The NFL Power rankings after week 15 don’t change: The undefeated Carolina Panthers are still on top ahead of the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, while the bottom is a toss up, with the Tennessee Titans getting the “honor” of being this week’s worst team in the NFL.
1. Carolina Panthers, 14-0: The Panthers just keep on finding ways to win even when they’re pushed to the limit. Cam Newton 13 touchdown passes in the last three games, and three games this season of five touchdown passes.
2. New England Patriots, 12-2: With Rob Gronkowski waiting to catch passes, Tom Brady feels like he doesn’t need anyone else.
3. Arizona Cardinals, 12-2: The Cardinals keep finding answers to injuries they’re having, like more David Johnson on the ground. But Tyrann Mathieu going down makes things even more complicated.
4. Cincinnati Bengals, 11-3: The Bengals did get one win out of A.J. McCarron, but they need one more from him in order to secure the bye week and give Andy Dalton more time to recover.
5. Seattle Seahawks, 9-5: The Seahawks have won five in a row while holding opponents to 13 points or less in four of these games, while Russell Wilson puts up the best statistical month in NFL history for a quarterback.
6. Green Bay Packers, 10-4: Their game against the Arizona Cardinals next week is actually less important than their showdown with the Minnesota Vikings at season’s end.
7. Kansas City Chiefs, 9-5: The Chiefs looked lost when they were 1-5, with Jamaal Charles out for the season. Now, they’re probably one win away from clinching a playoff spot, and maybe even winning the division.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers, 9-5: The Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown combination continues to be amazing. Their 16-game projection is 158 catches and 2,160 yards.
9. Denver Broncos, 10-4: With two consecutive losses, offensive line issues and Brock Osweiler not getting any run support, the Broncos might just lose the number one spot in the division eventually.
10. New York Jets, 9-5: Right now, the Jets, despite their four consecutive wins, aren’t even in the playoffs, and probably need two more wins, including beating the New England Patriots, in order to keep their pace with the Wild Card bunch.
11. Minnesota Vikings, 9-5: The biggest news from their win against the Chicago Bears? Adrian Peterson didn’t need to be even decent for the convincing victory.
12. Houston Texans, 7-7: Alone on top of the AFC South, the Texans are on the verge of the postseason despite their unimpressive, long list of quarterbacks that keeps changing.
13. Washington Redskins, 7-7: Sole leaders in the NFC East, the Redskins got the best of DeSean Jackson in their beatdown of the Buffalo Bills, which is great news for the inconsistent Kirk Cousins.
14. Atlanta Falcons, 7-7: Finally, the losing streak is over, but it might be too late for it to actually matter.
15. St. Louis Rams, 6-8: Tavon Austin and Todd Gurley are special, but the Rams need more where that came from for next season.
16. New York Giants, 6-8: The Eli Manning – Odell Beckham Jr. connection is almost enough to get them into the playoffs through the terrible NFC East. But now ODB is out for one game, which leaves Manning with no defense to help him.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-8: With no playoffs hope anymore, the final two games are about getting ready for 2016.
18. Philadelphia Eagles, 6-8: Still in the playoff hunt, but Chip Kelly is losing support with every minute that goes by.
19. Oakland Raiders, 6-8: The biggest news this week from them is Charles Woodson retiring.
20. Buffalo Bills, 6-8: The funny thing about this failed Bills season is that Rex Ryan messed up on defense, while Tyrod Taylor had a very good year at quarterback, despite expectations.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars, 5-9: The Jags have gone 0-for-11 on third down in the first half of the last two games. They’re also running out of running backs for the season finale.
22. Indianapolis Colts, 6-8: The Matt Hasselbeck run was nice, but the Colts are falling apart because this entire team seems to be built the wrong way, with or without a healthy Andrew Luck.
23. Detroit Lions, 5-9: Since Jim Bob Cooter took over Detroit’s offense, Matthews Stafford has thrown 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
24. Chicago Bears, 5-9: Three straight losses since the win in Green Bay, and suddenly all the optimism about next season is out the window.
25. San Diego Chargers, 4-10: A lot better than their record suggests, and at least said goodbye to the San Diego fans (probably) with a win.
26. Miami Dolphins, 5-9: The Dolphins are 5-0 this year when RB Lamar Miller gets 13 carries or more this season. They are 0-9 when he gets 12 or fewer carries.
27. New Orleans Saints, 5-9: It’s impossible to do anything in the NFL without even a shred of a running game and consistently being the worst defensive team in the league.
28. Baltimore Ravens, 4-10: No longer even competitive in games, which isn’t surprising considering who is playing for them right now.
29. Dallas Cowboys, 4-10: Kellen Moore is the next in line to try and do something for the Cowboys this season. But they can’t hold on to fourth quarter leads or ties, so it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is.
30. San Francisco 49ers, 4-10: The team it’s most easy to forget about has clinched its first last place finish in the NFC West since 2005.
31. Cleveland Browns, 3-11: Johnny Manziel has two more games against very difficult opponents to show he deserves another shot next season.
32. Tennessee Titans, 3-11: They’re bad with Marcus Mariota, they’re awful without him.