You want to see some movers and shakers in this week’s NFL Power Rankings? Well, we’ve got ‘em. Unlike the playoff picture or the NFL standings, there are style points involved in every NFL Power Rankings list we put together, which is why there’s always so much fun outrage over the arbitrary rankings.
Spoiler alert: There’s a new #1 in town, NFL fans.
The Detroit Lions nearly blew it against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving and are bleeding in the injury department. The Kansas City Chiefs were a fluke play against the Raiders away from potentially getting beat on a walk-off kick, although even chip-shot field goals aren’t a certainty in the NFL these days.
The Baltimore Ravens lost yet again.
The Chicago Bears fired their head coach. The Giants proved they are the best at something…(hint: being bad). There’s a lot to get into after a loaded Week 13 slate of action with no teams on a bye. Here are our updated NFL power rankings ahead of Week 14.
2024 NFL Power Rankings, Week 14: Eagles take #1 spot, Giants tumble to 32
32. New York Giants
If this were a Madden franchise, I think we’d just simulate to the end of the season for the New York Giants, right?
What good is going to come from the final six weeks of the season for this Giants team? They need to get their best players and future building blocks to the finish line healthy this season and make sure they’re not going into the offseason with any key players rehabbing and their 2025 status in jeopardy.
The Giants are unquestionably the worst team in the NFL right now, and that’s saying something. There were 17 teams entering Week 13 with records below .500. The Giants cut their former first-round pick and big-money quarterback Daniel Jones, who signed on with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad seeking sanctuary.
The New York teams this year, in general, are just messes from top to bottom. I have no clue what to make of the future of this organization absent a huge upgrade at the quarterback position. That will obviously be the primary focus of this team in 2025 and will make the Giants one of the most interesting teams all offseason.
31. Las Vegas Raiders
For as bad as the Las Vegas Raiders are this year (contending for the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft), this team plays pretty hard every single week. The Raiders have made a number of quarterback changes this year, but they’ve been giving most of the teams they play a hard time as of late.
But nobody seems to get the Raiders’ “best” like the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders were the last team to beat the Chiefs (last Christmas) before the Buffalo Bills got them a couple of weeks ago. And the Raiders have given the Chiefs a couple of one-score games this season, including on Black Friday.
And Daniel Carlson, who never misses kicks it seems, missed three field goals in the Raiders’ narrow loss against Kansas City on Black Friday. The Raiders had the Chiefs on the ropes. Aidan O’Connell made some awesome throws in the second half and Brock Bowers continued to make his case for Rookie of the Year.
But it wasn’t meant to be. The Raiders couldn’t get the job done and it’s probably for the best. This team needs a long-term answer at quarterback.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 13 was supposed to mark the exciting return of quarterback Trevor Lawrence to the lineup for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that was the case, but only temporarily. Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair put a hit on Lawrence that was as dirty as it was ugly.
Al-Shaair’s hit on Lawrence knocked the former #1 pick out of the game and had Lawrence out cold momentarily on the field before he was carted off.
When it rains, it pours in Florida.
The Jaguars, however, find themselves in the driver’s seat for the #1 overall pick after that loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. The Texans didn’t look like anything special during the win but Jacksonville is just in an ugly spot right now. Lawrence, injuries or not, has regressed this year and dating back to last year if we’re being honest about it.
The future of this organization is very muddy at the moment and they are going to likely hard reset in a number of key areas when the year is done.
29. Tennessee Titans
Things settled down for them quite a bit in the second half, but the first half against the Washington Commanders was one of the ugliest halves of football I have seen from any team in the NFL this year.
I mean, we’re just talking about a comedy of errors that allowed the Commanders to basically put 21 points on the board without even trying all that hard. The Titans were fresh off of an upset win the week prior against their other division rivals in Houston, but they pulled off that win despite Will Levis taking about 100 sacks and throwing a pick-six.
But it doesn’t have to be pretty in the NFL, you just have to get it done. Unfortunately for the Titans in Week 13, they weren’t able to overcome their absolute comedy of errors against the Washington Commanders. The Titans have been so bad at times this season that you can’t help but wonder if the team is going to move on from Brian Callahan and have him be one and done as the team’s head coach.
