Ravens power to No. 1; be afraid, NFC
(Last week’s rank in parentheses)
1. Baltimore Ravens (2): Their overriding strength might be the lack of a glaring weakness – a too-frequent inability to salt away fourth-quarter leads notwithstanding. But that wasn’t an issue Monday night, when the Ravens went on the road and dismantled a Niners team that was a near-consensus No. 1 prior to kickoff. And don’t let Lamar Jackson and Co. get to the Super Bowl ... considering the sixth-year quarterback is now 20-1 against the NFC.
2. San Francisco 49ers (1): Small picture? QB Brock Purdy likely watched any MVP aspirations go up in smoke. Big picture? Niners should be fine – and getting embarrassed might just trigger a steamroll into Super Bowl 58.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (3): Take a collective breath, Philly fans. The NFC East leaders dominated everywhere but the scoreboard while defeating the Giants on Monday. Yes, last year’s team was probably better – but this season’s squad still has a very reasonable chance to go further.
4. Buffalo Bills (4): Given their season-ending charge, his 40 TDs produced (27 passing, 13 rushing), and the apparent front-runners mostly stuck in reverse, is QB Josh Allen going to wind up as the league MVP?
5. Detroit Lions (8): Did you know this is the first time in the franchise’s 94season history that it’s managed 20 regular-season wins over a two-year period?
6. Kansas City Chiefs (5): Even after a dreadful performance like Monday’s, even with the near certainty QB Patrick Mahomes will have to hit the road for the playoffs for the first time in order to win another Super Bowl, even after TE Travis Kelce momentarily lost his mind ... it’s hard to distrust this team going into January.
7. Miami Dolphins (6): His career year continuing to build, RB Raheem Mostert just became Miami’s first 1,000yard rusher since ... Jay Ajayi in 2016.
8. Los Angeles Rams (9): Has any offense been better since Thanksgiving, LA averaging 32.4 points and 433.8 yards over its past five outings? If the Rams are indeed peaking at the right time, another Super Bowl push is hardly out of the question.
9. Cleveland Browns (10): Imagine
how good WR Amari Cooper, the first man in club history with consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, might be if he could work with a quarterback for more than 10 minutes.
10. Dallas Cowboys (7): Sunday was yet another reminder that this team just can’t run the ball effectively when it needs to – and that’s especially true on the road, where Dallas so infamously struggles.
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (15): Sure, their four-game heater has come against a quartet of struggling teams. But do you want to head to Tampa in the playoffs to face this defense and an offensive trio – QB Baker Mayfield, WR Mike Evans, RB Rachaad White – that’s been as effective as it has been unheralded?
12. Seattle Seahawks (19): Two weeks. Two quarterbacks. Two 20-17 wins with game-winning TD passes in the final minute. Two consecutive wildcard berths?
13. Houston Texans (11): The 9-8 record they’re trending toward this year has essentially exceeded all expectations ... and could well upgrade to 10-7 with an AFC South title if rookie wunderkind C.J. Stroud can recover from his concussion and get this offense back on track.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (13): The 9-8 record they’re trending toward this year feels ... far different than last year’s 9-8 crew.
15. Minnesota Vikings (17): All-Pro WR Justin Jefferson’s 5,648 career receiving yards are already the most ever for a player in his first four NFL seasons. And if he’d had just 30 extra yards Sunday, the Vikes’ playoff outlook would be exponentially better.
16. Atlanta Falcons (25): If this seems like a massive leap for this team ... well, sort of. It’s more indicative of how tightly packed the leaguewide mediocrity is. But let’s acknowledge QB Taylor Heinicke, who’s fresh off leading the Falcons to a season-high 29 points.
17. New Orleans Saints (18): Now in Year 10 of his NFL career, QB Derek Carr has never played for a division champion. Lose Sunday at Tampa, and his wait will extend into Year 11.
18. Indianapolis Colts (14): Kinda feels like we’ve been waiting for weeks for the wheels to come off. Could be time for roadside assistance for an offense that’s scored 14 or fewer points in three of the past six outings.
19. Pittsburgh Steelers (20): A team that averages fewer than 300 yards per week totaled more than 800 yards in its season sweep of Cincinnati.
20. Cincinnati Bengals (12): A team that’s won the past two AFC North championships is on the verge of going 0-6 in divisional play this season.
21. Las Vegas Raiders (21): Believe it or not, they’re still in the mix for the AFC
West crown. Credit a defense that’s scored four touchdowns over the past two weeks.
22. Denver Broncos (16): Believe it or not, they’re still in the mix for the AFC West crown. Credit a ... well, credit a sleepwalking K.C. squad that just can’t put this division to bed.
23. Green Bay Packers (22): Defense has fallen off a cliff over the past month despite facing middling to bad offenses. But it appears head coach Matt LaFleur is going to stand by defensive coordinator Joe Barry until the bitter end ... or, at least, for two more weeks.
24. Chicago Bears (24): As the win total continues to grow, so, too, will the debate as to whether they should trade the No. 1 draft pick for the second year in a row ... or stick and pick while dealing QB Justin Fields.
25. Tennessee Titans (23): Two years in, pretty crazy they won’t even leverage an opportunity to potentially showcase QB Malik Willis to other teams.
26. Arizona Cardinals (26): Now positioned to draft second overall, do they just take Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr., assuming he’s there, or do something completely wild this offseason?
27. New England Patriots (30): Now positioned to draft fourth overall in 2024 following Sunday’s win, should they just fire Bill Belichick now rather than risk letting him continue ruining the organization’s prospects to select a new franchise quarterback next spring?
28. New York Jets (27): The notion that there was any drama surrounding the job security of HC Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas is cute. After all, owner Woody Johnson didn’t want to give his convalescing quarterback any reason to pursue a fifth MVP elsewhere, did he?
29. New York Giants (28): A bottle of red, a bottle of white ... season came crashing down around Tommy DeVito on Christmas night.
30. Los Angeles Chargers (31): A team that was supposed to wrest the Hollywood spotlight from the Rams will not only be getting a new script in 2024 but is set for a huge cast turnover.
31. Washington Commanders (29):
Just imagine how formidable they might look if QB2 Jacoby Brissett even got to play a whole half ...
32. Carolina Panthers (32): Yeah, they lost again. But did you notice embattled rookie Bryce Young actually looked like a franchise quarterback?