Updated NFL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus evaluating preseason hot seats

Welcome to Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season. The Denver Broncos are on a four-game winning streak after a Sunday night comeback win against the Minnesota Vikings. They are one of the teams rising in the ranks this week, while the Los Angeles Chargers are among teams whose ranks took a hit after another loss. And the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles determined who got the No. 1 spot this week.

In addition to the updated rankings, our NFL Nation reporters have taken a look back at who they nominated for the hot seat in our preseason rankings. How do they rate that hot seat now? Boiling, hot, cold or freezing. The picks ranged from players to coaches, and some have made significant improvements while others’ seats are hotter than ever.

Let’s start with the team who won last night’s showdown, the Eagles.

Our power panel of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities evaluates how NFL teams stack up against one another, ranking them from 1 to 32.

Previous rankings: Preseason | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11

Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

Week 11 ranking: 1

Preseason hot seat: Special teams coach Michael Clay
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

The special teams had a number of missteps during the 2022 season, including a costly one in Super Bowl LVII against the Chiefs. But Clay’s unit has been much more buttoned up this season despite some personnel turnover and having young players in key positions. Second-year punt returner Britain Covey has been a standout — his 14 yards per return entering Week 11 ranked third in the NFL. — Tim McManus

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Week 11 ranking: 3

Preseason hot seat: DT Javon Kinlaw
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

Finally healthy and able to practice consistently, Kinlaw has been solid but unspectacular in a backup role. The Niners occasionally plug him in as their fifth down lineman when they play heavy fronts and rotate him in behind Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead. He has 10 tackles, four pressures and a pair of deflected passes while often taking on multiple blockers to free up others on running plays. Kinlaw has been at his best defending the run, posting a 34.4% run stop win rate that is double what he had last year. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season because the Niners declined his fifth-year option, and though it’s possible he could be brought back, the Niners are unlikely to make a sizable investment to keep him. — Nick Wagoner

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Week 11 ranking: 2

Preseason hot seat: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

Edwards-Helaire’s fourth, and most likely last, season with the Chiefs has been his least productive. The 2020 first-round draft pick doesn’t play much, and he has rushed for only 129 yards, which puts him on a pace for a career low. Worse, Edwards-Helaire is averaging 3.6 yards per carry, by far the worst of his career. He will likely finish the season in Kansas City, but don’t expect the Chiefs to re-sign him when it’s over. — Adam Teicher

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Week 11 ranking: 4

Preseason hot seat: QB Jared Goff
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

The Lions are off to their best start since 1962, and sitting comfortably atop the NFC North standings in position to win their first division title since 1993. Goff has been a major factor this season, as he has continued to revitalize his career under coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Goff has 2,743 passing yards through 10 games this season as well as 16 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. The next thing he has to prove is whether he can lead the team in the playoffs. — Eric Woodyard

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Week 11 ranking: 5

Preseason hot seat: WR Rashod Bateman
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

Bateman continues to flash at times, but he still hasn’t made a convincing argument for Baltimore to pick up his fifth-year option. He ranks third among Ravens wide receivers with 20 catches and fourth with 215 receiving yards. Bateman is still having problems getting into the end zone — he has four touchdown catches in three seasons, and there are seven wide receivers in Bateman’s 2021 draft class who have more. It hasn’t helped that quarterback Lamar Jackson has overthrown him a couple of times this season when he got behind the secondary. However, Bateman’s opportunities could increase because of tight end Mark Andrews‘ likely season-ending ankle injury. — Jamison Hensley

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Week 11 ranking: 7

Preseason hot seat: Coach Mike McCarthy
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

McCarthy has the Cowboys poised to make the playoffs for a third straight year, something that has not happened since the mid-1990s. But his spot on the hot seat had nothing to do with the regular season, short of a disastrous record no one would have seen coming. His seat becomes the centerpiece in the offseason. The Cowboys have gone to the wild-card and divisional rounds each of the past two seasons, but does he need to make at least a conference title game? Only Jerry Jones knows the answer to that one. After Thanksgiving, five of the Cowboys’ final six opponents have winning records. McCarthy’s seat could change temperature by January. — Todd Archer

