2023 NFL power rankings, Week 12: Cowboys, 49ers, Ravens and the rest of the best

Thanks to a 27-24 win back in Week 2 at Cincinnati, the Ravens were in position to sweep the Bengals for the third time in five seasons. John Harbaugh’s club got the job done, thanks to a balanced attack that rolled up 405 total yards on 60 plays. Baltimore played turnover-free football, while the Ravens’ defensed finished with five sacks.

The news wasn’t all good for the AFC North frontrunners. Tight end Mark Andrews is out (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport) with a leg injury. Worth noting that the Ravens don’t play another divisional game until Week 18.

For some, this was apparently somewhat of a surprise. Rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson made his second NFL start on Sunday as the Browns hosted the Steelers. Cleveland would control the game in the first half, limiting Pittsburgh’s offense to 65 total yards. Kevin Stefanski’s physical club owned a 10-0 advantage at intermission.

The Steelers would eventually knot things up and kept the young quarterback under wraps for most of the second half. Thompson-Robinson saved his best for last via an effective game-winning field goal drive in the final minutes.

The Lions survived a wild afternoon last week at SoFi Stadium last week and were back at home to take on the rival Bears. It was more of the same on Sunday vs. their longtime divisional rivals and Dan Campbell’s survived a shaky outing from quarterback Jared Goff and another subpar performance from a supposedly-improved defensive unit.

Goff shook off three interceptions and rallied his team late in the fourth quarter for the victory. Detroit’s defense was pushed around again and a pair of subpar performances meant a slight drop in this week’s Power Rankings.