An upset win on Thanksgiving Day had the Green Bay Packers jumping up a season-high nine spots in USA Today’s latest NFL power rankings.
The Packers had been ranked No. 20 or lower for seven straight weeks. After taking down the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, the Packers moved up from No. 25 to No. 16 in the Week 13 rankings.
This is the highest ranking for the Packers since Week 4, when Matt LaFleur’s team was 2-1 and coming off a come-from-behind win over the Saints.
Here’s the Packers blurb from Nate Davis:
How’s Jordan Love doing? Through his first 11 games since taking over as QB1, he’s gone 5-6 with 2,599 passing yards while being responsible for 21 TDs (pass/rush). Compare that to Aaron Rodgers’ first 11 starts in 2008 after replacing Brett Favre … and the numbers are exactly the same. Wild. (Rodgers’ 12th game was a loss to Carolina … but the Panthers were better then).
Interestingly enough, the Packers jumped both the Seattle Seahawks (No. 17) and Minnesota Vikings (No. 18), the two teams they’re chasing in the NFC wild card race.
The Lions dropped one spot to No. 7.
The Packers face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. Andy Reid’s team is the No. 3 team in the rankings and is coming off a win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Can the Packers knock off a top team for the second straight week?
After the Chiefs visit Lambeau Field, the schedule improves significantly. The Packers face the New York Giants (No. 28), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 23), Carolina Panthers (No. 32), Vikings (No. 18) and Chicago Bears (No. 25) to finish the regular season. Could another big jump up the rankings be in store over the final month and a half?
Previous rankings
Week 1: No. 18
Week 2: No. 15
Week 3: No. 12
Week 4: No. 15
Week 5: No. 19
Week 6: No. 24
Week 7: No. 21
Week 8: No. 26
Week 9: No. 28
Week 10: No. 26
Week 11: No. 26
Week 12: No. 25
Week 13: No. 16