Phil Agius
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We start this week’s Pickswise NFL Power Rankings with thanks to the NFL scheduling team, who made our job a lot easier this week, arranging games between the #1 and #2 teams of last week, as well as a #4 vs #5 clash. We have duly awarded the #1 and #4 positions to the winners of those marquee games.
No team in the top 10 moved more than one spot, except the Super Bowl champions, who are now barely clinging to a top-10 spot.
You can check out our NFL Week 17 predictions and look at the NFL odds any time you like, but now let’s get to this week’s rankings.
Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 17
1 (up 1) Baltimore Ravens
Congratulations to the Ravens, who hit the top of our rankings for the first time this season after their convincing 33-19 win over the 49ers. They have now won 9 of their last 10 games, with the loss coming at home to the Browns, which may just be their divisional-round game too. The Ravens are still only second in the FanDuel’s Super Bowl betting, but have +400 odds from +550 last week. The AFC #1 seed is on the line when they play the Dolphins this week.
2 (up 1) San Francisco 49ers
Sorry, Niners, you couldn’t stay on the top after that shellacking. Bookmakers are not taking such a harsh view, tough, and have Kyle Shanahan’s team at +240 odds (from +220) to win the Super Bowl. They have the Eagles and Lions for company now at 11-4, with the Commanders and Rams to come in their final two games.
3 (up 1) Buffalo Bills
The Bills get to remain the meat in the sandwich between those 1 vs 2 and 4 vs 5 battles as, even though they didn’t impress this week in barely beating the Chargers 24-22, they have much more convincing head-to-head wins over the two teams below them this season. FanDuel cut their odds again from +1400 to +1100 for the Super Bowl this week.
4 (up 1) Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins were the first AFC team to win this week’s headline cross-conference clashes, edging out the Cowboys to just about end the claim that they can’t beat good teams. They have moved up a place in the Super Bowl betting at +750 odds from +850 last week ahead of their showdown with the Ravens.
5 (down 1) Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys put in a solid effort against Miami but have now lost back-to-back games and this week they take on the Lions, who now have a superior record to theirs.
6 (-) Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles got their first win of December at the fourth attempt, but even that wasn’t much to shout about as they won by only 8 points as a 14-point home favorite against a struggling team in the Giants. They’re still in the hunt for the NFC #1 seed with a soft run-in against the Cardinals and Giants (again).
7 (up 1) Los Angeles Rams
With 5 wins in their last 6 games, the Rams are up to the second NFC wild-card position and on course for a potential wild-card meeting with their former quarterback Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions. Their Super Bowl odds have come down from +8000 to +7000 and they have the Giants next before a very interesting finale against NFC West rivals the 49ers.
8 (up 1) Detroit Lions
And here are those Lions. The NFC North champions are now in the hunt for a first-round bye but their home stretch isn’t easy as they face the Cowboys and Vikings.
9 (up 1) Cleveland Browns
The Browns picked up a huge road win over the Texans with Amari Cooper setting a new team record with 265 receiving yards. It wouldn’t be a Browns game without a new injury challenge to overcome, though, and this week they lost both kicker Dustin Hopkins and punter Corey Bojorquez to injuries, but that’s not so bad when Joe Flacco (now second-favorite for Comeback Player of the Year at +400 odds with DraftKings) is pretty good on fourth downs.
10 (down 3) Kansas City Chiefs
There are only so many times a team can have a below-par performance before you have to reset the meter on what is a par performance for them. The Chiefs have been below-par all season and their ranking therefore needs to reflect that. Could they drop out of the top 10 for the first time next week?
11 (up 1) Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks have won back-t0-back games to occupy the final wild-card spot in the NFC heading into the final two weeks. They left it late to beat the eliminated Titans, though. Their game against the Steelers is one of the most anything-can-happen matchups of Week 17.
12 (up 5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s four wins in a row now for the Buccaneers, who waited for the the Jaguars to become bad enough that they wouldn’t ruin their record of not beating a really good team all season. They are at least winning, though, and with the Saints and Panthers left, they’ll have to leave their ambition of beating a good team until the playoffs.
13 (-) Cincinnati Bengals
Jake Browning turned back into a pumpkin in the Bengals’ AFC North game against the Steelers and making the playoffs will be a struggle now. They have a low-budget rerun of last season’s AFC Championship game coming up this week, and they may even be in position for the Browns to do them a favor if Cleveland is in a position to rest its starters in Week 18.
14 (down 3) Denver Broncos
The Broncos are not out of playoff contention, but the team appears to be throwing in the towel after announcing that Jarrett Stidham will start the final two games at QB. That apparently is “to see what they have” but it also gets them out of some huge guarantees in Russell Wilson’s contract – what a coincidence! Losing their last two games, including one to the Patriots, probably had a lot to do with that decision.
