The loaded slate of games in Week 15 of the NFL season promised drama, and we may have gotten more than we could have imagined.
It was an outstanding week for the NFL in Week 15 with so much drama throughout the course of the weekend. The Buccaneers and Falcons got it all started off on Thursday, but we had tremendous divisional matchups, a couple of huge upsets, and a potential Super Bowl preview with the Broncos taking on the Packers.
Our latest NFL Power Rankings for Week 16 will take a closer look at where each team has been up to this point, but with a heavy emphasis on their last four or five weeks overall. We're ranking teams based on their overall body of work, but a number of other factors like head-to-head wins (in some cases), and where these teams might be going after what transpired in Week 15.
NFL Power Rankings, Week 16: Broncos steal top spot, Chiefs free-falling
32. Las Vegas Raiders
Earlier this season, the Raiders played a game against the Chiefs in which the Chiefs started to kill the clock with a little over 5 minutes to play in the game. This week, they got obliterated so badly by the Philadelphia Eagles that the Eagles threw Tanner McKee out there for more than 13 minutes of action.
And the Raiders still couldn’t do anything.
This team is the worst in the NFL, and although they haven’t been in the 32nd slot on our NFL Power Rankings all year, they undoubtedly have been the worst team in the NFL for most of the year. The Pete Carroll experiment has to end. The Raiders can’t fool around with Geno Smith beyond this year (even though he didn’t play on Sunday). It’s time for wholesale changes for this team once again, and they need to think young.
They became the first team since the 2000 Browns to be shut out twice in the same season.
31. New York Jets
I’m not sure what we expected out of the New York Jets this week, but going on the road to face off against the Jacksonville Jaguars with their third-string quarterback went about as well as you could have expected.
At least the trade to acquire former 1st-round pick AD Mitchell at the wide receiver position continues to look like a total steal for this Jets team moving forward. Mitchell finished this game against the Jaguars with another receiving touchdown, his second in the last three games.
The Jets are just showing up for their jobs at this point. They have nothing to play for except future contracts and some evaluation on the pro scouting side of things. This was a horrendous showing, but it was also expected.
30. Arizona Cardinals
What can we really say at this point about the Arizona Cardinals that hasn’t already been said for the past couple of months? This is a team that is on the cusp of some massive offseason changes being made, and we’ll see the extent of it beyond just moving on from quarterback Kyler Murray.
The Cardinals’ decision to shut down Murray for the season will likely lead to an offseason overhaul, and I’m not sure Jonathan Gannon will be around to see it take place. The interesting factor here is the fact that there have been so many injuries to this roster, but it feels like the Cardinals are going to start over and maybe even sell a little bit in the offseason.
It’s rebuilding time for this crew after the past three seasons just didn’t progress as expected with Gannon in the head coach’s spot.
29. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans definitely aren’t spectacular, by any stretch, but they put up a good fight every week and at least a handful of highlight plays. As we have been saying literally all season, this year is all about just making sure you’ve got yourself a franchise quarterback. And I think the Titans can confidently say that.
And how about some pieces around him?
I’m not sure how long Tony Pollard is going to be around for this Titans team, but he’s put up a couple of really nice performances the past two weeks, and we just saw the biggest game yet this year from rookie tight end Gunnar Helm.
That guy was an absolute steal for the Titans, and has played well this year, but he led the team in receiving on Sunday with 49 yards and a touchdown. It’s the little victories for the Titans.
28. New York Giants
The New York Giants obviously are heading toward an offseason looking for a brand-new head coach after the in-season firing of Brian Daboll. One thing you don’t want to see is Mike Kafka calling designed QB runs and getting Jaxson Dart sent to the medical tent like we saw on Sunday afternoon.
That’s one of the biggest reasons why Daboll was let go.
The Giants have to feel like they’ve found a possible franchise QB of the future, but what will their new head coach think after watching Dart’s tape from this season? It’ll be interesting to see how the Giants approach the offseason, especially if they lose their way to the #1 overall pick.
