Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are back at #1 after this past week and look to continue their reign at #1 for the rest of the season. However, if they are not careful the rest of the top 5 could jump ahead.
1. Green Bay Packers
The Packers are back in the #1 spot on this week’s power rankings after their last outing against the Chicago Bears. It almost feels like Aaron Rodgers likes to toy with his division rival. The Bears were up in the first quarter and ended up leading the half before the Packers made adjustments on defense and scored the next 24 points to start the second half. If they keep playing at their best, there’s a pretty good chance they will cruise to the #1 seed and get home field advantage in the playoffs.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Somehow, someway, Tom Brady managed to pull off another miracle again and got the win against the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday. Brady’s touchdown to Breshad Perriman in overtime was his 700th TD of his career, the only player in NFL history to reach that mark. Granted, if they don’t blow a 21 point second half lead, his heroics wouldn’t have been necessary, regardless the Bucs will take the win and are on the cusp of a division title.
3. Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray looked a bit shaky in his game against the Rams this past week, as he threw 2 interceptions that directly led to points for the Rams. Even though he threw for close to 400 yards, it was not enough for the Cardinals to come back against their division rivals. In order to clinch a playoff spot, the Arizona will have to beat the lowly Detroit Lions on the road to do so.
4. New England Patriots
The Patriots were able to rest up on their bye week this week with the top seed in the AFC in hand. Bill Belichick has gotten the most out of his squad and Mac Jones looks impressive. Their level of competition over the last 14 weeks may be questionable, but they can only beat who is on their schedule, and they have done so. For Week 15, they have a test to see if they are for real against a hot Colts team looking to try and pry the AFC South crown from the Titans.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City was on a mission to thoroughly embarrass the Las Vegas Raiders for huddling on their logo before the game. Mahomes played a clean game, completing 20 of 24 passes for just over 250 yard and 2 TDs, while the defense and special teams came to play. It was a great win against a division opponent and keeps them in the running for the #1 seed in the playoffs. The Chiefs have to re-create this performance against the red-hot LA Chargers if they want to not only compete for the #1 seed, but hold on to their division lead as well.
6. Dallas Cowboys
Mike McCarthy sure was confident going into their game against the Washington Football Team, guaranteeing that his team was going to win. Even though he was right and they did win, they did let the WFT come back late in the game off a late TD pass and a pick-six, followed by an onside kick recovery. Each phase of the game dropped the ball late in the game and the Cowboys were lucky that Micah Parsons had one special game and sealed the win for them. They cannot have that kind of sloppy play against a good Giants defense.
7. Los Angeles Rams
Aaron Donald showed us all why he is the best defensive linemen in football. This past weekend against the Arizona Cardinals, he made Kyler Murray’s life a living hell, sacking him 3 times despite being double and triple teamed almost every single play. Stafford looked great as well, tossing 3 TDs against the former #1 seed in their conference. The Rams may have put the league on notice with their incredible performance, but COVID-19 may give them a depleted roster for their game at home against a surging Seattle Seahawks team.
8. Baltimore Ravens
There’s no easy way to put this: with Lamar Jackson injured, the Ravens are in serious trouble. Yes, Tyler Huntley was able to stage a late game surge to try and come back at the end of the game, but it was too late. Not only that, but because the Ravens within the division, the Ravens now hold a precarious lead in the division. If they want to hold on to it, they are going to either hope Lamar comes back against the Packers or hope that Tyler Huntley has the game of his life against arguably the league’s best team.
9. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers handled business against a New York Giants team that is looking forward to the offseason. Justin Herbert had himself a game, throwing for 275 yards and 3 touchdown passes. LA’s defense kept Mike Glennon and Saquon Barkley shut down for the majority of the game, with the Giants only scoring points in the final 5 minutes of the game when the score was already 37-7. The Chargers should be glad that they got a tune-up game, because come Thursday night, they face the red hot Kansas City Chiefs.
10. Tennessee Titans
The Titans finally got a chance to rest on their bye week this past Sunday, which only worked out in their favor. Julio Jones was able to recover from nagging injuries and AJ Brown is one step closer to coming back to play. Better yet, there are rumors swirling around the league that Derrick Henry will be ready for the playoffs. Having Julio back will be a huge help for Ryan Tannehill and the Titans, who are facing a Steelers team desperate to win and stay in the playoff hunt.
11. Buffalo Bills
The Bills came so close to completing a miracle comeback against the defending champions. Josh Allen may have started off slow, but he came alive in the 4th quarter, helping the Bills overcome a 21 point deficit to send the game to overtime. Allen finished the game with over 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards, but it wasn’t enough. Buffalo will have a chance to remain in the wild card race with a game against the struggling Carolina Panthers this weekend.
