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Here's a look at how the AFC West teams fared in our Week 12 NFL Power Rankings. I do not have a vote, but I do have an opinion:

Oakland Raiders

Power ranking: 14

My range: 12-14

Comment: The Raiders could crack the top 10 again very soon.

Denver Broncos

Power ranking: 17

My range: 17-19

Comment: The most talked about No. 17 team in the history of man.

San Diego Chargers

Power ranking: 21

My range: 21-23

Comment: The Chargers look incapable of winning a game right now.

Kansas City Chiefs

Power ranking: 22

My range: 21-23

Comment: I’m not sure if the Chiefs can stay competitive in the next six weeks.

There were a lot of ups and downs in the AFC East in Week 11.

Here is how the recent outcomes impacted our latest NFL Power Rankings:

New England Patriots (7-3)

Results: W, 34-3 against Chiefs

Power Ranking: No. 6 (up two spots)

Walker’s vote: No. 6 (up two spots)

Analysis: The Patriots did what was expected in manhandling the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, New England moved up two spots. What I was most impressed with is New England's defense holding a team to just three points. Sure, backup quarterback Tyler Palko played for Kansas City. But the Patriots are going to win a lot of games down the stretch with their easy schedule. It's all about improving their weaknesses before the postseason.

New York Jets (5-5)

Result: L, 17-13 against Broncos

Power Ranking: No. 15 (down one spot)

Walker’s vote: No. 16 (down four spots)

Analysis: For three quarters, the Jets could stop Tim Tebow. But the Broncos quarterback pulled off another surprising comeback in the fourth quarter with a 95-yard touchdown drive to upset the Jets. New York has talent. But it plays like a middle-of-the-pack team. Some weeks the Jets are dominant, other weeks they struggle. The Jets pretty much have to win out to get into the playoffs. If not, there is a good chance New York will look back at this Denver game with anguish.

Buffalo Bills (5-5)

Result: L, 35-8 against Dolphins

Power Ranking: No. 19 (down two spots)

Walker’s vote: No. 21 (down two spots)

Analysis: Buffalo is rated No. 19. But the Bills are playing like the 31st-rated team lately, slightly ahead of the Indianapolis Colts. Buffalo had no explanation for its drubbing against the Dolphins. Buffalo has been embarrassed and outscored 109-26 the past three weeks. I don't think this team can recover from this awful stretch. But Buffalo will try to make a run for the playoffs. It starts Sunday with a must-win game against the Jets.

Miami Dolphins (3-7)

Result: W, 35-8 against Bills

Power Ranking: No. 25 (up four spots)

Walker’s vote: No. 23 (up four spots)

Analysis: The Dolphins are the hottest team in the AFC East. They won their third game in a row with a dominating performance against the Buffalo Bills. This is the competitive Miami team I expected all season. The Dolphins are playing efficient and physical on both sides of the football and could spoil a lot of teams' playoff dreams down the stretch. Miami likely ended the Bills' playoff hopes last week.

Ah yes, Power Rankings day. The day each week when we get to ponder the horrifying question: What if the NFL were just like the BCS?

The new Power Rankings are out, and so we take our weekly look at how the teams in our division fared. In order, of course.

9. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 12) The Cowboys started the season ranked 14th, fell as low as 21st at one point, and now find themselves in the top 10 after three straight wins. With games coming up against the 3-7 Dolphins and the 3-7 Cardinals, and with the two teams in front of them having lost their starting quarterbacks in the past two weeks, the Cowboys have the opportunity to keep moving up -- as long as they can keep winning.

strong>12. New York Giants (7) Voters did not like the Giants' home loss to the Eagles on Sunday night, and the five-spot drop for the Giants is the biggest for any team this week. It likely doesn't help that it was their second loss in a row, following a tough road loss at No. 2 San Francisco the week before. But the Giants have kind of been that team all year that made you wonder how they were winning so much, and when that team starts losing, they sometimes drop pretty fast in polls like this. For what it's worth, I might put them ahead of the No. 11 Falcons. And I'm not sure they're not better than the Cowboys until we see them play each other. But I'm not a voter, so you know.

