2022 NFL Power Rankings Week 15: Cowboys avoid disaster, Bucs get blown out

The Dallas Cowboys nearly lost to the lowest-ranked team in our 2022 NFL Power Rankings while the San Francisco 49ers embarrassed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This season’s playoff picture is becoming more clear as we enter the final four weeks of the season. This Sunday, we saw a lot of action and nearly witnessed a major upset. The Houston Texans had the Dallas Cowboys on the ropes, but a last-minute touchdown kept that upset from happening.

Another surprising game happened on the West Coast as the San Francisco 49ers, led by Brock Purdy, blew out Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Let’s now jump in and see how those games, and more, alter our 2022 NFL Power Rankings.

2022 NFL Power Rankings Week 15

32. Houston Texans

The Houston Texans players deserve a lot of credit. Despite having just one win, they went into AT&T Stadium and gave the Dallas Cowboys everything they had. They nearly pulled off the win as well, with a lead of 23-20 late in the fourth quarter.

Tremon Smith secured his second pick of the game as Dallas was trying to take the lead back, setting the offense up inside the five. They were unable to punch it in and turned the ball over on downs, leading to a 98-yard drive and a victory for the Cowboys.

Now at 1-11-1, Houston should be a lock for the No. 1 pick. And the good news is, they’ve seen a few players stand out lately meaning the cupboard might not be completely bare.

31. Denver Broncos

There was some good news and bad news for the Denver Broncos in Week 14. The good news was that they finally showed some life on offense, scoring 28 points which was a season-high.

The bad news is, they only started scoring points after the Chiefs had the game thoroughly in control.

They did wind up seeing some flashes from Russell Wilson, who had 247 yards passing and 57 on the ground with three touchdowns. But he also took a nasty hit and Brett Rypien had to come into the game.

Denver pulled to within six but it never really felt as though they were pulling anything off. Now, they’re 3-10 and officially have no answers.

30. Chicago Bears

This hasn’t been a great season for the Chicago Bears who enter their bye week with a record of 3-10. Their last game was at home against the Green Bay Packers and for the second time this year, they were handed a loss — even though Green Bay hasn’t been nearly as good as they have in recent years.

It was also the sixth loss in a row for Chicago, who actually started the season out with a 2-1 mark. Matt Eberflus and his staff clearly have a lot of work to do as this team is once again looking forward to the offseason.

29. New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints had higher expectations than they should have this season. After Sean Payton retired, they believed they could stay competitive by promoting others on the staff. While that might sound good in theory, Dennis Allen isn’t in the same league as Payton, and it’s shown.

Their offense looks terrible and Alvin Kamara has been a no-show for much of the season. Also, Jameis Winston, who looked good under Payton, has regressed to the point he can’t beat out Andy Dalton.

New Orleans has a bye in Week 14 and they’re coming off their fourth loss in the past five games. Overall, they’re just 4-9 and in last place in the NFC South. That’s never a good sign but considering how badly the South has struggled as a whole, that’s even worse than normal.

28. Los Angeles Rams

Injuries to the quarterback position had the Los Angeles Rams in desperation mode ahead of their Thursday Night Football showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders. Los Angeles wound up claiming Baker Mayfield on waivers when he was let go by the Carolina Panthers and despite being on the roster for just two days, he ended up playing nearly the whole game.

He started out slow but then led a 98-yard drive in the final two minutes and won the game with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson. It was an exciting game and snapped a six-game losing streak but it’s not a recipe for sustained success. But with Matthew Stafford’s future in doubt, they could use the rest of this season to see if Mayfield could be a potential starter down the line.

27. Arizona Cardinals

Plays on Monday Night Football vs. New England Patriots

Kyler Murray is expected to be back as the Arizona Cardinals host the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, but he hasn’t exactly had a great season. Arizona is just 3-7 with him under center and Murray has just 14 touchdowns against seven picks in his first 10 games played.

