In the current pro football pantheon, there isn’t a team hotter than the Dallas Cowboys.
Ever since they got pantsed by San Francisco in early October, the Cowboys have gone on an absolute tear. They’ve won seven of eight games to vault themselves into prime position for the NFC East title and for a top-two seed in the NFC playoff picture. Perhaps more importantly, Dak Prescott is playing the most efficient football of his career and has a genuine MVP case as he tries to march the league’s marquee team back to postseason glory.
And yet, Dallas’s resume still pales compared to what the Ravens — easily the NFL’s most overlooked team — have accomplished. Even me detailing what the Cowboys have achieved in the last two months ironically felt like it glossed over the current favorite for the top playoff seed in the AFC.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s look at a tale of the tape:
- The Ravens have five wins over teams with winning records, while the Cowboys have one.
- According to FTN, Baltimore is fifth, second, and fifth in offensive, defensive, and special teams DVOA, respectively. By comparison, Dallas is sixth, sixth, and eighth in each of those categories. That suggests Baltimore plays a better brand of complementary football.
- The Ravens are fourth in scoring offense and second in scoring defense. The Cowboys are first in scoring offense and fourth in scoring defense.
- Baltimore’s coach is John Harbaugh, a man with a proven playoff pedigree accustomed to taking his team on deep runs through January. Dallas’s coach is Mike McCarthy, a supposedly changed man who usually sinks his team’s playoff chances without a second thought.
None of this is to diminish the Cowboys’ resume.
At the moment, even if they do fall short of the NFC East title because of the Philadelphia Eagles’ remaining cupcake schedule, I feel comfortable anointing Dallas as the No. 1 challenger to the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC’s crown. But the Ravens deserve a whole heck of a lot more respect because they’re beating better teams and in style. And they’ve been doing it all year. I mean, it took this team over two months to appear in a primetime game. That is egregious and completely unacceptable. It’s not the Ravens’ fault they don’t have an entire media market backing their every brush with success and drama.
The Cowboys and Ravens are understandably a touchy subject for Christian and me in For The Win‘s Week 15 NFL power rankings. As almost every other contender falls flat on its face, we’ve got a wrestling match of superpowers up top.
32
Carolina Panthers
Last week’s rank: 32
C.J. Stroud was responsible for -14 expected points added (EPA) in Week 14. This is only notable for Carolina because he was still 12 points better than Bryce Young, who completed three passes in the first half of a 28-6 loss to the New Orleans Saints. His 40 dropbacks resulted in 99 net yards. — Christian D’Andrea
31
Washington Commanders
Last week’s rank: 28
As another lost Commanders’ season reaches its merciful endpoint, it’s worth noting that matters don’t seem as bleak in our nation’s capitol this time around. Sam Howell might have some promise under center, and there are awesome playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. But the defense needs a full overhaul, and Ron Rivera’s days are numbered as head coach. These are not fixes for one mere offseason. While the Josh Harris era provides more promise (by default, given who his predecessor was), the Commanders are a longgggg way from competing again. — Robert Zeglinski
30
Arizona Cardinals
Last week’s rank: 26
Arizona’s final season stretch featuring matchups with San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle couldn’t be more important to this franchise’s future. With the Cardinals poised to potentially own a top-3 draft pick, Kyler Murray still has to prove he’s worthy of having a team built around him. And whatever Jonathan Gannon has in his back pocket, now would be a good time to reveal it. Needless to say, a Cardinals’ future with Marvin Harrison Jr. compared to Caleb Williams or Drake Maye is dramatically different. — RZ
29
New England Patriots
Last week’s rank: 31
