NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 17 Standings

Week 17 of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.

1 – New England Patriots 13-2 (Last Week: 1) – The Patriots are ready for the playoffs after obliterating the Jets. Bill Belichick ran up the score on New York after Todd Bowles called timeouts late in the game to try to get the ball back. Moral of the story: don’t mess with Hoodie.

2 – Dallas Cowboys 13-2 (LW: 2) – The Cowboys got help from the Eagles in order to clinch the No. 1 seed. Dallas is still playing their starters despite having nothing to play for. Risky move.

3 – Oakland Raiders 12-3 (LW: 3) – Oakland currently owns the AFC West lead but they haven’t clinched the division yet. Losing Derek Carr for the rest of the season is a really tough break for the Raiders. It’s Matt McGloin time now.

4 – Atlanta Falcons 10-5 (LW: 4) – The Falcons can put up points at will. Atlanta’s scoring ability should serve them well in the post-season.

5 – Kansas City Chiefs 11-4 (LW: 5) – Kansas City still has a chance to win the division thanks to having a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Raiders. The Chiefs will need to beat the Chargers and the Raiders will have to lose to the Broncos.

6 – Pittsburgh Steelers 10-5 (LW: 6) – The Steelers have had some bumps in the road this season but they ultimately ended up finishing on top of the AFC North, as expected.

7 – Green Bay Packers 9-6 (LW: 9) – Aaron Rodgers said he was confident the Packers could “run the table” and that’s exactly what they’ve done. Green Bay is riding a five-game win streak. The Packers can win the NFC North by beating the Lions in Week 17.

8 – Miami Dolphins 10-5 (LW: 12) – Rookie head coach Adam Gase deserves a lot of credit for the Dolphins heading to the playoffs despite the fact Miami lost their starting quarterback two weeks ago.

9 – Detroit Lions 9-6 (LW: 8) – The Lions need to beat (or tie) the red hot Packers in order to advance to the playoffs.

10 – New York Giants 10-5 (LW: 7) – The G-Men had a chance to make a run at the No. 1 seed but they blew it by losing to the Eagles. Eli Manning threw three interceptions in a big spot for the Giants. Not exactly the kind of tune up game the Giants were looking for before the post-season starts.

11 – Seattle Seahawks 9-5-1 (LW: 10) – Seattle is typically great at home but they have lost some divisional games there. That was the case again with a loss to the Cardinals. The good news for the Seahawks is that none of their NFC West rivals are headed to the playoffs.

12 – Washington Redskins 8-6-1 (LW: 20) – Washington can virtually clinch a playoff spot by beating a Giants team that has nothing to play for in Week 17. If Washington can’t beat the G-Men, that would be a pretty serious choke job.

13 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-7 (LW: 11) – The Buccaneers are still mathematically alive in the NFC playoff picture, but they need a lot of help so it probably won’t happen.

14 – Houston Texans 9-6 (LW: 18) – Playing in the AFC South is quite the luxury. Despite ranking 30th in DVOA and owning the NFL’s seventh worst point differential, the Texans are headed to the playoffs. Houston is likely headed to another first round exit, though.

15 – Baltimore Ravens 8-7 (LW: 14) – Prior to this year, the Ravens hadn’t missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 2005. How long will Baltimore be patient with John Harbaugh?

16 – Denver Broncos 8-7 (LW: 15) – There won’t be a repeat Super Bowl winner this season. The defending world champions have been officially eliminated.

17 – Indianapolis Colts 7-8 (LW: 16) – Indy is mired in mediocrity with Chuck Pagano at head coach and Ryan Grigson as GM. The Colts need to give Andrew Luck some more help.

18 – New Orleans Saints 7-8 (LW: 21) – Just another where the Saints’ offense is awesome but their defense is awful. New Orleans is primed for a .500 season.

19 – Arizona Cardinals 6-8-1 (LW: 23) – It’s not easy to win in Seattle so the Cardinals deserve a lot of credit for marching in there and getting it done. Arizona’s season is over, but the team clearly hasn’t quit on Bruce Arians.

20 – Buffalo Bills 7-8 (LW: 17) – Rex Ryan is officially gone. Maybe the next coach can get Buffalo to the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

21 – Tennessee Titans 8-7 (LW: 13) – The Titans had a chance to win the AFC South. Then they blew it by getting beaten badly by the Jaguars. Choke.

22 – Philadelphia Eagles 6-9 (LW: 26) – The Eagles finally broke their losing streak by picking off Eli Manning three times in a home victory. It was a nice, albeit meaningless, win for Philadelphia. The Eagles delayed the Giants from clinching a playoff spot. Philly’s dominance over the G-Men continues: the Birds have won 14 out of their last 18 games against New York.

23 – Carolina Panthers 6-9 (LW: 19) – This just wasn’t the Panthers’ year. They could be a bounce back candidate next season.

24 – Minnesota Vikings 7-8 (LW: 22) –

Sam Bradford starting QB record

2010: 7-9
2011: 1-9
2012: 7-8-1
2013: 3-4
2015: 7-7
2016: 6-8

Total: 31-45-1

— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 24, 2016

25 – Cincinnati Bengals 5-9-1 (LW: 24) – Cincy blew a game to a bad Texans team. There are rumors that Marvin Lewis might retire, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

26 – San Diego Chargers 5-10 (LW: 25) – The Chargers lost to the Browns. Have to think Mike McCoy is done.

27 – Jacksonville Jaguars 3-12 (LW: 30) – Jacksonville played spoiler and knocked the Titans out of playoff contention. The Jaguars looked a lot more competent with Doug Marrone as head coach than Gus Bradley. Maybe the Jags will stick with the former Bills head coach.

28 – Chicago Bears 3-12 (LW: 27) – Matt Barkley threw five interceptions against Washington. This might shock you, but he’s probably not the answer to the Bears’ quarterback situation.

29 – San Francisco 49ers 2-13 (LW: 31) – Perhaps Chip Kelly saved his job with a win over the Rams. Perhaps he was never going to get fired anyway. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in San Francisco.

30 – Cleveland Browns 1-14 (LW: 32) – The Browns finally won a game! They did it! They really did it! Even better, Cleveland didn’t lose their projected spot as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Best weekend that Cleveland has had in a long time.

31 – New York Jets 4-11 (LW: 28) – The Jets got demolished by the Patriots. It’s clear New York has a lot of work to do moving forward.

32 – Los Angeles Rams 4-11 (LW: 29) – Jared Goff’s stat line against one of the worst defenses in the NFL: 11/24, 90 yards 1 TD, 2 INT, 35.1 passer rating. The Rams not being able to beat the 49ers, who had lost 13 in a row, at home is a pretty bad sign. L.A. certainly deserves their spot at the bottom of these rankings.