At 4-8 overall, the Cardinals aren’t a threat to make a playoff run and will likely be competing with the Rams to avoid last place in the NFC West. It’s a far cry from what the expectations were to begin the season and there will be a lot of questions surrounding them when the 2023 offseason begins.

26. Indianapolis Colts

When the Indianapolis Colts hired Jeff Saturday as the interim head coach, it seemed like a joke. Then, he led his team to a surprising win over the Las Vegas Raiders. But now that we’ve seen the Raiders blow it against Baker Mayfield — who didn’t even know where the Rams locker room was — we realize that said more about Vegas than it did Indy.

As if that wasn’t a telling enough sign, the Colts haven’t won since that game. They’ve lost three in a row and just gave up 54 points to the Dallas Cowboys with 33 of those coming within an 11-minute period. For some perspective, the Colts haven’t scored 33 points in a single game this year.

25. Pittsburgh Steelers

Kenny Pickett was lost to a concussion after just one pass attempt and in came Mitch Trubisky — who was benched earlier in the year in favor of the rookie. Trubisky ended up struggling as he threw three picks. He did finish with 276 yards and was able to cut the lead to two points with 2:30 to go, but the defense was unable to force a punt as the Ravens ran out the clock.

At 5-8, Pittsburgh knows their focus needs to be on what to do in order to compete in 2023. They knew it would take some time to get back on track following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, and that’s been the case so far.

24. Cleveland Browns

It was the second game for Deshaun Watson as a member of the Cleveland Browns and while he looked much better than he did a week ago against Houston, the team struggled overall. Their impressive ground game was non-existent as Nick Chubb had 34 yards and Karem Hunt has six. As for their defense, they started out strong against Cincinnati but couldn’t keep it going all day.

As if that wasn’t enough, they had some questionable play calls (like throwing it on fourth down with Jacob Brissett with Watson on the bench) and some costly penalties. At 5-8, they’re now playing for pride because they’re not making a run at the playoffs now.

23. Carolina Panthers

Don’t look now, but the Carolina Panthers are playing very well as of late. They’ve won three of their past four games and their victory this weekend was on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. Both Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman had 74 yards on the ground and the defense picked off Geno Smith twice in the 30-24 win.

Their defense is playing much better with Steve Wilks as the head coach and with the Tampa Bay Bucs losing to the 49ers and falling to 6-7, the Panthers suddenly have a shot even with a record of 5-8 — and they have a win over Tampa Bay already.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars

There’s no denying that the AFC South is terrible — but that’s good news for a team such as the Jacksonville Jaguars. While most teams that have a 5-8 record are looking forward to the 2023 season, they’re thinking about how realistic a run at the division title would be.

Week 14 allowed them to have those thoughts since their defeated the Tennessee Titans, who are in first place in the South at 7-6. It was the third loss in a row for the Titans and the two teams face one another in Week 18.

So Jacksonville knows they only have to be within one game of the leaders by then, and a win could send them to the top. The one really tough test for them will be next week against Dallas, but after that, they have the Jets, Texans, and Titans. Stranger things have happened.

21. Las Vegas Raiders

Two of the more embarrassing losses in the NFL this season happened to the Las Vegas Raiders. First, they were unable to win against the Indianapolis Colts when Jeff Saturday was making his unexpected debut as the interim head coach. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they now lost to the Los Angeles Rams who were playing Baker Mayfield at quarterback – just 48 hours after he joined the team.

Las Vegas also blew a 16-3 lead in the loss, making it four times they have lost a game this year despite having a double-digit lead at halftime. Josh McDaniels was a disaster as a head coach for the Broncos and is already raising a lot of questions with the 5-8 Raiders this season.

20. Green Bay Packers

This has been a weird season for the Green Bay Packers who have a Week 14 bye and will be trying to figure out what to do following a 5-8 start. It could have been much worse as the only comfortable wins they’ve had were against the Chicago Bears.

