This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/NFLPowerRankers on 2023-12-19 22:08:14.
Welcome to week 15 of the official r/NFL Power Rankings! Eagles are down, benched starting quarterbacks getting a second chance in Seattle are up! What impact will Baker’s perfect rating in Lambeau? How far will Kansas City fall after Toney loses them another game (they won by 10)? Are the Raiders on a roll or have they already scored all their points for the season? Discuss! 30/32 Reporting
| # | Team | Δ | Record | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 49ers | – | 11-3 | With the win on Sunday, the 49ers have officially clinched the NFC West crown, and hold the #1 seed in the NFC. Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are both in the MVP conversation. But for a team who has made 2 NFC title games in a row, nothing short of a Super Bowl victory will feel like a successful season. On Sunday, the team faces the Ravens, currently #1 seed in the AFC, in what could be a possible Super Bowl matchup. | |
| 2. | Ravens | – | 11-3 | Have a holly, jolly Clinchmas, Baltimore. This was a game the Ravens badly needed to win with Cleveland staying close in the AFC North race behind late game heroics from Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco and Baltimore facing a gauntlet of San Francisco, Miami, and Pittsburgh in their final 3 games. It wasn’t exactly the sharpest team performance(aided in large part by Jacksonville miscues), but Lamar Jackson continues to show why he is worth every penny the Ravens paid him. Extending almost every play past its lifespan and moving the chains at the most critical times. Keaton Mitchell’s season ending injury is a massive bummer, but the Ravens have played without him for much of the season already; Justice Hill and Melvin Gordon will be taking on bigger roles and both have looked surprisingly competent in their limited action. Regardless of what happens in SF on Christmas, if the Ravens take care of business at home against the Dolphins and Steelers, they will claim the AFC North and the top seed in the conference. But first, the game of the year in San Francisco looms on Christmas night, a game which could very well decide whether or not Lamar or Brock Purdy wins MVP. Hopefully this game goes better than the last Christmas game we had. Guest written by /u/TylerWadesIV | |
| 3. | Dolphins | +2 | 10-4 | Dolphins fans everywhere were eager to see how this team would respond after an embarrassing collapse to the Titans that cost us the 1 seed. Down MVP candidate Tyreek Hill, four starting O-Linemen, both safeties, our CB2, LB, and DE, we responded by dismantling a Jets team that was coming off a dominant win, 30-0. Tua dispelled the Tyreek merchant accusations by having an extremely efficient day where he was 21/24 for 224 with 1 TD 0 INTs. The defense suffocated Zach Wilson and then Trevor Siemian and has been a top 3 defense since Jalen Ramsey returned from injury almost two months ago. Next week in what has been dubbed the “Fraud Bowl” we hope to continue the success against a great Cowboys team as we try to keep pace with the Ravens for the #1 seed. | |
| 4. | Cowboys | -1 | 10-4 | Well shit. That was fucked from the get go. If it was Madden, you quit and reset that kind of game. Nothing went right, and more things than reasonably believable went wrong. What’s important is that Philly lost as well, keeping Dallas in the 2 seed for the time being. Also, as a mod who gets stuck dealing with this shit, what kind of special dumbfuck does a person have to be to go talk shit in the opposing subreddit after your team got their ass unceremoniously whooped for 60 minutes. Be better than this, everyone. Go enjoy Christmas, spend time with your family, and reset your emotions. Peace and love, and be the light you wanna see in the world. | |
| 5. | Chiefs | +1 | 9-5 | What a weird fucking season. I was reading through some awful diary entry posted by an Eagles fan at 3 AM, and it made me realize just how spoiled I am as a Chiefs fan. This team has had a remarkable amount of success in the last half decade and it’s made it difficult to understand how to feel when the Chiefs don’t look the the best team in the sport. The reality is that there is only one dominant team in the NFL at this moment and the vast majority of fans would happily change their situation with ours. It also helps that the worst year of Chief’s football is in the season with the weakest AFC that I can remember. | |
| 6. | Bills | +2 | 8-6 | HOW BOUT DEM BILLS?? There’s not much in the sport that feels better than embarrassing ‘America’s Team’ TM, but doing it with some old school, pound the rock, ball control football? That’s art. James Cook has fully ascended, Josh Allen didn’t need to do shit, and the defense held the top scoring offense to 3 until a garbage time TD in the 4th quarter. This team finally seems to be peaking, and at just the right time. Now they just need to make it to the dance. | |
| 7. | Lions | – | 10-4 | With an absolutely dominant performance at almost every level, the Lions have played arguably their best game of the season at the perfect time. The front line consistently pressured Russell Wilson on every drop back whilst holding Williams, Perine, and Co. to a paltry 3 yards a carry. The secondary played the best game of their season, with newcomer Kindle Vildor and return man Khalil Dorsey putting in effective work at the CB2 spot, and Ifeatu Melifonwu making play after play after play in a breakout (his final statline: 8 Tackles 1 Sack 1 FF 1 QBH 2 PBU). Offensively, Goff diced one of the best defenses in the league (2nd in ppg allowed since week 7) for 5 TDs while Monty and Gibbs ran free, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. In a put up or shut up moment against one of the hottest teams in the NFL, the Lions answered every question and skepticism that had been thrown their way over the past few weeks. Next, Detroit heads to Minnesota with an opportunity to clinch their FIRST EVER NFC North Title. | |
| 8. | Eagles | -4 | 10-4 | (Note to the editor: I am writing this on Monday afternoon) Wow, what a game. Did the Eagles’ decision to remove Sean Desai as the defensive play-caller at 10-3 feel reactionary in a bad way? Yes. Is that decision made even worse by the fact that his replacement, Matt Patricia, has beef with their star corner and has never led a top 10 DVOA defense in his tenure as a DC/HC? Probably. Did it matter last night when the Eagles won 100-0? Nope! Going into this game, the Eagles were 0-7 in Seattle, never scoring more than 17 points. And they have finally exercised those demons. Matt Patricia’s defense was the first in NFL history to score four safeties in one quarter. The Seattle offense averaged -3 yards per play, including some garbage time first downs when Matt and Nick were screaming at the opposing fans. The Birds have never lost a Super Bowl when Matt Patricia has been calling the defense. The future looks bright. | |
| 9. | Browns | – | 9-5 | Goood-god we’re nine and five. The Bears managed to lose in a way the Browns usually do. With a huge lead heading into the fourth quarter the Bears offense lost steam, and Browns pulled out a win. Flacco, while tossing some picks, managed some huge plays, notable a massive pass to Cooper. The Browns will play the Texans in Houston on Christmas eve, hoping to gift fans that Wild Card spot. | |
| 10. | Bengals | +2 | 8-6 | The Bengals and Vikings find themselves in very similar situations, both without their starting QB and with a banged up star WR as well. Both teams came in 7-6 and the game even reached OT. But it was the Bengals who made the defensive stops needed, and paired with just enough big plays on offense they were able to win the game in OT. Somehow, the Bengals have now won three games in a row and find themselves in a four way tie for the final two playoff spots in the AFC. | |
| 11. | Texans | – | 8-6 | I’ll admit, leading up to this game I was caught up in the drama around the Titans uniforms this week. As an older millennial, the Oilers were a part of my childhood. I’ve admittedly been one of the Texans fans who have been hoping beyond hope that one day the name and history would return to its rightful place in Houston. But as I was watching Kaimi Fairbairn’s kick go through the upright to complete the comeback win, it hit me after all this time that I’ve been wrong. The Titans have earned the right to the legacy of those teams and that uniform. They own the blown 32 point lead to the Bills. They own every ass kicking that the Steelers gave them. Even if it was under the new Titans name, it was the same old Oilers to come up one yard short of glory. They can look good wearing the uniform that the Adams family want to keep so bad while getting blown out by 59-0 to the Patriots and they sure as hell lived up to the classic Luv Ya Blue days by blowing a 4th quarter lead to the 2023 version of Case Keenum. That’s their legacy and they can keep it. The 2023 Texans may or may not make the playoffs, but the foundation of something special is being laid and I’m sure happy that I get to see where this team goes from here. | |
| 12. | Jaguars | -2 | 8-6 | ||
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