NFL Power Rankings: Week 16 Edition

Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season is in the books and now it’s time for everyone’s favorite meaningful exercise: NFL Power Rankings! Let’s take a look at how all 32 teams stack up. Don’t forget to hear me talking about the league’s landscape on my national podcast: The ODDcast!

BLG’S NFL WEEK 16 POWER RANKINGS

1 - Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 1) - Patrick Mahomes is a damn cheat code. Including the playoffs, dude is 41-9 as a starter in his first 50 games. The Chiefs are primed to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

2 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 2) - The Bills are the clear No. 2 team in the NFL. It remains to be seen if they can upset KC but they have the best shot to do it. Josh Allen’s development has been impressive.

3 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 3) - The Packers have a 75.7% chance at landing the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture. Getting that bye should position them well to at least appear in the NFC Championship Game for the second year in a row.

4 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 4) - 44% completion rate is not what you expect out of Drew Brees. The Saints really need the No. 1 seed but they probably won’t get it. Shouldn’t have rushed Brees back.

5 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 7) - Russell Wilson has nine touchdowns and five interceptions in his last six starts for a 91.6 passer rating. In other words, he’s been below average recently. The Seahawks really need him to heat up. On the plus side, their defense has been much better recently.

6 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 8) - The Browns are the best team in the AFC North right now and they might even be able to win their division for the first time since 1989. Pittsburgh’s loss to Cincy on Monday night opened the door for it to happen. It could come down to their Week 17 matchup!

7 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 9) - After dropping 46 on Sunday, the Titans lead the NFL in points scored with 436. That’s 31.1 per game. Derrick Henry is going to be a problem in the playoffs again.

8 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 10) - The Colts are pretty fortunate that Houston fumbled a game-winning touchdown (Week 13) and a game-tying touchdown (Week 15) against them this year. They’re clearly a quality team but I don’t know about them making serious noise in the postseason.

9 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 11) - Hasn’t been pretty for the Dolphins’ offense but Brian Flores has their defense playing tough. The Fish might need to win out (at Las Vegas, at Buffalo) with Baltimore breathing down their necks for the No. 7 spot in the AFC playoff picture. Even if they don’t make the playoffs, though, it’s still been a successful season. Clearly ahead of schedule in their rebuild.

10 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 12) - Hesitate to give the Bucs a ton of credit because they were down big to Atlanta before Tom Brady staged a comeback. (Why does that sound familiar?) Still don’t see this team representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. Or being good enough to beat the AFC representative if they somehow do.

11 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 5) - My oh my. Three straight losses for the Stillers with Indy and Cleveland up next. They might actually lose out heading into the playoffs. Ben Roethlisberger just doesn’t look fully healthy and right.

12 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 6) - Sean McVay’s own words to describe losing to NYJ: “embarrassing, humiliating.” This Jared Goff’s floor. Losing to the NFL’s only winless team.

13 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 14) - The Ravens have won three straight but they’re currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the AFC playoff picture. They need to stay hot and hope Miami drops a game. Could be “the team no one wants to play” if they get in.

14 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 15) - The Cardinals have issues that are going to prevent them from going on a serious playoff run but it’ll at least be good to get Kyler Murray some postseason experience. Still a year away from being a real power in the NFC.

15 - Washington Football Team (LW: 13) - They’re in solid position to win the NFC East but it’s not a done deal just yet. Need Alex Smith back because it’s hard to feel great about their chances with Dwayne Haskins under center.

16 - Chicago Bears (LW: 19) - The Bears are still alive for the No. 7 seed in the NFC. Not sure that’s a good thing, though. Mitchell Trubisky playing well feels like a false positive if they’re going to commit to him beyond this year.

17 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 17) - The Vikings’ playoff chances dropped to 1% with their loss to Chicago. Minny is mired in mediocrity with Kirk Cousins as their franchise quarterback.

18 - New England Patriots (LW: 16) - Honestly would hate to be a Patriots fan. Pretty embarrassing to be eliminated from the playoff picture with two weeks remaining!

19 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 24) - Lol at this:

Anthony Lynn should remain because he won 12 games two years ago!? The Bolts are 10-20 since then and Lynn is clearly a big reason why the team doesn’t have more wins this year. He’s gotta go.

20 - New York Giants (LW: 18) - The G-Men had a nice little stretch there where they won four in a row and it looked like they might win the NFC East. Probably not happening now, though. Season undone in part by Daniel Jones’ hamstring injury.

21 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 20) - The Raiders have a 0.4% chance of making the playoffs after losing in Week 15. Really need to fix their defense this offseason. Also interesting to see what happens with Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota.

22 - Denver Broncos (LW: 21) - Drew Lock has just one game in his career without a fumble or a pick. Denver needs a better quarterback.

23 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 22) - Teddy Bridgewater has three touchdown passes and two interceptions in his last four games for a 86.8 passer rating. Carolina needs a better quarterback.

24 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 26) - Jalen Hurts overcame a poor start to nearly led the Eagles to an upset win over Arizona. The rookie has been far from perfect but he’s showing encouraging potential. The Carson Wentz era just might be over in Philly.

25 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 27) - Dallas has won two straight games. It helps that they played Brandon Allen and Nick Mullens.

26 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 23) - The 49ers should be poised to rebound in 2021 if they find the right quarterback. Would be interested to see Matthew Stafford in Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

27 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 25) - Still the biggest chokers ever. Sweeping changes needed. Gotta get rid of that voodoo curse on them.

28 - Detroit Lions (LW: 28) - Former Eagles defensive backs coach Cory Undlin is probably going to be one-and-done as an NFL defensive coordinator. Detroit’s allowed the second most offensive points per game this year.

29 - Houston Texans (LW: 29) - The Texans are terrible and they don’t even have a first-round pick to look forward to. Sucks to suck.

30 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 30) - Beating Pittsburgh was the biggest win of the Zac Taylor era. He still should be gone, though.

31 - New York Jets (LW: 32) - The Jets can’t even lose right. Ruined their shot at landing Trevor Lawrence by beating LAR.

32 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 31) - The Jags are now in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Trevor Lawrence just might be the right guy to turn this franchise around.