Outside of that, they had a two-point win over the Tampa Bay Bucs, a three-point win over the New England Patriots, and a three-point win over the Dallas Cowboys. After their bye, it would seem they should be able to handle the Los Angeles Rams but could struggle to close out the year as they face Miami, Minnesota, and Detroit. And when they finish the year without a playoff run, things could get very interesting with Aaron Rodgers.

19. Atlanta Falcons

Just over a month ago, the Atlanta Falcons were 4-4 and had a shot at the NFC South title — since no one else in the division was playing well at all. Then, things fell apart.

The Falcons lost to the Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers to fall to 4-6. They did get a win over the Chicago Bears but followed that up with losses to the Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re now well behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who beat them once already.

Atlanta wasn’t expected to do much this year and after a stretch of decent football, they wound up proving those predictions correct.

18. Tampa Bay Bucs

It’s strange seeing Tom Brady struggle but he continues to do so in 2022. This weekend, he struggled as he completed 34-of-55 passes for 253 yards with one touchdown and two picks. Although he was hit several times, Brady was never sacked as he got the ball out in the blink of an eye constantly but he managed to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to just seven points in a 35-7 loss.

Tampa Bay is still in first place in the NFC South but that’s just a testament to how bad that division is. They’re sitting at 6-7 and have just two victories all season against teams with a winning record (Dallas in Week 1 and Seattle in Week 10).

They still control the South but they’re not going to be a threat to anyone with how they’ve performed this year.

17. New England Patriots

Plays on Monday Night Football vs. Arizona Cardinals

Every team in the AFC East has a winning record except for the New England Patriots. It wasn’t too long ago that such a statement would have been laughable, but they haven’t been the same dominant team they were for years with Tom Brady.

That doesn’t mean they’re bad, however, as they enter Week 14 with a record of 6-6. They look to make it four teams in the division with a winning record once again as they head to Arizona to take on the Cardinals — who are just 1-6 at home this year.

New England is on a two-game losing streak right now, but those losses came at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills — two of the best teams in the NFL. They can get back on track with Arizona and Las Vegas over the next two weeks.

16. Detroit Lions

It’s time to take the Detroit Lions seriously. They just scored a huge win over the Minnesota Vikings, knocking off the best team in their division. They improved to 6-7 and have won five of their past six games — meaning they’ve turned it around from a 1-7 start to have an outside chance at a Wild Card spot. And that one loss in those six games was to the Buffalo Bills, who won by just three.

Throughout the start of his tenure as the Lions head coach, I was critical of the hire. However, it looks as though the front office got this one right. The team responds to him and they’re starting to pull off the wins, even when they’re facing good teams. And it might also be time to take Jared Goff seriously, he’s been much better than expected.

15. Tennessee Titans

Even when they were 7-3, the Tennessee Titans felt like pretenders. Now, they’re on the heels of a three-game losing streak and have a record of 7-6. There were those who wanted to excuse the first two losses in this slide since they were defeated by the Bengals and Eagles — but you have to beat good teams eventually. And right now, the only decent win on their resume is over Washington.

As for Week 14, they were handed a 36-22 loss as the Jacksonville Jaguars have suddenly made it interesting in the division. Tennessee still controls its own destiny, but their schedule concludes with the Chargers, Texans, Cowboys, and Jags again. Outside of Houston, those won’t be easy wins for these guys.

14. New York Jets

The New York Jets move the ball better with Mike White than they did with Zach Wilson, that much is for sure. Still, his 268 yards passing wasn’t enough to beat the Bills on a day when the weather was very ugly. Even so, he likely endeared himself even more to fans.

White suffered a rib injury and although he had to exit the game, he came back and kept his team in it. And we saw afterward that it was a serious injury he played through as he headed to the hospital in an ambulance afterward.

New York is 7-6 now and could have used that win for playoff positioning but they’re still in good shape and have been much better than anticipated this season.

