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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Tim Weaver

NFL Power Rankings Week 15: Bills back in top-5, Bucs, Browns and Bengals on the rise

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The San Francisco 49ers are still No. 1 in our NFL power rankings. This week they demolished the Seattle Seahawks, beating them on the road by a score of 28-16. Since their three-game losing streak in the middle of the season, the Niners have been the league’s most-impressive team, winning their last five games by a total of 97 points.

However, the Dallas Cowboys look almost-as-imposing as they thrashed the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football. The victory kept Dallas at No. 2 in our rankings and dropped Philadelphia another spot. Somewhere along the way, Dak Prescott rightfully passed Brock Purdy for the best odds to win this year’s league MVP award.

As for the No. 3 spot, the Baltimore Ravens survived a thriller at home against the Los Angeles Rams thanks to a punt return touchdown in overtime. That was just enough to keep them at third place in our rankings. Meanwhile, the Rams pushing Baltimore to the limit actually boosted their ranking by two spots despite losing the game.

Rounding out the top four are the Buffalo Bills, who took down the reeling Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. Patrick Mahomes’ uncharacteristic outburst at the end of the game is evidence of the team’s limitations on offense this season, a flaw that makes a repeat as Super Bowl champions look increasingly unlikely every week.

In the middle of our rankings, the Seahawks are now mired at No. 19, down one spot from last week. As bad as they look defensively in Santa Clara they are now in a range of teams that they’re definitively better than on paper. They just happen to be going through a rougher portion of their schedule. We have a feeling that these Seahawks are about to turn things around, beginning next week against the Eagles – in large part thanks to Philly also going through a slump on defense.

At the bottom of our rankings we have another shakeup, as Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots finally benched Mac Jones and were immediately rewarded with a huge boost from backup Bailey Zappe. On Thursday Night Football they upset the Pittsburgh Steelers, who dropped five spots from last week.

Another team that scored a huge win include Washington’s own Jake Browning and the Cincinnati Bengals, who won a critical playoff-positioning game against the Indianapolis Colts and Washington State’s Gardner Minshew. After a huge drop-off following Joe Burrow’s season-ending injury, Cincinnati is once again knocking on the door of the top 10. No other team has had more wild swings in our rankings this year.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also made a huge jump in the playoff race, taking over first place in the NFC South from the Atlanta Falcons. As a result, they’re up seven spots from last week.

The biggest tumbles of Week 14 happened on Monday night, when the New York Giants upset the heavily-favored Green Bay Packers, who took a major dive down from No. 7 to No. 13 in our rankings. At the same time, the Miami Dolphins were also upset by the Tennessee Titans, but it only cost them one spot.

Here’s how we place all 32 teams heading into Week 15…