NFL Power Rankings Week 15

By James Watkins

1. New England Patriots (Last week’s ranking: 1): I’ll let other people decide whether Jesse James caught that ball. All I want to deal with is what the refs didn’t control. The refs didn’t force Sean Davis to let Gronk catch 4 passes for 69 yards on the final drive. The refs didn’t limit the Steelers to only 7 points in the second half. And most of all, the refs didn’t post the 52^nd game-winning drive of their career. Can you guess who did that?
2. Minnesota Vikings (3): The cylinders just keep firing for the league’s most under the radar Super Bowl contender. Locking up a second NFC North title in the past 3 years is pretty sweet, but seeing Teddy Bridgewater back on the field is even better. There’s obviously no reason to rush him into the lineup with Case Keenum playing so well of late (9 TDs in his last 5 games). However, Teddy Ballgame will only get stronger with each week of practice, so the Vikings have to feel pretty good about their prospects should Keenum go down.
3. Los Angeles Rams (5): If there were any doubts about the Rams ability to dethrone the Seahawks as kings of the NFC West, they can now be put to rest. The 42-7 beat-down was Seattle’s worst loss of the 7 year Pete Carroll era, and become even more impressive when you remember this game was played at CenturyLink Field. Tod Gurley ran for 152 yards and scored 4 total touchdowns in less than three quarters of work. If he isn’t a dark horse MVP candidate, I don’t know who is.
4. Carolina Panthers (4): I’ve made fun of this team and their quarterback since the beginning of the season, and in my defense, they made it all too easy. Let’s be real right now. There might not be a hotter team in the league right now. In his last five games, Cam Newton has been remarkable, throwing 11 touchdowns and only 1 interception. Just in case he cools off, the Panthers can rely on their defense, currently ranked 5^th in the league.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (2): I don’t want to talk about it.
6. New Orleans Saints (7): It’s all about next week’s game versus the Falcons. In their first meeting two weeks ago, Atlanta held the Saints to only 50 yards rushing, their lowest total of the season. For New Orleans to win round two and claim the NFC South crown, Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have to be better.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (8): Blake Bortles since the start of December: 7 touchdowns, no interceptions, three straight games with 250+ yards passing. Make all the memes you want about this guy. He’s been the best quarterback in football for almost a month now. He made a guy named Keelan Cole look like a Hall of Famer this past week. Don’t say you know who that is, because we all know you’re lying.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (6): In his first audition as the new quarterback for the Eagles, Nick Foles played a great game. The offense didn’t miss a beat with him under center, and he threw touchdowns to four different receivers on the day. Unfortunately, now Eagles fans have to worry about their defense, which has given up an average of 29.3 points per game over the past 3 weeks.
9. Atlanta Falcons (11): There are four teams in the NFL who are top 10 in both total offense and total defense. Three of them (Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh) have already punched their playoff ticket. The fourth is in Atlanta, and is still fighting for a spot in the tournament. Fortunately, they have a clearer path than most: win out, and win the division. Simple, and doable for a team as balanced as the Falcons.
10. Dallas Cowboys (12): Their goal during the absences of Ezekiel Elliot was to stay alive in the playoff race. They’ve done that. Now that he’s returning to the action, Dallas needs to win out and hope the Falcons stumble. As mentioned above, that’s not too unlikely.
11. Baltimore Ravens (14): One hapless team down, two to go. Having taken care of business against Cleveland, all the Ravens need to do to grab a wild-card spot is win two home games against the Colts and Bengals respectively. No disrespect to those clubs, but Baltimore will have no one to blame but themselves if they miss the playoffs.
12. Kansas City Chiefs (16): It’s hard to remember a team having as many ups and downs as the 2017 Chiefs. The 5-0 start feels like ancient history, but their 1-6 stretch in the middle of the season also feels like old news. Having won two straight divisional games, Kansas City can now claim a stranglehold on the AFC West. Kareem Hunt has bounced back in a big way over those two victories, rushing for 116 and 155 yards respectively.
13. Detroit Lions (15): I’ll say it one more time when talking about this squad. A team that can’t run the ball consistently is a team that can’t win in January. The Lions average 77.4 rushing yards a game, good for second to last in the NFL. However, they are still alive for the playoffs, and that’s more than can be said for plenty of franchises.
14. Los Angeles Chargers (9): Philip Rivers now has two games this season in which he’s thrown three interceptions. Both came against the Chiefs. Elimination hasn’t claimed LA’s season just yet, but they couldn’t have picked a worse time to revert back to early season form. Their playoffs have begun.
15. Seattle Seahawks (10): I’m twenty-one years old. The last time the Seahawks lost this badly at home, I hadn’t yet celebrated my first birthday.