strong>18. Philadelphia Eagles (22) The Eagles are the reverse of the Giants, and tied with the Dolphins and Browns for the biggest jump up the rankings this week. They're the team that began the season ranked No. 4 -- the team about which everybody's been wondering how they were losing so much. So when they look as good as they looked in picking up a road win in the division without their quarterback and best receiver... yeah, they move up. Honestly, I think they're better than a few of the teams right in front of them -- Denver, Tennessee and Oakland, to name three. But the record says otherwise, and the Eagles have to own that.

strong>26. Washington Redskins (26) The Skins' overtime loss to Dallas was the best game they've played in a month and a half, but it was still a loss, and they're 3-7 and hanging out with the bottom-feeders. It's hard to make a convincing argument to move them up. I mean, the Dolphins are one spot ahead of them and beat them head-to-head. I guess they get a chance to shake out of things this week with a trip to No. 23 Seattle, but if they lose that one, the bottom of the poll is going to start coming up on them pretty quickly here.

Let's take a quick glance at ESPN.com's Week 12 Power Rankings, which once again include three NFC North teams among the top 10:

1. Green Bay Packers
Trending: It's been unanimous for eight weeks now.

7. Chicago Bears
Trending: Down two spots after quarterback Jay Cutler's thumb injury marred their fifth consecutive victory. Voters were split, however. Paul Kuharsky ranked them No. 5. James Walker had them at No. 11.

10. Detroit Lions
Trending: No change after a 49-35 victory against the Carolina Panthers.

29. Minnesota Vikings
Trending: Down two after a 27-21 home loss to the Oakland Raiders.

The latest ESPN.com Power Rankings are out and the Atlanta Falcons are on the way up.

After Sunday’s victory against Tennessee, the Falcons jumped from No. 13 to No. 11. With what looks like a winnable home game coming up Sunday against the Vikings, I’m thinking the Falcons have a chance to get back into the top 10 for the first time since Week 3.

The New Orleans Saints are coming off a bye and they held tight at No. 3 for the second straight week. I think the most interesting thing this week is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held onto the No. 20 spot. I guess voters gave them some style points for going up to Green Bay and playing a relatively close game with the Packers. But I think it’s even more interesting that Tampa Bay hasn’t fallen all that far while on a four-game losing streak. The Bucs were No. 17 before the streak started and their fall has been very gradual. I don’t vote, but I’m not so sure the Bucs are a top-20 team right now.

The Carolina Panthers lost a game Sunday, but that didn’t hurt them in the rankings. Even with the loss to Detroit, the Panthers moved up one spot to No. 30.

The San Francisco 49ers have held onto the No. 2 spot for a fourth consecutive week in ESPN's NFL Power Rankings heading into Week 12.

Our panelists appear unsympathetic to their plight traveling across the country to Baltimore on a short week. It's looking like the 49ers will need a victory over the Ravens to maintain their status in the rankings. This is already the 49ers' highest ranking so late in a season since ESPN.com began archiving power rankings histories.

"If the Ravens win, I'd move them ahead of the Niners," voter Paul Kuharsky said.

Another voter, James Walker, put it this way: "It's simple: San Francisco has to beat Baltimore to stay No. 2. If the Ravens win, I'm more likely to put them at No. 2 over the 49ers. Head-to-head means a lot. That's why they play the games."

With a No. 2 ranking, there's almost nowhere for the 49ers to go but down. Almost ...

"It's possible they could actually move up with a win, because Green Bay doesn't exactly have a gimme with Detroit," Ashley Fox said, alluding to a scenario that would surely stir passionate conversation.

The top four teams remained unchanged from last week. Baltimore replaced Chicago at No. 5 after the Bears won a game but lost their starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, to a thumb injury requiring surgery.

