Power Rankings (Week 17)
11 min readDec 31, 2020
- Chiefs (-): The defending Super Bowl champs clinched home field throughout the playoffs with their 10th straight victory. It was also their 7th straight victory decided by 6 or fewer points. That’s simply crazy to me. One thing is for sure; they’ll have the utmost confidence in the playoffs anytime it’s a close game — as they should.
- Packers (-): Best win of the year. And it made a huge statement to the league. As good as the Packers have been the past two years, there was a clearly defined formula to beating them; run the ball down their throat and out-physical them. The Titans seem to be the definition of that. And in the snowy conditions, I certainly expected the Titans to completely control the game. Boy was I wrong. Aaron Rodgers likely locked up his 3rd MVP with that performance. Davante Adams is simply the best WR in the league. And their defense shut down a dominant Titans offense. Blame it on the weather all you want, but that doesn’t matter. With a win next week, the NFC champion will have had to go through Lambeau in January. What do you expect the weather to be like?
- Bills (-): They’re really good. And they love playing in primetime. They’ve now won 8 of their last 9 (only loss coming on the Hail Murray), 5 straight, and the last 4 have all come on national television. Not just that, but all 4 of those nationally televised wins were by double digits. Offensively, they’ve been great all year. Defensively, they’re just now getting hot. And that’s scary heading into the postseason.
- Saints (-): Alvin Kamara had 6 TDs. And whose fantasy team was he on? Oh that’s right, Drew Brees’ son’s team. Seems fishy to me! All jokes aside, what a performance on Christmas Day by this team. Drew Brees still needs to improve and get sharper following his injury, but that’ll happen naturally with more games being played and with Michael Thomas when returning likely in the playoffs. As it currently stands, the Saints will have home field for the first two rounds of the playoffs, which could be crucial as the 3 seed currently is the Seahawks. Even without fans, I think the Saints would feel better playing that round 2 matchup at home.
- Seahawks (+1): Speaking of those Seahawks… great performance by this team, and specifically their defense. This offense hasn’t been as sharp as you’d expect a Russell Wilson-led offense to be. But come playoff time, I don’t think any defensive coordinator will be too confident preparing for them. But this defense has simply been playing lights out. This was the 5th straight game where they held their opponent to 17 or fewer points. They allowed 0 TDs. This team is coming together at the right time for a playoff push.
- Titans (+1): Very disappointing performance by this team. For the Packers’ sake, I didn’t want to ignore the fact that weather played a factor simply because that’s likely to be the case for them throughout the playoffs. But for the Titans’ sake I am doing the opposite. I don’t want to let one game in the snow dictate my opinion of this team too much. This offense has been one of the best offenses in the league all season (3rd most points scored), and they have a formula that has been proven successful in the postseason. This defense certainly needs to improve, but I trust Derrick Henry in January to control most games. A lot is on the line this week as the AFC playoff picture is absolutely loaded. But for the Titans it’s simple — win their game and they win the AFC South. Lose their game, and it’s actually possible they don’t even make the playoffs. Crazy.
- Buccaneers (+4): Great stat-line by Tom Brady this week: 348 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs. Oh, and he didn’t play a single snap in the 2nd half. Listen, I get it, it was against a Lions team forced to play for whatever reason on a Saturday at 1 pm with no coaches able to coach, and with Matt Stafford going down in their 1st drive. That doesn’t take away from how dominant the Bucs were. And how good the GOAT looked, particularly on his deep balls, which was a serious cause for concern throughout the season. If things finish the way they’re likely to finish, the Bucs would be the 5th seed and play the sub-.500 NFC East champion. Nothing is guaranteed, but if they get past them, that’ll likely set up a rematch against the Packers in the 2nd round, who they dominated 38–10 earlier this season.
- Ravens (+1): Their finishing schedule set up nicely for them, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Ravens have won 4 straight and have looked a lot like the 2019 Ravens team in the process. This team has a simple win and in scenario upcoming in Week 17 against the Bengals who would like nothing more than to eliminate their division rival. Still, if the Ravens play how they’ve played in recent weeks, I like their odds.