16. Buffalo Bills (16): They’ll need some help down the stretch, and finishing off the season with two road games isn’t the most ideal situation when you’re fighting for your playoff lives. However, they’re still in this thing. The Bills will have to rely on the football fundamentals that have gotten them this far: a dangerous run game and elite third down efficiency. All they would need then is Tennessee to stumble, and, well… check the next entry…
17. Tennessee Titans (13): Are you surprised they lost to the 49ers? I’m not. San Francisco is now doing everything this team should be doing, and they don’t even have anything to play for! The Titans are in the middle of fighting for their playoff lives, and they’ve been caught sleepwalking through most of the past 2 weeks. Buffalo fans should be glad this is the team they’re chasing.
18. Green Bay Packers (18): Apparently Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers haven’t been watching enough film. Better luck next year.
19. Oakland Raiders (19): Sorrybutyou’llhavetouseanindexcardtoseperatethewordsinthisentry. Firstwedon’tknowwhatacatchit,nowwedon’tknowwhatfirstdownsareeither. Oaklandneedsamiraclenow.
20. The Franchise (Tag): No team has ever tagged one player three years running under the current CBA, but Washington might not have a choice with no long term deal for Kirk Cousins and plenty of fine suitors eager for his services.
21. Miami Dolphins (20): Much like the entire season, Sunday’s performance against the Bills was simply too little, too late. In many ways Jay Cutler is the most fitting quarterback for this year’s Dolphins squad. Yes, he might play well in flashes, and the talent is obviously present. He might even string it all together for a whole game (see last week against New England and most of the fourth quarter during this week’s game). But in the end, when it matters most, this quarterback, and this team, can’t quite make it to the finish line (see Cutler’s interception at the end of the Buffalo game).
22. Arizona Cardinals (22): Finally eliminated from playoff contention by Kirk Cousins, they can now move on to wooing Captain Kirk to the desert after the inevitable (and overdue) retirement of Carson Palmer.
23. San Francisco 49ers (26): Yes we know Jimmy Garoppolo is 5-0 as a starting quarterback, and that’s impressive in its own right. What catches the eye is how much he’s had to do with those victories. In the five starts he’s thrown 7 touchdowns against only 2 picks, and posted a stellar average Total QBR of 82.15.
24. Chicago Bears (23): Bears fans shouldn’t panic just yet about their young quarterback. Mitch Trubisky might have thrown 3 interceptions against the Lions on Saturday in his 10^th start. But in his 9 previous starts, he’d thrown only 4 total picks. That’s not too shabby for a rookie.
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28): This past week might have been Tampa Bay’s finest performance of the season. It certainly was for Jameis Winston. It couldn’t have come at a more fitting time for this unceasingly frustrating Buccaneers team: in a meaningless December home game, when all hope of the playoffs have been dead since Halloween.
26. Cincinnati Bengals (24): Since there’s not much to discuss on the field. Let’s talk about Marvin Lewis. Let’s see here… Well, I guess there isn’t actually much to talk about there either. All Marv really accomplished were a few division titles that were only a minor inconvenience to wildcard Steelers and Ravens teams that went on to greater glory. Everyone harps on his 0-7 record in the playoffs, but… actually, there shouldn’t be a but. 0-7 is abysmal. It’s the worst playoff record for any coach who’s made the tournament that many times. He should have been gone 5 years ago.
27. Denver Broncos (29): I really hope the Broncos aren’t fooled by one good game from Brock Osweiler. Last Thursday he posted a fantastic 99.4 Total QBR. In three of the other 4 games he’s started this season, he failed to break 28.0. Denver is a long way from solving their quarterback troubles.
28. New York Jets (25): Now we know just how dire this quarterback situation is. Josh McCown is a stopgap. Bryce Petty hasn’t earned any confidence (4 TDs, 9 INTs in 8 career games). The coaches already feel Christian Hackenberg isn’t the answer. To make it even worse, they’ll be punished in the draft order because they exceeded expectations this season with 5 wins. Their slot won’t land them a top-end quarterback talent.
29. Houston Texans (27): The Houston Texans are now ranked 25^th in total defense. That’s the franchise’s lowest ranking since 2010, the year before J.J. Watt was drafted, when they were ranked 30^th.
30. New York Giants (31): Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard combined for 19 catches, 226 yards and a touchdown this past week. When everyone is healthy again next season, the Giants will have as good a receiving core as anyone in the league.
31. Indianapolis Colts (30): A truly dreadful season is almost over, and fans can see the light of a year in which Andrew Luck is back and Chuck Pagano is gone. While the return of their star quarterback should help improve the 30^th ranked pass offense in the league, it can’t overshadow the talent deficiencies on the offensive line and in the backfield. Indy is currently 22^nd in rushing yards per game, which needs to be improved to take pressure off Luck
32. Cleveland Browns (32): They’re planning the parade as I write this. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up this time. Maybe you can invite Johnny Manziel to be the Grand Marshal. He’s probably not doing anything important.