Week 14 Composite NFL Power Rankings: Cardinals Remain No. 1
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – the three teams chasing the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs – hold the top three spots in Week 14 of the Packer Central Composite NFL Power Rankings.
With seven of the eight first-place tallies, Arizona is No. 1 in the Composite Power Rankings for the third consecutive week.
Green Bay is second and Tampa Bay is third. The Composite consists of our thoughts and the rankings of seven national media entities. One of those is Sports Illustrated. Taking the wheel of SI’s rankings this week, Greg Bishop had Green Bay at No. 2.
“The saga that is the 2021 NFL season for the Packers took a well-deserved interlude in Week 13,” Bishop wrote. “That meant rest for Aaron Rodgers and (in theory) healing for his broken toe. That meant time for the rest of the roster to recover and reset, time for offensive wizard Matt LaFleur to spend in his laboratory cooking up schemes and time for Green Bay to figure out how to navigate the rest of its season.”
The Packers will host unranked Chicago on Sunday. The Bears are No. 27 at SI. With rookie quarterback Justin Fields nursing fractured ribs, veteran Andy Dalton has struggled in starts the last two weeks.
“The best thing that can be said about the Bears 2021 season is … at least Justin Field flashed some tantalizing potential when he was both healthy and starting,” Bishop wrote. “Otherwise, six losses in seven games say all that’s needed, as the Bears edge out the teams below them based simply on the four games they have managed to win.”
There are two games between top-10 teams this week, and both involve teams in pursuit of the top seed. At 3:25 p.m. Sunday, it’s No. 9 Buffalo at No. 3 Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are 5-0 at home and winners of three straight overall. On Monday night, it’s the No. 7 Rams at No. 1 Arizona. The Cardinals won 37-20 at Los Angeles in Week 4.
Here are this week’s rankings.
Packer Central: 1, Arizona; 2, Tampa Bay; 3, Green Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, Baltimore; 7, Tennessee; 8, Dallas; 9, Buffalo; 10, L.A. Rams.
Sports Illustrated: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, Dallas; 5, New England; 6, L.A. Rams; 7, Kansas City; 8, Tennessee; 9, Baltimore; 10, Buffalo.
ESPN.com: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, Baltimore; 7, Dallas; 8, Buffalo; 9, L.A. Rams; 10, Tennessee.
Associated Press: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, Baltimore; 7, Buffalo; 8, Tennessee; 9, Cincinnati; 10, Dallas.
NFL.com: 1, Green Bay; 2, Arizona; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, Dallas; 7, Buffalo; 8, L.A. Rams; 9, Indianapolis; 10, L.A. Chargers.
CBSSports.com: 1, Arizona; 2, Green Bay; 3, Tampa Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, L.A. Rams; 7, Buffalo; 8, Baltimore; 9, Tennessee; 10, Dallas.
Pro Football Talk: 1, Arizona; 2, New England; 3, Green Bay; 4, Tampa Bay; 5, Kansas City; 6, L.A. Rams; 7, Dallas; 8, Baltimore; 9, Tennessee; 10, Indianapolis.
The 33rd Team: 1, Arizona; 2, Tampa Bay; 3, Green Bay; 4, New England; 5, Kansas City; 6, Dallas; 7, Buffalo; 8, L.A. Rams; 9, Baltimore; 10, Tennessee.
Composite Power Rankings: 1, Arizona (9); 2, Green Bay (18); 3, Tampa Bay (23); 4, New England (31); 5, Kansas City (42); 6, Dallas (58); 7, Baltimore (64); 7, L.A. Rams (64); 9, Buffalo (66); 10, Tennessee (74).
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Week 13 Composite Power Rankings: 1, Arizona (10); 2, Green Bay (17); 3, Tampa Bay (23); 4, New England (33); 5, Kansas City (44); 6, Baltimore (46); 7, Buffalo (55); 8, Cincinnati (71); 9, Tennessee (75); 10, Dallas (80).
