If you’re new around here, you may be wondering: Why? Maybe you read the headline twice. Perhaps you’re still digesting things a bit. But please, set your confusion aside as I welcome you to the seventh annual preseason Week 18 Sunday Night Football flex power rankings. (Or, if you want to get technical, second annual Week 18 SNFFPR—of course, the first five years of this exercise we were ranking Week 17 games.)
Anyway, for those of you wondering why I would waste brainpower considering such a thing, I think last year neatly proved my point. #Game272 has the potential to be the Crown Jewel of the Regular SeasonTM, so we should treat it that way. If we’re going to predict who’s playing in all the real playoff games, why not spare a thought for this one, too?
The 2021 regular-season finale was equal parts hilarious and incredible. As I’m sure you’ve thought about a few times this offseason, the game featured the Chargers and Raiders. It was picked for that time slot due to its win-and-in consequences in the AFC wild-card race, but things started getting nutty a full week before, when people realized the two teams could simply tie each other to guarantee both teams entry into the postseason. This led to Steelers fans watching nervously at home, as that particular outcome was the only thing that could keep Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement tour out of the playoffs.
