The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs look destined for a Super Bowl matchup. They top the Week 16 NFL Power Rankings.
Another action-packed weekend of NFL football started on Thursday night, was followed up with a fun Saturday game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, and then was capped off on Sunday with some more wild action with massive playoff implications. The Week 16 NFL power rankings will reflect said madness…
But not all of it.
Due to the league’s COVID protocols, a trio of games have been moved around, so as of the time this post is releasing, eight teams have yet to play their Week 15 matchups. There could still be some shaking up in the rankings but for now, it looks like two teams have clearly risen to the top.
Week 16 NFL Power Rankings: A new team slides into the bottom slot
After firing Urban Meyer this past week, many felt like the Jacksonville Jaguars would galvanize and come together for their third win of the season.
Instead, they moved into the number one overall slot looking ahead at the 2022 NFL Draft…
That’s right, Jaguars fans. You might get the chance to pair up Trevor Lawrence with another number one overall pick, but who is going to be coaching this team?
That is the major question this team now has to answer with just three weeks left to play.
Getting someone who can help maximize Trevor Lawrence’s development will be paramount.
A new team enters the bottom two of the Week 16 NFL Power Rankings
The New York Jets, losers of three straight, have done the unthinkable.
They have helped bump the Detroit Lions not one, but two spots in this week’s NFL power rankings.
Even with a 17-10 halftime lead and a pick-six in the second half, the Jets just couldn’t quite get past the Miami Dolphins, who have been one of the league’s hottest teams over the last couple of months.
The Jets are what everyone thought they would be going into this season. They are a struggling young team with a coach who looks like the real deal. It’s not difficult to see the progress this team has made as the season has gone along, and you have to tip your cap to Robert Saleh for the way his defense played in this game, even with the unfortunate ending.
Coming out in the second half and going three-and-out sparked a big second-half scoring surge from the Miami Dolphins, whose 21 second-half points were just too much for the Jets to overcome in the end.
The biggest question marks with this Jets team revolve around the quarterback position and whether or not Zach Wilson can make strides in year two. He just doesn’t look like the same guy we all saw at BYU.
New York Giants fall in Week 16 NFL Power Rankings
There are few teams as brutal to watch as the New York Giants on a weekly basis.
As you’ll see in this week’s power rankings, even the Lions and Texans are preferable for NFL viewers at this particular juncture of the season.
Not that Daniel Jones makes things that much better, but the Giants are horrifying on offense with Mike Glennon at the quarterback position.
He threw three interceptions in this game to the Cowboys, but at least the Giants defense held the Cowboys to just 2-of-5 on red zone trips.
It’s the small victories, really.
The Houston Texans have been hovering around the bottom of power rankings all year, and for good reason.
As hard as I’ve been on the Texans this year, though, I’ve got to tip my cap. David Culley has helped this roster of misfits form a resolve that is borderline impossible to explain.
How they have won three games this season is beyond me.
Do the Texans have a little something with Davis Mills? He outdueled the number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence on his home field in this game to the tune of 19-of-31 passing for 209 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. It’s not an earth-shattering performance, but Mills has strung together a couple of impressive outings for a rookie and now I’m intrigued.
Detroit Lions get some well-earned respect in NFL Power Rankings
It’s been a brutal year for the Detroit Lions, but it’s also fair to say that this team has been exactly what Dan Campbell vowed it would be at his famous knee-biting press conference in the offseason.
Whether it’s Amani Oruwariye making diving interceptions or Jared Goff leading improbable comeback touchdown drives, this Lions team has become quite a bit of fun here late in the NFL season.
They got themselves a signature win against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, significantly messing with the playoff standings and doing it in style. This was a fun game to watch.
Bears play on Monday Night Football***
The Chicago Bears haven’t had a chance to make their case for being 26th instead of 27th on this list, but I feel comfortable even without a game being played keeping them among the NFL’s six worst teams.
Unfortunately, the common theme for most of the teams at the bottom of this list? The lack of development for rookie quarterbacks.
It’s hard to find instant MVP candidates like Justin Herbert, in case you didn’t know that already.
The Bears have mishandled Justin Fields in what has turned out to be a disastrous year for Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy, the GM and head coach of this team respectively. They are going to be gone after this season, so hopefully, there’s a bright future ahead for Bears fans.
It was a tough week for Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers, who lost their fourth-straight game and looked bad in the process.
The Panthers got taken to the cleaners by the Buffalo Bills and there are some Panthers fans calling for Matt Rhule’s head.