Regardless if Callahan is back, GM Ran Carthon has a lot of work to do for a roster that he added a number of high-priced veterans to these last couple of years. The vision for this Titans team is not overly clear right now.
28. New York Jets
Not that anyone is surprised by this, but the New York Jets have just sealed their fate once again. This team is now 3-9 and is guaranteed to have a losing season yet again. The Jets, barring the miraculous, will miss the postseason for the 14th straight year.
No NFL team has that long of an active streak, and certainly few fan bases are as miserable as the New York Jets right now.
The annoying thing for Jets fans is, they had the Seahawks on the ropes. They were playing pretty good football on Sunday…until they weren’t. The Seahawks mounted a late comeback and the Jets failed to finish once again. The situation with this team is so fascinating. Will Aaron Rodgers be back in 2025? And if he’s not, what direction do the Jets go?
As of right now, they are projected to be in the top 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft and would be within reasonable quarterback range. This is just a mess. It’s hard to see a prospective HC candidate coming in and agreeing to coach the ghost of Aaron Rodgers and delay a possible reload with the roster as talented as it is already. Get your popcorn ready for the 2025 offseason with this team…
27. New England Patriots
Say what you want about the New England Patriots this season, but Drake Maye can play.
The Indianapolis Colts mounted a really unlikely comeback against the Patriots late in the 4th quarter of a game in which Drake Maye had just done a tremendous job of doing his job, getting lots of different players involved, and the Patriots had balance offensively. Antonio Gibson was running well. Guys were out there making catches.
Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t hold up against Anthony Richardson and the Colts and the Patriots continued their quest toward the top of the 2025 NFL Draft class. And New England is in a unique position to benefit from whatever non-quarterbacks fall into their laps in the 2025 NFL Draft. Travis Hunter, Tetairoa McMillan, Will Johnson Jr…Any of these players would be tremendous additions to a New England roster that just needs to add talent around Drake Maye.
And this team should continue to ascend in the coming years. It looks like they’ve got another legit franchise QB. Maye is the real deal.
26. Carolina Panthers
Regardless of the result of any game from this point forward, is everyone in the Carolina Panthers fan base finally breathing? The Panthers looked like they might be on their way to having a total bust of a #1 overall pick at the quarterback position with how badly Bryce Young struggled in his first two NFL seasons. But after Andy Dalton was involved in a minor car accident early this season, Young took the job back and hasn’t looked back.
As a matter of fact, it looks like things have finally started to click out there for Bryce Young. The former Alabama Heisman winner has been playing with confidence, he’s been making big-time throws, and he’s got his team seriously competitive against good teams. I mean, the Panthers hung with the Chiefs and then the Bucs in consecutive weeks.
There are no moral victories in the NFL but in the context of the Panthers, having Bryce Young emerge this season is more important than their standing in the NFC South. Winning will eventually come if he’s figured it out, and it looks like that’s the case.
25. Chicago Bears
Who had Caleb Williams getting two coaches fired in his rookie season on their BINGO card?
All kidding aside, the Chicago Bears made a head coaching change one year too late. Although they might have made their head coaching change at the exact perfect time depending on which coach gets hired in place of Matt Eberflus.
The Bears had Eberflus face the music on Friday morning before they fired him and made franchise history in the process. The Bears have never fired a head coach during the season as long as that franchise has been around, so you know that the ownership was furious with the way things had been going with Eberflus at the helm.
Unfortunately, many people saw that coming before the year started. Asking Caleb Williams to save Matt Eberflus’ job was ridiculous in the first place. And despite the Bears making an offensive coordinator change, we still are seeing struggles at times on that side of the ball, although Williams has shown over the last couple of weeks the type of playmaking abilities that made him the #1 pick in the draft.
We are now on head coach watch for the Chicago Bears, officially.
24. Cleveland Browns
Browns play Monday night vs. Broncos
I think just about the entire NFL world was absolutely shocked to see the Cleveland Browns come out against their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers and get a win last Thursday, which now feels like it was a month ago.