13. Los Angeles Chargers

There really was a lot on the line in Week 14 for the Los Angeles Chargers. They came in with a record of 6-6 and a loss could have done damage to their playoff hopes. But a win over the Miami Dolphins — which is no easy task — would mean they would be 7-6 and right where they need to be.

Justin Herbert clearly came out knowing his team needed the win as he threw for 367 yards, helping them get that win. They were finally relatively healthy and we saw how dangerous they can be when Keenan Allen is on the field.

12. New York Giants

Not long ago, the New York Giants were 7-2 and still had a shot at the NFC East title. But that feels like a lifetime ago as they haven’t won since Nov. 13, which was when they defeated the Houston Texans.

Since then, they’ve gone 0-3-1 with the majority of that happening against divisional rivals. New York lost to Dallas on Thanksgiving day, then tied Washington the following week. Now, they were run out of the building against the Eagles, who won 48-22.

Head coach Brian Daboll had them playing well but as the season has progressed, the lack of talent is being exposed. Daniel Jones hasn’t been the guy under center and it’s hard to win anything when Richie James leads the team in receptions — which he did on Sunday.

11. Washington Commanders

Since Week 5, the Washington Commanders have lost just one game. That came at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, who have the second-best record in the NFC. And in that loss, the Commanders still held their own, losing 20-17.

That was followed up with a huge win as they became the first team to hand the Philadelphia Eagles a loss on the year.

Having said all that, they enter their bye week following a tie with the New York Giants. There has to be some frustration over this but they get their chance at revenge in Week 15 as they play the same team once again.

10. Seattle Seahawks

Following a 6-3 start to the season, the Seattle Seahawks have been trending in the wrong direction as of late. They’ve lost three of their last four games, with their lone win during that span coming against a beat-up Los Angeles Rams squad. This weekend, they were outplayed by the Carolina Panthers and fell to 7-6.

That puts them a couple of games behind the San Francisco 49ers, who improved to 9-4 with a huge win over Tampa Bay. If Seattle wants to have any shot at winning their division, they need to win in Week 15 when they host the Niners.

San Francisco beat them in Week 2, so a loss would drop them three games back — plus they would lose the tiebreaker. Meaning they would be out of the race at that point.

9. Miami Dolphins

As good as the Miami Dolphins can be, they can struggle when Tua Tagovailoa is off — and he was off on Sunday Night Football against the Chargers. He completed just 20 percent of his throws in the first half, which is a far cry from how well he’s played the rest of the season.

His struggles in their game against L.A. led to a loss and they’re now 8-5 and will have a hard time catching the Bills in the AFC East.

They remain one of the most explosive teams in the NFL but this was a reminder that Tua could wind up causing them some issues.

8. Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson might be out for a while but the Baltimore Ravens were able to get J.K. Dobbins back on the field this weekend. They needed him too as he put up 120 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, which was a huge reason they were able to secure a 16-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At 9-4, they’re still tied for first with the Cincinnati Bengals, who they play in Week 18. They have to hope Jackson is healthy by then since it will be hard to beat Cincy without him. But before they can even think about that, they have to focus on Cleveland, who might be a tougher out than Pittsburgh was for them.

7. San Francisco 49ers

Brock Purdy has gone from Mr. Irrelevant to the quarterback that just led his team to a huge win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Purdy was very efficient, going 16-of-21 for 185 yards with two touchdowns. He also ran one in for good measure as the Niners won 35-7.

Christian McCaffrey continues to be a great addition, as he had 153 total yards and two touchdowns. As impressive as all of that was, it’s the defense that makes things go in San Francisco. They were all over the Bucs’ wideouts and had two picks. They also had a fumble recovery, making it easy on their offense.

Not everything was great for the 49ers, however, as Deebo Samuel was carted off during the game. The good news is, they don’t believe it’s serious but if he misses anytime, it could hurt their offense.

6. Cincinnati Bengals

Sometimes, it takes a while to get over a hurdle. For Joe Burrow, that hurdle was the Cleveland Browns. For whatever reason, he had a tough time beating the Browns as he entered this weekend with an 0-4 mark against them.

