NFL Power Rankings: Week 14

It’s been a season full of hot takes as to who deserves to be the NFL Coach of the Year. Most people are spouting off about Kyle Shanahan and John Harbaugh for the amazing jobs they have done for the 49ers and Ravens. Others recognize the greatness of Sean Payton, who survived an injury to Drew Brees and turned Teddy Bridgewater into a prized possession. For my money, the NFL Coach of the Year is none other than Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin is criminally underrated when it comes to head coaching rankings. In the past few years, there have been rumors about his job security as he has struggled a bit to juggle enigmas like Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Ben Roethlisberger. Throughout it all, Tomlin always has the Steelers in playoff position.

This year might be his most impressive job yet. Without any of the aforementioned stars, Tomlin has led the Steelers to a 7-5 record and within striking distance of the AFC Playoffs. He’s done this despite playing Mason Rudolph and Devlin “Duck” Hodges at QB. It’s been a masterclass in staying focused and maximizing the strengths of your team. Tomlin is a great head coach and the Steelers shouldn’t forget it anytime soon.

1. Baltimore Ravens (10-2)
2. San Francisco 49ers (10-2)
3. Seattle Seahawks (10-2)
4. New England Patriots (10-2)
5. New Orleans Saints (10-2)
6. Green Bay Packers (9-3)
7. Buffalo Bills (9-3)
8. Minnesota Vikings (8-4)
9. Houston Texans (8-4)
10. Kansas City Chiefs (8-4)
11. Tennessee Titans (7-5)
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)
13. Los Angeles Rams (7-5)
14. Oakland Raiders (6-6)
15. Indianapolis Colts (6-6)
16. Dallas Cowboys (6-6)
17. Philadelphia Eagles (5-7)
18. Chicago Bears (6-6)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-7)
20. Carolina Panthers (5-7)
21. Cleveland Browns (5-7)
22. Los Angeles Chargers (4-8)
23. New York Jets (4-8)
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8)
25. Atlanta Falcons (3-9)
26. Denver Broncos (4-8)
27. Detroit Lions (3-8-1)
28. Arizona Cardinals (3-8-1)
29. Miami Dolphins (3-9)
30. New York Giants (2-10)
31. Washington Redskins (3-9)
32. Cincinnati Bengals (1-11)

Trick Play of the Week: Texans/Dolphins

This week had two trick plays that were fun to watch. I couldn’t pick just one, so enjoy both of them below!

The Texans were looking for a big win against the Patriots after being 0-5 against Bill Belichick n the O’Brien era. They pulled out all the stops running this play down in the red zone to put the game all but out of reach. Apparently, Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins handed the play to O’Brien on a piece of notebook paper during the bye week. The coach should probably be more open to suggestions after this score.

The Dolphins aren’t a very good football team, and they are playing for future seasons. On Sunday, they pulled off one of the gutsiest trick plays I’ve ever seen on a fake field goal. The formation is eerily similar to a trick punt the Colts tried years ago and is commonly referred to as the worst fake punt ever. Luckily for the Dolphins, this turned out much better.

Check out Pat McAfee’s interpretation of that infamous Colts play if you want a laugh.

Best Man of the Week: Andy Dalton

Andy Dalton is a better man than you or I. After being benched during a lost season so the Bengals could get a look at rookie QB Ryan Finley, Andy Dalton was inserted back into the starting gig and led the Bengals to their first win of the season. This was enough to earn him the game ball from Zac Taylor. After first fumbling the ball, Dalton turned around and presented it to the head coach for earning his first ever NFL win. Say what you will about Dalton, but where most men would have been petty, he turned it into a cool moment for his rookie head coach.

Worst Decision of the Week: Kyle Allen

Kyle Allen has had the exact definition of a roller-coaster season. After coming in for the injured Cam Newton, Allen led the Panthers on a string of wins and was being declared the rightful future QB for the franchise. How quickly things change. The Panthers are now on a four-game losing streak and while Allen isn’t the root cause of all the blame, he has made a number of bad plays to contribute to this problem. The worst may be this play from last Sunday, where he botches a red zone chance to tie the game up against the Redskins by running backwards for 20 yards before fumbling the ball.