week but there aren’t any cupcake games in the short second section of their season.
26 (down 1) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs beat the Panthers…just. If that deserves credit these might not be the rankings for you. It followed the pattern of their season that they are barely able to beat the really bad teams and no real threat to the good ones.
27 (down 2) Chicago Bears
The Bears were another of Week 13’s 6 vacationing teams and while they have 2 wins in their last 3 games, they’ll need to last the full 60 minutes to beat the Lions at the second attempt.
28 (-) New York Giants
The Giants allowing the Patriots to score 7 points in Week 12 doesn’t actually look so good now, and their final 5 games are pretty brutal, including 2 games against the Eagles.
29 (-) Washington Commanders
Did you hear about the team that fired its defensive coordinator after allowing 45 points in a game and then allowed 45 points in the next game too? The Commanders get this week off to think of ways to avoid allowing 45 points next week.
30 (-) New York Jets
Those people who said the Jets should have just stuck with Zach Wilson before their last 2 losses will be looking pretty smug as Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian have made fans hanker for the golden days of the Wilson era. Brett Rypien looks to be next in line to take his turn.
31 (-) Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are 1-11, yes, but they actually scored 18 whole points this week, which is 18 more than the team that is now below them.
32 (down 1) New England Patriots
Here’s a ranking you haven’t seen a whole lot of over the last 20 years – the Patriots in 32nd. How the mighty have fallen. The Patriots have allowed only 26 points in their last 3 games but have lost each one. And this week they allowed a team that scored 6 points to cover a 5.5-point spread against them. Have a great week, folks!