JACKSONVILLE – Here are senior writer John Oehser's Week 15 2016 NFL power rankings. And we all know how important these are:
Rank.Team (Rec) | Last week | Comment
1.Dallas Cowboys (11-2) | 1 | Winning streak finally snapped … but still No. 1
2.New England Patriots (11-2) | 2 | No Gronk? OK, the Pats still have Tom Terrific
3.Kansas City Chiefs (10-3) | 5 | Looking more and more like real challengers for Super Bowl
4.Oakland Raiders (10-3) | 3 | Will need help to win the AFC West
5.Seattle Seahawks (8-4-1) | 4 | Showing flaws, but still will be dangerous in the postseason
6.Detroit Lions (9-4) | 7 | Getting harder and harder not to vote Matt Stafford for MVP
7.Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5) | 8| Still … your first-place Steelers
8.Atlanta Falcons (8-5) | 9 | Feeling major heat from Tampa Bay
9.New York Giants (9-4) | 10 | Will be a very tough wild-card opponent
10.Denver Broncos (8-5) | 6 | Possibility of defending champs missing playoffs now very real
11.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5) | 13 | Those Bucs are so hot right now
- Miami Dolphins (8-5) | 12 | Can 'Fins finish playoff push with Tannehill injured?
13.Baltimore Ravens (7-6) | 11 | Even with Monday's loss this feels like a playoff team
14.Green Bay Packers (7-6) | 15 | Maybe they really can run the table
14.Washington Redskins (7-5-1) | 14 | Offense will make them dangerous in postseason … if they get in
16.Houston Texans (7-6) | 16 | Stopped the skid in Indy Sunday; up next: Jaguars
17.Minnesota Vikings (7-6) | 17 | Making postseason remains a very tough task
18.Tennessee Titans (7-6) | 21 | They may exotically smashmouth their way to the playoffs
19.Buffalo Bills (6-7) | 18 | NFL's longest playoff drought now very likely to continue
20.Arizona Cardinals (5-7-1) | 19 | Stunning fall for Cards, Palmer, rolls on
21.Indianapolis Colts (6-7) | 20 | Second consecutive season out of the playoffs now likely
22.Carolina Panthers (5-8) | 24 | Panthers still alive – but too much needs to go right
23.Cincinnati Bengals (5-7-1) | 25 | Two consecutive victories not nearly enough to save season
24.Philadelphia Eagles (5-8) | 22 | Eight losses in the last 10 games after 3-0 start
25.New Orleans Saints (5-8) | 23 | Three games out with three remaining
26.San Diego Chargers (5-8) | 26 | Their hopes were fading; five turnovers by Rivers Sunday ended them
27.New York Jets (4-9) | 28 | Team showed plenty of fight – and needed it to win in San Francisco
28.Los Angeles Rams (4-9) | 27 | Eight losses in nine games cost Jeff Fisher his job
29.Chicago Bears (3-10) | 29 | Big-time effort not quite enough against Detroit
30.Jacksonville Jaguars (2-11) | 30 | Eight and counting …
31.San Francisco 49ers (1-12) | 31 | Twelve and counting …
32.Cleveland Browns (0-13) | 32 | Thirteen and counting …