And now, a closer look at the rankings heading into Week 12 ...

Rising (12): Cleveland Browns (+4), Miami Dolphins (+4), Philadelphia Eagles (+4), Dallas Cowboys (+3), Atlanta Falcons (+2), Denver Broncos (+2), New England Patriots (+2), Oakland Raiders (+2), Baltimore Ravens (+1), Carolina Panthers (+1), Houston Texans (+1), Seattle Seahawks (+1).

Falling (12): New York Giants (-5), Arizona Cardinals (-4), Jacksonville Jaguars (-3), San Diego Chargers (-3), Buffalo Bills (-2), Chicago Bears (-2), Cincinnati Bengals (-2), Minnesota Vikings (-2), Kansas City Chiefs (-1), New York Jets (-1), St. Louis Rams (-1), Tennessee Titans (-1).

Unchanged (8): Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins.

Deadlocked: We broke one tie this week. Tampa Bay prevailed over San Diego at No. 20 on the third tiebreaker (which team won a game most recently). Head-to-head results and overall record did not break the tie.

Like minds: All five panelists ranked the Packers first, the 49ers second and the Colts last -- same as last week.

Agree to disagree: The Texans generated the largest gap between high and low votes among panelists. Quarterback injuries played a role in disparities for Houston and Chicago. Kuharsky gave both teams the benefit of the doubt pending additional evidence, but he views the teams differently.

"I have a lot more faith in Matt Leinart and what's around him than I do in Caleb Hanie and what's around him," Kuharsky said. "In both instances, I didn't want to score the teams down ahead of time. I put them where they are now, not where I think they'll be. My forecast would be that the Texans still win their division while the Bears lose out in a wild-card bid."

A look at the five teams producing disparities of at least six spots between highest and lowest votes:

• Texans (7): Fox ranked them fifth, Walker ranked them 12th.
• Bears (6): Kuharsky fifth, Walker 11th.
• Lions (6): Walker seventh, Sando 13th.
• Seahawks (6): Sando 19th, Kuharsky 25th.
• Cardinals (6): Kuharsky 24th, Sando 30th.

Power rankings histories: These colorful layered graphs show where each NFL team has ranked every week since the 2002 season.

Ranking the divisions: Teams from the AFC North overtook teams from the NFC North for the highest average ranking among divisions. The NFC West, 6-2 over the past two weeks, held onto the seventh spot, ahead of teams from the AFC South.


A voter-by-voter look at changes of at least five spots since last week:

• Sando: Cardinals (-8), Bills (-6), Browns (+5), Dolphins (+7).
• Clayton: Giants (-6).
• Kuharsky: Browns (+5), Eagles (+6).
• Walker: Bears (-7), Browns (+5), Eagles (+7).
• Fox: Texans (-7), Bills (-6), Cardinals (-5), Jaguars (-5), Rams (-5), Falcons (+5), Dolphins (+5), Eagles (+7).

For download: An Excel file -- available here -- showing how each voter voted this week and in past weeks.

The file includes a "powerflaws" sheet pointing out potential flaws in voters' thinking by showing how many higher-ranked opponents each team defeated this season.

This week, No. 13 Cincinnati and last-ranked Indianapolis are the only teams with zero victories over teams ranked higher than them. Denver, ranked 17th, and Buffalo, ranked 19th, are the only teams with more than two victories over teams currently ranked higher than them.

A quick primer on the "powerflaws" sheet:

• Column Y features team rankings.
• Column Z shows how many times a team has defeated higher-ranked teams.
• Change the rankings in Column Y as you see fit.
• Re-sort Column Y in ascending order (1 to 32) using the standard Excel pull-down menu atop the column.
• The information in Column Z, which reflects potential ranking errors, will change (with the adjusted total highlighted in yellow atop the column).
• The lower the figure in that yellow box, the fewer conflicts.