LAS VEGAS -- The New England Patriots got a scare against the New York Jets on Sunday, but they are still the No. 1 team in the NFL Vegas Rankings here at Chalk.
The Patriots, who are also the 7-5 Super Bowl favorites at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, rallied to beat the New York Jets 22-17, but they failed to cover as 9.5-point road favorites. The Dallas Cowboys, the No. 1 team in ESPN's regular Power Rankings but No. 2 in the Westgate's Super Bowl futures at 4-1, beat the Washington Redskins 31-26 on Thanksgiving but also didn't cover as 6-point home favorites and were caught in the NFL Vegas Rankings by the Atlanta Falcons, 38-19 winners over the Arizona Cardinals as 4-point home faves.
The NFL Vegas Rankings are compiled using the average of the power ratings from ESPN Chalk handicappers Erin Rynning and yours truly, Dave Tuley, along with ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI). They're intended to compare the relative strength of teams if they were to meet on a neutral field and what the point spread should be for those matchups, so there are some anomalies such as the Denver Broncos still being rated ahead of the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders or the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers still rated ahead of the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions.
We've also added the FPI and Massey-Peabody rankings to our chart for comparative purposes and to show other viewpoints. For instance, Massey-Peabody has had the New Orleans Saints ranked higher all season and our NFL Vegas Rankings are slowly catching up (though, to answer critics that we haven't upgraded the Lions' power rating enough, the FPI and Massey-Peabody also have them ranked 24th).
Here's a look at the teams making the biggest moves up and down the NFL Vegas Rankings, and then we'll look for some Week 13 value plays using this week's power ratings: