JOHN McCLAIN’S
NFL POWER RANKINGS WEEK 15
Kansas City 11-2 (last week’s ranking: 2): The Chiefs pulled out an OT win over Baltimore. They host the Chargers in a key Thursday night game.
New Orleans 11-2 (4): They rebounded from the loss to Dallas at Tampa Bay. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams.
L.A. Rams 11-2 (1): Losing at Chicago shouldn’t cost the Rams a first-round bye. They host the Eagles, visit Arizona and host the 49ers.
Chicago 9-4 (8): The Bears are still in control of the NFC North. They don’t want their last game at Minnesota to affect a division title.
L.A. Chargers 10-3 (6): Without a home-field advantage in their soccer stadium, they still win. They can tie the Chiefs with a win at Kansas City.
Dallas 8-5 (7): The Cowboys’ OT win over the Eagles gave them a sweep of their NFC East series and boosted their win streak to five games.
New England 9-4 (3): The Patriots have to recover from their shocking loss at Miami. They travel to Pittsburgh.
Seattle 8-5 (9): After defeating the Vikings on Monday night, the Seahawks have a four-game winning streak.
Houston 9-4 (5): The Texans’ nine-game winning streak ended with a home loss to the Colts. They’ll attempt to rebound at the Jets.
Indianapolis 7-6 (14): The Colts bounced back from their loss at Jacksonville to defeat the Texans and remain in the wild-card race.
Baltimore 7-6 (11): They lost in overtime at Kansas City but remain one-half game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North.
Miami 7-6 (17): The Dolphins’ miraculous victory over New England gives them five victories in their last six games against the Patriots in Miami.
Tennessee (16): The Titans have back-to-back wins, and they’re in the running for a wild card. They play their last road game against the Giants.
Pittsburgh 7-5-1 (10): The Steelers had a six-game winning streak that preceded their current three-game losing streak.
Minnesota 6-6-1 (13): Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ offense were awful in getting shut down at Seattle on Monday night.
Philadelphia 6-7 (15): Losing in overtime at Dallas put the Eagles two games behind the Cowboys in the NFC East.
Denver 6-7 (12): The Broncos’ loss at San Francisco ended a three-game winning streak that had them in the running for a wild-card berth.
Cleveland 5-7-1 (21): After their victory over Carolina, the Browns have won three of their last four games.
Green Bay 5-7-1 (22): In their first game since Mike McCarthy was fired, the Packers won at home over Atlanta.
The Giants have won four of their last five games, the last two over Chicago and Washington.
Carolina 6-7 (18): Cam Newton’s shoulder injury has curtailed the Panthers’ passing game. They have a five-game losing streak.
Detroit 5-8 (28): The Lions won at Arizona, but they’re still last in the NFC North. All that practicing in the snow may help at Buffalo.
Tampa Bay 5-8 (20): After igniting back-toback victories, Jameis Winston played bad in the loss to New Orleans.
Washington 6-7 (19): Washington has played four quarterbacks because of injuries, and it keeps getting worse.
Jacksonville 4-9 (24): The Jaguars have scored a total of 15 points in their last two games. They host Washington, another disappointing team.
Atlanta 4-9 (25): After laying an egg at Green Bay, the Falcons have a five-game losing streak. They should be able to beat Arizona.
Cincinnati 5-8 (26): The Bengals made their latest defeat respectable against the Chargers, but they’ve still lost six of their last seven games.
N.Y. Jets 4-9 (30): Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold returned to help the Jets escape Buffalo with a win that ended the six-game losing streak.
Buffalo 4-9 (27): In a battle of first-round QBs Josh Allen and Sam Darold, the Bills lost to the Jets and blew a chance to sweep the series.
Oakland 3-10 (32): In one of the most stunning outcomes of the season, the Raiders upset the Steelers.
San Francisco 3-10 (31): The 49ers pulled off an upset at home over Denver. They will try to do the same thing Sunday when they host Seattle.
Arizona 3-10 (29): After winning at Green Bay, the Cardinals lost at home to Detroit.
They play at Atlanta.