1. Carolina Panthers (14-0; Last Week- No. 1)
A 16-0 record is looking likely right now.
The Panthers are still trying to lock up home field advantage, so they’re going to bring it this week against a Falcons team that they beat 38-0 just two games ago. And even if they choose to take Week 17 a bit easier, it will be at a rocking Bank of America Stadium against a rookie quarterback and mediocre team in the Buccaneers.
Cam Newton is looking like a lock to win the NFL MVP now.
2. Arizona Cardinals (12-2; Last Week- No. 2)
Embarrassed the Eagles in Philadephia with a 40-17 win.
The Cardinals are the NFL’s leader in point differential at +176.
3. New England Patriots (12-2; Last Week- No. 5)
Locked up a first-round Bye, and just need one win over these final two games to get the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The AFC road to the Super Bowl is going to go through Foxboro.
4. Seattle Seahawks (9-5; Last Week- No. 4)
Russell Wilson: 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions over his last five games.
Doug Baldwin has caught 10 of those touchdown passes over the last four games.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5; Last Week- No. 5)
Three straight wins for the Steelers, with the last two coming against a couple of the top AFC contenders in the Bengals and Broncos. They’ve scored at least 30 points in all of their last six games, and their final two games come against two of the bottom three teams on this list (spoiler alert), so they may only be scoring more points to close out the year.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (11-3; Last Week- No. 7)
Clinched a playoff berth and survived the first game without Andy Dalton. Things will be much more difficult this week for A.J. McCarron and the Bengals offense in Denver on Monday Night Football.
7. Green Bay Packers (10-4; Last Week- No. 8)
The Packers are playing solid all-around football at the right time of the year, and have an opportunity to get a huge win this week at Arizona.
8. Kansas City Chiefs (9-5; Last Week- No. 9)
Eight straight wins now after a 1-5 start. It’s been an amazing turnaround.
Suddenly the Chiefs are just one game out in the AFC West, and their final two games are at home against the Browns and Raiders.
9. Denver Broncos (10-4; Last Week- No. 6)
Brock Osweiler and A.J. McCarron facing off in a big Week 16 NFL game. That’s a thing actually happening.
10. New York Jets (9-5; Last Week- No. 11)
The Jets have four consecutive wins and are a solid 9-5, but that still has them on the outside looking in for the AFC playoffs, as the Chiefs and Steelers (both 9-5 as well) hold the tiebreakers. So they’re in must-win territory for the final two games, and that’s tough task: Week 16 vs the Patriots, and Week 17 at the Bills.
11. Minnesota Vikings (9-5; Last Week- No. 11)
The Vikings need to take care of business vs the Giants on Sunday night at home, and could be playing for the NFC North crown in Week 17 at Green Bay.
12. Washington Redskins (7-7; Last Week- No. 14)
Kirk Cousins is rolling, with 12 touchdown passes and two interceptions over his last six games. Has Cousins earned a long-term starting job with Washington?
13. Houston Texans (7-7; Last Week- No. 17)
Brandon Weeden has put them in the driver’s seat of the AFC South. That summarizes the division quite well.
14. New York Giants (6-8; Last Week- No. 12)
Still alive in the NFC East, but need to take care of their own business and have the Redskins lose out.
15. Oakland Raiders (6-8; Last Week- No. 16)
The Raiders will be the hot pick (for good reason) to take a big step forward in 2016. They’re really close, and have some big-time pieces in place with Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, and Khalil Mack. The long-term key for them is of course to keep all of those players in Oakland (or Los Angeles, or San Diego… or wherever the Raiders end up playing their home games).
16. Buffalo Bills (6-8; Last Week- No. 15)
A really inconsistent season, and in the end, a disappointing one in Rex Ryan’s first season.
17. Atlanta Falcons (7-7; Last Week- No. 25; Biggest Riser)
Hey, the Falcons finally won a game.
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8; Last Week- No. 18)
Two disappointing losses in a row to end their playoff hopes, but still a solid first season with Jameis Winston at quarterback.
19. Philadelphia Eagles (6-8; Last Week- No. 13; Biggest Faller)
Quite the game this week against Washington. As mentioned earlier, the Redskins would win the NFC East by winning this game. But if the Eagles win this game, they then just need to beat the Giants in Week 17 and Philadelphia comes out the winner of the East.
20. St. Louis Rams (6-8; Last Week- No. 26)
Case Keenum was terrific in the Rams’ win over the Bucs, to help St. Louis get their second straight win. That winning streak will probably come to an end this week in Seattle, though.
21. Indianapolis Colts (6-8; Last Week- No. 20)
Since they couldn’t take down Brandon Weeden, they’re in a really tough spot to win the AFC South now.
22. Detroit Lions (5-9; Last Week- No. 24)
The Lions have been a much better team in the second half of the season, winning four of those six games.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9; Last Week- No. 19)
That loss to the Falcons really hurt their playoff chances, but there’s still a slim shot. They need to win out and count on the Titans to win out as well.
24. Chicago Bears (5-9; Last Week- No. 21)
After overachieving and competing all year, the Bears had a miserable effort at Minnesota in Week 15. That looked much more like the Marc Trestman Bears than the John Fox Bears.
25. San Diego Chargers (4-10; Last Week- No. 29)
Did the Chargers just play their last game in San Diego? Eric Weddle likely did, at least, and made sure to make the most of it.
26. Miami Dolphins (5-9; Last Week- No. 23)
This season can’t end soon enough for the Dolphins.
27. New Orleans Saints (5-9; Last Week- No. 22)
The Saints’ defense is absolutely atrocious. Drew Brees deserves better than this.
28. Dallas Cowboys (4-10; Last Week- No. 27)
The Cowboys are an NFL-worst minus-18 in turnover differential. This also means that they are -37 in turnover differential compared to the Panthers (+18). Lol.
29. San Francisco 49ers (4-10; Last Week- No. 30)
Blaine Gabbert is starting to look more like the Blaine Gabbert we used to know, and that’s not a good thing. To be fair, he doesn’t have much to work with on that San Francisco offense.
30. Baltimore Ravens (4-10; Last Week- No. 31)
Outscored by 49 points over the last two games, and that ugly trend will likely continue vs the Steelers this week. This offensive talent right now is basically the equivalent of what the Ravens would’ve been tossing out there in the fourth quarter of a preseason game in August.
31. Cleveland Browns (3-11; Last Week- No. 32)
Finishing against the Seahawks in Seattle, the Chiefs in Kansas City, and the Steelers at home is not a very fair way for this train wreck of a team to end the season.
32. Tennessee Titans (3-11; Last Week- No. 28)
This ranking is with the assumption Marcus Mariota is out. They’re probably not the worst team with the impressive rookie at quarterback, but they’re still pretty awful.