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Week 11 ranking: 6

Preseason hot seat: OT Austin Jackson
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

Entering the season, who would’ve thought Jackson would be the Dolphins’ most reliable lineman? After playing in just two games last season, he has played all 621 offensive snaps for the Dolphins in 2023, allowing only two sacks. Miami’s coaching staff has been bullish on Jackson, despite his injuries in 2022 and inconsistency in 2021, moving him to right tackle last season. He has excelled since switching positions, and at this rate, he is a safe bet to return to Miami after this final year of his rookie contract. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

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Week 11 ranking: 8

Preseason hot seat: Coach Kevin Stefanski
Current temperature of hot seat: Freezing

Stefanski is a lot closer to being the NFL Coach of the Year again than he is to being fired. Despite season-ending injuries to All-Pro running back Nick Chubb (left knee) and $230 million quarterback Deshaun Watson (right shoulder), the Browns are in the thick of the AFC playoff picture. They also have four wins that were decided in the final two minutes of regulation, which, according to ESPN Stats & Information, is a franchise record. The Browns have been stellar on defense and on special teams, and with Stefanski calling plays, they’ve been good enough offensively. Stefanski could be on the verge of a contract extension. — Jake Trotter

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Week 11 ranking: 9

Preseason hot seat: OLB Josh Allen
Current temperature of hot seat: Freezing

This season, Allen has 9.5 sacks and is just one shy of his career high — which he set in 2019 when he was a complementary rusher alongside Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. Allen is third in the league with 54 QB pressures, and his QB pressure percentage (19%) ranks second only to the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons. It’s hard to see the Jaguars not signing him to an extension or using the franchise tag on him. — Michael DiRocco

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Week 11 ranking: 14

Preseason hot seat: OT Spencer Brown
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

The temperature has turned down 11 games into Brown’s third season, in part, because of inconsistency on offense overall. In only three games fewer than he played last year, Brown has been attributed two sacks compared to seven in 2022. His 89.9% pass block win rate is just under last year’s (91.4%) and the lowest among the team’s starting linemen, but he has a career-high 78.9% run block win rate, which leads the team. The offensive line is among the areas the Bills will evaluate in the offseason, and Brown needs to trend in a positive direction going into the final year of his rookie deal. — Alaina Getzenberg

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Week 11 ranking: 11

Preseason hot seat: S Jamal Adams
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

In fairness to Adams, this was always going to be a challenging season given the severity of his torn quad tendon from last season’s opener. It sidelined him for the first three games of this season and continues to give him issues, forcing him to miss several practices as well as this past game against the Rams. And he suffered a concussion in his first game back on the opening drive. Adams has four tackles for loss in five full games and helped create a game-changing turnover with a late pass deflection against the Browns. He has yet to record a sack, because he’s getting fewer opportunities and hasn’t taken advantage of the ones he has had. — Brady Henderson

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Week 11 ranking: 13

Preseason hot seat: TE Brevin Jordan
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

Jordan has been targeted in just three games this season and flashed his talent with a touchdown in Week 3 against the Jaguars. But his production has been few and far between — mainly because he can’t stay healthy, but also because he’s averaging 10 offensive snaps per game. He returned Sunday from a foot injury that cost him the previous three games but didn’t register a target. Injuries have been an ongoing issue throughout his three-year career. In a possible 44 career games, he has played in only 27. Sometimes, he has been inactive, and other times have been because of injury, but he might be running out of time to show he deserves to be on the Texans’ roster. — DJ Bien-Aime

