Week 15 in the NFL was an absolute mess. But in two short months, we’ll all be wishing for football, any semblance of it. So despite the COVID situations and the sloppy play, be thankful that we’ve still got football to watch.
There are only three editions of power rankings left, and barring something drastic, the top 10-12 teams have solidified themselves in the top third of the league. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are a bunch of franchises that have long, dreary offseasons ahead with plenty of key decisions looming – both on the field and in the front office.
Kansas City remains on top, but we’ve got quite a bit of a shake-up after them. Here’s how the 32 teams stack up with just three weeks to go in the regular season.
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NFL Power Rankings Week 16
| Team | Rank (?") | Last Week | Next Week | Notes |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 1 | W 34-28 @ LAC | vs. PIT | They may not relinquish this spot at this rate. |
| Green Bay Packers | 2 (+2) | W 31-30 @ BAL | vs. CLE (Saturday) | That was too close for comfort. |
| New England Patriots | 3 (-1) | L 27-17 @ IND | vs. BUF | First double-digit loss since Week 3. |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4 (-1) | L 9-0 vs. NO | @ CAR | Besides the game and the number-one seed, the Bucs lost a ton of key players. |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 (+1) | W 20-10 vs. SEA | @ MIN | And just like that, the Rams are tied for first in the NFC West. |
| Indianapolis Colts | 6 (+2) | W 27-17 vs. NE | @ ARI (Saturday) | This team is going to be a problem come January. |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | W 21-6 @ NYG | vs. WSH (SNF) | Home field isn’t likely, but it’s possible. |
| Arizona Cardinals | 8 (-3) | L 30-12 @ DET | vs. IND (Saturday) | Are you kidding me, Arizona? |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 (+1) | W 31-13 vs. ATL | @ TEN (TNF) | Deebo Samuel has become one of the best weapons in the NFL. |
| Buffalo Bills | 10 (+1) | W 31-14 vs. CAR | @ NE | The division comes down to next week in Foxboro. |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 11 (-2) | L 34-28 vs. KC | @ HOU | Great effort, tough loss. |
| Baltimore Ravens | 12 | L 31-30 vs. GB | @ CIN | Credit Tyler Huntley. |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 13 (+2) | W 15-10 @ DEN | vs. BAL | Season-saving win. |
| Tennessee Titans | 14 (-1) | L 19-13 @ PIT | vs. SF (TNF) | Sloppiness wasted a great defensive effort. |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 15 (+1) | W 27-17 vs. WSH | vs. NYG | 519 yards for the Philly offense. |
| Miami Dolphins | 16 (+2) | W 31-24 vs. NYJ | @ NO (MNF) | Six in a row. |
| Cleveland Browns | 17 (-3) | L 16-14 vs. LV | @ GB (Saturday) | Tough to drop them too far after starting their third-stringer. |
| Minnesota Vikings | 18 (+1) | W 17-9 @ CHI | vs. LAR | Ugly win, but a win. |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 19 (+1) | W 19-13 vs. TEN | @ KC | Still alive. |
| Denver Broncos | 20 (-3) | L 15-10 vs. CIN | @ LV | Get well soon, Teddy. |
| Washington Football Team | 21 | L 27-17 vs. PHI | @ DAL (SNF) | Tough to penalize them too much given their COVID situation. |
| New Orleans Saints | 22 (+2) | W 9-0 @ TB | vs. MIA (MNF) | The Saints are now 4-0 vs. Brady and the Bucs in the regular season. |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 23 (+2) | W 16-14 @ CLE | vs. DEN | Almost losing to Nick Mullens isn’t good, but losing to Nick Mullens would have been worse. |
| Seattle Seahawks | 24 (-2) | L 20-10 @ LAR | vs. CHI | First losing season of the Wilson/Carroll era. |
| Atlanta Falcons | 25 (-2) | L 31-13 @ SF | vs. DET | Playoff hopes are probably over, but credit Atlanta for staying alive this long. |
| Carolina Panthers | 26 | L 31-14 @ BUF | vs. TB | 3-0 to 5-9 is... not great. |
| New York Giants | 27 | L 21-6 vs. DAL | @ PHI | What a mess. |
| Chicago Bears | 28 | L 17-9 vs. MIN | @ SEA | What a mess without a first-round pick. |
