2015 NFL Power Rankings: Week 13
Updated: December 1, 2015, 12:48 PM ET
ESPN.com
Week:
A new No. 1. It's been awhile since we've been able to say that -- Week 2, to be exact -- but the moment is finally here.
After losing to the Broncos on Sunday night, the Patriots have been ousted from the top spot, which now belongs to the 11-0 Panthers. It's the first time Carolina has been No. 1 in the history of these rankings. New England is now No. 2, followed by Denver, Arizona and Cincinnati.
Other changes of note include Kansas City's jump to No. 10 (its first top-10 ranking since Week 2) and NFC East-leading Washington's rise from No. 20 to No. 13. The week's biggest drop went to Dallas, which fell eight spots to No. 29.
But the big story is Carolina, which could very well be poised for a lengthy reign. The Panthers' remaining schedule includes only one team -- the struggling Falcons -- that currently has a winning record.
Note: The comments below are provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
• Vegas Rankings 
| Football Power Index Rankings | Seahawks have precedent for a Super Bowl surge | Team Power Rankings charts since 2002
| 2015 Power Rankings: Week 13 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 1 Last Week: 2 | The offense is starting to click, but don't forget the defense. Carolina leads the NFL in defensive scoring (16.5 PPG) and takeaways (37) during their 15-game regular-season winning streak. | |
| 2 |  | 1 Last Week: 1 | If Rob Gronkowski has to miss time, Tom Brady will be without his top four leading receivers. Gronk also leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns since 2010 (63). | |
| 3 |  | -- Last Week: 3 | Brock Osweiler isn't 2-0 -- the team is. But Osweiler does have a better Total QBR, completion percentage and interception percentage than Peyton Manning this season. | |
| 4 |  | -- Last Week: 4 | One more win and the Cardinals will have won 10 games in three consecutive seasons. The last time they did that was 1974-76, when they were in St. Louis. | |
| 5 |  | -- Last Week: 5 | Andy Dalton owns the middle of the field: 72.8 completion percentage, 11-1 TD-INT ratio and an NFL-best 95.4 Total QBR passing between the painted field numbers this season. | |
| 6 |  | 1 Last Week: 7 | Teddy Bridgewater has six games with fewer than 200 passing yards this season. The Vikings are 6-0 in those games. The rest of the NFL is 41-53 (.436) when getting fewer than 200 passing yards. | |
| 7 |  | 1 Last Week: 8 | Sunday's win over the Steelers was the first time Russell Wilson won a game when his opponent scored 25 or more points. Wilson was previously 0-10 in those games. | |
| 8 |  | 2 Last Week: 6 | Strange season for the Packers, who lost for the first time to Jay Cutler at Lambeau Field (4-0 previously) and lost their first home game against the Lions since 1991 (had won 23 straight). | |
| 9 |  | -- Last Week: 9 | The Steelers are 2-3 in their past five games with 14 giveaways and a minus-5 turnover differential. They started the season 4-2 with three total giveaways and a plus-6 differential. | |
| 10 |  | 3 Last Week: 13 | Alex Smith hasn't thrown an interception in his past 283 pass attempts. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that's the third-longest streak in a single season in the past 30 years. | |
| 11 |  | 6 Last Week: 17 | J.J. Watt has 7.5 sacks and three multisack games during the Texans' four-game winning streak. He had 6.0 sacks and two multisack games the first seven games (2-5 record). | |
| 12 |  | 4 Last Week: 16 | After a four-touchdown effort Sunday, Ryan Fitzpatrick has 20 for the season. If he averages two per game over the final five, he'll set the Jets' single-season touchdown record (29, Vinny Testaverde). | |
| 13 |  | 7 Last Week: 20 | The Redskins have won five straight home games and host the Tony Romo-less Cowboys on Monday night. Kirk Cousins has 10 TDs and zero INTs in his past five home games. | |