It’s clear that the cupboard isn’t bare here. They’ve got to think about being aggressive and hoping Malik Nabers/Cam Skattebo can return to form.
27. Washington Commanders
The season is relatively over for the Washington Commanders, but it’s fun to get a win against the New York Giants.
Especially when you have a return touchdown.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a good game, Terry McLaurin had another good game, and the Commanders had just enough in this one to get a win against the Giants, who made it a little interesting late.
We’re not writing post-mortems for teams at this point, but it’s clear that the Commanders are a team right now that’s just fighting with one eye on next offseason. They’ll gladly take some positive evaluations on young guys they can move forward with, but it’s all about reloading in 2026 and figuring out how to get Jayden Daniels back to form.
26. Cleveland Browns
We tried to send a little bit of a warning last week with the way Shedeur Sanders played against the Titans: You don’t get to play the Titans every single week.
The last thing you want to do when a guy throws for as many yards as we saw from Sanders last week is diminish it by instantly talking about the poor opponent, but you can see now why folks were a little skeptical of a repeat performance against the Bears, especially on the road.
Sanders threw a trio of interceptions as Myles Garrett continued to climb toward the NFL’s all-time sack record, which he will now have a chance to accomplish at home next week against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. How about that?
At this point, that’s the one thing you’re really looking forward to if you are a Browns fan, as well as hopefully watching Shedeur Sanders bounce back against a top-tier team in the AFC on the road.
25. Cincinnati Bengals
As interesting as it was to have Joe Burrow come back here late in the season, it’s turned into a disaster of epic proportions for the Cincinnati Bengals. Folks out there who are experts at reading body language and interpreting press conferences are saying that Joe Burrow is extremely unhappy in his situation with the Bengals, and could demand a trade in the offseason.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The Bengals were just dominated against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, and that came on the heels of Burrow making some rather concerning comments, basically asking the question of why he would continue playing football if it’s no longer fun.
It really sounded like Burrow could pull an Andrew Luck, all things considered, and would you blame him? Burrow has been beaten up significantly since he got to the NFL with a variety of pretty significant injuries. The Bengals might have to do some recruiting this offseason to figure out that situation, or it could get ugly fast.
24. New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are here to wreck your season, and they don’t care a ounce. The Saints have been hilariously fun the past few weeks with Tyler Shough at the quarterback position. At first, we’re just watching this team with a little bit of intrigue, right?
Maybe Tyler Shough has something.
Maybe the Saints will just give us something else to laugh at on a weekly basis…
You have to give credit where it’s due, and Kellen Moore deserves plenty. He’s put this team in a position where they have beaten the Bucs and Panthers in back-to-back weeks with the top of the division at stake. The Saints are playing spoiler, and I love it.
It’s a shame they’ve already lost 10 games, because their next three matchups are against the Jets, the Titans, and the Falcons. They could easily finish this year 7-10 after people called them the worst team in the league. And to be fair, this feels like a bit of vindication for me, because I said all along the Saints were not the worst team in the league going into this season.
23. Atlanta Falcons
You’ve got to give credit to the Falcons for staying in the fight even without much to fight for. Frankly, the Falcons are kind of in a brutal spot right now. There are a lot of people speculating about the future of head coach Raheem Morris after this season. There are a lot of folks already speculating about this team maybe trading away stud offensive weapons for draft picks.
This is a Falcons team whose franchise quarterback suffered yet another knee injury, an issue dating back to his earlier years in college. This is a team without a first-round pick next year.
The Falcons have many question marks for the future, but they’re playing spoiler for their division rivals, and you have to respect it. They’ve got guys playing for big-money contracts in the offseason, and we saw them come through on Thursday night.
22. Kansas City Chiefs
Who would have possibly thought we would see something like this? The Kansas City Chiefs, after nine-straight AFC West division titles, have been eliminated from the playoff picture completely after a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Of course, that storyline pales in comparison to what we saw late in the game against the Chargers, which was star quarterback Patrick Mahomes going down with a left knee injury. Thankfully, Mahomes wasn’t carted off the field, but he was writhing on the ground in pain for quite some time after seemingly hyperextending his knee, and he was helped off the field into the tunnel after the loss.