| New York Jets | 29 | L 31-24 @ MIA | vs. JAC | Hard to understand how the Jets defense is this bad. |
| Houston Texans | 30 | W 30-16 @ JAC | vs. LAC | Toilet Bowl Champions. |
| Detroit Lions | 31 (+1) | W 30-12 vs. ARI | @ ATL | 2-1 in their last three games. |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 32 (-1) | L 30-16 vs. HOU | @ NYJ | Back to the basement. |
Big Movers
Green Bay Packers
There’s only one team remaining with just three losses: the Packers. They’ve overcome a lot this season – a disgruntled Aaron Rodgers, a controversial Aaron Rodgers, a lousy defense early in the year, and injuries at critical spots. But once again, Rodgers and the Packers are right where they always are, and that’s atop the NFC. Green Bay finishes up the year at home against Cleveland and Minnesota, followed by a road date with the Lions. Given Arizona’s recent skid and Tampa Bay’s injury issues, the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC could run through Lambeau.
Indianapolis Colts
Remember when the Colts started the year 0-2 at home and 0-3 overall? Well, they’ve ripped off eight wins in their last 11 games, they’re one game back in an AFC South that the Titans looked to have all but wrapped up, and they’re the top Wild Card seed with three weeks to go. Indianapolis has a tough game with a skidding Cardinals team on deck, but if they grab a win in that one, they’ll have two winnable meetings against Las Vegas and Jacksonville to end the year. And as I’ve mentioned in past power rankings, nobody wants to tackle Jonathan Taylor in the playoffs and the potential cold.
Miami Dolphins
What a roller coaster ride this year has been for Miami. They beat New England in Week 1 but dropped each of their next seven games as not only did their offense look futile, their defense – which was expected to be one of the league’s best – fell apart. Suddenly, the Dolphins have won six in a row, much in part to their resurgent defense. They’ve pulled back to .500 and are within a game of the division-rival Bills for a playoff spot. The remaining schedule isn’t easy – at the Saints, at the Titans, and home against the Patriots – and they’ll probably need to go 3-0 to grab a Wild Card slot given how crowded the AFC is, but with how hot Miami has been, anything is possible.
Random Musings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A 9-0 shutout loss at home to the division rival and reeling Saints is bad enough, but losing Chris Godwin for the year is worse. Add Leonard Fournette potentially heading to IR, Lavonte David out for 3-4 weeks, and Mike Evans out a few weeks into the mix, and we’ve got a potentially season-threatening situation brewing in Tampa Bay. Tom Brady can obviously make it work with anyone, but the NFC is tough, and with mounting injuries, the Buccaneers don’t look like they’ll be able to grab home field. Keep an eye on the Bucs.
Arizona Cardinals
This was an easy bounce-back spot for Arizona, right? Wrong. The Cardinals got thoroughly beaten by the one-win Detroit Lions and looked uncomfortable throughout this game. Take their red zone series in the first half down 10-0. They ran four plays from inside the 10-yard line, and three were passes behind the line of scrimmage. That’s not a Kliff Kingsbury offense. That’s not a Kyler Murray offense. This team needs to get back on track and fast because they’re now tied for the division lead and could potentially go from the inside track to home field in the playoffs to a Wild Card spot in a blink.
AFC North
This division is nuts, but are any of these four teams actually good despite none of them being below .500? Not in my book. None are true Super Bowl threats, and the highest-ranked team in my power rankings is the Ravens at 12. For context, I’ve got three NFC West teams ranked ahead of the best AFC North team. All these teams are banged up, none of these offenses are particularly good aside from the Bengals every once in a while, and aside from those Bengals, the other three teams may be headed for a bit of a downswing the next year or two.
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