NFL Power Rankings Week Sixteen – A Blink Of A Season

The NFL season is almost over and most teams have eliminated themselves from the playoff picture. The few teams that are still alive will be in a hard battle for positioning and an elusive first round bye week.

The rest of the league will try and work out the details of their rosters going forward. Most will be looking forward to the draft in the hopes of upgrading.

 

1. Baltimore Ravens (12-2)
Tight end Mark Andrews has 58 catches for 759 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. He leads the Ravens in all of those categories.

 

2. New Orleans Saints (11-3)
Michael Thomas has 133 receptions with two games left to play. The record for most receptions in a season is 143 by Marvin Harrison in 2002.

 

3. Kansas City Chiefs (10-4)
In three straight wins since their bye week, the Chiefs’ defense is giving up an average of 9.3 points per game.

 

4. Green Bay Packers (11-3)
The Packers have won three in a row, scoring a total of 72 points in that span. The defense has forced seven turnovers during the same stretch.

 

5. Seattle Seahawks (11-3)
If the Seahawks can win out, the NFC playoffs will have to go through Seattle. Seeing as how they have one of the best home field advantages in the league, that will be a tough trip for any team.

 

6. San Francisco 49ers (11-3)
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a team get ten times more criticism for losing than they get praise for winning. Every time the 49ers lose, their fans and media alike jumps to the worst case scenario.

 

7. New England Patriots (11-3)
Tom Brady has as many touchdown passes (19) as Detroit’s Mathew Stafford. The difference is Stafford has played five less games than the Patriots’ aging signal caller.

 

8. Buffalo Bills (10-4)
Buffalo has continued to stifle opponents with their ravenous defense. If they can beat New England on Sunday they would have a real shot at winning the division for the first time since 1995.

 

9. Minnesota Vikings (10-4)
The Vikings rank fifth in points scored and sixth in points allowed. They are a game out of first place with a showdown versus the Packers on Monday night.

 

10. Houston Texans (9-5)
The Texans continue their trend of up and down this season, leaving the arrow pointing up after the Tennessee win. Deandre Hopkins has now caught at least one pass in each of the 109 games he’s played for his career.

 

11. Tennessee Titans (8-6)
The Titans will have a real fight on their hands to make the playoffs. They have New Orleans and division leader Houston left on their schedule.

 

12. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-6)
The Steelers have a match up with the New York Jets and a division showdown with the Baltimore Ravens to finish out the season. They are currently in the sixth playoff spot in the AFC.

 

13. Los Angeles Rams (8-6)
The Rams are barely alive in the NFC playoff race. They will need to win their remaining two games and they need Minnesota to lose their remaining games.

 

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7)
Tampa Bay has won their last four games to even up their record. Jameis Winston is averaging 326.6 passing yards per game and is on pace to throw for over 5,000 yards this season.

 

15. Dallas Cowboys (7-7), 16. Philadelphia Eagles (7-7)
These two teams will face off on Sunday for control of the NFC East division. Dallas has the upper hand having already defeated Philadelphia in week seven. Which team will take the reigns of this division and go into the playoffs on a hot streak?

 

17. Chicago Bears (7-7)
The Bears have been eliminated from playoff contention but still have a chance to finish the season with a winning record.

 

18. Cleveland Browns (6-8)
The only thing the Browns can look forward to is winning eight games, which is the most games they have won since the 2007 season.

 

19. Indianapolis Colts (6-8)
The Colts have lost four straight games, giving up an average of 30.7 points per game. Two of those losses were pretty close and the other two were lopsided.

 

20. Oakland Raiders (6-8)
Oakland made some strides this season, especially early on. A four game losing streak has subsequently ended their season and sent Jon Gruden back to the drawing board.

 

21. Denver Broncos (5-9)
These last couple of games will be used to see if Denver finally found its quarterback of the future. They’ll definitely need to upgrade some other roster spots as well.

 

22. Atlanta Falcons (5-9)
The impressive wins in the second half of the season make the Falcons’ first half of the season more frustrating. These wins are going a long way towards helping Dan Quinn keep his job.

 

23. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9)
Leonard Fournette leads Jacksonville in rushing yards with 1,081 and surprisingly in receptions with 73.

 

24. Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)
The Chargers had seven turnovers on Sunday and that was one more than they had in the previous three games combined.

 

25. Carolina Panthers (5-9)
Carolina has lost seven out of their last eight games. They have 20 turnovers during that streak.

 

26. New York Jets (5-9)
The Jets’ offense has struggled all season but their defense has been good despite some of their losses. They’ve held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing in nine of their 14 games.

 

27. Arizona Cardinals (4-9-1)
Kenyan Drake has 547 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns in six games on the Cardinals’ roster. If I had one vote for the biggest turn around in the 2020 season, it might go to the Cardinals.

 

28. Washington Redskins (3-11)
Washington is ranked 31st in scoring and 32nd in total yards gained in the NFL. There will be some major changes to the roster next season.

 

29. New York Giants (3-11)
The Giants average 20.2 points per game overall this season but they average 30.6 points per game in three wins.

 

30. Detroit Lions (3-10-1)
Detroit had a bye in week five and they’ve proceeded to go 1-9-0 since then. They have 16 turnovers in that stretch.

 

31. Miami Dolphins (3-11), 32. Cincinnati Bengals (1-13)

This week will feature the Miami Dolphins versus Cincinnati Bengals in a battle that could determine the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Would bad luck be good luck this week? Are the fans of both teams really going to be sitting at home rooting for their respective team to win?