NFL Power Rankings: Week 17 Edition

Week 16 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 17 POWER RANKINGS

1 - Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 1) - On one hand, KC looks vulnerable. Margin of victory from their last seven games: 2, 4, 3, 6, 6, 3, 3. They conceivably could’ve lost to Atlanta at home if not for some dropped picks. On the other hand, the Chiefs should benefit from two weeks of rest with nothing to play for in Week 17 and then a first-round bye. They’ll probably be fine. But are they truly invincible?

2 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 2) - I think the Bills have what it takes to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs. This is going to be the year the Bills get their first Super Bowl win.

3 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 3) - Aaron Rodgers is your 2020 NFL MVP. 44 TD and 5 INT for a 119.4 passer rating. Plus three rushing touchdowns. Crazy good. And he did this despite the Packers failing to fully cater the offseason around him.

4 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 4) - Alvin Kamara’s kinda good. Not good enough to get the Saints to the Super Bowl with Drew Brees looking sus, though.

5 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 5) - The Seahawks’ defense has been better lately but they’ve faced the likes of Carson Wentz, Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold, Dwayne Haskins, and an injured Jared Goff. Seattle will clearly be tested by better quarterbacks in the playoffs.

6 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 10) - Not fully buying the Bucs just because they came back against Atlanta and beat a Detroit team that was banged up and missing a bunch of their coaching staff members due to COVID. The NFC is weak enough for them to make a run, perhaps, but I could still see them being one-and-done.

7 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 11) - It looked like the Steelers might enter the playoffs riding a four-game losing streak. But Pittsburgh valiantly fought back against Indy to clinch the AFC North. Hard to feel good about their title chances but they still have some fight in them.

8 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 9) - It’s an unusual quarterback dynamic with Tua Tagovailoa as the starter and Ryan Fitzpatrick as the sometimes-closer but it doesn’t mean it’s an ineffective one. Will be interesting to see how the Fish handle it this week in a big game against Buffalo and if/when Miami makes the playoffs.

9 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 13) - The Ravens are “The Hot Team No One Wants To Play” heading into the playoffs. Mark my words: Lamar Jackson is going to get his first postseason win.

10 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 6) - The Browns were in a tough spot due to missing so many wide receivers due to COVID-19 protocol. Still troubling that they didn’t look very good against the Jets. Cleveland’s down to just a 58% chance of making the postseason.

11 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 7) - The Titans’ defense is their death knell. It’s just not very good. Their offense gives them a chance to win in the playoffs but hard to make a title run while being so porous on the other side of the ball.

12 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 8) - The Colts blew a big lead in Pittsburgh and now they’re in jeopardy of not even making the playoffs. Football Outsiders still gives them a 83.6% chance to make it but they need some help.

13 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 12) - The Rams have lost two straight and Jared Goff is injured. Someone named “John Wolford” is starting for Los Angeles in a Week 17 game they might need to win to make the postseason.

14 - Chicago Bears (LW: 16) - The Bears are in an awful position. There’s short-term fun in making the playoffs, sure, but it’d be awful for Chicago to fool themselves into thinking Mitchell Trubisky can still actually be The Guy. The Bears might not have much of a choice to re-sign him, though, since it’s not like they’re going to be able to take one high in the 2021 NFL Draft.

15 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 14) - On the whole, the Cards have been pretty unimpressive in the second half. And now they might not even make the playoffs.

16 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 19) - The Chargers can’t let some late season wins save Anthony Lynn’s job. Still need to give Justin Herbert a new head coach to thrive under.

17 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 17) - The Vikings gave contract extensions to Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins before a season Minny failed to make the playoffs.

18 - New England Patriots (LW: 18) - Remember when people thought the Pats signing Cam Newton was such a steal? He’s cooked. Donezo. Not crazy to think they could lose to NYJ in Week 17.

19 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 23) - Matt Rhule did a pretty solid job with the Panthers this season. Just need to get him some more talent and a better quarterback to work with.

20 - Washington Football Team (LW: 15) - The Football Team might be starting Taylor Heinicke in a must-win game in Philly this week. It’s better for them to miss the playoffs since they need to find a long-term quarterback answer. It certainly wasn’t Dwayne Haskins, whom they justifiably waived. Dude stinks.

21 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 25) - The Cowboys have won three in a row and they might actually clinch the NFC East. Such a result would leave Dallas feeling good about Mike McCarthy’s first season as head coach. Perhaps something to build on with Dak Prescott presumably returning next season.

22 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 26) - The 49ers have fought pretty hard despite being marred by injury issues this season. Admirable. But still need to find the right quarterback to be better in 2021.

23 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 21) - The Raiders gave Jon Gruden a 10-year, $100 million contract back in 2018. So far, the Raiders have zero winning seasons to show for it. Gruden is 18-29 with one game left in 2020.

24 - Denver Broncos (LW: 22) - Vic Fangio is reportedly safe for 2021. The Broncos need to get him a quarterback upgrade. Drew Lock ain’t it.

25 - New York Giants (LW: 20) - The Giants have lost three in a row but they can win the NFC East with a win over Dallas and a Washington loss in Week 17. Don’t think that’s going to happen, though, with how bad the G-Men look recently. Joe Judge’s rookie season is going to end less promising than it once looked.

26 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 27) - The Falcons are allergic to not choking games away. They reasonably could’ve left KC with a win and at least should’ve gone to overtime. But the NFL’s most accurate kicker missed a 39-yard field goal to tie the game. Naturally.

27 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 30) - I guess the Bengals will be keeping Zac Taylor with the team fighting hard for him for two straight wins.

28 - New York Jets (LW: 31) - The Jets have won two in a row! What a terrible parting gift from Adam Gase to ruin the team’s chance at the No. 1 overall pick.

29 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 24) - The Eagles were the first team eliminated from arguably the worst division in NFL history. Daniel Jones was the only starting quarterback they beat this year. Philly’s a mess and there’s no easy fix to get them back on the right track. Lot of tough decisions to be made.

30 - Houston Texans (LW: 29) - The Texans are trash af and they don’t even have the No. 3 overall pick to look forward to since Bill O’Brien traded it away.

31 - Detroit Lions (LW: 28) - I don’t know that we’ve seen a more listless effort this season than the Lions totally just not giving a f*** in Week 16.

32 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 32) - 14 straight losses for the Jags allowed them to clinch the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft! There’s legitimate hope for Jacksonville’s future. Trevor Lawrence. Youngest and least expensive roster in the NFL. A surplus of draft picks. Should be an attractive situation for general manager and head coaching candidates.