The Patriots rose up for Bill Belichick because they understand there’s nothing Belichick enjoys more than frustrating and annoying Mike Tomlin. And hooooo boy, did he ever. You don’t get much credit for beating Mitchell Trubisky in 2023 (or a clearly concussed T.J. Watt), but a win is a win, and it, so far, hasn’t been especially damaging to the team’s draft stock. Bailey Zappe’s first half vs. the Steelers was nice, but there’s no chance in hell he’s the team’s answer. — CD
28
Chicago Bears
Last week’s rank: 29
Chicago has a win streak for the first time in the Matt Eberflus era, which serves to do nothing but complicate the team’s offseason. Do the Bears move on from Justin Fields or build around him? How badly will these late wins affect their draft stock? Is there even a remote chance Eberflus can save his job (no)? But hey, at least there are a few silver linings in this season of storm clouds. — CD
27
Las Vegas Raiders
Last week’s rank: 23
The Raiders had 202 yards of offense. They scored zero points and lost by just three in a game no one will remember. Also, they’re on a three-game losing streak. The Antonio “I’m Not Josh McDaniels” Pierce honeymoon is over. — RZ
26
Tennessee Titans
Last week’s rank: 27
Will Levis got all beefy between college and the NFL Draft and anonymous scouts assumed he was getting too big, in love with his own muscles, etc. No, it turns out he just wanted to be a total brick [expletive]house and run people over with no regard for his own safety. That makes him a perfect fit for the Titans. — CD
25
Los Angeles Chargers
Last week’s rank: 22
The Chargers have lost four of their last five games. Everyone seems woefully unprepared and allergic to making a big play in the clutch. Both of which are two classic Chargers trademarks. What I’m saying is: how does the [expletive] does Brandon Staley still have his job? — RZ
24
New York Giants
Last week’s rank: 30
Tommy DeVito might actually be good. Or he might be benefitting from a league that hasn’t figured out his “live fast, die pretty” approach to quarterback yet. We’ll have a better idea over the last four weeks of the season but, hey, New York has honest-to-goodness (and very slim) playoff hopes in December! — CD
23
Atlanta Falcons
Last week’s rank: 20
An easy lift over the last four games of the season clears the way for the Falcons to get to 9-8 and win the NFC South. They won’t, because this is a franchise that identifies opportunity and then runs screaming away from it thanks to a fight/flight response that’s been trained to be broken in very specific ways over five decades of existence. — CD
22
New York Jets
Last week’s rank: 25
New York’s defense continues to give us “what if” shudders when looking at this team. Zach Wilson’s trying his best to get there, too. His return to the starting lineup provided the best game of his career and a performance worthy of the second-overall pick. Unfortunately, it’s such an outlier that you’d have to zoom way, way back on his career game-by-game output just to see it on the same page as his other 33 games as a pro. — CD
21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week’s rank: 24
The more this season wears on, it’s apparent the Buccaneers just might be the best of an abysmal NFC South. Nothing more. Seriously, they have a negative point differential. Please relegate that division for the season and give the valuable playoff spot to someone else who deserves it A LOT more. — RZ
20
New Orleans Saints
Last week’s rank: 21
The Saints won by 22 points Sunday in a game where they only gained 207 yards. Whoever wins the NFC South is going to get smashed to pieces in the Wild Card round. — CD
19
Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week’s rank: 19
Thursday night was a Steelers’ offense disasterclass. Add an offensive line that can’t block, a disengaged supporting cast of weapons, and a drowning former first-round bust quarterback together and you get a weird stringy soup of embarrassment at the hands of Bill Belichick. Once a surefire AFC playoff bet, the Steelers seem like they’re hanging on by a thread after two straight losses to two of the NFL’s worst teams. — RZ
18
Minnesota Vikings
Last week’s rank: 15
Joshua Dobbs is a master of gravity, plummeting back to Earth to be benched by two different teams after impressive starts with the Cardinals and Vikings. That’s fine, though. He’s proven himself as a useful backup and that’ll probably buy him another decade in the NFL. The question now is whether this grim quarterback play leads Minnesota to re-sign Kirk Cousins for some stupid amount of guaranteed money this offseason. — CD