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Week 11 ranking: 15

Preseason hot seat: QB Kirk Cousins
Current temperature of hot seat: Mild

Cousins was making a strong play to return as the Vikings’ starter next season when he suffered a season-ending rupture of his right Achilles in Week 8. At the time, he was leading the NFL in touchdown passes, had the league’s second-most passing yards and ranked No. 10 in QBR. What happens next is anyone’s guess. There are most certainly people in the organization who would like to see him back next season, despite the performance of Joshua Dobbs in his absence. But general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will have to weigh the value of a player who will be 36 next season and coming off the first serious injury of his NFL career. — Kevin Seifert

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Week 11 ranking: 10

Preseason hot seat: OT Jackson Carman
Current temperature of hot seat: Scalding

The 2021 second-round pick isn’t seeing the field — he isn’t even active on game days. Carman has been inactive in seven of 10 games. In the other three instances, he has seen the field just once. Veteran offensive lineman Cody Ford has proved to be the team’s No. 6 offensive lineman and has been active in six games. If the Bengals cut Carman this offseason, the team gains $1.7 million in cap savings and incurs less than $700,000 in dead money. — Ben Baby

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Week 11 ranking: 12

Preseason hot seat: OC Matt Canada
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling (editor’s note: Canada was fired Tuesday morning)

Is there a degree above boiling? Coming off a 10-point performance against the Browns, external criticism directed at the offensive coordinator and the offense has never been louder. Canada moved from the booth to the sideline prior to the Thursday night win against the Titans three weeks ago, and the offense looked to gain momentum in back-to-back wins. But in each of the past three weeks, quarterback Kenny Pickett has regressed, and in the loss to the Browns, Pickett had fewer than 100 passing yards until the final desperation play of the game. But for all the external vitriol directed at the offensive coordinator, the Steelers aren’t likely to make an in-season change. However, Canada’s contract expires after the season, and his future in Pittsburgh appears very much in doubt beyond 2023. — Brooke Pryor

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Week 11 ranking: 17

Preseason hot seat: DE Payton Turner
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling

The 2021 first-round pick has played in only 14 career games (no starts) and in only one game this season. He has been on injured reserve (toe) since September, and unless he returns to have a big second half, it’s hard to imagine the Saints pick up his fifth-year option next year. He’s due $3.4 million in salary and bonuses next season with only three sacks to show for it, making him a potential cap casualty in the offseason if things don’t turn around. — Katherine Terrell

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Week 11 ranking: 22

Preseason hot seat: QB Russell Wilson
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

The Broncos have some issues on offense — coach Sean Payton isn’t always as committed to the run as he says he wants to be, and the Broncos rank 18th on third-down conversions (38.2%) and 21st in red zone efficiency (48.6%). But Wilson has played winning football, including Sunday’s winning drive in the final two minutes for the team’s fourth victory in a row. He has the second-lowest interception percentage in the league (1.3%), is third in touchdown passes (19) and leads the league in fourth-quarter comebacks, and Sunday was his league-leading fourth game-winning drive this season. It ain’t always pretty, and there are some rough edges that need smoothing, but Wilson has lifted his game for a resurgent team. — Jeff Legwold

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Week 11 ranking: 18

Preseason hot seat: OL coach Tony Sparano Jr.
Current temperature of hot seat: Freezing

The Colts’ offensive line has enjoyed a resurgence this season under the first-year position coach. While there are other variables in sacks beyond pass blocking, the Colts allowed the second-most sacks in 2022 (60). This season, Indianapolis is on pace to yield just 37. Sparano has been lauded by veterans Ryan Kelly and Quenton Nelson for his unique approach and the belief he has instilled in the unit. Sparano also gets credit for helping accelerate the development of young starters Bernhard Raimann at left tackle and Will Fries at right guard. — Stephen Holder