The Browns have seen a nice uptick in production offensively since Jameis Winston has been stacking starts and nobody on that team is playing better offensively than wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. And Jeudy is getting hot at the perfect time because he’s about to have to go face off against his old team – the Denver Broncos – and his old college teammate – Pat Surtain II – on Monday Night Football.
The Browns are 3-8 this season but obviously the majority of their struggles have come thanks to injuries and the incompetence of Deshaun Watson. This is a team with so much talent defensively and a lot of nice pieces offensively, that it’s hard to count them out of playing the role of spoiler as the season progresses. And that’s exactly what they’re going to try to do on Monday night against the Denver Broncos.
The Browns need to finish their season well to prove that ownership made the right call extending both GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski.
23. New Orleans Saints
Too many injuries for the New Orleans Saints this season. The Saints dropped a home game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday despite the fact that a playoff spot by way of winning the NFC South is still very much there for the taking. Every team in that division has at least six losses so far this season and the Saints could have pulled within one game on Sunday with the Falcons losing.
But alas…
There’s still time for something weird to happen, but the Saints fired Dennis Allen in-season and it’s much more likely that this team is destined for the top 10 of the 2025 NFL Draft than they are to sneak into the NFL playoffs as the NFC South champions.
But this is the NFL and weird stuff happens all the time, right?
That would be one of the great upsets of the year if it happens. The Saints look more and more every week like they need a hard reset as an organization.
22. Cincinnati Bengals
Is it officially and finally time to write the eulogy for the Cincinnati Bengals?
The Bengals have special personnel offensively and it’s going to be a shame to see that offense left out of the 2024 NFL playoffs. Joe Burrow has 15 touchdown passes over the last four games for the Bengals and nearly nothing to show for it. The Bengals are one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL at 4-8 but among the NFL’s worst this year, they are undoubtedly the “best”.
I think we’re going to see a huge effort by the Bengals in the 2025 offseason to fix that defensive side of the football. We’ve seen the Bengals sort of over-correct their areas of weakness since Joe Burrow came aboard but this team is almost exclusively focused on the offseason. And if they end up losing a 9th game soon, I don’t know how much longer Zac Taylor is going to keep his job as head coach of this team.
The more the Bengals lose, the closer they get to potentially entering Travis Hunter or Will Johnson territory in the 2025 NFL Draft…
21. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys might have started a winning streak a little too late, but finishing strong wouldn’t be the worst thing for this franchise after all that’s transpired this year.
The Cowboys have been ravaged by injuries including injuries to their most important players on either side of the ball, but Cooper Rush has made enough plays the last two weeks in Dak Prescott’s absence to help Dallas to two straight divisional wins.
But let’s be honest – how could the Cowboys have lost to the Giants at home, even with their backup quarterback in the mix?
The Cowboys were just so strapped this offseason against the salary cap that it was always going to be tough for them to improve a roster that had lost so much in free agency. Not to mention, the loss of Dan Quinn has been bigger than anyone in Dallas could have possibly imagined.
20. San Francisco 49ers
I tried to hold out hope for the San Francisco 49ers this year. I really did. But ultimately, we should probably just call this team the 25ers because they’re about half of what the 49ers were at their best last year.
This is just a simple situation where injuries have taken their toll, and this team is obviously not at full strength. I don’t even feel right ranking them like this. It feels gross. The 49ers are too good for this. The NFL is better when these guys are in the mix because Kyle Shanahan is such a great coach and the roster is so special.
This is a wasted year for the 49ers thanks to the injury bug and I don’t know what that means going forward. With the way things are in the NFC West right now, you can’t completely count the 25ers out this year, but it isn’t like you should be rushing to buy low betting on this team or something. This is the most pessimistic I’ve been about the 49ers since before they traded for Christian McCaffrey. I will miss seeing these guys in the playoffs.
19. Miami Dolphins
After a three-game winning streak put them back in the conversation for an AFC Wild Card playoff spot, but they ran into a buzzsaw when they had to travel to Green Bay, Wisconsin to face off against the Packers on Thanksgiving.
The Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa are borderline pathetic when it comes to their performance in cold weather games, and that’s something that they’ve got to be able to overcome if you want to compete against literally every good team in the AFC right now (save for the Texans).
The Dolphins just lost Tua Tagovailoa too early this season. We talk about building a margin for error all the time on these NFL Power Rankings and the Dolphins just weren’t able to build that up with Tagovailoa’s scary injury earlier this season. They are not out of it in the AFC playoff race, by any means, but it’s not looking good for the Dolphins after that loss against the Packers.
Getting to 6-6 against Green Bay seems like such a drastic difference than 5-7 even though it’s just one game. They have a possible get-right game this coming week against the New York Jets.
18. Atlanta Falcons
You can’t help but wonder how close we are to the Atlanta Falcons pulling the plug on the Kirk Cousins experiment and moving forward with first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.
There is absolutely no way that Penix could have possibly done worse against the Los Angeles Chargers than what we saw from Kirk “Four Picks, One Chain” Cousins. The Falcons were coming off of a bye and playing at home against a team that had to travel all the way from the West to play in the 1:00 ET window, and they couldn’t muster up any better than 13 points thanks to Cousins’s ineptitude.
It was truly an appalling performance from Cousins, especially coming off the bye. He was telegraphing passes, putting the ball in harm’s way consistently, and being loose with it in the pocket. Again, there’s simply no way that Penix could have been worse.
The playoffs are soon to be on the line for this Falcons team, which once had a pretty solid lead on the rest of the NFC South. The stakes are being raised week after week and with Penix in the back pocket, you can’t help but wonder when the Falcons will go to the rookie.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are another team that is just hard to get a beat on right now.
At their best, I think you can buy what the Bucs are selling. They’ve got tons of skill position talent. They’ve got playmakers defensively. They’ve got a charismatic leader at quarterback in Baker Mayfield, who has thrived since coming to Tampa Bay.
Unfortunately, the injuries have really piled up for this Buccaneers team this year and it’s worth wondering if there are too many holes letting in water and this ship will eventually sink. Although that’s a valid question, the Bucs got a much-needed win on Sunday to keep pace with the Falcons in the NFC South and the Falcons look rough lately. I think this division is a toss-up at worst, so why not the Bucs?
Unlike early in the season, the running backs are really dominating for this Tampa Bay team with Bucky Irving emerging as one of the best all-around threats in the league lately. There’s little doubt that this Bucs team is worse than it was a year ago in some ways, but I still believe they can be interesting in the postseason.
16. Indianapolis Colts
The Cardiac Colts are back, baby.
With just about two minutes remaining against the New England Patriots on Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts turned a 7-point deficit into a one-point lead with some serious late-game heroics from quarterback Anthony Richardson. Richardson converted one play after another on the game-winning drive for the Colts, including throwing a touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal followed by converting a two-point play to win the game, essentially.
The Colts needing basically a miraculous drive to upend the Patriots isn’t necessarily indicative that they can’t compete in the AFC, either. We sort of expected the Patriots to make life hard on Indy this week.
With that being said, the Colts now enter their bye week feeling much, much better about their overall playoff chances at 6-7 instead of 5-8. They are hoping the Broncos drop their Monday night game against the Browns so they can creep ever closer to that wild card spot because Indy’s next matchup is in Denver in Week 15.
15. Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals were gifted a golden opportunity against the Minnesota Vikings on the road, and they just flat-out blew it. The Cardinals were orchestrating what appeared to be the perfect game-winning type of drive late in the 4th quarter against Minnesota but they couldn’t capitalize once they got deep in the red zone.
Kyler Murray made one too many mistakes against Minnesota and the Cardinals let the Vikings escape with another close, one-score win.
Unfortunately, this loss for the Cardinals also came with terrible timing as the Seattle Seahawks made a comeback out in East Rutherford to beat the New York Jets. If this were the final week of the season, that close loss would have cost the Cardinals their shot at the playoffs. As things stand now going into Week 14, the Cardinals are now a game behind Seattle and are in desperate need of a bounce back as quickly as possible.
14. Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams just keep finding ways to stay relevant and they keep finding ways to keep me interested.
When you look at this team on paper, how can you not like the chances of a Sean McVay coached team with a healthy Matthew Stafford and top playmakers like Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp? The Rams have all the makings to be dangerous in the playoffs, but they have to get there first.
The Rams escaped New Orleans with a win on Sunday and it was a much-needed win to keep pace in their division. The Cardinals lost on Sunday for the second game in a row, giving the Seahawks a one-game lead in the division with a road trip to Arizona looming. Meanwhile, the Rams are either going to sink or swim in their next two games.
They play on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills (in LA, thankfully) before going on the road to face off against the San Francisco 49ers on a short week. The 49ers are getting healthier every week, even if they’re not the same team we’ve seen in recent years. The Rams need to win these next two games to prove they are a playoff-ready squad.
13. Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks have caught a little bit of fire in the last three weeks, winning three straight games and putting themselves back in the driver’s seat of the NFC West. With the Arizona Cardinals blowing their lead against the Minnesota Vikings, the Seahawks made a comeback against the Jets and found a way to not only beat the Jets but take hold of 1st place in their division.
The Seahawks are going to be an interesting team to monitor as the rest of the season progresses. It’s been a down year for the NFC West as a whole so far due largely to injuries in the division, and it’s still very much a wide-open race out there.
The good news for the Seahawks is that they can really stake their claim on the top spot in the West this coming weekend with a road trip to Arizona and division implications all over the place.
That game in Arizona will be massive because the Seahawks’ next two matchups are against the Packers and Vikings, two of the best in the NFC.
12. Houston Texans
I think we all expected the Houston Texans to be a lot better in 2024 than we’ve seen from them. And yet, they are still 8-6 and leading the AFC South. The Texans, however, still have teams like the Colts knocking at their door.
This is a team that lost last week to the Tennessee Titans – one of the worst teams in our NFL power rankings basically all year long – despite sacking Will Levis eight times and getting a pick-six. I hate to say it, but this team really has the look of a squad that’s about to get bounced out of the first round of the playoffs. But you never know – they could get hot at exactly the right time. They just don’t have the same type of mojo that we saw last season from them.
But the components are all there for Houston to be dangerous late in the season. They have a playmaker at quarterback. They can rush the passer defensively. They have an elite playmaker on offense (Nico Collins) and in the secondary (Derek Stingley). All of the pieces are there and it’s the primary reason we loved the Texans coming into the year. But they have a lot to prove the rest of this regular season.
11. Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders needed a get-right game in the worst way, and the Tennessee Titans were willing to oblige. The Titans were basically giving the Commanders one possession after another in the first half of their rather easy win on Sunday, and there really wasn’t much concern about this one at all.
When the Commanders play this balanced offensively, they are tough to beat. Jayden Daniels had himself a day with four total touchdowns, and he only needed just over 200 yards passing in the process.
After hosting the Titans in Week 13, the Commanders will play on the road against New Orleans in two weeks. This team having a chance to go get some rest with an 8-5 record is going to feel really good and if they can get just one or two more wins the remainder of the season, the Commanders should be able to complete a comeback for the ages, going from picking 2nd overall in last year’s draft to competing in the playoffs as a Wild Card team.
If it wasn’t for the Eagles being so white hot right now, the Commanders might be one of the NFL’s worst-to-first teams. They are going to be dangerous in the postseason.
10. Denver Broncos
Broncos play Monday night vs. Browns
The Denver Broncos have been one of the NFL’s biggest surprise teams of 2024 so far. The team that was labeled as having the worst roster in the entire NFL and a head coach who was out of his depth has already won seven games, well above the five wins they were projected to win going into the season.
And not only have the Broncos exceeded expectations up to this point, but they are a viable contender right now in the AFC, even if the AFC is rather weak this year. There’s a chance the Broncos could climb up to that top spot in the AFC wild card depending on what else happens between their Monday night matchup against the Browns and the next time they play, which will be in Week 15 at home against the Colts.
