It’s time to put a bow on our season-long exercise of NFL Power Rankings. After looking back at Week 1, it feels good to say that the only teams we really and truly whiffed on were the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys (too high), and the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders (way, way too low). Dallas and San Francisco were derailed by injuries while Minnesota and Washington are two great examples of how quickly fortunes can turn around with good coaching and a steady hand at the quarterback position.
While we will have the ultimate answer in a matter of weeks now, this is how I see the teams in terms of best to worst heading into the playoffs. For teams No. 16 and beyond, this is really an exercise in both how you finished and how quickly you can bounce back into relevance. As usual this time of year, we’re still figuring out what on earth Jerry Jones is doing. He, similarly, is trying to figure out how he can maximize the attention on—and reaction to—whatever decision he makes at the head coaching position. The inference is that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence, but how fun might it be to cosplay as an attention starved owner for just one day?