- Steelers (+1): What a turnaround. Down 17 late in the 3rd, it was looking like the Steelers of the last 4 games. Then all of a sudden, they reverted to the Steelers of the first 11 games. Big Ben lit up the Colts to finish that game and to seal the AFC North title. In addition to that, the vaunted Steelers defense allowed just 3 points the last 7 Colts possessions. They still couldn’t run the ball, which doesn’t bode well for them in the playoffs against whoever they’re matched up against. But at least for a week they have to have some renewed confidence.
- Colts (-5): As good of a finish to the game that the Steelers had, that’s how bad of a finish the Colts had. They blew a 17 point lead, that would’ve not only put them in prime position to get into the playoffs, but also to win their division. On top of that, they did it to a team who had looked absolutely lifeless offensively for 4 and 3/4 of a game. In a loaded AFC, the Colts face the possibility of winning this week, finishing their season at 11–5, and not making the playoffs. What makes that sentence even crazier is the fact that there’s 7 playoff teams this year.
- Browns (-3): Sure, they didn’t have 4 of their top WRs and were forced to have practice squad players suit up. That’s not ideal. But they had an opportunity to clinch a spot in the playoffs by beating a 1 win Jets team, and they blew out. For a team that prides itself on running the ball, that’s devastating. Fortunately for them, the Steelers have already announced that a bunch of key starters, including Big Ben, are going to rest for the regular season finale. And if they win, they’re in. Hang in there Browns fans.
- Dolphins (-): Fitzmagic. That’s all that needs to be said. The common saying is that if you have 2 QBs, then you have no QBs. I don’t think that’s the case for this team. First of all, they’re a sound defensive team and they’re well coached. Tua has done a good job when he plays on running the offense and at least not turning the ball over, which has contributed to wins. If he’s not getting the job done, Fitzmagic can be trusted to come in and provide a spark, which he’s done twice now. The first time against Denver a few weeks back it wasn’t enough to get the W. This week against the Raiders, somehow, it was. The guy is straight up magic.
- Rams (-): From division leading 9–4 to now scrambling to get into the playoffs 9–6, the past two weeks have been a huge disappointment for this Rams team. For a stretch there, their defense looked elite, and the offense looked good enough that this team was gaining Super Bowl hype. Now, they either need a win or a Bears loss to even get into the postseason. And they’ll be without Jared Goff this week against the Cardinals. This is a stock trending down.
- Bears (+1): I’m just going to ask it: Is Mitchell Trubisky all of a sudden good? Because since he was reinserted into the starting lineup, this offense has put up 25, 30, 36, 33 and 41 points. For context, the offense never once hit 25 points with Nick Foles as the starter. They’ve got a tough one to close out the regular season. They have their own game vs. the Packers who need the win to clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Still, if they win the game, they’re in, and even if they lose they still would get in if the Cardinals lose. Considering where this team was just a few weeks ago, that’s quite the accomplishment.
- Cardinals (-1): The Cardinals blew a golden opportunity to control their own fate by losing a home game to the decimated 49ers. On top of that, Kyler Murray got even more dinged up. They’re very fortunate to be facing the Rams without Jared Goff this week in a must win game for them. The real problem is they still need help on top of that. Also fortunately for them, the help they need is for Aaron Rodgers to beat the Bears. Still though, this team held the division lead just over a month ago and now is lacking any real optimism even if they make the playoffs.
- Raiders (-): Sad. Just sad. That’s the only way to describe what happened at the end of the Raiders game this week. Personally, I like the strategy Jon Gruden implemented by intentionally not scoring the TD at the end in order to milk the clock and kick the field goal to take the lead with 19 seconds left. I understand the criticism due to the end result, but that’s hindsight. What I don’t like is letting a Dolphins WR run wide open down the sideline 30 yards downfield to set up a decent opportunity for the Dolphins to win the game. What I really don’t like is grabbing Fitzpatrick’s facemask essentially handing the Dolphins the win. Brutal.
- Football Team (-): Dwayne Haskins should never have started this game. I’m not saying they would have won, but they would have certainly had a better shot. Now, they need to beat the Eagles to finish out the season in order to win the NFC East. This defense is still a force. But they desperately need Alex Smith back if they want to be respectable on offense.
