NFL Power Rankings for Week 13: Rams' rise is undeniable, Bills falling quickly

NFL Power Rankings are a fickle thing. One week, you start to believe in a team — but then they let you down, like the Philadelphia Eagles did after occupying the No. 1 spot last week, or like the Buffalo Bills did on Thursday night to start the week. In a similar way, there are always teams you're going to be too slow to fully invest in. For me, that's been the Los Angeles Rams — but the slowness stops now after Week 12.

There were plenty of big surprises as we now head into Week 13, but also perhaps just as many things we shouldn't have been surprised by. We're going to break all of that down, starting with the latest NFL Power Rankings, a deeper look at what the Rams have been doing, and then at more risers and fallers this week and how we're gauging them at this point.

Risers, Fallers and Full NFL Power Rankings for Week 13

1. NFL Power Rankings for Week 13
2. Whether you believe in the Rams or not, this isn't a flash in the plan
3. Biggest risers and fallers in Week 13 NFL Power Rankings

NFL Power Rankings for Week 13

Whether you believe in the Rams or not, this isn't a flash in the plan

Somehow, it feels like the Rams have flown under the radar this season. Maybe that's just a me problem to some degree — but at the same time, it does feel as if the national conversation has been about upstart teams like the Patriots and Colts, staples like the Bills, Eagles and Chiefs, and less so about a team in Los Angeles that might actually just be the best team in the NFL.

Think about it: When you go through the contenders in this league right now, there are clear flaws that are easily definable just from a statistical standpoint. The Denver Broncos are a great example. That defense is absolutely elite, but the offense is decidedly average. On the other end of that spectrum, the Bills are third in Offensive EPA per play, but 23rd in Defensive EPA per play.

Which is what makes the Rams stand out so decisively. Jared Verse and the LA defense have been humming all year long against just about every opposition they've faced, and the numbers bare that out, ranking second in Defensive EPA per play and eighth in Defensive Success Rate. What's dangerous and why this team is clearly a bonafide Super Bowl threat, however, is that they match that with an offense that ranks eighth in EPA per play and second in Success Rate.

Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP level, Davante Adams and Puka Nacua have comprised maybe the most dangerous pass-catching duo in the NFL, the defense has playmakers even if it lacks in star power (though I'd contend that's not the case), and Sean McVay continues to prove that he's an innovator in a class of his own — shouts to the 13 personnel packages we've seen this season.

Obviously, I'm not guaranteeing a damn thing when we're going into Week 13 of the regular season, so I won't stamp the Rams as the team that's going to win the Super Bowl. But they should absolutely be the favorites to do so right now.

Maybe the best part of that is that, despite a loss to the Rams recently, the Seahawks might be my second favorite in that category. Get ready for some NFC West fireworks!

Biggest risers and fallers in Week 13 NFL Power Rankings

Riser: Cleveland Browns (and Shedeur Sanders)

Granted, there wasn't much room to go anywhere but up for the Browns, but it's undeniably a big narrative for Shedeur Sanders to make his first NFL start with Cleveland and come away with a win. That has to feel like a breath of fresh air, even if there was a bit of shade being thrown around by head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room — the Browns got the win against a Raiders team that might just be flat-out dead right now. But Sanders played well enough to get another start as Cleveland will take on the 49ers. That likely won't go as smoothly for the fifth-round rookie. At the same time, the vibes are higher than they've been in quite a minute for this team.

I've said since the draft that Sanders was simply a more talented quarterback than Dillon Gabriel. It's a small sample size, but that might be playing out — and all of that is shocking considering how awful his debut was after coming in cold in Week 11. That's on me for being a bit too harsh out of the gate.

Faller: Buffalo Bills

The Bills look broken right now. The offense that has carried this team to this point isn't operating at nearly the same level, especially with James Cook looking a bit banged-up still. And the issue with that, as we already touched on when speaking about the Rams, is that the defense is in the bottom-third of the NFL right now.

Maybe I'm being a prisoner of the moment, but it feels like the Bills simply aren't the contender that we thought they were. They're a good team, no doubt, and it'd stun even me saying this if they ultimately didn't end up in the postseason. However, the offense has to be near perfect week in and week out to counteract how porous the defense has been. Josh Allen is capable of doing that in any given week, but not every given week. And obviously, that's a major problem that I simply don't see Buffalo having a solution to this late in the season.

Faller: Las Vegas Raiders

As mentioned, the Raiders might just be dead at this point. Chip Kelly has been relieved of his duties, and deservedly so. However, it's hard to see how that's fully going to fix even most of everything going wrong in Las Vegas right now. Geno Smith is playing poorly, but the offensive line and lacking group of weapons are only making it worse. And if that weren't enough, that reeling offense needs to score because the defense is middling on its best days.

The Raiders have been losing, but it's another thing entirely to lose to the Browns in the manner they did. I've said it before, but won't stop: Vegas made a fundamental error in their operation this offseason, including bringing in Pete Carroll. They paraded and made moves like a team ready to win now, but forgot to have the core of a roster capable of doing that.

Riser: Dallas Cowboys

Everyone is talking about the Eagles choking away their rivalry matchup in Dallas. And yeah, part of that is true and Nick Sirianni definitely deserves his share of the blame. At the same time, however, we need to give the Cowboys some credit as they continue to fight back toward a playoff spot.

Quinnen Williams has been a legitimate game-changer for the defensive line, and we saw that in full effect to help allow this team to come back last week. Furthermore, the Cowboys offense is continuing to play at a high level, which Dak Prescott and George Pickens starred in throughout the second half.

By no means should anyone think the Cowboys are a Super Bowl contender or really all that close to that. But to think that this team is dead in the water and that the defense isn't substantially better than it was early in the season is just plain crazy talk.

Faller: Pittsburgh Steelers

Not that I expected Mason Rudolph to be some secret sauce for the Steelers (much less actually better than Aaron Rodgers), but Pittsburgh continues to look like a team that's simply been overachieving and is now falling back to its mediocre middle. You know, the place where it always kind of was as a collective.

For me, it keeps coming back to the Steelers defense. If the Rodgers experiment was going to work, the defense needed to take Jalen Ramsey and newcomers and just build off of what they'd shown in recent years. Instead, they've regressed quite massively, and we're seeing offenses have their way. There have been times when Rodgers has been able to do enough to make up for that and win a shootout. Rudolph obviously didn't have that juice, though, and it's hard to expect the 40+ year old Rodgers to do the same consistently enough for Pittsburgh to hold off the Ravens in the division.