Hopefully, Mahomes has avoided any structural damage to his knee, but with the Chiefs now eliminated from playoff contention, it might not be the worst idea for them to shut Mahomes down and give over the reins to Gardner Minshew for the final three weeks.
21. Minnesota Vikings
The NFL world had its fun when it came to making JJ McCarthy, AKA “Nine”, an absolute meme. Since McCarthy became the laughingstock of the NFL, he’s actually played some pretty great football.
Good enough, at least, to have Cowboys fans talking about firing Matt Eberflus after the Vikings’ rather stunning in on Sunday Night Football. Look, the Cowboys don’t really lose at home this season, at least not often. Even with a porous defense, they’ve been lighting up the scoreboard at home and the Vikings got the job done.
It’s yet another impressive coaching job by Kevin O’Connell, whose team is well out of range in a brutally difficult NFC North this season, but doing more than just saving face here. Every good game from McCarthy here on out is a deposit in the fan base’s faith bank for the future.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s sad to see how far the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fallen. Earlier this season, we were calling this team one of the top contenders in the NFC. The Bucs had it all rolling. They were playing well, finishing games, and looking like they were going to run away with the NFC South by now.
But this is a clear picture of what happens when you leave the door open a crack. Someone will come and kick it open. The “Cardiac Bucs” are now standing on the edge of the proverbial plank, and it’s not even about the Carolina Panthers at this stage. The Bucs just aren’t playing good football as a team.
They let the Falcons come back and beat them on Thursday night, and even Todd Bowles, who is typically extremely reserved, was fired up at his players. Justifiably so. This Bucs team is on the cusp now of missing the playoffs if they don’t figure things out quickly.
19. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys’ season is now officially hanging on by a thread. They didn’t really have much margin for error to begin with, and the Vikings just eliminated whatever margin the Cowboys had left.
This Dallas defense is just not good enough to compete for the playoffs. We have to face the reality staring us in the face right now. With three games left to play, the Cowboys will have to win out in order to really have any shot at all at making it into the postseason, and even if they get there…what then?
This is a Cowboys team that can light up the scoreboard offensively. Heck, I would argue they have even been great offensively for a good majority of this season. But two out of 12 on third downs? Two out of five in red zone appearances? That’s not a playoff team.
18. Miami Dolphins
Dolphins play Monday vs. Steelers
Ever since the Dolphins decided to mutually part ways with former general manager Chris Grier, they’ve gone on an absolute tear. This is a team that, just a handful of weeks ago, we were talking about as a huge seller at the NFL trade deadline, right?
This is the same Dolphins team that we were discussing the potential of Mike McDaniel getting fired, possibly even in-season, right?
Yes, this is the same team. The team that did entertain trade offers, even sending former first-round pick Jaelan Phillips to the Eagles. They fielded calls on Jaylen Waddle. They’ve lost Tyreek Hill for the season. Yet the Dolphins are quietly in the mix for the postseason right now and are running the ball better than most teams. Oh, and they get De’Von Achane back for Monday night. We’ll see if the pressure of playing under the lights instead of in the dark causes this team to crumble or get everyone’s attention.
17. Baltimore Ravens
After getting their butts kicked by the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving, the Baltimore Ravens decided to return the favor here in the middle of December. The Ravens put forth a rather impressive effort on Sunday afternoon, especially considering how “not themselves” they have been in recent weeks.
This win put the Ravens up to 7-7 on the season and they’ll obviously be right in the thick of things with the Pittsburgh Steelers in that division. If the Ravens’ running game can stay hot and that defense plays the way it did against the Bengals?
They might be cooking with a little something here entering the home stretch of this season. I’m not fully buying into what we saw here on Sunday given how sullen Joe Burrow was coming into the game, but it’s a great potential launching off point in December for a team that’s fighting to stay alive.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers play Monday vs. Dolphins
I can’t be the only one who just isn’t buying the Steelers at this point, even after a win against the Baltimore Ravens. That win doesn’t carry the same amount of oomph as it would have a year ago at this time.
