The NFL playoff chase is heating up after Week 17, and spots are filling up quickly in both the AFC and the NFC. In the AFC, all but one spot has been solidified heading into Week 18 action. In the NFC, we’ve got a little bit more drama in terms of the overall seeding.
And speaking of seeding, we have some major drama when it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft order and teams finding ways to win their way out of prime NFL Draft real estate this past weekend.
Week 17 was a wild ride, starting on Christmas Day and extending all the way into Sunday night’s epic showdown between two of the top rookie quarterbacks in the 2024 class: Michael Penix Jr. and Jayden Daniels.
There are plenty of risers and fallers in our Week 18 NFL Power Rankings, which will sadly be the final power rankings this year for the regular season. Time flies when you’re having fun. Thank you all for reading this year and let’s enjoy the final week of all 32 teams playing games.
NFL Power Rankings, Week 18: Texans falling, Chiefs back on top after Week 17
32. Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns, to me, are the worst team in the NFL. They would not be picking 1st overall if the season ended today, but they have been the least inspiring, least truly competitive team in the NFL this season.
There’s no better example than the past couple of weeks in which the Browns have benched Jameis Winston to throw Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the wolves, basically giving a free pass to the Kansas City Chiefs on their quest for the #1 seed, then to the Cincinnati Bengals who are trying to climb back into the playoff race, and the same this past weekend against the Miami Dolphins.
The Browns also restructured the contract of Deshaun Watson, ensuring his return next season. This is a dismal franchise with little to hang their hats on going forward. I have no idea what the future holds for this team and they’re not competitive at the present moment, either. Disgraceful.
This team’s stubbornness in 2024 has been difficult to witness.
31. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are another team that is just hard to watch each week.
I mean hey, some of you out there probably had Tyjae Spears or Calvin Ridley or Chig Okonkwo in your fantasy championships this past week. We will take any sort of NFL action we can possibly get as the season trickles to a close, but the Titans-Jaguars game featuring Mac Jones and Mason Rudolph at the quarterback position?
That’s about as brutal as it gets.
We talked about the Titans a lot this offseason as a team that really seemed to be approaching this 2024 campaign as though they had found “the guy” in Will Levis. That has proven to be anything but the case as the Titans’ former second-round pick has been benched and memed more times than this team has won games this season.
Titans GM Ran Carthon has a lot of work to do this offseason. I don’t think his roster was nearly as on schedule or ahead of schedule as he assumed last Spring and he’s going to have to take a lon look in the mirror this offseason before making likely a bold move to upgrade the QB position.
The Titans are luckily in a very winnable division right now, so Carthon has every reason to be aggressive.