The problem is, this Panthers team has made win-now roster moves despite the fact that most of the roster should still be in rebuild mode. The Sam Darnold move has set this franchise back a bit, and Cam Newton has not been able to regain his MVP form.
Seahawks play vs. Rams on Tuesday night***
The Seattle Seahawks have an opportunity to get back into the playoff picture, as crazy as that sounds.
The NFL has moved their matchup against the Rams due to the outbreak of COVID on the Rams’ roster, but with a win on Tuesday night, they will improve to 6-8 and firmly in the NFC Wild Card mix.
The NFL’s expansion to seven playoff teams could benefit the Seahawks, who started their impressive stretch of fantastic football with a 7-9 record and a playoff win against the Saints which featured the Beast Mode run by Marshawn Lynch.
Could they back into the playoffs again? Would anyone want to see this team, even at 9-8 or 8-9 with Russell Wilson at QB?
At 6-8, the Atlanta Falcons are technically still alive this season, but they are trending in the wrong direction.
As Cordarrelle Patterson goes, so this Falcons offense goes. He did not do much of anything in this game against the San Francisco 49ers, who are looking like one of the more well-rounded teams in the NFC as the season progresses.
The Falcons, unfortunately, do not look well-rounded.
Matt Ryan was hit 10 times and sacked three times in this game. That is obviously not sustainable.
The New Orleans Saints make it three NFC South teams in the bottom-10 of this week’s NFL power rankings yet again.
Not great.
The Saints have a tremendous defense but their quarterback play is going to severely limit how far this team can go if they are able to sneak into the postseason.
This team just doesn’t feel like a legitimate threat at all with Taysom Hill as the primary guy under center.
Vikings play Monday Night Football vs. the Bears***
The Minnesota Vikings are another odd 6-7 team with some impressive wins and some ugly losses.
That feels like it fits the description for just about every team in the league at this point, though.
The Vikings’ 6-7 record is reflective of the fact that this team’s defense under Mike Zimmer is one of the worst they have had in his tenure. The Vikings have a plethora of playmakers offensively to get the ball to, which makes them an intriguing team if they can sneak into the playoffs.
They need to take care of business against the Bears on Monday night to get to 7-7 before that conversation can happen.
Raiders play Monday vs. Browns***
The Las Vegas Raiders had to move their Saturday matchup against the Cleveland Browns around due to the Browns’ COVID outbreak, and coming off of two straight losses, the additional prep time might be beneficial.
The Raiders obviously want their season to move along as scheduled, but they need to make sure they have their ducks in a row for this crucial AFC matchup. A loss against the Cleveland Browns would keep the Raiders in sole possession of last place in the AFC West and would be a huge detriment in the event that they need any sort of tiebreaker come playoff time.
It’s hard to know exactly what the identity of this Raiders team is right now. They have some spurts of really solid play, and follow it up with games where you wonder if they need to blow up the roster.
Washington plays Tuesday vs. Eagles
The Washington Football Team has been bit hard by the injury bug this season, and now they’ve had their game this weekend rescheduled due to a COVID outbreak on the roster.
Still, Ron Rivera has this team in position to potentially make the playoffs, unlikely as it seemed when Chase Young went down with a season-ending injury.
This team is a model of resilience in many ways, and they have just enough talent on both sides of the ball to be a really tough out with how well-coached they are by Rivera and his staff.
Things could unravel this week for Washington against the Eagles, who are fresh off of a win and looking to improve to 7-7 on the season as well.
The Denver Broncos don’t know who they are from week to week. The inconsistency of this team is maddening to watch.
Vic Fangio calls a great defense most weeks, but scoring 10 points as they did against the Cincinnati Bengals in one of the biggest home games this team has had since Super Bowl 50 simply will not cut it.
At 7-7, the Broncos need some help if they are going to make it into one of the seven AFC playoff slots, but right now, they are outside the frame with only a slim chance of getting in.
A scary injury to Teddy Bridgewater against the Bengals only further muddies the waters in Denver.
Browns play on Monday vs. Las Vegas Raiders***
Heading into a massive game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Cleveland Browns are in a bit of a pickle.
They were probably extremely relieved to learn that the NFL was moving their game to Monday night due to the fact that so many players on their roster were going on the COVID/reserve list. At the same time, nobody knows who is going to be able to play for the Browns in this game, starting with the quarterback position.
At 7-6, the margin of error for Cleveland is thin. The Pittsburgh Steelers just moved to 7-6-1. The Bengals won in Denver and improved to 8-6. The Ravens are 8-6. The Browns need a win just to keep pace in the loss column with these other teams.