With TJ Watt out for their Monday night matchup against the Miami Dolphins, I’m skeptical the Steelers are even going to be able to defend their home field, but they might be at their best when they’re getting counted out.
Against the Ravens, we saw Aaron Rodgers play one of the best games he’s played in a few years, quite frankly. And maybe that’s the hope for this team going forward. I hate to be negative with these NFL Power Rankings, especially because the Steelers have obviously done a lot right this season. They’re in control of their own destiny – for the time being – when it comes to winning that division.
They’ll get a massive test on Monday night with the Dolphins bringing their stellar running game and suddenly stingy defense to town.
15. Carolina Panthers
Panthers, I’m not mad…I’m just disappointed.
The Carolina Panthers have been an up-and-down team all season long, so I should not have expected that they were just going to come out and wallop the Saints in a must-win game. But after the Bucs lost on Thursday night, the Panthers had everything sitting right there for the taking.
Yet, here we are. They are 7-7 after a tough loss to the Saints on the road, and now they have to go back to the drawing board once again this week. I guess the good news for the Panthers is the obvious: The Buccaneers also lost. At least the NFC South is staying on-brand and everybody is keeping pace through the end of the season.
But if someone could win this division with an actual winning record, that would be great. The Panthers got Shough’d on Sunday, and apparently, there’s nothing you can really do about that these days.
14. Indianapolis Colts
How dare the Seattle Seahawks take this moment away from us? Colts fan or not, the entire NFL world was watching with intrigue as 44-year-old Philip Rivers, on the cusp of probably getting into the Hall of Fame, gave up his headset coaching at the high school level to come and play for the Colts in a playoff run.
I mean, I think Dennis Quaid was brushing up on his football skills to play this role in the movie that’ll certainly be made about it. Philip Rivers was not only back on the field for the Colts, but he actually had them in position to win. And then the Indianapolis defense couldn’t stop the Seahawks from getting into field goal range at the end, and Rivers threw an interception to effectively end the game.
But the season is not over, and there’s plenty of time for more drama. We’ll see if the Colts can bounce back. They face a brutal three-game stretch to end the year against the 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans. Yikes.
13. Detroit Lions
You can’t really fault the Lions too much for going on the road and losing to the Rams, although at this point in the year, can they really afford it?
The NFC is so loaded right now, the Lions wouldn’t even be in the playoffs if the season ended today. They’d be on the outside looking in with three teams making it from the NFC West and two teams from within their own division. That is a brutal reality to be facing with just three games left, because Detroit has been one of the best and most explosive teams in the NFL over the past couple of years offensively.
If they weren’t in the postseason, it would be one of the most shocking storylines of the year.
On Sunday, the Lions couldn’t do two things: They couldn’t stop the Rams’ offense, and they couldn’t get pressure on Matthew Stafford. And those two went hand-in-hand all afternoon. Matthew Stafford threw for 368 yards against the Detroit defense, which allowed 519 yards in total. Yikes. Maybe they’re not playoff-ready anyway.
12. Philadelphia Eagles
Once again, we have to take the opponent into account as we do with pretty much every team that won in the early window (with some obvious exceptions). The Eagles were going up against the Las Vegas Raiders, and we guaranteed a Raiders loss in that game, you’ll recall.
Still, this game provided the kind of good vibes the Eagles desperately needed. Their game last Monday against the Los Angeles Chargers was extremely frustrating. You turn the ball over five times, including a game-ending interception by Jalen Hurts? In overtime?
It’s just been that kind of year for the Eagles, right? It’s been frustrating, because we know what this team is capable of. And regardless of the fact that they were going up against the Raiders with their backup QB on Sunday, fans are going to expect that kind of dominance going forward.
Speaking of backup QBs, Tanner McKee got to play for over 13 minutes on Sunday. That’ll do.
11. Los Angeles Chargers
You have to tip your cap to the Los Angeles Chargers at this point, right? The Chargers may not have the prettiest 10 wins out of any team in the NFL, but they can claim someone not many teams in the NFL can claim at this point: They are undefeated in their division.
