18. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
What a disaster of a season for the Atlanta Falcons. They were 6-3 at one point! 6-3!
This team saw Kirk Cousins decline in real-time and eventually had to make the tough decision to send their $180 million free agency QB to the bench in favor of rookie QB Michael Penix Jr, who did look decent in his limited action this year. If the Falcons did have their eyes on Penix all along, they should have just passed up signing Cousins all along.
If nothing else, the offensive firepower is something else, so Penix should have a plethora of weapons to use for years to come. It'll be up to the Falcons' coaching staff to help Penix take the next step. The team saw a horrific defensive unit for pretty much the entire season, so they aren't out of the woods on that side of the ball.
Looking like the runaway favorite to win the NFC South about two months ago, the Falcons dropped to 8-9 on the season with this Week 18 loss against the Carolina Panthers and do have some questions to answer this coming offseason. I would be shocked if they did not use their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on a top defensive prospect.
17. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
The Arizona Cardinals win eight games this year, and I told many of you that they were going to win eight games this year. In a year where they won six of their first 10 games, the Cardinals did lead the NFC West at one point, which was a bit wild to see. Well, they were only able to capture two more wins the rest of the way, which is unfortunate, but think about it - this team won four games in all of 2023 and have doubled their win total in 2024.
Despite the lousy finish, winning eight games given what happened last year and the overall lack of talent is a good thing for the long-term. It will now be up to GM Monti Ossenfort to bring in another strong class of talent for 2025 and beyond. And if he can do that and couples it with a strong free agency class, the Cardinals could be a 10-win team in 2025.
The early returns on the 2025 Cardinals are actually ones you want to buy some stock in. Just trust me here. They aren’t a great team, but there is a lot to like. Arizona comes in at no. 17 in these power rankings.