That finally changed as he led the Cincinnati Bengals to a 23-10 victory over their fellow Ohio club. Burrow and the Bengals didn’t allow a slow start to keep them from winning as they scored 13 points in the second quarter to open the game up.

Now at 9-4, they’re still tied with the Ravens for the lead in the AFC North after Baltimore escaped with a win over the Steelers.

5. Minnesota Vikings

Looking at the box score, it would seem as though the Minnesota Vikings just secured their 11th win of the season. Kirk Cousins was on fire with 425 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers on 31-of-41 passing. Justin Jefferson also went off with 223 yards on 11 catches.

Even with that being the case, Minnesota lost to the Detroit Lions 34 to 23. Their defense continues to be an issue as they got no sacks on Jared Goff, who had 330 yards and three touchdowns. They also couldn’t slow down the rushing attack, as Detroit had 134 yards and a touchdown there as well.

Their own running game was a problem as Dalvin Cook had 23 yards on 15 attempts and lost a fumble. Still, at 10-3, they’re tied for second in the NFC but it’s now going to be nearly impossible to catch the Eagles who have a win over them as well.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs hardly did anything in the second half but that still wasn’t enough for the Denver Broncos to catch them after they took a 27-0 lead in the first half. Patrick Mahomes had two picks after taking that lead which allowed Denver to pull within 13 before the break and they even made it a six-point game early in the fourth.

From that point, the two teams took turns killing the clock and Kansas City improved to 10-3. They’re tied with the Bills in the AFC but the tiebreaker still belongs to Buffalo thanks to a Week 6 win by the Bills.

Even if they don’t secure the No. 1 seed and the bye week, this is a team no one wants to face in the postseason. They can score in the blink of an eye and while their defense isn’t elite, they’re opportunistic and can take the ball away.

3. Dallas Cowboys

Every win counts the same, even when they’re incredibly ugly. And for the Dallas Cowboys, win No. 10 was about as ugly as they come.

Fresh off a 54-point outing in Week 13, they struggled to move the ball with any consistency against the worst team in the NFL, the Houston Texans. It wasn’t just the offense that struggled either as one sustained drive after another led to Houston holding a 23-20 lead with just under three minutes to go.

That’s when the stars showed up. DeMarcus Lawrence made a huge stop to help the offense get the ball back and then they went 98 yards to take the lead. A two-yard touchdown from Ezekiel Elliott capped off the drive and Dallas improved to 10-3.

It was harder than it should have been but they still got the win and remain in the chase for the lead in the NFC East.

2. Buffalo Bills

Much like the Dallas Cowboys who are just beneath them in these 2022 NFL Power Rankings, the Buffalo Bills got themselves an ugly win on Sunday. Still, it was a win nonetheless. However, theirs came against a good team as they were hosting the New York Jets on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Josh Allen threw for just 147 yards but did have a touchdown both with his arm and his leg, doing just enough to secure a 20-12 win. They’re now 10-3 and alone in first place in the NFC East. They control their own destiny when it comes to their division title and still have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

Still at No. 1 in our 2022 NFL Power Rankings, the Philadelphia Eagles had a statement win on Sunday. On the road against the New York Giants, they dropped 48 points as they won 48-22. The Giants had been doing all they could this season to stay in the NFC East race but those hopes had taken a hit over the past two weeks. In Week 14, the Eagles crushed them.

What makes them so dangerous is the fact that they’re balanced on offense and defense. They have several players who can hurt you as Miles Sanders went off with 144 yards and two touchdowns and A.J. Brown had 70 yards receiving and a score. But the one who makes it all click is Jalen Hurts, who had 217 yards passing with two touchdowns and crossed the goal line on the ground while running for another 77 yards.

On top of that, their defense is tough as well, which they showed when they recorded seven sacks this weekend. They’re now 12-1 and have the No. 1 seed well in hand.