Who’s rising and falling in the latest NFL Power Rankings? Here’s where every team lands.
Every week our power panel — a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities — evaluates how NFL teams stack up against each other, then ranks them from 1 to 32.
The Monday night game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was suspended after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and had his heartbeat restored on the field. The game will not be resumed this week, the NFL announced Tuesday afternoon. The league has made no decision on resuming the game at a later date.
The rankings below are updated to reflect the results of the other Week 17 games.
In addition to our updated rankings, NFL Nation reporters described each team’s season using five words or fewer. We also noted each team’s highest and lowest rankings of the regular season.
Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
Week 17 ranking: 1
Highest power ranking: 1
Lowest power ranking: 4
Regular season in five words or fewer: Top of AFC West again
The Chiefs won their seventh straight AFC West title, but it wasn’t as easy as it might have looked. The Chiefs are 5-0 in divisional contests heading into the final regular season game against the Raiders — they won all five games by six points or less. The Chiefs have played five games against opponents that currently have four or fewer wins, and they lost one and won three by six points or fewer. The Chiefs are still to be feared in the postseason, as Patrick Mahomes has passed for more than 5,000 yards and is having an MVP-type season. — Adam Teicher
Week 17 ranking: 3
Highest power ranking: 1
Lowest power ranking: 5
The Bills are scheduled to host the Patriots on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Week 17 ranking: 4
Highest power ranking: 3
Lowest power ranking: 14
Regular season in five words or fewer: Slow start and big streak
The 49ers stumbled out of the gate to a 3-4 start when they struggled to find an offensive identity. But the midseason acquisition of running back Christian McCaffrey transformed the offense and the season. The Niners are 9-1 since acquiring McCaffrey, with the lone loss coming only a couple of days after his arrival, in a game in which he had a limited role. Now, San Francisco is riding a nine-game winning streak, the longest by any Niners team since 1997. — Nick Wagoner
Week 17 ranking: 5
Highest power ranking: 4
Lowest power ranking: 26
Regular season in five words or fewer: Meeting regular-season expectations
It didn’t start well in Week 1 with a defeat to Tampa Bay and losing Dak Prescott to a thumb injury. But they went 4-1 with QB Cooper Rush as the starter and have lost just twice — in overtime both times — since Prescott returned from having thumb surgery. The Cowboys have three wins against teams with at least 11 wins and while they might not repeat as NFC East champs, they have 12 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95. Of course, this season was always about what the Cowboys do in the playoffs. — Todd Archer
Week 17 ranking: 2
Highest power ranking: 1
Lowest power ranking: 9
Regular season in five words or fewer: Record-breaking
This group has rewritten the franchise record books in many areas, including touchdowns (58) and sacks (67) in a season. DeVonta Smith is now tied for the most receptions (88) by a receiver in single-season franchise history, joining Irving Fryar in 1996, while A.J. Brown is just 8 yards shy of Mike Quick’s single-season team record for receiving yards (1,409 in 1983). — Tim McManus
Week 17 ranking: 6
Highest power ranking: 4
Lowest power ranking: 15
The Bengals are scheduled to host the Ravens on Sunday, but the timing is unclear. It was dependent on the outcome of their game against the Bills, which will not be resumed this week. It will be played at either 1 p.m. ET or 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS).
Week 17 ranking: 9
Highest power ranking: 4
Lowest power ranking: 17
Regular season in five words or fewer: Weathered the storm
The Chargers opened the season with a ready-made roster for a Super Bowl run, but that goal quickly appeared in jeopardy after the Bolts suffered several significant injuries within the first three weeks: Justin Herbert fractured rib cartilage, WR Keenan Allen strained a hamstring and LT Rashawn Slater and edge rusher Joey Bosa were placed on injured reserve. Continuing into the season, injuries continued to plague the team with CB J.C. Jackson, DL Austin Johnson and WR Mike Williams all missing time. Nevertheless, the Chargers remained on course and in contention to earn a postseason berth. Now several players — including Allen, Williams and Bosa — have returned healthy and the Chargers have clinched their first playoff berth since 2018. — Lindsey Thiry
Week 17 ranking: 7
Highest power ranking: 3
Lowest power ranking: 11
Regular season in five words or fewer: Close game or blowout
For the most part, it’s been one or the other every week this season for the Vikings. They’ve won an NFL-record 11 games by one score, including eight via fourth-quarter comebacks. All four of their losses have come by double-digit deficits and an average of 22.3 points. As a result, they’ve been outscored by opponents 414-395. „When we lose,“ receiver Justin Jefferson said, „we lose bad. We’ve got to fix that and find ways to be better throughout the whole game.“ — Kevin Seifert
Amber Wilson and Dan Orlovsky share their concerns for Kirk Cousins and the Vikings in big matchups.
Week 17 ranking: 10
Highest power ranking: 4
Lowest power ranking: 24
Regular season in five words or fewer: Quite the surprise
Nobody outside the Giants‘ building predicted they would clinch their first postseason berth since 2016. The Giants‘ projected win total at the start of the season was six. Even that seemed high. But they won every close game, received every fortunate bounce and and every break while racing to a 7-2 start. When they had to face better competition and had their struggles, everyone jumped off the bandwagon. But they’ve again proved worthy of being a playoff team by winning two of their past three games under heavy pressure. It has been a successful Year 1 for Brian Daboll and the Giants. — Jordan Raanan
Week 17 ranking: 8
Highest power ranking: 6
Lowest power ranking: 10
Regular season in five words or fewer: Playoff team with question mark
The Ravens clinched a playoff berth in Week 16, but no one really knows how good this team really is. Baltimore is struggling to score points without an injured Lamar Jackson, and the defense continues to have fourth-quarter collapses. The Ravens are 0-3 against teams that had winning records at the time, and Baltimore hasn’t faced a team with a winning record since Week 6. If Jackson doesn’t return close to full strength, it’s tough to be optimistic about the Ravens‘ postseason chances. — Jamison Hensley
Week 17 ranking: 12
Highest power ranking: 11
Lowest power ranking: 31
Regular season in five words or fewer: Doing a 180
At the end of October, the Jaguars were 2-6 after losing five consecutive games, two of which came against the Texans and Broncos. But since then? They’re 6-2 and have a chance to win the AFC South for just the second time in franchise history by beating the Titans on Saturday.
