It would appear that if a present day NFL franchise wants to be considered elite and one of the best teams in the league, it must feature a top-notch quarterback that is also a legit MVP candidate.

It’s not rocket science.

Take the 2014 NFL MVP race, which frequently features just one or two players in the mix, and is often not just including quarterbacks.  This year, it’s a different story, with a number of signal callers in the mix, including Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck.

An argument could be made for each of these quarterbacks, and furthermore, each has vaulted his team into elite status, as they often have in the past.  In fact, in the recently calculated edition of NFL Power Rankings at The Wife Hates Sports, this quarterback quartet is all included in the top five. 

Only the Eagles – anchored at the QB position by Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez – are without a clear-cut MVP candidate.

Heading into Week 14, Peyton Manning and the Broncos earned the top spot in the latest poll, followed by the Patriots, Eagles, Packers and Colts.

The biggest argument to be made with this week’s final numbers: New England remaining ahead of Green Bay, despite losing last weekend at Lambeau.  That, plus the 9-3 Pack sitting in fourth place.

Overall, here’s where each squad stands, and due to being short on time this week, I’ll simply post the rankings as is, and do a deeper dive on teams at a later date.  We can leave the rankings debate for the comments section.

Peyton Manning leads the Denver offense

Peyton Manning and the Broncos lead the way in this week’s NFL Power Rankings

KP’s NFL Power Rankings: December 2, 2014

*Stats, records and information through Week 13 of the 2014 NFL season

1. Denver Broncos (200 points)

2. New England Patriots (192 points)

3. Philadelphia Eagles (180 points)

4. Green Bay Packers (180 points)

5. Indianapolis Colts (169 points)

6. Seattle Seahawks (166 points)

7. Miami Dolphins (134 points)

8. Baltimore Ravens (133 points)

9. Dallas Cowboys (130 points)

10. Arizona Cardinals (129 points)

11. Detroit Lions (125 points)

12. San Diego Chargers (119 points)

13. Cincinnati Bengals (119 points)

14. Buffalo Bills (116 points)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (115 points)

16. Kansas City Chiefs (104 points)

17. San Francisco 49ers (98 points)

18. Cleveland Browns (87 points)

19. Houston Texans (79 points)

20. New Orleans Saints (52 points)

21. Atlanta Falcons (34 points)

22. Minnesota Vikings (26 points)

23. St. Louis Rams (16 points)

24. Chicago Bears (-8 points)

25. Washington Redskins (-18 points)

26. Carolina Panthers (-41 points)

27. New York Giants (-42 points)

28. New York Jets (-56 points)

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-65 points)

30. Tennessee Titans (-101 points)

31. Jacksonville Jaguars (-118 points)

32. Oakland Raiders (-135 points)

* All stats per NFL.com

The Wife Hates Sports NFL Power Rankings system has a method to its madness, attempting to be different and not just rank by popularity and record.  It mixes a secret formula of eight completely different categories, meshed into a points system.  The categories don’t just include team results regarding record, but how each team has performed on the road, as well as incorporating some statistics on both a team’s offense and defense, too.