Week 15 saw the San Francisco 49ers extend their winning streak to six games, tops in the league thus far. With three games to go, they’ve also pretty much locked up the NFC West with their sights now set on landing the NFC’s top seed.
With the Eagles losing their third straight after a stunning loss to the Seattle Seahawks Monday night, the Niners have a bit of breathing room for that top seed.
Over in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens won their fourth straight, and currently hold the top spot in the conference.
Jacksonville’s loss, meanwhile, left the Jaguars in a three-way tie for the division lead in the AFC South with Indianapolis and Houston.
As for the Patriots, they had a visit from Taylor Swift with the Kansas City Chiefs in town. They managed to keep Travis Kelce, Taylor’s beau, in check. But they couldn’t stop Patrick Mahomes. So they’re holding firm on the No. 2 pick in the draft.
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Here’s the Power Rankings heading into Week 16:
1. San Francisco 49ers (11-3): When Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel are on, they’re impossible to beat. The Cardinals defense had no chance on Sunday.
2. Baltimore Ravens (11-3): The Ravens are on a roll and Lamar Jackson is healthy in December. But let’s not jinx it for the Ravens star quarterback.
3. Miami Dolphins (10-4): They didn’t have Tyreek Hill, but Jaylen Waddle was enough to coast by the Jets. With the Cowboys and Ravens on deck, we’ll see if they can finally beat a good team.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (9-5): Beating the Patriots sure doesn’t mean what it once did. But they’ll happily put an end to a two-game losing streak.
5. Detroit Lions (10-4): They played their best game in quite awhile on Saturday night. Maybe it should have been expected. Lions are 4-0 in primetime games this season.
6. Dallas Cowboys (10-4): Did the Bills expose a chink in the armor? We’ll see if other teams run the ball, and then run it some more en route to taking down the Cowboys.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (10-4): So what happened after Matt Patricia was inserted as the defensive play caller? The Eagles give up a game-winning touchdown in the final minute for their third straight loss. Can’t make this stuff up.
8. Cleveland Browns (9-5): When you’re Joe Flacco, and you’re signed off the street to rescue the Browns, and deliver wins even while throwing three picks, style points don’t matter.
9. Buffalo Bills (8-6): They basically ran the ball down the Cowboys throats and embarrassed Jerry’s boys in the process. Playing with their backs against the wall seems to suit the Bills.
10. Cincinnati Bengals (8-6): At different points Saturday, it looked like it was time to write the obituary on their 2023 season. Only, the Bengals managed to survive, coming back from 14 in the fourth quarter to pull off an overtime win and stay alive for a playoff spot.
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6): They’ve surrendered their lead in the AFC South, and no longer have the look of a legitimate contender.
12. Houston Texans (8-6): It wasn’t pretty, but they managed to survive without C.J. Stroud and pull out a win against the Titans.
13. LA Rams (7-7): They needed to win to keep their postseason hopes alive, and win they did behind another stellar performance by Matthew Stafford.
14. Indianapolis Colts (8-6): With backup Gardner Minshew leading the charge, they just might be the most surprising eight-win team in the lot.
15. Denver Broncos (7-7): Not the best time for the run game to disappear. But the loss to the Lions shouldn’t hurt them too much in the fight for a wild card berth.
16. Minnesota Vikings (7-7): They need to take some lessons from the Philadelphia Eagles on the brotherly shove, a.k.a. tush push. And why do it back-to-back after flunking the first time? Kevin O’Connell will be second-guessing himself all week.
17. Tampa Bay Bucs (7-7): If Baker Mayfield plays like he did against the Packers the rest of the way, the Bucs will emerge from a crowd of bad teams and win the NFC South.
18. Seattle Seahawks (7-7): Losers of five straight, they were pretty much down to their last gasp to keep their playoff hopes alive. The game-winning TD pass from Drew Lock to Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a thing of beauty. So was the ensuing pick by Julian Love.
19. New Orleans Saints (7-7): Derek Carr finally looked like the quarterback the Saints thought they were getting. Better late than never, I suppose.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7): Three straight losses and you have to wonder if there’s any more wins left in them this season.
21. Green Bay Packers (6-8): Something’s not right if Baker Mayfield is carving you up for nearly 400 yards with four touchdown passes.
22. Las Vegas Raiders (6-8): Three points scored in a loss Sunday. Sixty-three in a win Thursday night. What accounted for the turnaround? Playing against Brandon Staley’s defense.
23. Atlanta Falcons (6-8): Losing to Carolina is cause to turn up the heat on head coach Arthur Smith, and lump him in with the rest of the coaches on the hot seat.
24. New York Giants (5-9): Tommy DeVito has been a nice, feel-good story. But he just may have turned into a pumpkin in New Orleans.
25. Chicago Bears (5-9): They merely blew their third double-digit fourth quarter lead this season. Ho-hum.
26. New York Jets (5-9): The Jets have now gone 13 straight seasons without a playoff berth. That’s the longest active drought not only in the NFL, but the NBA, NHL and MLB, too.
27. Tennessee Titans (5-9): Mike Vrabel’s team was officially eliminated. So the Titans attention will turn to fixing what’s broken. They have plenty of money to spend to accomplish the mission.
28. LA Chargers (5-9):The surprise would have been if Brandon Staley survived after the Raiders put up 63 on his defense.
29. New England Patriots (3-11): Back to their losing ways, back to making a slew of mistakes and back to the reality of wondering if Bill Belichick is coaching his final games with New England.
30. Arizona Cardinals (3-11): The only silver lining to getting smoked by the 49ers, was the Cards being able to rush for 234 yards. Other than that, nothing to see here.
31. Washington Commanders (4-10): Sam Howell looked like he was poised to be their starter for the long haul. The fact he was yanked for Jacoby Brissett on Sunday is all you really need to know.
32. Carolina Panthers (2-12): Stop the presses. Bryce Young led a game-winning drive – in a 9-7 game no less – but they’ll certainly take it.
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