NFL Week 11 Power Rankings: Upset Edition

The NFL is just a wild league. Every week, a different team is on top and there are more and more underdogs winning games. Of the 14 games, we had this past week, 9/14 games had an underdog, according to my rankings, win their game. Every game is so important that any team can win on any given week. Since there were so many upsets this past week, I deem this week’s edition of my rankings the upset edition. I will headline each team’s greatest upset with their ranking.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (7-2)

In Super Bowl IV, the Chiefs beat the stronger Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in one of the first upsets in the history of the sport. As this was before the merger, many in the media considered the AFL way less superior to the NFL making this an enormous victory for the Chiefs.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (8-1)

Much like what happened to the Eagles this week, the Patriots in 2015 were 10-0 going into a matchup against the Eagles. Somehow, Sam Bradford took down the undefeated Patriots in a 35-14 win bringing the last undefeated team that year to its first loss.

3. Buffalo Bills (6-3)

This one is quite an obvious one. The Comeback, as it’s known, is the largest comeback win a team has ever had in the NFL. The Bills were down to the Houston Oilers 35-3 and came back to win the game 41-38 making history.

4. Minnesota Vikings (8-1)

The Vikings have quite a weird upset to talk about. The second game ever played on a Tuesday night in NFL history due to the Vikings dome collapsing from excessive snowfall. This was a couple of weeks prior, to the Vikings defeating the Eagles in a 24-14 win. The Eagles were a 14.5-point favorite as Minnesota was also down HOFer Brett Farve due to injury. Pulling this one out will live in Viking fans’ memories forever.

5. San Francisco 49ers (5-4)

We are going back in time again to before I was born in 1970. The 49ers beat a star-studded Vikings team with multiple HOFers on the team, 17-14. This is notable because Minnesota was greatly projected to win and continue the success the Niners had this season getting them up to 11-3-1.

6. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)

You can bet your bottom dollar I am gonna take the chance to talk about the Ravens beating the Steelers. In 2015, the Ravens beat the Steelers 20-17 after being an 11.5-point underdog going into the game. It is the Ravens' lone win of being a bigger than 10-point underdog in their history.

7. Miami Dolphins (7-3)

In 2010, that year’s Super Bowl champions Green Bay Packers lost in overtime to the Dolphins 23-20. Rodgers had a great year that year but couldn’t quite finish it out this game.

8. Dallas Cowboys (6-3)

Let’s bring it back to the 1975 Super Bowl between the major 13.5-point favorite, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and of course the Cowboys. The Cowboys won 27-17 and beat America’s least favorite team. Of course, I am only saying this because the Steelers lost.

9. Tennessee Titans (6-3)

We are all friends here and to be honest, I thought about not writing this team’s game because it is an obvious answer. In the 2019 playoffs, the Titans took on the Ravens in a 1 vs 6 matchup after the Ravens’ record-breaking 14-2 season. Unfortunately, the 10-point underdogs took the playoff win in a 28-12 fashion.

10. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)

How could I not mention another horrible Steelers loss? In 2020, The Bengals took down the 14.5-point favorite Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football 24-17. This is the second-largest upset, in terms of betting lines in MNF history.

11. New York Jets (6-3)

Staying in 2020, The Jets pulled off an upset for the ages against the Rams after being a 17.5-point underdog with a TD from football great, Frank Gore!

12. New York Giants (7-2)

2008 was a huge year for the Giants. They took home their third Super Bowl in this year as a 12-point underdog against the New England Patriots. Anytime Tom Brady loses, America wins in my opinion so this is a lovely one to mention.

13. New England Patriots (5-4)

The Patriots haven’t been underdogs much in their history since Tom Brady has been at the helm however, there has been one very notable time they were severe underdogs. In Super Bowl XXXVI, Brady and the Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams by a field goal 20-17 securing his first Super Bowl.

14. Los Angeles Chargers (5-4)

Beating a division rival is always nice to have. Beating a division rival by upset is even better and that’s what the Chargers did in 2013 against the Broncos. Denver was sitting pretty as the top overall seed in the AFC after 13 games and took a 27-20 loss to the Chargers in dramatic fashion leaving Phillip Rivers a lane to win the AFC West.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-5)

In a 17-10 win over the Broncos in 1993, the severely underrated Buccaneers beat John Elway in a really crummy match. Both QBs in this game didn’t play well but the Bucs took one away from Elway and the Broncos.

