The power ranks have been pretty certain on who the top teams in the NFL are over the past few weeks, and again this week there was not much movement. The Falcons and Patriots both improved to 12-2 to stay at #1 and #2, but the Patriots are closing the gap. The Steelers lost to the Jets, but were so far ahead of the #4 Saints going into this week, that they stayed at #3. The Saints, who lost to the Ravens, didn’t fare as well, dropping to #7 after losing to the Ravens, who despite being a solid team all year, finally cracked the top 5 for the first time all season in Week 15. The Eagles capitalized on the Saints loss and moved up to #4.
We had some movement on the bottom thanks to some of the bottom 5 teams winning. In a clash of the titans in Carolina, the Panthers got their 2nd win of the season over the #29 Cardinals to move into the #31 spot, dropping the cards to #30. The Bengals also won, moving them up to #29. The Seahawks control their own destiny to win the NFC West, yet are ranked #28. Amazing.
This week we saw 3 teams jump 5 spots in the ranks. The Colts moved to #13 after beating the Jags and taking control of the AFC South. The Lions played wild card spoiler 2 weeks in a row by beating Tampa. The Titans finally showed some life and beat the Texans, jumping them in front of a lot of bunched up teams. The biggest loser this week by far were the Jaguars, who fell 8 spots after losing control of the AFC South, and falling behind a bunch of other mediocre to bad teams.
Playoff Projection:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #4 Eagles
#9 Giants @ #6 Bears
#7 Saints @ #19 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Packers, #14 Buccaneers, #18 Cowboys, #20 Lions, #23 49ers
AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Patriots, #3 Steelers
#10 Jets @ #8 Chiefs
#5 Ravens @ #13 Colts
Top 5 Out: #11 Chargers, #15 Raiders, #16 Browns, #17 Dolphins, #21 Titans
Full Ranks:
1. Falcons – 82.74 – Even
2. Patriots – 82.40 – Even
3. Steelers – 71.40 – Even
4. Eagles – 69.66 – +1
5. Ravens – 68.19 – +1
6. Bears – 65.86 – +4
7. Saints – 65.75 – -3
8. Chiefs – 64.70 – Even
9. Giants – 64.10 – -2
10. Jets – 63.88 – +1
11. Chargers – 62.03 – +1
12. Packers – 57.03 – -3
13. Colts – 54.18 – +5
14. Buccaneers – 50.21 – -1
15. Raiders – 49.05 – +4
16. Browns – 47.68 – -1
17. Dolphins – 46.62 – -1
18. Cowboys – 45.39 – +2
19. Rams – 44.97 – -2
20. Lions – 44.71 – +5
21. Titans – 44.35 – +5
22. Jaguars – 43.71 – -8
23. 49ers – 39.89 – -2
24. Texans – 38.90 – -2
25. Bills – 38.78 – +2
26. Vikings – 36.33 – -2
27. Redskins – 31.37 – -4
28. Seahawks – 31.29 – Even
29. Bengals – 30.26 – +1
30. Cardinals – 26.64 – -1
31. Panthers – 24.94 – +1
32. Broncos – 21.89 – -1
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