Week 12 Composite NFL Power Rankings: Cardinals Return to No. 1
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have moved to No. 1 in our Composite NFL Power Rankings twice this season. Both times, they lost the following week.
Following another week filled with upsets that included top-ranked Green Bay’s loss at Minnesota, the Arizona Cardinals are back atop our rankings, which combine our thoughts and the rankings of seven national media entities. The Cardinals are 9-2 after winning at Seattle behind backup quarterback Colt McCoy.
Four of the top five teams from last week’s Composite – No. 1 Green Bay, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 Dallas and No. 5 Buffalo – lost. The Packers (at the 4-5 Vikings), Titans (at home to the 1-8 Texans) and Bills (at home to the 5-5 Colts) lost to teams that were .500 or worse.
Taking his turn producing Sports Illustrated’s rankings, Gary Gramling put the Packers in a big logjam at No. 2, “It was vintage Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, but also an injury-plagued defense that finally came crashing back to earth. The Packers would be the best team in the NFC if healthy, but there’s no indication of when Jaire Alexander or Za’Darius Smith will make it back.”
Second-ranked Green Bay will host the sixth-ranked Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. It’s one of three big games this week, with No. 8 Tennessee at No. 4 New England and No. 3 Tampa Bay at No. 11 Indianapolis being the others.
“The Robert Woods injury is devastating – his versatility and value as a perimeter blocker can’t be replaced, and the Rams would be better off with a healthy Woods than Odell Beckham Jr.,” Gramling wrote. “Defensively, this unit has undeniably slid back compared to last year, but a post-bye week trip to Green Bay, to face a familiar opponent ravaged by injuries on defense, should give us a good read on where the Rams are going in the second half of the season.”
Here are this week’s rankings.
Packer Central: 1, Arizona; 2, Tampa Bay; 3, Green Bay; 4, Tennessee; 5, New England; 6, Baltimore; 7, Dallas; 8, L.A. Rams; 9, Kansas City; 10, Indianapolis.
Sports Illustrated: 1, Kansas City; 2, Green Bay; 2, New England; 2, Dallas; 2, Arizona; 2, Tampa Bay; 7, Indianapolis; 8, Buffalo; 9, L.A. Rams; 10, Cincinnati; 10, Cleveland; 10, Baltimore.
ESPN.com: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tennessee; 4, L.A. Rams; 5, Dallas; 6, Tampa Bay; 7, Kansas City; 8, Baltimore; 9, New England; 10, Indianapolis.
NFL.com: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, Kansas City; 5, Dallas; 6, New England; 7, Buffalo; 8, Tennessee; 9, L.A. Rams; 10, Minnesota.
Associated Press: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, Kansas City 5, Tennessee; 6, New England; 7, Baltimore; 8, Dallas; 9, L.A. Rams; 10, Buffalo.
CBS Sports: 1, Arizona; 2, L.A. Rams; 3, Green Bay; 4, Tennessee; 5, Tampa Bay; 6, Baltimore; 7, New England; 8, Kansas City; 9, L.A. Chargers; 10, Indianapolis.
Pro Football Talk: 1, Arizona; 2, New England; 3, L.A. Rams; 4, Green Bay; 5, Tampa Bay; 6, Dallas; 7, Baltimore; 8, Kansas City; 9, Tennessee; 10, Indianapolis.
The 33rd Team: 1, Arizona; 2, Tampa Bay; 3, Green Bay; 4, Tennessee; 5, New England; 6, Kansas City; 7, Dallas; 8, L.A. Rams; 9, Buffalo; 10, Baltimore.
Week 12 Composite Rankings: 1, Arizona (9); 2, Green Bay (21); 3, Tampa Bay (28); 4, New England (42); 5, Kansas City (47); 6, Dallas (52); 6, L.A. Rams (52); 8, Tennessee (54); 9, Baltimore (67); 10, Buffalo (79).
- - - - - - - -
Week 11 Composite Rankings: 1, Green Bay (10); 2, Tennessee (14); 3, Arizona (30); 4, Dallas (32); 5, Buffalo (40); 6, Tampa Bay (47); 7, L.A. Rams (56); 8, Baltimore (70); 9, New England (69); 10, Kansas City (72).