17
Indianapolis Colts
Last week’s rank: 18
Indy is at the mercy of an unfortunate reality. Every backup quarterback is capable of stupors of competence until the floor inevitably caves in, showing why they were a backup in the first place. Gardner Minshew is a classic example, as one of the sport’s finer understudies couldn’t muster up anything consistent against Lou Anarumo’s Bengals defense. What’s more troubling for these playoff-bubble Colts is a defense that can’t stop anyone. Jake Browning might be a wonderful story, but a serious contender doesn’t let him light it up. — RZ
16
Seattle Seahawks
Last week’s rank: 10
Seattle went from 5-2 to 6-7 in a hurry. The Seahawks host the Eagles next week in a battle of teams in losing streaks, but after that, the schedule softens for a potential Wild Card bid. They’ll need Geno Smith healthy and, if we’re being honest, better than he’s been in 2023. Year Two, as the team’s unquestioned starter, has been rockier than year one, even with a stacked receiving corps. — CD
15
Los Angeles Rams
Last week’s rank: 13
The heartbreaking loss in Baltimore aside, Sunday was a demonstration that the Rams probably do have as much juice as their recent three-game winning streak showed. They wouldn’t have pushed the AFC Super Bowl favorite to the brink if they didn’t. With Matthew Stafford playing some of the finest football of his life, anything is possible for this team. Even in an obviously diminished form, write the Rams off at your own risk. — RZ
14
Green Bay Packers
Last week’s rank: 11
Green Bay had all the trimmings of a home crowd in New Jersey — Tommy DeVito’s extended family notwithstanding — and proceeded to look exactly like the same flawed team that went 3-6 to start the season. Jordan Love came alive late but that wasn’t enough to derail Tommy DeVito. Now the Packers’ playoff chances are in jeopardy once more. — CD
13
Cincinnati Bengals
Last week’s rank: 17
Is Joe Burrow a system quarterback? Many people are saying this (no one is saying this). Still, Jake Browning has been better than expected for a Cincinnati team that’s won his last two starts and re-inserted itself in the playoff race at 7-6. There’s probably a shelf life to that depending on how quickly opposing coordinators can turn his game tape into a blueprint on beating him, but it’s been a fun ride nonetheless. — CD
12
Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week’s rank: 14
After suffering a scary high-ankle sprain, Trevor Lawrence probably shouldn’t have played. But the Jaguars recklessly let their young face of the franchise get ravaged by a ferocious Browns defense. Lawrence could barely move en route to a horrifically inefficient performance rife with mistakes and poor reads. He could’ve used a solitary week of rest before an important playoff push. Now Jacksonville has a smaller margin for error en route to a second straight AFC South title. Nice work, everyone. — RZ
11
Cleveland Browns
Last week’s rank: 16
Joe Flacco is the Browns’ starter for the remainder of the season. That’s right. Cleveland is counting on an aged journeyman most famous for an “elite” meme to carry it to the postseason. I love this silly sport so much. — RZ
10
Houston Texans
Last week’s rank: 8
Fine, let’s give Houston a mulligan for Week 14. After all, the Jets have a stout defense and, well, it’s not like anyone else in the NFL’s middle class really made a name for themselves on Sunday. The problem now is that injuries may derail a promising season — both C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins left Sunday’s game. That makes an unlikely playoff bid even more of an uphill battle. — CD
9
Denver Broncos
Last week’s rank: 12
Turnover luck was back on the Broncos’ side on defense, so of course, they won in decisive fashion in L.A. But saying takeaways and turnovers are the sole reason for Denver’s success would be disingenuous in this case. The Broncos have a punishing ground game led by Javonte Williams, a late-stage Russell Wilson playing some of the more efficient caretaker football of his career, and a talented defense finally playing up to snuff. Yes, they need turnovers to win. But that’s the situation for most teams. The Broncos are so much more than that and can potentially make some noise in a top-heavy AFC. — RZ
8
Buffalo Bills
Last week’s rank: 9