The Chargers have won their first five AFC divisional matchups this season, and they’ve put themselves in a position to at least compete for the division title here in the home stretch. It’s taken 11-straight wins by the Broncos to create some distance with this Chargers team, which just keeps chugging along and playing great defense.
They have played really great defense the past two games against the reigning Super Bowl and AFC champs. After forcing five turnovers against the Eagles on Monday night, the Chargers went on the road and dominated the Chiefs, winning another tight game and sealing the win with an interception.
We’ll see how this team does over the final three weeks, but they might start making believers out of people with that defense playing the way it has.
10. Houston Texans
You can’t overreact to one game, but the Houston Texans’ win against the Arizona Cardinals was one of their most impressive overall wins of the season. Even taking the opponent into consideration, we just haven’t seen Houston play this kind of dominant football for most of the year. You have to go back to October 26 for the last time the Texans won a game by more than a score. Even though they’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league over the past couple of months, they were able to maybe build a little bit more confidence offensively in this game than in previous weeks.
Houston has a real shot to go from starting the year 0-3 to winning their division. They probably have the best defense in the NFL right now, and a scary one that can rush the quarterback and play suffocating coverage on the back end.
9. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears were one of a number of teams that just went out on Sunday and absolutely cleaned up against their opponent. The 1:00 PM window was loaded with lopsided matchups, apparently, and the Bears got back on track after their annoying loss last week to the Packers.
And I say annoying because they kind of had a great chance to finish the comeback at the end, and couldn’t make it happen. Now, they’re going to get a chance at redemption in Week 16 with a home game against the Packers and another chance to push for an NFC North title.
That Browns defense is obviously no joke, but the Bears didn’t let Shedeur Sanders really get anything going at all. In fact, they didn’t really let the Browns’ offense, as a whole, get anything going. Even when Cleveland got close to scoring, that Chicago defense did what it’s done all year and took the ball away. This team is going to be so interesting in the postseason for two reasons: They can run the ball, and they can create takeaways in bunches.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s been really impressive to see the Jacksonville Jaguars emerge this year in the first year under head coach Liam Coen, especially considering they’ve been without arguably the biggest offseason pickup they made in Travis Hunter.
In fact, there’s really no “arguably” about that. The season-ending injury to Hunter was a devastating blow for this team on paper, but the Jaguars have had a number of other guys emerge week after week, and they’ve been playing some really complementary football. Their losses this season have mostly been against really good teams.
Nothing is truly a walk in the park in the NFL, but the Jags probably weren’t upset about getting the Jets at home this past week. They did what good teams should do: Take care of business easily, and don’t play down to your competition. A huge road matchup against the Broncos is on deck.
7. Green Bay Packers
I don’t think you can fault the Green Bay Packers too much for going on the road and losing to the Denver Broncos. The Broncos have won 11-straight games and have been playing some of their best football over the last month.
The Packers still might be the best team in the NFC, despite what the records would say right now. If the season ended today, the Packers would actually be the 7th seed in the NFC, which is wild to think about. At times this year, the Packers have looked like the most complete outfit in the NFL, including at times in their loss against the Broncos.
Unfortunately, they have some significant injury issues to worry about after that loss to Denver. The biggest one being Micah Parsons, who went down with a knee injury. Offensively, Christian Watson looks to be dealing with something potentially significant after absolutely tearing it up over the last couple of months. Those injuries loom large for this team going forward in the race for a playoff spot in the loaded NFC.
6. San Francisco 49ers
Once again, the San Francisco 49ers took care of business. Once again, I’m saying this is quietly one of the best all-around teams in the NFL.
The 49ers didn’t have the toughest matchup on the Week 15 slate, going up against the Tennessee Titans, but Brock Purdy and that 49ers offense continued humming.
This 49ers team is battle-tested, having played in a ton of big games through the years, so they could be really dangerous come time for the playoffs. It kind of feels like we’re saying this about every team, but they close out the year with a tough stretch of games against the Colts, Bears, and Seahawks.
