NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Texans Climbing, Steelers Stumble

No. 5 Chicago Bears

No. 6 Los Angeles Chargers

It's all aboard the Bears bandwagon. No, defeating the Lions isn't a feat which shoots your team up power rankings, but when it comes with the QB2 under center, that's worth noting. I've followed Chase Daniel a bit and know he's a more than capable backup, and simply hasn't had a major opportunity to showcase his talent.

Even still, Daniel stepped in and played a solid game, leading the Bears to that victory on Thanksgiving. The most impressive part of this Bears team right now has to be their defense, though. After acquiring Khalil Mack this offseason in a trade with the Oakland Raiders, they're riding high with the new-look pass-rush and talented group around him.

The Bears have had plenty of talent on defense, but coach Matt Nagy is also getting the most out of his offense as well. There may have been no Mitchell Trubisky, but the fact that so many players stepped up as pass-catchers was a big deal. Both Taylor Gabriel and Tarik Cohen hauled in seven passes against the Lions while four other players caught at least two passes.

The arrow is pointing up for Chicago and they have a nice lead in the NFC North heading into a Week 13 game against the New York Giants.

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Chargers Keep Winning Ways Rolling

Dating back to Week 4, the Chargers have won seven of eight games, with the lone loss coming by one point to the Denver Broncos. While they did defeat the Oakland Raiders twice, Arizona Cardinals and Jimmy Garoppolo-less San Francisco 49ers, putting together any type of win streak in the NFL is a tall task.

The obvious concern for the Chargers heading into the final stretch of the season is the health of running back Melvin Gordon. As ESPN's Eric D. Williams detailed, the knee injury suffered by Gordon in the win over the Cardinals was diagnosed as an MCL knee injury, and there's a "real possibility" he misses next week.

"I’m told initial diagnosis is an MCL knee injury for RB Melvin Gordon. He will have further evaluation on Monday, but real possibility Gordon misses next week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers." Williams tweeted.

Although Gordon was unable to finish Sunday's game, his impressive start to the season continued. The 25-year-old back now has 153 carries for 802 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. For good measure, he's also added 44 receptions for 453 yards and four additional scores.

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