Although there were three games to go in the NFL season, Week 16 showed that the last eight quarters of the 2022 campaign are going to be as meaningful as anything that happened to this point.
Technically, the Buffalo Bills aren’t the No. 1 seed in the AFC yet, but they are playing like the best team in the NFL.
The San Francisco 49ers continue to stack wins with Brock Purdy, and the Kansas City Chiefs are doing what they do in December: win.
The New England Patriots continue to slide, and Washington is on thin ice.
Here are the power rankings to wrap up Week 16.
32. Denver Broncos (4-11)
Last week: No. 29
The rules are if you fire your coach, you go straight to the bottom of the power rankings, because if you were anything other than the worst team in the NFL at the moment, you wouldn’t be firing your coach. General manager George Paton got the first hire wrong. How many others will he be allowed to have? That puts a premium on getting the second hire correct.
31. Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1)
Last week: No. 31
The Jeff Saturday effect has worn off. The Colts are looking to get out of the disappointing season and regroup. Indianapolis has some pieces in place, but they may need to go hard and attack a rebuild head-on rather than simply get a veteran quarterback the way they have since 2020.
30. Arizona Cardinals (4-11)
Last week: No. 30
Another team that is waiting for the regular season to end, the Cardinals have the unenviable task of finding a new coach who can work with Kyler Murray while softly rebuilding around him. Arizona may also need a new general manager as Steve Keim is on a leave of absence, too.
29. Chicago Bears (3-12)
Last week: No. 28
They at least had a 10-6 lead over the Buffalo Bills at halftime. The Bears’ problem is they can’t finish games. Is that a lack of talent? Is that going to be a consistent problem with Matt Eberflus’ teams? It is safe to say Chicago has some offense at least for the duration of Justin Fields’ rookie contract. They need to shore up the defense.
28. Houston Texans (2-12-1)
Last week: No. 28
The Texans got the benefit of winning and also a few teams ahead of them taking a tumble. Nevertheless the ranking feels about right for a team that took playoff qualifiers two weeks prior down to the wire, and finally got a win over a division leader. The Texans may have some influential words to say about the fate of the AFC South with their showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17, but any further wins could impact their chances to secure the No. 1 overall pick.
27. Cleveland Browns (6-9)
Last week: No. 24
How do you blow a 10-0 lead and allow a dome team from the south to score 17 unanswered in the snow? Nevertheless these are the growing pains Cleveland will have to endure as they continue to form a scintilla of cohesion with their new signal caller.
26. Atlanta Falcons (5-10)
Last week: No. 25
Desmond Ridder gets credit for going 22-of-33 for 218 yards, albeit the rookie didn’t throw a touchdown. However, he didn’t chuck an interception or cough up a fumble; he only took two sacks against the Baltimore Ravens’ defense. Win or lose, the snaps Ridder and rookie wideout Drake London can get together over the next two games will be valuable.
25. Las Vegas Raiders (6-9)
Last week: No. 23
It is kind of hard to fault the Raiders. After all, they were playing patsy in a game commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception and the memorializing of Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris. Nevertheless even with the pageantry of the Week 16 encounter taken out, the Raiders did what they have mostly done in 2022: fail to close out.
24. Los Angeles Rams (5-10)
Last week: No. 26
The pairing of Baker Mayfield and Sean McVay has been fascinating, and the 51-point explosion was the catharsis Rams fans needed after such a tumultuous season. Los Angeles can still make a bit of an impact on the playoff race in both conferences over the next few weeks as they take on the Chargers and Seattle Seahawks.
23. Carolina Panthers (6-9)
Last week: No. 27
The Panthers are the closest thing to a create-a-team out there, and they have managed to pull off a few surprise wins. If not for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers getting a win on Christmas Day, the NFC South race would be a lot more interesting. Carolina could still ding the Bucs in Week 17 and spoil the Saints in the season finale.
22. Seattle Seahawks (7-8)
Last week: No. 20
If ever there were a test of what the Seahawks could do if they got into the playoffs, everyone saw it against the Kansas City Chiefs. No matter how Seattle finishes the season, the good news is the “rebuild” of 2022 wasn’t that bad and Seattle will have a top-5 pick from the Denver Broncos thanks to the Russell Wilson trade.
21. New York Jets (7-8)
Last week: No. 17
The Jets may have solved the Zach Wilson conundrum for the next two games with a demotion, but they have a long offseason ahead of figuring out where they are at with their first-round quarterback as he enters his third season. Robert Saleh had the Jets so close to getting back to the postseason, but can’t seem to get out of Todd Bowles territory.
20. New Orleans Saints (6-9)
Last week: No. 21
The best pitch New Orleans could make to lure back Sean Payton would be to win their next two games and sneak into the postseason. The Saints still need a franchise quarterback, but they have been able to be competitive with Andy Dalton.
19. New England Patriots (7-8)
Last week: No. 16
New England’s problems are largely related to the offensive side of the ball and with Mac Jones. One can’t expect Josh McDaniels to leave and it not affected the second-year quarterback’s development and also set back the offense a bit.
18. Tennessee Titans (7-8)
Last week: No. 12
Week 16 is a little bit too late to start unpacking what you have with a rookie quarterback. The lack of experience under center with Malik Willis is obviously curtailing the Titans’ chances to win the AFC South. Derrick Henry has three straight games with at least 100 yards rushing. Tennessee’s only hope is to saddle up the two-time NFL rushing champion.
17. Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
Last week: No. 22
The Ravens aren’t gently going into that good night. The season finale with the Cincinnati Bengals may be consequential for both teams with the AFC North on the line. Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the big determining factor.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8)
Last week: No. 19
The scary thing about the Buccaneers is they are never out of it and have a chance to come back. That has been the theme of their games and may yet be the theme of their season. If the Buccaneers are hosting a home playoff game, does anyone really want to see Tom Brady, even if they are ahead by 10 in the fourth quarter?
15. Washington Commanders (7-7-1)
Last week: No. 14
In a possible wild-card preview, Washington just couldn’t hang with the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Throw in a reevaluation of the quarterback job between Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz, and Washington is right on schedule to go off the rails the first week of January.
14. New York Giants (8-6-1)
Last week: No. 15
Who can really fault the Giants for losing on a walkoff 61-yard field goal? If that is what it took one of the hottest teams in the NFC to beat them, then the Giants played a pretty decent ball game. New York is starting to find its groove that it had earlier in the year.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-8)
Last week: No. 18
The Steelers just need to ride Kenny Pickett and not worry about making the playoffs. The rookie is getting quality reps in the absolute crunch time of the season. It will be interesting to see if he can pull off what Mitch Trubisky couldn’t against the Ravens in Week 14.
12. Miami Dolphins (8-7)
Last week: No. 9
Things are spiraling for the Miami Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa looked horrendous with his three interceptions in the fourth quarter. Mike McDaniel did an excellent job getting Miami off to a fast start, which included upsetting some key players in the AFC. McDaniel’s last challenge will be getting his team back to basics and calmly punching their ticket to the postseason — a feat not seen in South Beach since 2016 with Adam Gase.
11. Detroit Lions (7-8)
Last week: No. 8
The Lions were absolutely dominated by the Panthers. It is almost like the same team that won the past six of seven didn’t even exist. A close loss: acceptable. After all, it took a long field goal for the Buffalo Bills to beat them on Thanksgiving. A blowout to the inconsistent Panthers: unacceptable.
10. Green Bay Packers (7-8)
Last week: No. 13
The rest of the NFC may be thankful that the Packers are long shots to get into the playoffs. Green Bay play is playing inspired, collected football and are one of the best spoilers out there. The Vikings better watch out, or else Green Bay could disrupt their last gasp to earn the No. 1 seed.
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8)
Last week: No. 11
The Jaguars have overcome so much to even get to this point that admiring the accomplishments isn’t simply enough. Jacksonville has to take it all the way and wrest control of the AFC South from the Titans. Adding Doug Pederson completed the rebuild, regardless of how the 2022 season ends.
8. Los Angeles Chargers (9-6)
Last week: No. 7
The Chargers finally got in. Having the AFC West wrapped up with Kansas City owning it also allows the Chargers to use load management over the next two weeks to their advantage. Currently the Chargers are projected to visit the Cincinnati Bengals for the wild-card, a rematch of the Freezer Bowl.
7. Cincinnati Bengals (11-4)
Last week: No. 6
Having the Bills visit on Monday night in Week 17 will provide a glimpse at what the 2021 AFC Championship could have looked like and what the 2022 AFC title game may look like. The Bengals need the win to keep their Week 18 tilt with the Ravens as meaningless as possible.
6. Dallas Cowboys (11-4)
Last week: No. 10
The truth is Dallas beat an Eagles team not at its best, and that has nothing to do with the availability of Jalen Hurts. Cornerback Avonte Maddox, defensive tackle Jordan Davis, and right tackle Lane Johnson — all three high-level contributors — were knocked out during the game. What is still impressive about the victory is they generated three turnovers of the Eagles in the last 20 minutes. Typically Dallas hits terrible teams (Indianapolis Colts, Week 13) with this deluge of takeaways. They were able to do it against a really good unit, which is a positive sign for the Cowboys as the playoffs draw nigh.
5. Philadelphia Eagles (13-2)
Last week: No. 1
It isn’t so much Gardner Minshew filling in for Jalen Hurts as it is big ticket injuries, such as that to right tackle Lane Johnson. Philadelphia’s greatest assets are the offensive line and defensive line rotation, and both of those areas are starting to take on the attrition of a 17-game season.
4. Minnesota Vikings (12-3)
Last week: No. 4
That the Vikings have won 11 one-score games shows how fortunate they have been. Is this is a result of their battle-tested demeanor, or is it simply luck? Minnesota may be a team of destiny, and the fans will start to feel it if they sweep the Packers in Week 17.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (12-3)
Last week: No. 5
If not for the fact Kansas City is still in contention to achieve home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, they could take it easy these next two weeks. Then again, their streak of beating the Denver Broncos going back to 2015 would be at stake. Best to just win the games on the schedule.
2. San Francisco 49ers (11-4)
Last week: No. 3
It isn’t just eight in a row; it’s more like three-and-a-half in a row since Brock Purdy took over midway through Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins. On top of that, Deebo Samuel has been injured since Week 14. Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans has to be a top coaching candidate in the 2023 hiring cycle.
1. Buffalo Bills (12-3)
Last week: No. 2
The Bills are punishing teams with their run game and the defense, which is a great combination to have in cold weather games. Throw in a talented yet steady quarterback in Josh Allen, and the Bills may finally have the pieces to get to the Super Bowl.