And they might get the best of whatever the Colts have left, because they still have a lot on the line as well, entering Week 16. The question with this 49ers team is whether or not we’re actually buying them as contenders in the NFC with all of the great teams in that conference? I’ve been saying it for a while, but I’m definitely buying what they’re selling right now.
5. Seattle Seahawks
If you’re the Seattle Seahawks, you’ll take it.
Fans of the team aren’t going to complain about winning, but the Seahawks’ victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday wasn’t exactly the most impressive win of their season so far. Even with Philip Rivers coming in ice cold, it took a late, game-winning field goal for the Seahawks to beat the Colts.
I’m not sure if that says a lot more about Rivers or the Seahawks, but either way…
The Seahawks play in the toughest division in football. They are going to be battle-tested by the time we get to the postseason, but are they truly as balanced as what we’ve seen for a large portion of the regular season? What version of Sam Darnold are we going to get in the playoffs?
This is the type of win the Seahawks needed to pull off. They didn’t play their best game, but they found a way. Sometimes the wins that don’t look the prettiest are the ones that have you most ready for January.
4. Buffalo Bills
Wow, wow, wow…
How about that? The Buffalo Bills gave their response to the Patriots coming into Buffalo earlier this season and getting a decisive victory by going into New England and making a statement of their own.
It wasn’t a dominant win in terms of the final score by the Bills, but it was a statement, nonetheless. The Bills fought back after falling behind 21-0 early on in this game, and the Patriots were able to get past the Buffalo defense on multiple occasions. But it was that up-and-down Bills defense that came through in the end, stopping the Patriots’ offense and preventing a comeback attempt.
The Patriots were coming off of a bye in this one, so the way the Bills fought in this game is rather impressive. They are still a game behind the Patriots in the standings right now, but at 10-4 compared to New England’s 11-3, the race to that division title is officially on over these next three games.
3. New England Patriots
With the way the Patriots have played this entire season, you can’t drop them too far after a tough loss to a division rival as good as the Buffalo Bills. That was a hard-fought game, but if you’re a Patriots fan, it definitely felt like the perfect chance to see Drake Maye complete his first-ever comeback win in the NFL.
It didn’t happen.
There are going to be bigger games ahead for the Patriots, but this one was obviously extremely important. A win on Sunday would have put the Patriots at 12-2 and the Bills at 9-5, sealing the division title. A loss now leaves the door open more than just a crack for Allen and the Bills.
It’s concerning. There have been times this season where the Patriots have flirted with this kind of disaster, but they’ve been able to pull through. Not this time. We’ll see how they bounce back next week against the Ravens, who looked outstanding against the Bengals on Sunday.
2. Los Angeles Rams
There were a number of bad injuries around the NFL in Week 15, and the Los Angeles Rams had a potentially significant one of their own. We’ll all hold our collective breath as we await word on how severe (or not) the injury suffered by Rams wide receiver Davante Adams actually was.
For the time being, let’s talk about the team’s win on the field against the Detroit Lions. The Lions’ defense is an absolute sieve, and the Rams were able to put up over 500 yards against them. They scored 41 points and didn’t allow a single sack.
Over the course of the 2025 season, we’ve seen that the Rams are obviously one of the most well-rounded teams in the NFL. They sealed a playoff spot with their win against the Lions and are continually putting a ton of pressure on their NFC West rivals week after week by continually winning games.
1. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos have officially set themselves apart as the best team in the NFL right now with a win in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers. That matchup was touted by some as a possible Super Bowl LX matchup, and the Broncos handled the Packers impressively.
Even after Green Bay went up by nine points in the second half, the Broncos didn’t flinch at all. Pat Surtain II got an interception off of Jordan Love, the offense came through, and the second half once again belonged to this Broncos team.
Bo Nix threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, continuing to prove his detractors wrong. The Broncos have not put together one game of truly “complete” football, but that’s more of an encouraging sign than anything else when the team has also won 11-straight games. They are rolling with Jacksonville on deck.