Pickswise Week 15 NFL Power Rankings

The Saints and Rams have been taking turns seizing control of their own destiny in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, and now New Orleans has regained the momentum. How far did Los Angeles drop with its loss to Chicago? As for the other team from Tinseltown, the Chargers are still rolling. Here is the officially list of Week 15 NFL Power Rankings.

1. New Orleans Saints (11-2)– The Saints lost to Dallas in Week 13 and then started slow against Tampa Bay, but they recovered in a hurry and Drew Brees still looks like the MVP.

2. Los Angeles Rams (11-2)– Getting manhandled by the Bears’ defense is nothing shameful, but a mere total of six points—especially for the Rams—is alarming.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-2)– Patrick Mahomes is a magician, and the Chiefs have needed every trick of his magic the past two weeks despite being significant favorites.

4. Los Angeles Chargers (10-3)– We will find out a lot more about Kansas City in Week 15, because a titanic AFC West showdown against the Chargers is set for Thursday night.

5. New England Patriots (9-4) – New England’s defense—really that of Rob Gronkowski—on the last play against Miami was a disaster. But here’s the question: why did it even come to that?

6. Chicago Bears (9-4) – In the past two weeks, Chicago has lost to the Giants and defeated the Rams. Yep, the NFL is weird alright. The win over L.A. seems more like the real Bears.

7. Houston Texans (9-4)– Speaking of weird, a nine-game winning streak for Houston just came to an end against Indianapolis of all opponents. Still, the Texans should win the AFC South.

8. Dallas Cowboys (8-5)– Remember when the Cowboys were 3-5? Yeah, me neither. A five-game winning streak has Dallas on the verge of clinching the NFC East title.

9. Seattle Seahawks (8-5)– A division title is not in Seattle’s future, but Philadelphia’s loss to the Cowboys combined with Seahawks win over Minnesota puts them in great shape for a WC.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5-1)– Things have gone from bad to worse for the Steelers, whose third loss in a row was delivered by none other than Oakland. So much for a first-round bye.

11. Tennessee Titans (7-6) – Derrick Henry went batshit crazy last Thursday night, torching the Jaguars for 238 yards and four touchdowns—99 and 1 of which came on a single play.

12. Indianapolis Colts (7-6) – If not for a horrendous 6-0 loss to a terrible Jacksonville team two weeks ago, the Colts would be riding a seven-game winning streak.

13. Baltimore Ravens (7-6) – Pittsburgh actually might not even make the playoffs if it isn’t careful. Although Baltimore lost in Week 14, it respectably pushed Kansas City to overtime.

14. Miami Dolphins (7-6) – Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, Stills lateraled to DeVante Parker, Paker lateraled to Kenyan Drake, and the rest is history.

15. Minnesota Vikings (6-6-1)– Minnesota has scored a grand total of 17 points during its two-game losing streak. That spelled the end of the road for OC John DeFilippo.

16.Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)– A heartbreaking overtime loss at Dallas should stick a fork in the defending Super Bowl champs, who now have to face the Rams and Texans.

17. Carolina Panthers (6-7)– The end is also near for Carolina, which has lost a ridiculous five games in succession and has to go up against New Orleans twice in the last three weeks.

18. Denver Broncos (6-7)– A 6-7 record is still in wild-card contention in the AFC (and the NFC, for that matter), but a loss to San Francisco is just about as awful as it gets.

19. Green Bay Packers (5-7-1)– The Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy and then fired associate head coach Winston Moss. They promptly beat Atlanta—which isn’t saying much.

20. Cleveland Browns (5-7-1)– Cleveland probably isn’t going to the playoffs, but 5-7-1 is a smashing success by its standards. Baker Mayfield outplayed Cam Newton last Sunday.

21. New York Giants (5-8) – Once the laughingstock of the league, New York is suddenly 4-1 in its last five outings. Eli Manning looks like a real QB and Saquon Barkley is still on fire.

22. Cincinnati Bengals (5-8)– Head coach Marvin Lewis’ solution for continuing to lose playoff games is apparently to miss the playoffs altogether. Cincinnati is doing it.

23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-8)– The Buccaneers somehow beat New Orleans in Week 1. They needed to do so again in Week 14 to stay in contention, but that obviously didn’t happen.

24. Detroit Lions (5-8) – Detroit placed defensive end Ezekiel Ansah on season-ending injured reserve earlier this week. The Lions are out it, anyway, so that really doesn’t matter.

25. Atlanta Falcons (4-9)– Speaking of being out of it, Atlanta has lost five straight games since winning three in a row to reach 4-4. The white flag seemed to be waived last week at Lambeau.

26. Washington Redskins (6-7)– As bad as the Falcons were in Week 14, no one was as terrible as the Redskins; not even close. They trailed the Giants 40-0 after three quarters and lost 40-16.

27. Buffalo Bills (4-9) – Buffalo has lost two straight by a combined eight points. That’s pretty good for a team that owns the NFL’s third-worst point differential at minus-119.

28. New York Jets (4-9)– The Jets actually won a game. They halted a six-game losing streak by winning at Buffalo this past weekend. Does beating the Bills even count?

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9)– It’s fair to say that the Jaguars—especially those who got stiff-armed by Henry on his 99-yard scamper—should not show their faces the rest of the year.

30. Arizona Cardinals (3-10)– It’s not a good season to be a bird of prey in the NFC, as the Cardinals, Falcons, and Eagles all stink. At least either ARI or ATL has to win on Sunday.

31. Oakland Raiders (3-10)– Perhaps the only Week 15 matchup worse than Cardinals-Falcons is Raiders-Bengals. Amazingly, though, Oakland is coming off an upset of Pittsburgh.

32. San Francisco 49ers (3-10)– Neither Oakland nor San Francisco is tanking for the No. 1 draft pick, as both won last Sunday. The 49ers may get it, because they have no winnable games left.