- Giants (-): An already beat up Daniel Jones was sacked 6 times. That’s not a winning formula, even with a defense that fights hard every week. After all of the craziness of the season, this team still has a shot at winning the NFC East. They’ll need to beat the Cowboys, and then also cheer on the Eagles to beat Washington. That’s got to make Giants fans excited.
- 49ers (+3): One thing is for certain: Robert Saleh is awesome to watch. He was more entertaining than the game on Saturday. Wherever he’s coaching next year, I expect the players to be fired up. Great win by this team that has fought hard despite injuries all season to finish with relative respectability.
- Vikings (-1): Kirk Cousins threw for 3 TDs and 0 INTs. They held Drew Brees to 0 TDs and 2 INTs. So the Vikings won, right? Nope. They gave up 7 rushing TDs and 264 rushing yards. That’s brutal. Disappointing season for this team.
- Eagles (-1): Jalen Hurts had this offense humming again in the 1st quarter. They began with an impressive 11 play, 75 yard TD drive and followed that up with a 1 play, 81 yard TD drive. Then the offense stalled the rest of the game. Also, Fletcher Cox went down, and with him went the Eagles success on defense. Andy Dalton threw for 377 yards and 3 TDs on them. That’s not great. The Eagles are the sole NFC East team eliminated already. It’s a well-deserved elimination.
- Falcons (+1): The Falcons battled hard against the Chiefs. They held them to 17 points and made Patrick Mahomes look extremely mediocre all day. They had a 39 yard field goal attempt, for their kicker who had previously missed only one kick on the season, that would’ve sent the game to overtime. But he missed. Oh well. Better draft pick.
- Cowboys (+5): Umm, the Cowboys have won 3 straight. And they’re not eliminated from the division title. And it’s not even that unrealistic for them to win the East. All they need to do is beat the Giants this week and have the Eagles beat Washington. Say what you want about how the NFC East has played out, but you can’t say it hasn’t at least made more meaningful football games.
- Broncos (-): The Broncos made a respectable rally late to make it a game vs. the Chargers. But they lost. Drew Lock has one more opportunity to prove he deserves to be the guy next year.
- Patriots (-4): Patriots fans must have been thrilled watching that Monday night game; for the first time in 3 weeks, they scored a TD. And yes, it was a singular TD. Ugly. That’s the only way to describe this team and this season. They were blown out this week, and still only had 56 total passing yards. Have they even heard of garbage time? Where are those stats? It’s not fun watching this offense play.
- Chargers (-): 3 straight wins by this Chargers team, all by exactly 3 points coincidentally, have turned this team’s season from complete and utter embarrassment to moderately respectable. This could be a team positioned for a quick turnaround next season; they have a good foundation.
- Panthers (+2): Solid win by this Panthers team against a team looking to clinch their division. This team has fought hard all year. They simply just lack the overall talent on their roster.
- Texans (-3): In a season full of lows, losing at home to the Bengals certainly fits in nicely. Brandon Allen threw for 371 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. That should never be a thing that happens.
- Lions (-2): Disaster. Yes, the NFL should have moved the game to Sunday to allow for the already interim coaching staff to be eligible to coach. Yes, Matthew Stafford got knocked out after their first drive. But there was no fight or energy in this team this past week. Just a truly disappointing season.
- Bengals (-): Now riding a modest 2-game winning streak, the Bengals have genuinely looked good to finish out this season. After defeating one division rival in the Steelers two weeks ago to delay them from winning the division, they have an opportunity this week to potentially eliminate another division rival in the Ravens from the playoffs altogether.
- Jets (-): Not only has this Jets team now won 2 in a row, but they’ve done so against 2 teams fighting for playoff spots. Sure, this victory over the Browns was with them playing practice squad WRs, but still, it was impressive nonetheless. Already having lost the 1st pick, go win a 3rd straight against the Patriots this week and finish the season strong Jets!
- Jaguars (-): The 1st pick in next year’s draft has been clinched! Congrats Jaguars! You deserve it!
