We gotta say, there was some clutch performances occurring in Week 14. One of them is LeSean McCoy, who barreled his way through Colts in SNOW. Another is the Jaguar's pass rush against Russell Wilson. Brett Hundley on the MARK in Cleveland. Matt Prater and Antonio Brown showing style in Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. But perhaps the most clutch is Chris Long, who stripped the ball off of Jared Goff in his game in Los Angeles. That sealed the game, but not necessarily the season. We bet Eagles fans would rather lose that game than lose Carson Wentz. But, with that said, let's just go into the power rankings.
1st Rank: Pittsburgh Steelers (+3)
2nd Rank: New England Patriots (-1)
3rd Rank: Minnesota Vikings (--)
4th Rank: Philadelphia Eagles (-2)
5th Rank: Los Angeles Rams (--)
6th Rank: New Orleans Saints (--)
7th Rank: Jacksonville Jaguars (--)
8th Rank: Carolina Panthers (+1)
Starting off the top eight of the rankings, we have a new number one! It's the Steelers, who played pretty good against their rival, the Ravens. The Patriots lose to MIAMI, the Vikings stay as is, the Eagles drop even after a win, the Rams on the other end of THAT, the Saints lose to Atlanta, the Jaguars beat up the Seahawks, and finally, the Carolina Panthers beat the Vikings. Pretty good stuff. How about we head on to the next eight, shall we?
9th Rank: Los Angeles Chargers (+1)
10th Rank: Atlanta Falcons (+1)
11th Rank: Seattle Seahawks (-3)
12th Rank: Dallas Cowboys (+2)
13th Rank: Baltimore Ravens (--)
14th Rank: Green Bay Packers (+3)
15th Rank: Tennessee Titans (-2)
16th Rank: Detroit Lions (+2)
As we begin the next eight, we see a lot of change occurring from the previous eight. The Chargers still scare teams as they head one spot up, the Falcons beat the Saints, the Seahawks lose to the Jaguars, the Cowboys beat the Giants, the Ravens put up a good fight against the Steelers, the Packers beat Cleveland AND get back Aaron Rodgers, the Titans lose to ARIZONA, and the Lions beat the Buccaneers. Whew. That was A LOT to talk about. Let's just move on to the next eight.
17th Rank: Buffalo Bills (+3)
18th Rank: Kansas City Chiefs (+3)
19th Rank: Washington Redskins (-3)
20th Rank: Oakland Raiders (-5)
21st Rank: Miami Dolphins (+4)
22nd Rank: Arizona Cardinals (+4)
23rd Rank: San Francisco 49ers (--)
24th Rank: Chicago Bears (+7)
Let's talk about the 17th through the 24th ranks. The Buffalo Bills take a win in the SNOW, the Chiefs beat the Raiders, the Redskins lose to Los Angeles Chargers, the Raiders, as we've said, lost to the Chiefs, the Miami Dolphins went OFF against the Patriots, the Cardinals beat the Titans somehow, the 49ers as explosive as ever, and the Bears, racking up 33 points in their win. Great stuff coming out of the teams who are already ELIMINATED from the playoffs. That'll show their strength next year.
25th Rank: Cincinnati Bengals (-3)
26th Rank: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)
27th Rank: Denver Broncos (+3)
28th Rank: New York Jets (-9)
29th Rank: New York Giants (-1)
30th Rank: Houston Texans (-1)
31st Rank: Indianapolis Colts (-4)
32nd Rank: Cleveland Browns (--)
Okay, let's finish off quickly with the last eight. The Bengals struggle to score against the Bears young defense, the Buccaneers lose a close one against Detroit AT HOME, the Broncos SHUTOUT the Jets, the Giants lose to their rival Cowboys, the Texans lose again without Deshaun Watson, the Colts lose in the cold, so can't blame 'em too much, and finally, the Browns lose to an Aaron Rodgers-less Packers. How sad.
Whew. That was Week 14 in a nutshell for you. We've definitely seen some ups for some teams, and some downs for other teams. Ahem, the Eagles . . . Wonder how Nick Foles'll do for them in their situation. Like, the Cowboys are probably the hardest opponent out of the Giants and Raiders in their schedule, but if they beat the Giants and Raiders, they could just rest up their starters. Maybe it's not too bad. We'll see in the upcoming weeks.