15 (up 3) Minnesota Vikings
This is one of those quirky moves — the Vikings are up 3 despite losing 4 of their last 5 games. That’s in part due to a feisty showing against the highly-ranked Lions this week, when they led inside the last 5 minutes, but also due to a bunch of fringe playoff teams taking bigger backward steps this week.
16 (down 2) Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags are nosediving at just the wrong time, extending their losing streak to 4 games with a comprehensive defeat against the Buccaneers. QB Trevor Lawrence seems to have a new injury every week and we’ll see if his latest shoulder injury manages to stop him when an ankle issue and concussion could not.
17 (up 4) Chicago Bears
It’s 3 wins out of 4 for the fast-finishing Bears now (and they were leading the Browns by 10 in the other game), and while it’s likely to be too little, too late and they are next in line to be eliminated they’re pushing to make it into the top half of the rankings by the end of the season.
18 (down 3) Houston Texans
The Texans offense scored almost nothing against the Browns starters (their only points when they trailed 36-7 had come from a kick return) and if the playoffs started today they would miss out. With two divisional games left, they could still take the fight the distance.
19 (down 3) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts followed the Jaguars and Texans in showing little interest in claiming the AFC South title, getting blown out by the Falcons. Playing the suddenly-dangerous Raiders this week is not ideal for them.
20 (-) New Orleans Saints
The Saints’ defeat by the Rams was more convincing than the final score of 30-22 suggests but playing on Thursday has at least given them a mini-bye. Expect more twists and turns as they finish off against the Buccaneers and Falcons.
21 (up 6) Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons came up with a big result against the Colts when it was desperately needed, but they are finished at home now and head onto the road for games against the Bears and Saints.
22 (up 3) Las Vegas Raiders
Has anyone found Antonio Pierce’s resume yet? He said he left it on the grass. Careless. The Raiders beat the Chiefs though (Hey! Maybe that’s what he was taking about!) and if they add victories over the Colts and Broncos they will at least finish nearer the AFC wild-card spots than they are now (currently ranked 11th of the 12 non-eliminated teams)
23 (up 1) Pittsburgh Steelers
Rudolph had some bright throws in the Steelers’ Christmas game as they slayed the Bengals 34-11 and George Pickens showed that long touchdown catches are more his thing than blocking on run plays. Week 17 and 18 schedules don’t get much less fun than on the road to the Seahawks and Ravens, though.
24 (down 2) Tennessee Titans
The Titans are going about the end of their season in a smart way, playing hard and going close to spoiling their opponents’ prospects without damaging their own draft picks. With the Texans and Jaguars to close the season, they’d probably be happy to mess up some people’s seasons from now on, though.
25 (down 6) Green Bay Packers
This is one of those rankings that looks strange, as the Packers actually won this week, but when you’re messing around getting a 33-30 victory over a 2-12 team, that’s a negative indicator for your ranking, not a positive. They will move higher again if they beat the Vikings and Bears, we promise.
26 (down 3) Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals still have hope of claiming the #1 pick in the draft and no one will think badly of them if they lose to the Eagles and Seahawks, either, so it’s over to you, Carolina.
27 (up 4) New England Patriots
The Patriots earned their second win in 3 games against the Broncos, climbing 4 well-deserved places. Can they mess things up for the Bills this week too?
28 (down 2) New York Giants
The Giants put in a solid effort against the Eagles but they’re eliminated now and not likely to interrupt the playoff challenges of the Rams or the Eagles again in Week 18.
29 (down 1) Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers almost upset the Bills but still fell to their 6th defeat in their last 7 games. Clearly the most disappointing team in the league this year, they finish off with two AFC West games against the Broncos and Chiefs.
30 (-) New York Jets
The Jets have won 2 of their last 3 and will be treating everyone to the sight of Trevor Siemian taking on the Browns defense on Thursday Night Football. Who said we didn’t all deserve one extra present this year?
31 (down 2) Washington Commanders
Actually you have to call the Commanders a rival to the Chargers in that battle for the Most Disappointing Team tag, which should be added to the NFC Awards. Who wouldn’t want to see Riverboat Ron stepping up to claim his trophy?
32 (-) Carolina Panthers
There is still time for the Panthers to shed the #32 tag before the end of the season. They have a win and a narrow loss in their last 2 games, and unlike most teams in their position, they’re not tanking because they really don’t want to have to hand over the first pick in the draft to the Bears. If they can beat either the Jags or Buccaneers to get their third win of the year they should be moving up. Exciting times.