Eagles play Tuesday night vs. Washington***
The Philadelphia Eagles are fresh off of a victory and even with their game against Washington being rescheduled to Tuesday night, you’ve got to think they have a good chance of getting back to .500, right?
The Eagles are strong in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Whether Jalen Hurts or Gardner Minshew has been under center, this team has shown it can establish a tough running game offensively.
With Minshew under center, the passing game opened up a bit against the Jets.
Against Washington, the Eagles need to take advantage of the depleted WFT roster and find a way to jump up in the NFC playoff chase.
The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to find ways to stay in the conversation, don’t they?
They had to come back against the Tennessee Titans, and they did.
Not only did the Steelers maintain relevance in the AFC playoff race with this huge win, but they also managed to knock the Titans out of the top overall slot in the AFC.
More on that later.
The Steelers’ defense is capable of taking over games when they play like they did vs. Tennessee on Sunday. The offense, led by Ben Roethlisberger, is the weekly Wild Card.
Does Big Ben have one more run in him?
It’s time to start putting some respect on the Miami Dolphins name again, isn’t it?
Sure, it was a win against the New York Jets, but it represented the latest in a six-game winning streak for Brian Flores’ crew.
Now we are starting to see how well this team plays together as just that — a team.
The Dolphins threw Duke Johnson Jr. into the lineup on Sunday and he ran for over 100 yards and two touchdowns for them.
This Miami defense was swarming against the Jets with six sacks, seven tackles for loss, and eight QB hits on the game.
Christian Wilkins even got involved with a touchdown catch offensively.
You’ve got to hand it to John Harbaugh.
He’s not going to strike out looking.
Harbaugh made a somewhat polarizing decision to go for two at the end of this game against the Green Bay Packers, and you have to respect the guts considering how tight things are right now in the AFC.
That decision could be the difference between his team sitting at home during the playoffs or not.
With four total touchdowns from Tyler Huntley in this game, it’s impossible to ignore how well-coached this team is and how good they can be even without Lamar Jackson.
Even at home, taking Aaron Rodgers to the brink like that is extremely impressive.
The volatility of these NFL power rankings on a week-to-week is a sight to behold, almost as much as the games themselves.
The Buffalo Bills can look like a top-five team one week, and the next they are dropping down a couple of spots after a win.
So it goes in this wild, wild NFL season.
The Bills got a nice win on Sunday, but at 8-6, this team is going to need more than blowout wins against bad teams to earn higher spots in the power rankings. Other teams around the NFL are simply playing better at the moment.
The Cincinnati Bengals went into Denver and got a win against one of the best defenses in the league, and they had to earn it over all four quarters.
The Bengals got a key play in this game after a couple of touchdowns back and forth with the Broncos when Denver was driving and in a goal-to-go situation.
Drew Lock took a read-option to his left and Bengals defensive end Khalid Kareem just took the ball out of his hands.
Preventing the Broncos from scoring in that sequence ultimately led to the win for the Bengals, who did just enough offensively to get to 8-6 on the season, a crucial win for their playoff hopes just two years removed from having the top pick in the NFL Draft.
How about the Indianapolis Colts under Frank Reich?
This team got a signature win on Saturday night, knocking off the previously white-hot New England Patriots.
It’s hard not to be impressed with the incredible work Reich has done with this team, and Jonathan Taylor looks like he could very well be the league MVP.
Holding a 20-0 lead through three quarters against the Patriots, the Colts just had to play ball control for most of this game against the Patriots and that strategy got hairy in the fourth quarter of this game as the Patriots rattled off 17 unanswered points, cutting the Colts’ lead to just three points.
And then, Jonathan Taylor happened.
With three regular season games left, I’m just not buying the Tennessee Titans as contenders, are you?
It’s a weird thought and feeling, because as of the time of this writing, it was mere hours ago that the Titans were in the driver’s seat of the number one seed in the AFC.
Now, they are 9-5, and they barely look like the best team in their division.
Heck, the Colts could probably beat the Titans at their own game right now with Jonathan Taylor running as well as he is.
A loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers has seemingly exposed the Titans just weeks before the playoffs begin.
Is anyone else loving the San Francisco 49ers?
This team has really ascended in recent weeks with some really complete performances on both sides of the ball.
As the 49ers get healthy, this team looks more and more like the version we saw make it to the Super Bowl just two seasons ago.
The playmakers the 49ers have on offense are going to be tough for any defense to handle come playoff time, but the way this San Francisco defense played on Sunday against the Falcons with 10 hits on Matt Ryan was reminiscent of that 2019 NFC championship campaign.
