Week 15 NFL Power Rankings: Let the battle for byes begin

Three teams entered Week 14 with playoff-clinching scenarios, but none emerged with that post-season ticket in-hand. Now, as we look ahead to another crucial week of football down the final stretch, the race for January — and February! — is really heating up.

Can the Cardinals bounce back after their loss to the Rams? Is L.A. back after a tough November stretch? How far can Aaron Rodgers take the Packers? Will any of this even matter, considering they all share a conference with Tom Brady?

In the AFC, meanwhile, things are looking familiar at the top with the Chiefs and Patriots vying for the premiere spots while many others try to get out of their own way en route to challenging them.

Here’s how things are looking as we head into what should be a thrilling Week 15:

BATTLING FOR BYES

1. Green Bay Packers (10-3; Last week: 2)
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3; Last week: 3)
3. Arizona Cardinals (10-3; Last week: 1)
4. Los Angeles Rams (9-4; Last week: 8)
5. New England Patriots (9-4; Last week: 4)
6. Kansas City Chiefs (9-4; Last week:5)
7. Dallas Cowboys (9-4; Last week: 7)

As tempting as it may be, a perfectly executed victory over the top-ranked Arizona Cardinals isn’t quite enough to bump the Los Angeles Rams all the way to the top of our rankings. But after that dominant display on both sides of the ball — and without star defender Jalen Ramsey, we might add — we can say with confidence that the Rams are back. The win featured early-season Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald at his usual best, Cooper Kupp up to his typical gravity-defying antics and an Odell Beckham Jr. who’s looking right at home in Sean McVay’s offence. Scary. The Cardinals still have the edge in the NFC West, but this race is closer than it looked a few short weeks ago.

The team with the sunniest outlook down the stretch? That’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who just passed their last big test with an overtime win against the Bills. While the other two 10-win teams still have some challenging opponents ahead, the red carpet is pretty much rolled out for Tampa Tom to clinch that coveted bye week — the Bucs have the Saints, Jets, and Panthers (twice) on the docket to close out the year. Plus, you know, defending champs with proven winners up and down the lineup? That counts for a lot this time of year. – Sadler

BUCKLE UP

8. Los Angeles Chargers (8-5; Last week: 11)
9. Indianapolis Colts (7-6: Last week: 9)
10. Tennessee Titans (9-4; Last week: 13)
11. Buffalo Bills (7-6; Last week: 6)
12. Cleveland Browns (7-6; Last week: 16)
13. San Francisco 49ers (7-6; Last week: 14)
14. Cincinnati Bengals (7-6; Last week: 12)
15. Baltimore Ravens (8-5; Last week: 10)
16. Denver Broncos (7-6; Last week: 19)

That the Colts are ranked favourably high here, despite not being a lock to qualify for the playoffs, might raise eyebrows. After all, they went 0-2 against AFC South rival Tennessee and have tough games against New England and Arizona upcoming. However, they’re well-rested coming off a bye and have been rolling on offence.

It seems we might’ve finally gotten to a point of the season where the .500 mark is a clear dividing line between legitimately good teams and teams that can look good but show far too many inconsistencies.

That said, we also didn’t expect Buffalo and Baltimore to struggle as much as they have. Is there any reason to believe the Bills are better than their 7-6 record? The Ravens without Lamar Jackson (sprained ankle) are a worse team than the Titans are without Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown.

The Chargers, meanwhile, will morph into a top-tier team if they beat Kansas City in this week’s massive Thursday nighter and sweep that season series. – Johnston

CAN THEY GAIN ENOUGH GROUND TO GET IN?

17. Minnesota Vikings (6-7; Last week: 22)
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6-1; Last week: 15)
19. Miami Dolphins (6-7; Last week: 17)
20. Philadelphia Eagles (6-7; Last week: 18)
21. Washington Football Team (6-7; Last week: 20)
22. Atlanta Falcons (6-7; Last week: 24)
23. New Orleans Saints (6-7; Last week: 23)

Vikings fans have been holding on for dear life all season long, and they’ll most likely be white-knuckling it all the way through Week 18. Head coach Mike Zimmer said it best following last Thursday’s win-that-felt-like-a-loss against Pittsburgh:

“The team that played in the first half was pretty darn good and probably could beat anybody. The team that played in the second half could get beat by anybody…. We kept the TV ratings up, too, so that’s good. Every week we do it.”

Which Vikings will show up down the stretch?

While every team in this tier is still in the wild card race to varying degrees, none can make it to the post-season alone — they’ll need the football gods on their side. – Sadler

“WE AIN’T DEAD YET.”

24. Seattle Seahawks (5-8; Last week: 26)
25. Las Vegas Raiders (6-7; Last week: 21)
26. Carolina Panthers (5-8; Last week: 25)
27. New York Giants (4-9; Last week: 28)
28. Chicago Bears (4-9; Last week: 27)

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expressed, “We ain’t dead yet, boys!” to his team after a Week 13 upset of the 49ers and Seattle kept their razor-thin post-season chances open for the time being with a win over Houston. Unfortunately for them and the other teams here, “post-season” and “off-season” are interchangeable terms this year.

Also, shout-out to all the loyal Bears fans suffering through another Matt Nagy season rife with cowardly football decisions. – Johnston

ELIMINATED

29. New York Jets (3-9; Last week: 29)
30. Houston Texans (2-10; Last week: 31)
31. Detroit Lions (1-10-1; Last week: 32)
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10; Last week: 30)

The Jets, Jaguars and Lions joined the Texans as the only teams mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and even though Detroit got back to losing, they move up a spot. That’s because despite wins over the Bills and Dolphins, soon-to-be-former Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer has earned his team the 32nd spot. – Johnston

[relatedlinks]