18. Atlanta Falcons (8-7)
With a blowout win over the New York Giants in Week 16, the Atlanta Falcons move to 8-7 on the season and stay alive in the NFC South race. The Falcons made the shocking decision to bench Kirk Cousins this past week. Cousins was enduring a stretch of games with one touchdown pass against a whopping nine interceptions.
And on a side note, the Falcons will also be moving on from Kirk Cousins in the 2025 NFL Offseason, so it'll be interesting to see where Cousins would land. Penix looked solid in his first NFL start, and his interception was not at all his fault. Right now, Atlanta is in an interesting position; they are clearly still in a mode where they want to win now, but they also have an eye on the future with Penix.
Since the Falcons did bench Kirk Cousins, the entire franchise can now turn their attention to doing whatever it takes to ensure Michael Penix Jr is the QB of the future for them. The Falcons are an average football team.
17. Seattle Seahawks (8-7)
The Seattle Seahawks are now 8-7 on the season after their latest loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Now two losses in a row, Seattle was unable to beat the Green Bay Packers at home in Week 15 and were unable to beat the Minnesota Vikings at home in Week 16. It’s been an NFC North takeover in Seattle in recent weeks.
And this is the most predictable team in the NFL; some have said that Seattle is a frisky team and that Geno Smith is a better QB than we think, but this is their ceiling. At best, they are a nine-win team and won’t go anywhere substantive until they bring in a franchise QB.
They have gone 9-8 in each of the last two seasons and could again go 9-8 here in 2024. It’s actually hilarious how “mid” they are, as the cool kids would say. Losing again against a much better team, the Seahawks fall a bit more in our NFL power rankings and are coming in at no. 17.
Let’s see how this team operates in the offseason and if they make a big play for a potential franchise QB.