First things first, this is not a Sean McDermott redemption story. What he said about 9/11 to motivate his team was appalling, and the overall report about his conduct as the Bills’ coach is decidedly not a “hit piece.” That said, seeing the Bills respond to all of their ongoing controversy by winning on the road against the Chiefs is telling. It’s improbable the Bills recover enough to qualify for the postseason. But by golly, they have Josh Allen, and they’re going to go down swinging. — RZ
7
Miami Dolphins
Last week’s rank: 6
I’d previously assumed the Dolphins were only capable of losing to good teams. But then Tyreek Hill got hurt and their defense gave up 327 passing yards to Will Levis and, well, it turns out they’re capable of losing to anyone. We didn’t need more reasons not to trust Miami, yet here we are. — CD
6
Detroit Lions
Last week’s rank: 7
What on Earth has happened to Detroit’s defense? Ever since Lamar Jackson ran circles around Aaron Glenn’s unit, it’s seemingly lost its edge. After starting the season on a top-10 pace, the Lions can’t stop anyone, with Justin Fields’ wizardry handing Detroit another humbling loss. The Lions have now allowed at least 28 points in four of their last seven games. They’ve allowed less than 26 just once. The next impact play Aidan Hutchinson makes save for a few Fields-created sacks, will be one of the few. Everything about this crew screams pretender, a first-round loss, and a historic but empty-calorie division title. That’s such a shame because this Lions season should’ve been a storybook year. — RZ
5
Philadelphia Eagles
Last week’s rank: 5
We knew the Eagles were flawed. We didn’t know they’d play such a perfect role in the Cowboys’ hype cycle. The once formidable Philly defense is allowing more than 428 yards per game over the last six weeks, which has been great for some come-from-behind victories but is also the genesis of this two-game losing streak and a major contributor to the blood pressure crisis across eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. — CD
4
Kansas City Chiefs
Last week’s rank: 4
Sunday’s loss to the Bills was not shocking because of Kadarius Toney lining up offsides. It was shocking because we’ve never seen Patrick Mahomes meltdown in such an epic fashion to one call by the officials. It’s almost as if the unnecessary rage was a lot more about Mahomes’ frustrations with the Chiefs’ season. Kansas City is now 8-5, having lost four of its last five games. It’s crystal clear that this team should’ve added more playmakers on offense, the main culprit for this slow collapse. So, a Super Bowl defense now seems increasingly unlikely. If I were Mahomes, I probably would’ve condensed this mess into a hissy fit about an offsides call, too. — RZ
3
Dallas Cowboys
Last week’s rank: 3
The Cowboys had the biggest win of Week 14. Why aren’t they in the top two? Because the Baltimore Ravens have three wins over opponents with a 40 percent chance of making the playoffs or better. Dallas has one, and it happened Sunday night. On the plus side, a small sample size suggests Mike McCarthy’s appendix was the thing holding him back this whole time. — CD
2
Baltimore Ravens
Last week’s rank: 2
Baltimore was pushed by a red-hot Rams team, but the challenge should be welcome. If there’s one thing the Ravens needed in the wake of Mark Andrews’ injury, it was a one-score battle against a playoff contender. Who stepped us as heroes might be even more notable. When the Ravens needed more receiving punch, Odell Beckham Jr. finally started playing like a legit big-play threat. When his team needed him to make a few clutch throws, Lamar Jackson didn’t flinch. Tylan Wallace’s walk-off punt return became a fitting cherry on top. Baltimore is in the driver’s seat for a Super Bowl berth. Wild days like Sunday made this team feel like one of destiny. — RZ
1
San Francisco 49ers
Last week’s rank: 1
While the rest of their elite peers fumble around, the 49ers continue doing what they do best: steamrolling everyone. Sunday’s blowout win over the Seahawks was especially terrifying because of the 49ers’ business-like approach. Over 500 yards of offense. An over 50 percent conversion rate on offensive third downs and a less than 20 percent conversion rate on defensive third downs. Minimal penalties. And textbook execution from a constellation of stars without breaking a sweat. The 49ers have now won five straight games in convincing fashion. At this rate, I’m not sure when they lose again. — RZ