12. Indianapolis Colts
A bye week this late into the season gives the Colts time to re-assess what they need to do in order to hold on to the 6th seed in the AFC. Jonathan Taylor and Carson Wentz will need to have great games against the top-seeded New England Patriots not only to keep their spot, but to possibly make a run for the AFC South division crown. While this is no easy task, New England hasn’t been that great against the run and hasn’t really played against great competition, so the Colts may pull off the upset.
13. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals lost in heartbreaking fashion to the 49ers this past Sunday. Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter and was able to lead the Bengals to an opening drive FG in overtime, only for the defense to give up the game winning TD to Brandon Aiyuk, leaving the Bengals at 7-6 and in the thick of the wild card race. As the current 9 seed in the AFC, they can still make the playoffs with a little bit of help, but the Bengals need to win their game against the Broncos if they want to keep contending for a wild card spot.
14. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers pulled out a gutsy win over the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime, as Brandon Aiyuk managed to break the plane and got across the goal line. Jimmy G continued to find George Kittle when it mattered late in the game and in pvertime, solidifying their spot as one of the best QB-TE (if not the best) combos in the league. That connection will have to continue to stay strong against the Falcons if the 49ers want to remain the #6 seed in the NFC.
15. Denver Broncos
The Broncos played this game for Demaryius Thomas, who tragically passed away this past weekend. Teddy Bridgewater moved them up and down the field and the running game combined for nearly 200 yards on the ground as the Broncos steamrolled the Lions by a score of 33-10. As the current 10 seed in the AFC, the Broncos are going to have to continue to fire on all cylinders against the Bengals if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive another week.
16. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland got themselves a statement win against their division rival Baltimore Ravens. Myles Garrett showed out on the defensive side of the ball, scoring a TD after strip-sacking Tyler Huntley, which put the Browns up 24-3. Baker Mayfield managed the game well, throwing 2 touchdown passes during the game. Unfortunately for the Browns, 20 players have been put on Covid Reserve (including Baker and backup Case Keenum), making their game plan against the Raiders that much more complicated.
17. Las Vegas Raiders
I’m not entirely sure what the Raiders were thinking when they decided to huddle on the Chiefs logo at midfield. Whatever message they were trying to send clearly got lost in translation, as the Chiefs scored 35 straight points and put this game away early. They got smoked on defense and the offense was nonexistent until the game was way out of hand. With the Raiders at the 12 seed currently, not only will they have to win out starting with their game against the Browns, but they are going to need a lot of help as well.
18. Miami Dolphins
Miami took full advantage of the late bye week in order to get healthy, as seen with Devante Parker coming off the injury report. Getting healthy this late in the season is a must for the Dolphins, as it will be an all hands on deck situation against the Jets if they want to even have a chance of making the playoffs. As it stands, they are the 13 seed, so not only do they have to win out, they are going to need some help, too.
19. Minnesota Vikings
Dalvin Cook had himself a monster game and was the main reason that the Vikings were able to beat the Steelers this past Thursday night. He put up over 200 rushing yards and 2 TDs and was able to get crucial first downs at the tail end of the game. Kirk Cousins didn’t really play all that well outside of a beautiful throw to Justin Jefferson for the touchdown that would win them the game. Defensively, they have a lot of film to watch and need to figure out how the Steelers were a dropped pass away from scoring the potential game tying touchdown with no time left on the clock. They are going to need to figure that out soon, because they need to beat the Bears to stay in playoff contention.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
To say the Steelers came out lifeless in the first half would be a complete understatement. The Steelers weren’t able to stop a paper bag flying in the wind on defense and couldn’t move the ball at all offensively. At half, clearly there were serious adjustments made, because the Steelers looked like a completely different team and came close to completing a 29 point comeback with barely any time left on the clock and 1 play left. If they can put together a complete game against the Titans this upcoming Sunday, they can keep their playoff hopes alive.
21. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons got themselves another road win this past Sunday, this time coming against the Carolina Panthers. Offensively, Cordarrelle Patterson seems to be fitting in to his role as the number 1 running back, as he ran for just under 60 yards and found the endzone once. Defensively, the Falcons were able to keep Cam Newton in check and made Matt Rhule switch between Cam Newton and PJ Walker, neither of which was able to lead a comeback against them. At 6-7, the Falcons have an extremely slim chance to be the final wild card team in the NFC, but if they want to see that pipe dream come to fruition, they are going to have to beat the 49ers this week.
22. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks may have won their game handily, but there is some cause for concern defensively. Davis Mills, who prior to this game never looked as if he belonged on the field, threw for 300+ yards and had the Texans leading for a good portion of the game before Seattle’s offense came alive. Nevertheless, Russell Wilson looked more comfortable throwing the ball and may be back to his old self. The best way to be sure? Let’s see how he fares against the COVID-stricken LA Rams.
23. Philadelphia Eagles
The bye week was desperately needed for this Philly team, especially for Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders, who have been hurt the past few weeks. Gardner Minshew was able to get them a badly-needed win against the Jets two weeks ago, and may be needed again against the WFT. Sanders told media that he does expect to play, which will be huge in a must win game for the Eagles if they want to continue to hunt for the final wild card spot in the NFC.
24. New Orleans Saints
The Saints looked like 2 different teams in the first and second half against the New York Jets. In the first half, Taysom Hill couldn’t really get anything going and struggled throwing the ball. In the second half, especially the 4th quarter, Taysom Hill began to use his legs to score at will against the porous Jets run defense. Defensively, they were able to shut down Zach Wilson, which isn’t the biggest of asks considering most of the starting offense was sidelined due to injury. Hill will have to be better at throwing the ball if they are going to go into Tampa Bay and beat the defending champions.
25. Washington Football Team
Turnover issues plagued the Washington Football Team all game, and they weren’t able to overcome those brutal mistakes against the Cowboys, even with some late game heroics by all 3 levels of the team. Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen will see Micah Parsons in their sleep, as he was one of the main reasons that the WFT struggled offensively. Washington is going to have to hunker down and figure out how to beat the Eagles if they even want to sniff a chance at the playoffs.
26. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers desperately need to figure out their QB situation after their loss to the Falcons in Week 14. Will it be Cam Newton, who hasn’t played well since his return to the team? Will it be PJ Walker, who also hasn’t played particularly well when Cam gets benched? Will Sam Darnold come back and try to showcase what he can do in the final 4 games for the Panthers? Matt Rhule and the Panthers coaching staff will have to finalize a decision and hope that the Buffalo Bills doesn’t prepare for the one they choose when they come to play this coming Sunday.
27. Chicago Bears
It looked like the Bears had a serious chance to defeat their longtime division rival, the Green Bay Packers, at halftime of the game, where the Bears led 27-21. It was at that point the Bears must have given up, because the final score of the game was 45-30. Fields not playing particularly well (18/33 for 224, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, and a fumble) may be a cause for concern for Bears fans, and that concern may grow this week against a Minnesota Vikings team desperate for a win.
28. New York Giants
The offseason cannot come soon enough for Big Blue, as they will most likely be looking for a new general manager. If Sunday’s game against the Chargers was any indication, they may be looking for a new head coach, too. The Giants only managed 7 points until the game was way out of hand, and the defense could not stop Justin Herbert and the Giants offense. Unfortunately for the Giants, the Cowboys are coming to town and its most likely going to get ugly pretty quickly.
29. New York Jets
This was another game that the Jets looked shaky in the first half and then absolutely dreadful in the fourth quarter. Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara were able to run up and down the field all game, which tired out the defense and was a huge factor in why they lost the game, Additionally, Zach Wilson did not play well again, leaving fans concerned they drafted the wrong guy. The Jets will have a chance to look more complete as a team against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
30. Houston Texans
There were two positives for the Texans in their game against the Seahawks. One of those positives is the play of Davis Mills. He looked SIGNIFICANTLY better this past Sunday, completing 33 of 49 passes for 330+ yards and a touchdown. The second positive was that the Texans at one point were keeping Seattle’s offense in check. Other than that, it was another drubbing that will bring them one loss closer to the #1 pick.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville once again looked hapless and lifeless, this time getting shut out against the Titans. Trevor Lawrence continued to struggle throwing the ball, and his running backs did him no favors in the game. The only good thing that came out of this is that Urban Meyer got fired and the Jaguars can find a good offensive coach for Lawrence.
32. Detroit Lions
There really isn’t that much to say about the 2021 Detroit Lions. They cannot stop the run, as evidenced by the Broncos running backs plodding away for almost 200 yards combined. Offensively, they feel stagnant, as Jared Goff was only able to manage to complete just over half of his passes for under 220 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. This is a team that should have some more fight in them, but with the offseason not too far away, it’s entirely possible that the team has given up and are just waiting for the season to end and start vacationing early.