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Week 11 ranking: 25

Preseason hot seat: RB Cam Akers

The Rams traded Akers to the Vikings in September after he was a healthy scratch in Week 2, and second-year running back Kyren Williams earned the starting spot for Los Angeles. There aren’t many hot-seat candidates in Los Angeles right now, including at quarterback. Although Matthew Stafford‘s completion percentage is 31st in the NFL, it would be a huge surprise to see the Rams move on from him. Stafford’s $31 million salary is guaranteed next season, and most importantly, it was evident in Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks — he went 8-for-13 with 108 passing yards in the fourth quarter — how much confidence coach Sean McVay has in his ability in late-game situations. — Sarah Barshop

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Week 11 ranking: 21

Preseason hot seat: DC Patrick Graham
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

With a caveat, because, with an interim coach in place, perhaps the entire staff is on a hot seat of sorts. Still, Graham’s defense has been the strength of the Raiders since before Josh McDaniels was fired and Antonio Pierce was elevated above Graham for interim coach. Or did you miss the three takeaways in Sunday’s loss at Miami, which kept Las Vegas in the game? If nothing else, Graham has shown that he deserves more than a cursory look to stay on for a new staff, should that come to pass. — Paul Gutierrez

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Week 11 ranking: 16

Preseason hot seat: GM Tom Telesco, coach Brandon Staley
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling

Boiling might be an understatement here. After a historic playoff meltdown last season, Staley and Telesco’s seats were already on fire. But that has only intensified after a miserable start to the season. The Chargers are last in the AFC West (4-6), allowing 291.6 passing yards per game, 20 more than any other team, and traded away cornerback J.C. Jackson, whom they paid $38.5 million for seven games. Then after Sunday’s loss to the Packers, Staley was as frustrated as he has ever been and berated reporters for questions about considering changes to the defense. — Kris Rhim

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Week 11 ranking: 19

Preseason hot seat: OT Luke Goedeke
Current temperature of hot seat: Mild

Goedeke has fared better as a right tackle than as a left guard, surrendering four total sacks on the season with a 10.4% quarterback pressure rate, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Run blocking has been a challenge for the whole unit and can’t be pinned solely on him. — Jenna Laine

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Week 11 ranking: 20

Preseason hot seat: Coach Ron Rivera
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling

The Commanders have lost to two struggling teams at home — the Giants and Bears. It goes without saying Rivera and his staff are in danger of losing their jobs; at this point, the only question becomes when. Does new owner Josh Harris wait until after the season, or does he make a change after another bad loss? Harris wanted to assess this staff for a full season when it wasn’t under the guidance of previous owner Dan Snyder. But it’s doubtful he saw the season unfolding in this manner, and therefore the inevitable move could happen sooner than anyone ever desired. — John Keim

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Week 11 ranking: 27

Preseason hot seat: GM Brian Gutekunst
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

The seat would’ve been hotter a few weeks ago, but suddenly, it looks like the young roster that Gutekunst assembled around quarterback Jordan Love is starting to progress. Love, Gutekunst’s hand-picked successor to Aaron Rodgers, also has shown stronger signs that he could be the long-term quarterback in Green Bay. The Packers have plenty of draft capital (five picks in the first three rounds) and a healthy salary cap for free agency this coming offseason that they’ll need to use to bolster the roster, and it seems very likely that Gutekunst will still be the one to use it. — Rob Demovsky

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Week 11 ranking: 24

Preseason hot seat: QB Desmond Ridder
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

The reason this is isn’t boiling is because Ridder is once again the starter — reinstalled as Atlanta’s quarterback on Monday. He’s likely going to get the rest of the season to show whether he can be the quarterback of the Falcons’ future. In eight starts before being benched in favor of Taylor Heinicke, Ridder completed 65.4% of his passes for 1,740 yards, six touchdowns, six interceptions and six fumbles lost while rushing 32 times for 150 yards and four touchdowns. It was those turnovers that were part of Ridder’s two-plus-game benching, but Atlanta is hoping those issues will dissipate after he spent time watching from the sideline. — Michael Rothstein