16. Seattle Seahawks (6-4)

In 2011, the Seahawks took down the defending Super Bowl Champion, the New Orleans Saints in the wild card round of the playoffs. The Seahawks came into this game finishing the season at 7-9 and were completely written off as 10.5-point underdogs. They take the game 41-36 in a high offense shoot-out.

17. Atlanta Falcons (4-6)

In the 1999 NFC Championship game, the Falcons played the 15-1 Vikings in a game they had no business winning. The Vikings won the first half of the game and went up 20-7. In the last seconds of the game, The Falcons pulled off a TD to secure the lead and take the game to go to the Super Bowl, 30-27.

18. Arizona Cardinals (4-6)

The Cardinals had a magical run in the 2009 playoffs on the back of Kurt Warner. They reached the NFC Championship against a far superior Eagles team who was actually down 18 points at halftime. Kurt Warner ended up having an all-time great game putting the Cardinals in the Super Bowl, and winning this game 32-25.

19. Green Bay Packers (4-6)

The 1975 Packers started the season 0-4. They came into playing the rival Cowboys, who were 4-0, probably not expecting a win. The Packers ended up winning this game in Dallas 19-17. They went on to win three more games while the Cowboys wound up going to the Super Bowl.

20. Washington Commanders (5-5)

You know I was going back through the Washington Football Team’s history and I think this past week should be highlighted. With a backup QB and a line of +11, the Commanders defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia. An impressive achievement that cannot be understated.

21. Cleveland Browns (3-6)

The Browns' history doesn't have many notable upsets. The game I went with is in 1975 against the Bengals where the Browns came into this game 0-9 while the Bengals were 8-1 and at the top of the conference. The Browns ended up winning this game 35-23. This was one of their three wins that season.

22. Chicago Bears (3-7)

Down 15-points with under six minutes to go, the 1997 Bears took down the Dolphins in a thrilling 36-33 game. The last-second field goal to seal the victory marked the largest comeback in Bears' history.

23. New Orleans Saints (3-7)

The 1971 Saints were led by rookie QB Archie Manning and in this season opener, he showed why he became quite the quarterback. The Saints took down the Rams 24-20 and Archie had two touchdowns to carry the team to the upset win.

24. Los Angeles Rams (3-6)

Let’s take it back to 1952. The Rams got down 22-points in the 4th quarter. Bob Waterfield led the team back to take the win scoring 24 unanswered points and winning, 30-28.

25. Las Vegas Raiders (2-7)

Super Bowl XV was between the Raiders and Eagles. The Raiders did have a quite successful season leading to the playoffs but this was after starting 2-3. They went on to win the big game, 27-10.

26. Detroit Lions (3-6)

Look, I know Lions fans weren’t happy when this happened last year but we gotta talk about it. The Lions took down the Cardinals, who at the time had the best record in the league, 30-12. This actually ended up taking the Lions out of last place and they ended up with the second overall pick.

27. Indianapolis Colts (4-5-1)

In 1996, The Kansas City Chiefs held the best record in the NFL and lost to the 9-7 Colts in the Divisional Round in the playoffs. Not only that, the Chiefs had one of the highest-scoring offenses that year and only scored 7 points in the 10-7 loss.

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7)

In a very similar story to the Colts, the 9-7 Jags took down the 13-3 Broncos who were the 1-seed in the 1997 playoffs. Interestingly, the two top seeds in back-to-back years had similar results.

29. Denver Broncos (3-6)

Super Bowl XXXII was the Green Bay Packers’ time to go back-to-back. They came into the game against the Broncos as 13-point favorites. Despite this, the Broncos took home the victory in a 31-24 victory and the ring.

30. Carolina Panthers (3-7)

Like the Lions, the Panthers also beat the conference-leading Arizona Cardinals last year in a 34-10 victory. As I have talked about on the Small Baller Podcast (check it out here), the Cardinals were a severely overrated team.

31. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-6)

2005 was a great year for the Steelers. They played the 14-2 Colts led by Peyton Manning in Indianapolis in the divisional playoff game. The Steelers (unfortunately) won this game 21-18.

32. Houston Texans (1-7-1)

Last year, the Texans went against the Chargers as 10-point underdogs. Not only did they win this game, but they ended up covering and winning 41-29.