Power Rankings (Week 16)

(Change from last week shown in parentheses)

1. Chiefs (-): The Chiefs are so funny to me. It’s so obvious that they are the best team in football, and yet every game they play is a one score game. Their 3 point victory over the Saints was now their 6th straight game that they won by 6 or fewer points. I can’t wait for the playoffs because I just know they’re holding back a lot that they simply don’t want to (or need to) show yet.
2. Packers (-): Contrary to the Chiefs, the Packers continue to beat up on teams as they won their 4th straight contest by 7 or more points. It was a strange game for them though. Their first 3 drives all resulted in TDs and they looked as dominant as ever. Then they had 7 drives to finish the game where they punted 6 times and kicked a field goal once. Still, their defense did their part and they won convincingly, albeit against another bad team. This week’s Sunday night game against the Titans will be very telling.
3. Bills (-): Wow. This team, and more specifically Josh Allen, is simply balling out right now. To one up what I said about the Packers above, the Bills have now won 4 straight all by 10 or more points. The Chiefs are clearly the better team. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be beat. If any team is going to knock them out in the AFC, this is the team with the best shot.
4. Saints (-): It was a strange return to the field for Drew Brees. He started the game with the longest incompletion streak to start a game in his career. He finished the game 15/34 passing which is simply not Drew Brees-like. And they only lost by 3 points to the best team in the league. Regardless, they’ve now lost 2 straight and it’s not looking great for them getting that bye week this year. Given their recent playoff woes, that is extremely significant.
5. Colts (-): Was this the 2nd time the Colts played the Texans or did they simply show a replay of the first one, do some editing to make it appear as if the Colts were home, and call it a day? Because for the 2nd time this season, the Colts beat the Texans by a TD with the Texans fumbling the ball in the final minutes as they were about to score. A momentous battle against the Steelers awaits them this week where they can truly make a statement heading into the postseason.
6. Seahawks (+1): The good news is they won the game. The bad news is for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, and NFC East team made this offense look very bad. I love Russell Wilson. I really do. But he was held to 121 yards passing in this one. That’s insane to me. Still, the Seahawks now sit atop the NFC West and are only a game back of 1st place in the conference. That’s significant.
7. Titans (+3): The Titans have scored 30 or more points in 5 straight games. This offense is incredible. Derrick Henry can’t be stopped, and that sets everything else up. This team can control the flow of the game better than any in the league because of his dominance. The defense still can’t get much of a pass rush, which against the elite teams will absolutely be problematic. Against the Packers this week I expect both offenses to score at will.
8. Browns (+1): I get more and more impressed with this Browns team each and every week. They’ve shown they can win shootouts. They’ve shown they can win gritty defensive battles. Baker Mayfield is proving week in and week out that he is the real deal. Don’t look now, but with how the Steelers have looked lately, this team has a real shot at the division title.
9. Ravens (+2): Sure, it was against the Jaguars, but the Ravens have now scored 34 or more points in 3 straight games. What impressed me the most this week was that Lamar Jackson dominated through the air, which is something that we haven’t seen much of throughout this season. I have all the confidence in the world in this team to beat up bad teams, and I like their chances of winning these next two weeks and getting into the playoffs. But once they get there, they won’t be playing bad teams.
10. Steelers (-4): Injuries on the defensive side of the ball have certainly made this team less dominant at stopping opponents. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is this offense, which looked so electric through 10 weeks, all of a sudden looking inept these past 4 games. Losing control of the top spot in the conference is one thing, but now this team is in real jeopardy of losing the top spot in their own division. It wasn’t too long ago when this team looked as if they might go undefeated. Crazy.
11. Buccaneers (+1): Down 17–0 at halftime and 24–7 midway through the 3rd, this team found a way to escape Atlanta with an important win. I’ve been saying all year that one week all of the talent on this team is going to mesh and they’ll look unbeatable. We’re now in Week 16. They’re running out of time. Maybe a matchup against the Lions who can’t stop anyone will help them get it all together.
12. Dolphins (+1): Great win by this team. Everything was trending down for them coming into this one. They just lost last week. The Ravens are getting hot as they attempt to knock them out of the playoffs. They have injuries everywhere and most of their injured players were ruled inactive for this one. And they had a game against Bill Belichick who, among other things, is famous for destroying rookie QBs. So what do they do? Hold the Patriots without a TD and beat them by double digits. Very impressive.
13. Rams (-5): If there was ever a game that perfectly defined “trap game”, I guess this was that game. Tied atop the NFC West with a game next week against the Seahawks, the Rams welcomed the winless Jets into their beautiful new stadium for what was supposed to be a relaxing, easy victory for this team. But they lost. And it wasn’t fluky. They were outplayed. It’s as simple as that. I guess that’s why you play the games.
