Raul Vazquez| November 13th, 2019
This was a great weekend of football. The NFL week opened up with a great Raiders-Chargers game and closed with one of the best games ever. College football provided some great games as well, headlined by the LSU-Alabama matchup. After the incredible weekend, here is where everyone in the NFL stands.
1. San Francisco 49ers (+0)
San Francisco was down Emmanuel Sanders, George Kittle, and their kicker Robby Gould for much of their matchup against the Seahawks and just barely got beat. The 49ers came out of Monday night heavily banged up though. They will need to get healthy as they get set for matchups against the Packers, Ravens, and Saints.
2. New England Patriots (+0)
New England was off this week before a Superbowl rematch from two years ago against the Eagles. The Patriots have been criticized for having a light schedule but of their seven games left, only two are against teams with losing records.
3. Seattle Seahawks (+2)
The Seahawks edged San Francisco in what was the best game of the year. Russell Wilson nearly lost the game with a late pick but made up for it as he led Seattle down for a game-winning field goal to knock off the last undefeated team in the NFL. Settle picked up a ton of momentum before their bye week and now still have a shot at the division crown.
4. Baltimore Ravens (+0)
Lamar Jackson is unreal. Everyone expected the Ravens to destroy the Bengals after they beat the undefeated Patriots, but Jackson had a perfect passer rating and had a 47-yard touchdown run that looked straight out of a video game. Baltimore is the hottest team in the NFL and will be tested against the Texans, Rams, and 49ers.
5. Green Bay Packers (+1)
What a win. The Packers defense held and stopped MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey just short to hang on for the win. The Packers improved to 8-2 before heading into their bye week. Green Bay will take advantage of all the off-time to get healthy and prepare for a matchup with the 8-1 49ers in San Francisco.
6. New Orleans Saints (-3)
Last week the Packers seemed to have looked past the Chargers and this week it was the Saints turn to do so. They dropped a game, at home, to the previously one-win Atlanta Falcons. This past week was the first of four straight games in the division as New Orleans looks to lock up the NFC South.
7. Houston Texans (+0)
Houston enjoyed their bye week before an incredible matchup between Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson. They now head to Baltimore to face the hottest team in the NFL.
8. Minnesota Vikings (+1)
Kirk Cousins finally won himself a big game, and the Vikings now sit at 7-3, just one game behind the 8-2 Packers. Minnesota has been one of the least talked about teams but they still have a shot at winning the division with a game against the Packers left.
9. Kansas City Chiefs (-1)
Patrick Mahomes came back from injury against the Titans and played a tremendous game. He threw for 446 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The game was lost on a special teams blunder and a Chiefs defense that gave up 188 yards to Derrick Henry. We all know Kansas City has the offense to go to the Superbowl but the defense will have to step up for the Chiefs to make a playoff run.
10. Philadelphia Eagles (+3)
Philadelphia had their bye week during week ten and got some help from Minnesota as they are now tied with Dallas for first place in the NFC East.
11. Dallas Cowboys (+0)
Dak Prescott played the game of his life on Sunday night football but Dallas came up just short. The mere 47 yards Ezekiel Elliot was able to churn out was the difference in the game. The biggest takeaway, however, is the performance Prescott put on and what he proved he is capable of.
12. Carolina Panthers (+4)
Okay, Kyle Allen. In one of the best games of the week, Allen led the Panthers down the field on a drive to potentially tie the game but would be stopped inches short of the goal line. In a classic game at Lambeau, the Panthers nearly took the game to overtime against a stout Packers squad.
13. Buffalo Bills (-3)
Five of the six wins for the Bills have come against the teams that currently have the top five picks in the 2020 NFL draft and have a combined seven wins. Some may point to the teams they’ve played as the reason for their 6-3 record, but the good news for Buffalo is that they play Denver and Miami these next two weeks. Two teams who have a combined five wins.
14. Oakland Raiders (+1)
Jon Gruden and the Raiders are fun to watch. They are winning games and having fun doing so. They sit at 5-4 with games against the Bengals and Jets coming up before meeting with the Chiefs in a game that might be for the division lead.
15. Los Angeles Rams (-3)
The Rams have fallen off from being the defending NFC champs, to say the least. The Rams are 2-4 in their last six with games against the Bears and Ravens coming up. The Rams will need to get back to the way they looked in 2018 in order to keep up with other teams in the NFC for a wild card spot.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (+2)
This Pittsburgh defense has been fantastic. Trading away a first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick has turned out to be a great decision and has done wonders. After dropping their first three, the Steelers have won five of their last six and have the playoffs on their minds.
