NFL Rankings: Week 15
By Ben Almquist
The NFL playoff picture continues to take shape as a couple more teams clinch their spot while another group is officially eliminated. The weekly NFL rankings continue to flux as a season that has seen a lot of confusion is finally starting to wrap up. There are changes from last week’s rankings at both the top and bottom of the chart, but the top ten largely stayed the same. A big reason for the top ten not changing so much is the lack of a “middle of the pack”. There is currently no team in the NFL sitting at 7-6. No team is currently sitting one game over .500. The disparity between the good teams and the bad teams is pretty striking at this point.
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For the teams that did move around, our top climbers this week are the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns who both made a jump at the bottom of the rankings with the other teams in the bottom pretty much all losing. The Jags are, amazingly enough, still very much alive in the AFC South while the Browns are in competition for the top draft spot. On the other end of things, the biggest tumble this week belongs to the Miami Dolphins who fell three spots. The Fins have been a disappointment this season to most, and another loss to a team that isn’t very good sends them falling down the rankings yet again.
There was no movement for the Chiefs this week. Though they won, so did the teams around them. And as much as I would like to, I couldn’t justify moving them ahead of a 9 or 10 win team. There are some key matchups coming over the next couple of weeks, so expect there to be some movement with that.
| Team | Status | Lst Wk | Lst Result | Streak | W-L | ||
| 1. | Panthers | — | 1 | W 38-0 vs ATL | W13 | Yup…trap game. | 13-0 |
| 2. | Cardinals | +1 | 3 | W 23-20 vs MIN | W7 | This team has all the ingredients of a Super Bowl winner. | 11-2 |
| 3. | Patriots | +2 | 5 | W 27-6 vs MIA | W1 | The Pats are getting healthy just in time for the playoffs. | 11-2 |
| 4. | Broncos | -2 | 2 | L 12-15 vs OAK | L1 | The lack of offense finally caught up to Denver. | 10-3 |
| 5. | Bengals | -1 | 4 | L 33-20 vs PIT | L1 | The Bengals are dinged up at the worst possible time. | 10-3 |
| 6. | Packers | — | 6 | W 28-7 vs DAL | W2 | The Packers are back on the right track. | 9-4 |
| 7. | Chiefs | — | 7 | W 10-3 vs SD | W7 | And to think that this team was “done” back in Week 6. | 8-5 |
| 8. | Seahawks | — | 8 | W 35-6 vs BAL | W4 | Wins don’t get much more one-sided than that. | 8-5 |
| 9. | Steelers | +1 | 10 | W 33-20 vs CIN | W2 | Steelers may end up winning their division… | 8-5 |
| 10. | Jets | -1 | 9 | W 30-8 vs TEN | W3 | Ryan Fitzpatrick is making the case to keep his job in 2016. | 8-5 |
| 11. | Vikings | — | 11 | L 20-23 vs ARI | L2 | Not a good time to go into a slump. | 8-5 |
| 12. | Giants | +3 | 15 | W 31-42 vs MIA | W1 | Somehow the Giants remain at the top of the NFC East. | 6-7 |
| 13. | Bills | -1 | 12 | L 20-23 vs PHI | L1 | That will pretty much close the doors on the Bills playoff hopes. | 6-7 |
| 14. | Eagles | +3 | 17 | W 23-20 vs BUF | W2 | Since “quitting” on Chip Kelly, Eagles are 2-0. | 6-7 |
| 15. | Texans | -2 | 13 | L 6-27 vs NE | L2 | The race for the AFC South between the Texans and Colts is both amazing and sad. | 6-7 |
| 16. | Buccanneers | -2 | 14 | L 17-24 vs NO | L1 | That loss will be tough to overcome in a tight playoff race. | 6-7 |
| 17. | Raiders | +2 | 19 | W 15-12 vs DEN | W1 | Jack Del Rio may have saved his job with that win. | 6-7 |
| 18. | Colts | -2 | 16 | L 16-51 vs JAX | L2 | Smh…your likely AFC South champs. | 6-7 |
| 19. | Redskins | +2 | 21 | W 24-21 vs CHI | W1 | The Skins aren’t done yet. | 6-7 |
| 20. | Falcons | -2 | 18 | L 0-38 vs CAR | L6 | The biggest scare for the Falcons is that things are only getting worse right now. | 6-7 |
| 21. | Rams | +2 | 23 | W 21-14 vs DET | W1 | They won, but nothing looks fixed for this team. | 5-8 |
| 22. | Bears | -2 | 20 | L 21-24 vs WAS | L2 | The Bears are pretty much out of it…time to figure out how to save this team in the offseason. | 5-8 |
| 23. | Saints | +2 | 25 | W 24-17 vs TB | W1 | Saints are still trying out there, but I’m not sure why. | 5-8 |
| 24. | Jaguars | +4 | 28 | W 51-16 vs IND | W1 | Jags hanging tight in the AFC South race…wait, what? | 5-8 |
| 25. | Dolphins | -3 | 22 | L 24-31 vs NYG | L2 | The Dolphins really do have too much talent to be this bad. | 5-8 |
| 26. | Cowboys | -2 | 24 | L 7-28 vs GB | L1 | The Cowboys are bringing up the rear in the worst division in the NFC. | 4-9 |
| 27. | Lions | -1 | 26 | L 14-21 vs STL | L2 | Jim Caldwell looked upset…or confused…or happy? I don’t know, it’s all the same expression. | 4-9 |
| 28. | Browns | +4 | 32 | W 24-10 vs SF | W1 | Everything good that happens for Johnny Manziel is bad for Mike Pettine. | 3-10 |
| 29. | 49ers | -2 | 27 | L 10-24 vs CLE | L1 | The 49ers are just counting the days until this season is over. | 4-9 |
| 30. | Titans | -1 | 29 | L 8-30 vs NYJ | L1 | Another high draft pick for the Titans. | 3-10 |
| 31. | Ravens | -1 | 30 | L 6-35 vs SEA | L2 | Look for this front office to make some big moves in the offseason. | 4-9 |
| 32. | Chargers | -1 | 31 | L 3-10 vs KC | L2 | This season can’t end fast enough for anybody involved with this organization. | 3-10 |
That’ll do it for me Addicts. Be sure to check back in next week to see who is moving where in the NFL rankings.