14. Cardinals (-): Kyler Murray had a monster game in this one, and it wasn’t done (mostly) with his legs. He threw for 406 yards. The defense also allowed Jalen Hurts to carve them up the whole game. But this is a scary team simply because of how dynamic Kyler can be. They’ll likely need to win at least one of their final two games to get into the playoffs, and with the way the Bears are playing, they may need to win them both.
15. Bears (+6): Following their 6 game losing streak the Bears have now won 2 straight. And don’t look now, but this once lifeless offense has been completely rejuvenated by Mitchell Trubisky playing stellar football. They’ve scored 30+ points each of the last 3 weeks and get to play the Jaguars this week. It’s not often that a team that lost 6 straight can say their final 2 games mean something, but that’s the situation.
16. Raiders (-1): Their season ended this week. Plain and simple. Losing Derek Carr in the first quarter obviously wasn’t ideal. But quite frankly that’s not why this team lost. Marcus Mariota played great aside from a late interception. The Chargers tried to give them the game so many times with missed field goals and bad defense. But they never took the game. And then to have no WRs on the field for a 3rd and goal from the 5 and try to leak your fullback out to the flat is just an inexcusably bad play call by Jon Gruden. What a disappointing turn of events for this team who looked so good at times this season.
17. Football Team (+1): This team held Russell Wilson to 121 passing yards. If they host a playoff game, I don’t care what their record is, the opposing offense is not going to be happy. And if Alex Smith and the offense can get healthy, they might just be able to knock someone off. That is, of course, if they get there. They play two 4-win teams to close out the regular season, so I like their odds.
18. Giants (-2): Same story for the Giants. The defense played tough. The offense couldn’t do anything. If Daniel Jones can come back relatively healthy, this team has a shot, simply because their defense is very good. If not, they have a lot of positives to take from this season to carry into next year.
19. Vikings (-2): They had a real shot at turning a 1–5 start into a playoff run, but it looks like the Vikings are going to fall short. They gave up 33 points to the Bears. All year long this defense has shown it’s not what it once was, and it failed them once again.
20. Eagles (+2): Remember a few weeks ago when certain people (yes, me included) were saying how this Eagles offense was awful and it wasn’t just Carson Wentz who was to blame and Jalen Hurts would get crushed too? Yeah, those people (me included) were wrong. Hurts ran all over the Saints two weeks ago in a stunning upset and threw all over the Cardinals this week in what was almost another stunning upset. 2 weeks doesn’t make a career, and obviously defensive coordinators are just now getting film on Hurts and what he’s capable of, so it’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts. But he’s been as good as possible through these first 2 games.
21. Patriots (-2): They stink. No touchdowns for the 2nd straight week. That’s all that needs to be said.
22. 49ers (-2): They outgained the Cowboys by over 160 yards and still lost. How? 4 turnovers. Can’t do that and expect to win a game.
23. Falcons (+1): Falcons fans have to happy with that game. They dominated a division rival for a half and then lost the game, preserving (for now) a top 5 draft pick.
24. Broncos (-1): Ugly loss for this team following a pretty good stretch of games for them. Of all of the teams not playing for the playoffs these next two weeks, this team has the most to be decided as far as their QB situation is concerned.
25. Texans (+1): The Texans just keep finding creative ways to lose games. Poor Deshaun.
26. Chargers (+2): Securing a road division win is always nice. Doing it in primetime is even nicer. Good for this team. Oh, and Justin Herbert is awesome.
27. Lions (-): Matthew Stafford was asked after the game why he played in this meaningless game with how banged up he is. His response: “Because I’m the quarterback of the Detroit Lions, and it’s Sunday.” I wish more athletes were like him.
28. Cowboys (+1): Good win by this team as they hang onto their extremely slim, and sad, playoff hopes. They need to win these next two games and The Football Team needs to lose both of their games. Could it happen? Absolutely. Will it? I sure hope not.
29. Panthers (-4): Give this Panthers team credit. Playing in Lambeau in primetime against Aaron Rodgers isn’t easy. It’s even harder when you give up TDs on each of the Packers first 3 drives. But then they held tough and kept the game respectable, which is what they’ve done much of this season.
30. Bengals (+1): The Bengals were the better team Monday night. And it wasn’t particularly close. They had more energy, played with more heart, and had more toughness than the Steelers on both sides of the ball. What a huge win for the state of Ohio (I’m talking to you Browns fans…).
31. Jets (+1): The Jets did a Jets thing this week. They lost hold of the number 1 pick in the draft by winning a football game against one of the top teams in the league. All jokes aside, this team has played some competitive football in the 2nd half of this season. I know Jets fans are mad about likely suffering through this season and not getting Trevor Lawrence, but there are some pieces on this team that are legit. There’s just not many.
32. Jaguars (-2): Welcome to the bottom of the rankings Jaguars. You earned it.