Now at 8-6, the 49ers look like one of the most dangerous teams in the NFC.
After an impressive loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chargers are moving up a spot in the power rankings.
This team’s greatest hurdle down the stretch of the 2021 season will be itself.
The Chargers have to find a way to buck their franchise trend for as long as anyone can remember — this team has to find a way to turn potential wins into actual wins.
There is no more value for this team looking good in losses. For now, they are in the AFC playoff picture but they are going to have to win down the stretch to ensure a playoff berth and a chance for Justin Herbert to show what he can do on the game’s biggest stage.
The overtime loss to the Chiefs stings, but better days should be ahead for Los Angeles.
The Cowboys got a much-needed win against the New York Giants to basically solidify the NFC East title this season, but it wasn’t pretty offensively.
Dallas’ defense continues to help propel this team into legitimacy, and everyone knows this offense is capable of absolutely going off at a moment’s notice.
With three interceptions against Mike Glennon on Sunday, the Dallas defense led the way in their 10th win of the season already, their third straight win in December after closing out the month of November with two really disappointing losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
Aside from three November losses to AFC West teams, the Cowboys are 8-1 against NFC opponents this season (they have two wins against the Chargers and Patriots).
The Patriots’ fourth-quarter bid for a comeback win fell short against the Indianapolis Colts, and unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to extend their winning streak to eight games.
The Indianapolis Colts finally got the better of the Patriots, but not before New England cut a 20-0 deficit to 20-17 in the fourth quarter and really showed why this team is capable of being so dangerous down the stretch this season.
This team doesn’t likely want Mac Jones throwing 45 times come playoff time, but they have played so well over the last couple of months that it’s hard to knock them too far down after a road loss against a tough team.
It took a blocked punt by the Colts in this game to likely get this win. The Patriots lost despite holding the Colts to just 2-of-10 on third-down conversions.
Luckily for the Buccaneers, they play in the NFC South, which has been horrendous most of the year.
Still, how are they getting taken deep into the fourth quarter against the Saints, led by Taysom Hill at QB, with a 9-0 deficit?
That’s not the type of play we’ve come to expect from the Buccaneers, an obviously championship-caliber team with some definite weaknesses and inconsistency, just like pretty much every other team in the NFL this season.
Still, you can’t help but buy this team as the postseason rapidly approaches. With the star power they have on both sides of the ball, this veteran-laden team will undoubtedly refocus before January football and get on the right track.
A loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football coupled with a road loss to the Detroit Lions?
The Arizona Cardinals have been number one in the NFL power rankings a lot this season, but they are getting dropped after taking two L’s in six days.
The Detroit Lions went straight for the knees on Sunday.
The Cardinals lost this game in the red zone. The Lions have had one of the worst red zone defenses in the entire league this season, and the Cardinals went 0-4 in that area of the field.
That’s often a recipe for losing in the NFL, no matter how bad your opponent’s record is.
Rams play Tuesday against Seahawks***
The Los Angeles Rams are dealing with a COVID outbreak on their roster, which is obviously not good news.
The good news for them is, the Arizona Cardinals just dropped a road game against the Detroit Lions, of all teams, and now the Rams have a real shot at claiming first place in the NFC West with their third straight win.
The question is, will they have the personnel available to beat Russell Wilson and the Seahawks?
Things could get dicey on Tuesday night, but if Matthew Stafford is able to go, the expectation will still be for the Rams to take care of business.
After a very close call against the Baltimore Ravens without Lamar Jackson, the Green Bay Packers stay where they have been, in the number two slot of this week’s NFL power rankings.
The Packers are clearly the class of the NFC with Aaron Rodgers playing at an MVP level again.
This team is capable of winning with dominant offensive performances or dominant defensive performances, and they have now won four of their last five games.
If not for Aaron Rodgers going on the COVID list earlier this season, we may have gotten a true Super Bowl preview when the Chiefs took on the Packers in early November.
It appears as though that’s the collision course we are headed on — Rodgers vs. Mahomes.
Remember when the Chiefs had a losing record?
That feels like a lifetime ago at this point.
The Chiefs’ defense has been playing outstanding football over the last couple of months and this team is absolutely rolling.
They have won seven games in a row, including their most recent win on the road against the very tough Los Angeles Chargers.
Even with Patrick Mahomes not playing the best we’ve ever seen, the Kansas City offense remains dangerous at all times, and with the defense playing as well as it has been, this is a team that looks poised to make yet another very deep playoff run.