1. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 1)
The Panthers came out and absolutely dominated the Falcons. This team is rolling right now, and the defense had a good bounce-back performance after struggling against the Saints. It looks more and more like the Panthers are going to go undefeated, unless the Giants break another undefeated streak.
2. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 3)
With the AFC losing two of its three two-loss teams, the Cardinals get a bump up the rankings. In a pretty entertaining game, Arizona took down the Vikings 23-20. While the #1 seed may be out of play, this team looks prime to enter the playoffs as the #2 seed.
3. New England Patriots (Last week: 4)
This week couldn’t get much better for Patriots fans. This team is getting progressively more healthy, the Bengals and Broncos lost, Andy Dalton broke his thumb, and the Patriots regained their form on Sunday Night. This team is still the favorite in the AFC.
4. Denver Broncos (Last week: 2)
Scoring 12 points against the Oakland Raiders defense is absolutely pitiful. While everyone seemed to be jumping on the Brock bandwagon, he hasn’t shown the consistency that starters need to have. This game opens the door for Peyton to play again.
5. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 5)
Losing Andy Dalton hurts this team a lot. Some really think this year can be different for the Bengals because they have a very complete roster. If they Bengals don’t win a playoff game with Dalton playing, this season will be viewed as a failure.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 6)
The Chiefs are now riding a seven-game win streak, and I would be really surprised if it didn’t end up at 10 going into the playoffs. The Chiefs have found a hot streak that they are going to ride until it dies. This defense is crazy good and hasn’t allowed more than 22 points since they played Green Bay in Week 3.
7. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 7)
The Packers are starting to get things a little more on track. Mike McCarthy calling the plays is going to make an enormous difference for this team; Rodgers and McCarthy have unquestionable chemistry. They finish the season with Oakland, Arizona, and Minnesota.
8. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 8)
Without Thomas Rawls and Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks are searching for answers at the running back position. Thankfully Russell Wilson is on absolute fire right now. He has 16 TDs and 0 interceptions in the last four weeks. They have now won six of their last seven games. These are the ‘Hawks people have been waiting for.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 9)
Unlike the Jets, the Steelers actually do control their own destiny through a series of tiebreakers. If they get in, nobody wants to play Pittsburgh. The offense has averaged almost 500 yards in the last five games, and Pittsburgh has scored at least 30 points in five straight games.
10. New York Jets (Last week: 11)
The Jets keep winning, but unfortunately for them, they do not control their own destiny. If they are going to make the playoffs, they need to win over the next couple of weeks. They play the Cowboys this week before finishing up the season against the Pats and Bills.
11. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 12)
The Vikings are a team that really needs to win one more game to make the playoffs. Interestingly enough, the NFL has no teams with a 7-6 record. For the 8-5 Vikings, a win against either the Bears, Giants, or Packers over the last three weeks should get them in.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 21)
After looking like a team that had given up, the Eagles come up with two huge victories against New England and then Buffalo. The Eagles clearly want to be in this division race. After playing Arizona this weekend, they will finish up the season with games against Washington and the Giants.
13. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 10)
The Bills have had a lot of tough games over the past month, but they really have played themselves out of the playoffs. The biggest problem would be an NFL leading 147 penalties this season, which is over 11 per game. This is why they are losing games.
14. Washington Redskins (Last week: 18)
The Skins took care of business in Chicago against a Bears team that really struggles at home. Washington was comfortably in control of the game until the Bears scored two quick TDs in the second half. They ultimately won by a field goal they made, and one Robbie Gould missed…again.
15. Houston Texans (Last week: 14)
The Texans were defeated soundly by a significantly better team. Someone has to make the playoffs from this division. Believe it or not, it could even be Jacksonville. With that being said, the Texans are fully focused on a huge game with the Colts this weekend.
16. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 13)
After getting embarrassed in Pittsburgh last week, the Colts allowed 42 second half points to the Jaguars. Last time they played Jacksonville, they scored 16 points and won by three. This time, they scored 16 points and lost by 35. They have a huge matchup with the Texans next week.
17. New York Giants (Last week: 19)
The Giants did exactly what they needed to on Monday night: win. It didn’t have to be pretty, but they really had to get it done. Eli looked like an MVP last night and they will need him to keep playing like he did yesterday. This team is the favorite with Manning and Coughlin leading the way once again every four years.
18. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 20)
Oakland looked dead in the water prior to this game, having lost four of their previous five games with their only win coming by three over the Titans. The Raiders have three games this season where they have held a team to less than 20 points. Two of those have come against Denver.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 15)
Tampa Bay, like Chicago, is a team that shouldn’t be in the playoff race, but up until three weeks ago had a chance to sneak in. Since then, they lost to the Colts and Saints. Tampa is a young team, so missing the playoffs this season should not be viewed as a failure at all.
20. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 16)
What a nightmare this season has become for the Falcons. After six weeks of football, the Falcons were sitting in the top five of the power rankings. Many of us were patiently awaiting these late season matches with the Panthers, but they are meaningless now.
21. Chicago Bears (Last week: 17)
Up until last week, some people thought the Bears could sneak into the playoffs if Minnesota continued to fall off. Since then, they have lost back to back home games against the 49ers and the Redskins. They started the year 0-3, won four of the next six, and since have lost three of four.
22. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 24)
After losing to the Bucs in Week 2 at home, the Saints came back with a solid performance that ruined Tampa Bay’s playoff chances. The Saints have a lot of needs that they need to address this offseason, with most of those needs coming on defense.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 26)
The Jags are a tough team to figure out. Two weeks ago they lost to the Chargers, and last week they lost to the Titans. I was expecting Indianapolis to regain momentum. Instead, the Jaguars decided to go crazy and score 51 points, 42 of which came in the second half.
24. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 22)
While the Dolphins looked good last night, the Giants (surprisingly) held a lead in the 4th quarter. Lamar Miller is clearly a useful feature back, and they have weapons surrounding Tannehill. The questions are on defense and the offensive line still.
25. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 27)
The Rams have been really bad over the last month or so, but they actually looked pretty good on Sunday. This is the first time they have scored 21 points since November 1st. They also have a 4-1 record when Todd Gurley runs for at least 100 yards.
26. Detroit Lions (Last week: 23)
In terms of draft picks, this is probably a positive in the eyes of most Lions fans. However, they lost to a Rams team that has really struggled over the last month of the season. This is a game that Detroit really should have won, but they fell very flat.
27. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 25)
The Cowboys went to Lambeau Field this week and lost in a much easier way than last January. The ‘Boys knew they were going to lose that game, but they still tried to put up a good fight. McFadden is running well, but the passing game with this team is just lacking.
28. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 32)
Cleveland is bad and there aren’t a lot of things to like about this team. However, they’re 2-2 with Johnny Manziel as their starter, and 1-8 with McCown and Davis. On a team with weaknesses from top to bottom, this is something exciting that to have.
29. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 28)
When you play a team with two wins, you expect to play a pretty good game. Unfortunately, that is not what happened for the 49ers. They walked into Cleveland and got destroyed by the Browns and Johnny Football.
30. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 29)
The Titans got absolutely smacked by the Jets, and now they have to go to New England. At least Marcus Mariota caught a touchdown pass.
31. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 30)
In three of their last four games, the Chargers have managed to get just three points on offense. This team needs to spend at least two of their first four draft picks this spring on offensive linemen. This defense isn’t miserable, but the offense has put them in a bad spot all year.
32. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 31)
The Ravens were absolutely dominated by the Seahawks on what was supposed to be Sunday Night Football (the NFL flexed this game out in favor of NE vs. HOU). This team looks really bad, but you can’t blame them considering the injuries they have gone through. This team needs to take advantage of the draft slot they are going to get.