| 14 |  | 4 Last Week: 10 | The Colts defense deserves some love for the recent turnaround. Quarterbacks have completed 55.9 percent of passes with just as many interceptions as touchdowns (6) the past three games against the Colts. | |
| 15 |  | 4 Last Week: 11 | The Falcons are giving up too many opportunities for points, committing an NFL-high seven turnovers on red zone plays this season. Matt Ryan has an NFL-worst four red zone interceptions. | |
| 16 |  | 2 Last Week: 18 | Derek Carr has five games with at least three touchdown passes this season. One more and he'll tie Daryle Lamonica (1969) and Ken Stabler (1976) for the most such games in a season in Raiders history. | |
| 17 |  | 5 Last Week: 12 | Mike Evans had another big drop Sunday on a play that would have set up the Buccaneers inside the 10. Evans has 10 drops this season, most in the NFL. | |
| 18 |  | 3 Last Week: 15 | The Giants now sit at 5-6, and things don't get much easier. The Giants have the third-toughest remaining strength of schedule this season. | |
| 19 |  | 5 Last Week: 14 | What happened to the pass rush? Last season, the Bills averaged 3.4 sacks per game. They haven't recorded a single three-sack game this season. | |
| 20 |  | 1 Last Week: 19 | The Bears have allowed 15.5 points on average their past four games (3-1). The Bears allowed 28.9 points per game during their first seven games (2-5). | |
| 21 |  | 3 Last Week: 24 | That's three straight wins for the Lions. Jim Bob Cooter has committed to the run as Detroit is averaging 29 rushes per game during the streak (19 rushes per game during 1-7 start). | |
| 22 |  | 4 Last Week: 26 | The Saints had scored a touchdown in 155 consecutive games until losing 24-6 to the Texans on Sunday. As bad as the defense has been, the offense has mustered 20 points the past two weeks. | |
| 23 |  | -- Last Week: 23 | When the Dolphins lose, they lose badly. Miami has been outscored by 16.6 points on average in losses this season, second worst in the NFL. | |
| 24 |  | 1 Last Week: 25 | According to Elias, the Eagles have allowed 45 points in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history. The Eagles take on the Patriots, who rank second in scoring this season, in Week 13. | |
| 25 |  | 5 Last Week: 30 | The Ravens have won three of their past four, and they've been waiting until the last second to do it. Baltimore's past four games have been decided with no time left on the clock. | |
| 26 |  | 4 Last Week: 22 | The Rams have dropped four in a row after starting 4-3. This might be a good time to point out that Jeff Fisher's last winning season was 2008 ... with the Titans. | |
| 27 |  | 1 Last Week: 28 | The Chargers can win games this season only when they score 30. They're 3-0 when scoring 30 or more points and 0-8 when scoring fewer than 30. | |
| 28 |  | 1 Last Week: 27 | With one more touchdown, Blake Bortles will tie the Jaguars' franchise record for touchdown passes in a season (23, set by David Garrard). | |
| 29 |  | 8 Last Week: 21 | Tony Romo is out again, which leads to this painful reminder for Cowboys fans: Dallas has lost its past nine games that Romo didn't start. | |
| 30 |  | 1 Last Week: 31 | The Titans have lost 11 straight home games. Their last home victory was against the Jaguars in Week 6 of last season. The Titans host the Jaguars in Week 13. | |
| 31 |  | 2 Last Week: 29 | Since switching to Blaine Gabbert at QB, the 49ers have averaged 14.3 points per game. Somehow that's an improvement over their average with Colin Kaepernick (13.6 PPG). | |
| 32 |  | -- Last Week: 32 | Monday's heartbreaking loss clinched another losing season for the Browns. Since returning to Cleveland in 1999, the Browns will have finished below .500 in 15 of 17 seasons, including each of the past eight. | |
| ||||
| Glossary |
| The rankings were determined by ESPN's Power Panel, a group of more than 80 writers, editors and television personalities. |
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.