This Monday night matchup is absolutely massive for the Broncos and will be a huge determining factor for their playoff chances. The Browns aren’t standing in their way but the Broncos desperately need another AFC win under their belts.
9. Los Angeles Chargers
The Atlanta Falcons have a rookie quarterback on their roster, but it wasn’t Michael Penix Jr. out there against the Chargers looking like he’s never faced an NFL defense before. It was Kirk Cousins.
The Los Angeles Chargers made life extremely difficult on Cousins and went on the road to Atlanta forcing four interceptions and a fumble on Captain Kirk en route to their 8th win of the 2024 season. Jim Harbaugh’s culture of toughness and grit is taking hold very obviously for the Chargers, and that defense in LA is really showing week after week that they are one of the NFL’s best.
Even though it was a low-scoring affair, the Chargers bent and didn’t break against Atlanta and forced turnovers at the perfect time. They were able to take advantage of the Falcons’ plethora of mistakes and keep pace in that AFC Wild Card race.
The Chargers don’t have the most dynamic offensive attack, but Justin Herbert is still extremely dangerous and when their defense plays this well, Herbert doesn’t even have to do much.
8. Baltimore Ravens
Any time I’ve been on assignment for the NFL Power Rankings this year, I have given the Baltimore Ravens the benefit of the doubt. There’s no shame in losing to some of the teams they’ve lost to like Kansas City and Philadelphia. But the Ravens have shown a little more than just a bit of weakness in the armor this season. This team has five losses. If they mess around enough with games upcoming against the Giants, Steelers, Texans, and Browns, they could end up with seven or more losses.
That seems so far-fetched given how good this team has been at its very best this season, but the fact of the matter is – the Ravens have lost five games. They are either going to use that as fuel, or they have completely eliminated their margin for error and are going to be in danger of suffering the consequences as the season rolls along.
I’m still very high on this Ravens team because of how we’ve seen them play at their best. But it’s frustrating to watch a team this good and this talented not step up in some of their biggest moments. Hopefully, this isn’t a sign of things to come for this year’s playoffs if you’re a Ravens fan.
7. Minnesota Vikings
Kevin O’Connell might be the NFL’s Coach of the Year. You have to tip your cap to O’Connell, who came to Minnesota a couple of years ago and had the Vikings seemingly overachieving with one-score win after one-score win. The Vikings were outrageously good in one-score games immediately upon O’Connell’s arrival, and that has not proven to be a fluke.
Although the Vikings were on the ropes a little bit against the Arizona Cardinals, they showed their mental toughness and resolve by coming back, marching down the field, and pulling off a huge win at home. The Vikings have now won five games in a row and at 10-2 are keeping pace with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
That alone is incredible and a testament to the job O’Connell is doing since the Vikings have done this with Sam Darnold at QB.
This Vikings roster is absolutely loaded at the offensive skill positions and the presence of guys like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, and Aaron Jones makes this team a truly dangerous threat in the NFC.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
You simply have to tip your cap to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who can go out there and win a 13-6 barn-burner on a given week and then win a 44-38 shootout another week. This Pittsburgh team doesn’t get enough credit for just how dynamic it has been all year and how great they execute in every phase of the game.
Not only that, but Pittsburgh’s offense has exploded since Russell Wilson came into the lineup a handful of weeks ago. The Steelers had to travel to Cincinnati after losing a tough one against the Cleveland Browns last week, and they not only had to overcome being the road team in this situation but they also had to overcome an early pick-six by quarterback Russell Wilson.
And frankly, Wilson did his part to erase that bad taste pretty quickly.
Wilson threw for a whopping 414 yards and three touchdowns as the Steelers got their 9th win of the year, keeping their hold on top of the AFC North for the time being. This Pittsburgh team looks ready-made for a deep run in the playoffs with the way their offense is playing and the fact that their defense can keep them in every game.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are kind of like the Roadrunner from the Looney Toons. No matter how hard that coyote tried to off the roadrunner, he just couldn’t do it. The Roadrunner always found a way to escape, and not only escape, but make Wil E. Coyote look bad in the process.