17. Detroit Lions (+0)
Detroit just barely lost on the road to the Bears with Jeff Driskel leading the way. The bigger story here is that the Lions have now lost five of their last six games after starting 2-0-1.
18. Indianapolis Colts (-4)
Brian Hoyer was terrible, bad, and any other terrible adjectives there are out there. Hoyer threw three interceptions which resulted in 13 of the Dolphins 16 points. The Colts better hope Brissett is okay with three straight divisional matchups coming up.
19. Los Angeles Chargers (+2)
Los Angeles might be finally playing up to their potential. They lost a close one in Oakland but they have won two of their last three and had a chance to win it this past week. The Chargers have both games against the Chiefs left and are only two games back of Kansas City. Watch out.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (+0)
Jacksonville was off during week ten and will enter week 11 with Gardner Minshew Mania over and Nick Foles back as the starter with consecutive divisional games coming up.
21. Tennessee Titans (+5)
Okay, Tennessee, I see you. Ryan Tannehill has now led the Titans to a 3-1 record and led a game-winning touchdown drive which left 23 seconds on the clock. They are now 5-5 and right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
22.Chicago Bears (+1)
The Jeff Driskel-led Lions were 25 yards away from forcing overtime against the Bears but Chicago held on. The Bears improved to 4-5 and kept their playoff hopes alive but in a crowded NFC, they will need Trubisky and the offense to step up.
23. Arizona Cardinals (-4)
After starting 3-3-1, and winning three straight games, the Cardinals have now dropped their last three to fall to 3-6-1. The goal for the Cardinals was to see good play from Kyler Murray and lose close games because they are still far from competing for championships and that is exactly what is happening. Kyler looks like the real deal.
24. Cleveland Browns (+1)
The Browns seemed like they wanted to give the game away but ultimately came away with the win in a game they absolutely needed to win to stay alive. The Browns are now 3-6 but have only one game left against a team that is more than one game over .500. Cleveland has both games left against both the Steelers and Bengals and a matchup with the Dolphins to look forward to.
25. Denver Broncos (-3)
Denver was off during week ten before getting into a terrible stretch in which the worst team they play in terms of their record are the Lions who have shown can be a tough matchup.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)
Jameis Winston threw for 358 yards but also threw two interceptions which is what you get with Winston. He makes a ton of plays but also is reckless and has always been vulnerable to turning the ball over. Tampa Bay now hosts a Saints squad coming off a loss in week 11.
27. Atlanta Falcons (+1)
The Falcons have always had the talent to win games but no one predicted them to win on the road over the Saints who only had one loss prior to week ten. Even after the win, Atlanta is still only at two wins and has a brutal schedule to close it out the year. The worst team they play record-wise is Tampa Bay who, like Atlanta, has the talent on offense to beat anybody.
28. Miami Dolphins (+2)
Maybe the Dolphins aren’t tanking? Or they are just bad at being bad? The Dolphins have been a scrappy team for the past few weeks and they have finally come away with some wins. With games against the Giants, Jets, and Bengals left, maybe the Dolphins won’t even be picking in the top three?
29. New York Jets (+2)
The Jets, and more importantly, Sam Darnold, bounced back from a rough stretch. The defense limited Saquon Barkley to one yard on thirteen carries while Darnold had no turnovers on his way to a two-touchdown day and the win.
30. New York Giants (-3)
A week after the Jets gave the Dolphins their first win of the season, the Giants allowed 34 points to a Jets offense that came in averaging 12 points per game. Daniel Jones and Darius Slayton both looked great which continue to be high points of the season and positive takeaways from another lost season in New York.
31.Washington Redskins (-2)
The Redskins had their bye week during week ten, but fall two spots as a result of some lesser teams winning games. If not for a one point win over Miami, Washington would be without a win. Now the focus of their season will be on whether or not they have anything in rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins. His second full test will come against a terrible Jets secondary.
32. Cincinnati Bengals (+0)
The Bengals are awful. All eyes were on the Dolphins for being the worst team in the NFL but now that the Dolphins have won back-to-back games, the Bengals are in the driver’s seat for the first overall pick in 2020. The question now becomes which quarterback they like more: Tua Tagovailoa or Joe Burrow?
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