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Week 11 ranking: 23

Preseason hot seat: Coach Robert Saleh, GM Joe Douglas
Current temperature of hot seat: Warm

It’s not a “hot” seat, per se, but the temperature will continue to rise if Saleh and the Jets don’t start winning some games. The Aaron Rodgers injury in Week 1 flipped everything upside down, but that’s no excuse for total ineptitude on offense. The offseason decision to make Zach Wilson the QB2 has compromised the entire season. Saleh’s record is 15-29, Douglas 24-42. Those kinds of records usually get people fired. Maybe they will get a lifeline because of the Rodgers situation. — Rich Cimini

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Week 11 ranking: 26

Preseason hot seat: CB Kristian Fulton
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

Fulton is playing for a new contract that doesn’t seem likely to come from the Titans. He had a tough start to the season and was forced to split time with second-year player Tre Avery. Fulton eventually got the majority of snaps once again and played well for a three-game stretch. But coach Mike Vrabel pulled him again in favor of Avery after he struggled in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars, saying it was a non-injury-related coach’s decision. It’s unclear whether Fulton will continue to split game reps with Avery. But it’s starting to look more likely that he won’t be back next season. — Turron Davenport

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Week 11 ranking: 29

Preseason hot seat: WR Velus Jones Jr.
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling

Jones, a second-year wide receiver, has three catches for 9 yards and four rushes for 22 yards, and he was a healthy scratch for the Bears’ past two games after being benched. Critical penalties (a face mask on a punt return against New Orleans that special teams coordinator Richard Hightower called “inexcusable”) and drops (notably a wide-open touchdown against the Chargers) continue to add up against Jones. It’ll be an uphill battle for him to make the game-day roster over Chicago’s final six games, given the Bears seem comfortable experimenting with different returners on kickoff — the one job he was clinging to. It defies all logic that Jones remains on the Bears’ roster. His third-round draft status might be his only remaining value in the NFL. — Courtney Cronin

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Week 11 ranking: 30

Preseason hot seat: RB Saquon Barkley
Current temperature of hot seat: Hot

This is and will remain a tricky one. Barkley has played well when he has been on the field but does have another injury on the résumé after a high ankle sprain cost him three games earlier this season. Just last week, Barkley declared “loyalty means nothing” when it comes to the business side of football. So, yes, he’s a free agent again at the end of the season, and the Giants have another franchise tag available if they so desire. It leaves Barkley in a tricky spot during the final six games with that ankle still healing and no playoffs in sight. — Jordan Raanan

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Week 11 ranking: 31

Preseason hot seat: QB Mac Jones
Current temperature of hot seat: Boiling

A decision is due in the offseason on Jones’ fifth-year option for 2025, and the hope was that this season would look more like his promising ’21 rookie year. With a shaky offensive line in front of him and one of the NFL’s more underwhelming pass-catching corps to throw to, Jones has been pulled from three games and is 212-of-324 (65.4%) for 2,031 yards, with 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He has been sacked 21 times. — Mike Reiss

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Week 11 ranking: 28

Preseason hot seat: WR Marquise Brown
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

Brown has established himself as the go-to receiver on a Cardinals offense that has basically reset itself the past two weeks after Kyler Murray returned. Brown is the team leader with 486 yards and four touchdowns on 45 catches, and those numbers are expected to increase the more he plays with Murray. Brown is in the final year of his rookie contract, which makes his future with the Cardinals unclear. But if Arizona is committed to Murray, it will likely be committed to Brown, who’s one of his closest friends. — Josh Weinfuss

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Week 11 ranking: 32

Preseason hot seat: OLB/DE Yetur Gross-Matos
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

Gross-Matos actually was having a decent season until he went on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He had 2.5 sacks and 14 tackles. Coach Frank Reich has full ownership of the hot seat now with the Panthers an NFL-worst 1-9 and rookie quarterback Bryce Young looking like a bust as the top pick of the draft. Reich’s seat is starting to boil. — David Newton