This is the Chiefs in 2024. They were one of the biggest favorites in the NFL going into their Black Friday matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and they couldn’t cover the spread. As a matter of fact, the Chiefs haven’t covered the spread for almost two full months.
I’m not going to sit here and say that the Chiefs are frauds – they’re not – but they’re certainly not as good as their record indicates. They have had to overcome injuries just like everyone, and you can’t discount the fact that they have been in every game. With that said, the minute the Chiefs play a team that isn’t crushing its chances of winning with self-inflicted wounds, they’re not going to be escaping with wins like we saw on Black Friday.
What are the odds of that happening for this team twice in less than three weeks? The Chiefs allowed two division rivals to march right into game-winning field goal territory only to have two of the wildest plays of the season result in a Chiefs win.
The Chiefs are either inevitable to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl or they’re going to be a quick one and done in the playoffs (first team in the NFL to guarantee a spot). They are 5th this week because these are NFL Power Rankings, not NFL standings. Style points matter.
4. Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers proved they are one of the NFL’s best teams on Thanksgiving. They have so much talent on both sides of the ball and they welcomed the Miami Dolphins on a three-game winning streak to Lambeau Field with a blowout loss.
The Dolphins came into that game desperately needing another win to keep pace in the AFC playoff race, and they could barely get on the scoreboard. The Packers are focused, they are dynamic offensively, they force turnovers defensively, they get after the quarterback, and they are mostly healthy right now.
I don’t know if there are many teams in the NFC more well-equipped at this point to go on a significant run. The Packers have proven this season that they are not without flaw but they have so much going for them right now, including one of the best coaches in the game.
I’m extremely high on the Packers as we enter the month of December.
3. Detroit Lions
Other than Jahmyr Gibbs posting a picture with a bunch of protection calls on a whiteboard behind him, the Lions aren’t taking losses these days. Even though the Bears gave them quite a scare there on Thanksgiving and even had the Lions on the ropes, I think everything that’s transpired for this team over the last handful of days will serve as a significant wake-up call.
The Lions are so good right now that they just have a bigger built-in margin for error than almost any other team. We even saw Jared Goff throw a whopping five interceptions in a game and this team still win.
But it’s going to be a different beast for the Lions as they play on Thursday again this week against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are going to present a different type of challenge for the Lions and the war on attrition for the Lions’ defense might start taking its toll.
This team isn’t exactly limping to the end of the regular season, but they might be bleeding a little bit.
2. Buffalo Bills
Alright, so are we giving Josh Allen the MVP award yet this year?
Well, not so fast on that one, but how many times have you ever seen a quarterback throw and catch a touchdown pass on the same play? At least, that’s the way the NFL scored it, and it wasn’t like a tipped pass that luckily landed in Allen’s hands. It was the type of play only a guy on an MVP heater can make.
Allen throws it to Amari Cooper, who kind of made a ridiculous catch in the first place, and Cooper pitches the ball back to Allen who was alertly running over to the action. It ended up being like a hook and lateral but Allen was the recipient.
The Buffalo Bills are so fun to watch. I was wrong in thinking that this team would have a bit of a hangover year without Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, and others. But they’ve had anything but. They’ve gotten so much better as a team and I think they’re going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
1. Philadelphia Eagles
I don’t think everyone truly understands the gravity of what the Philadelphia Eagles are doing right now. The way this team is playing right now, they are better than the team that won the NFC back in the 2022-23 season.
The Eagles are absolutely on fire, and there’s no better proof that you’re an unstoppable force than when you go into Baltimore, into the Ravens’ house where they are absolutely dominant, and get a dominating victory. The Eagles did just that on Sunday afternoon.
They went into Baltimore and steamrolled the Ravens. And they did it without DeVonta Smith.
The addition of Vic Fangio has proven to be absolutely massive for the Eagles after their complete debacle defensively in 2023. Fangio had the clamps on Lamar Jackson and that Baltimore offense which has been so dynamic all year long.
READ MORE: Latest 2-round 2025 NFL Mock Draft
You just have to hope if you’re an Eagles fan that the team is not peaking too early. If they can maintain this level of play with consistency, they’re going to win the Super Bowl.