NFL Week 15 power rankings: Evaluating all 32 teams as Vikings, Seahawks rise

It’s time to blow this thing up. New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen drafted some nice core pieces for this offense in the years to come – Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Theo Johnson – but the Giants need a unified front. If Brian Daboll is going to be fired, the best thing for New York to do is just clean house and bring in a new general manager, head coach and quarterback with one common vision. As for the rest of the Giants’ 2024 season, it seems to be all about tanking.

Related: NFL execs take shots at New York Giants’ organization

With only a few weeks remaining in the regular season, the New England Patriots have to feel relatively good about what shook out this year. Even with the league’s worst supporting cast around him, Drake Maye looks like a franchise quarterback. New England could also be well-positioned in the NFL Draft to trade down with a quarterback-needy team. In the end, these are the positive outcomes that mean the most for the future.

The Las Vegas Raiders simply aren’t a well-coached team. Even with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gifting 3 turnovers on Sunday, Las Vegas still found a way to lose by two touchdowns and get shut for the majority of the game. The front office’s priority will obviously be finding a quarterback (Shedeur Sanders) this offseason, but the Raiders’ culture and history of organizational ineptitude suggests this franchise won’t be turned around anytime soon.

Related: Las Vegas Raiders coaching candidates

The Tennessee Titans wanted to use the 2024 NFL season as an evaluation year for Will Levis. We’ve all seen enough. Even against one of the league’s worst defenses and a team that waved the white flag on the season, Levis finished with just 146 net passing yards on 32 attempts and led the Titans offense to just 6 points. It’s time to think about the 2025 offseason, when it might be wise for the Titans to use their first-round pick on a right tackle and then sign a veteran quarterback like Sam Darnold.

In a battle of two of the worst NFL teams in 2024, the Jacksonville Jaguars were the least awful. Doug Pederson’s offense was still atrocious, turning it over twice thanks to quarterback Mac Jones and mustering just 291 total yards on 58 plays with 10 points. All this win did is hurt the Jaguars’ draft position and give ownership the ‘reason’ it was looking for to hold off on firing Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke until January.

Related: Jacksonville Jaguars coaching candidates to replace Doug Pederson

Jameis Winston is a much better quarterback than Deshaun Watson, but that’s the lowest possible bar a quarterback can clear. Winston’s high-risk tendencies and personality have certainly provided some bright moments in a dismal Cleveland Browns season, but he’s also demonstrated why he can’t be the starting quarterback in 2025. The Browns need to find a new quarterback, but that’s just the first step in what is increasingly looking like a multi-year reshuffling of this roster.

NFL news surfaced on Sunday that Aaron Rodgers needed to play a lot better to have a shot at starting for a team in 2025. Maybe he wants to keep playing. Rodgers recorded his first 300-yard performance since Dec. 12, 2021, with Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson both eclipsing the 100-yard mark. Maybe there’s enough left in the tank to be a league-average quarterback in 2025. One thing is for sure, the New York Jets can’t bring him back. Speaking of the Jets, there are already some promising NFL rumors about who could lead the new regime in 2025.

Related: 2025 NFL Draft order

Another week that ends in a heartbreaking loss for the Carolina Panthers but they still move up our NFL power rankings. Including Week 14, Bryce Young now sports an 82.2 QB rating with 752 total passing yards and a 3-1 TD-INT line in the last three games. Those numbers could’ve been even better had Xavier Legette not dropped a potential game-tying touchdown pass with seconds left on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Young has secured the right to be the Panthers starting quarterback in 2025 and Carolina’s head coach Dave Canales has proven he belongs here, too.

The Chicago Bears didn’t learn from the Jets’ mistakes. When New York fired its head coach, it made defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim head coach and took his attention away from coordinating a top-10 defense. What did the Bears do? Named Thomas Brown the interim coach after he was thriving as the offensive play-caller who unlocked Caleb Williams. The organization’s poor decision-making, all too common with this franchise, showed up in a blowout Week 14 loss to an injury=depleted San Francisco 49ers team.

Related: Chicago Bears coaching candidates to replace Matt Eberflus

As heartbreaking as that loss was for Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys, it’s probably the best thing for the team’s future. The Cowboys’ draft position improved with a loss and not making the playoffs is the best path toward the organization making meaningful changes. While staying competitive and building that culture is competitive for young teams, the Cowboys aren’t that and just making the playoffs can’t keep being good enough for Jerry Jones.

Related: Dallas Cowboys coaching candidates to replace Mike McCarthy

Coming out of the bye week, it’s time to reflect on the Indianapolis Colts’ season. Shane Steichen’s reputation has taken a small hit this year, in large part due to the Anthony Richardson fiasco. However, the time off seemed to help the young quarterback and the Colts are at least still competitive in most games. With all that said, it’s also pretty evident that a team with a four-year playoff drought needs a new general manager. Otherwise, the results won’t be different in 2025.

The New Orleans Saints narrowly escaped with a victory against a lifeless Giants team. Special teams issues can certainly be blamed for how close the final score was, but the fact of the matter is the Saints roster just isn’t particularly good. To make matters worse, Derek Carr suffered another injury on Sunday, providing a reminder of how this team is seemingly stuck with Carr for salary cp reasons in 2025 and he’s progressively getting worse and less durable.

It’s time for the Atlanta Falcons to pull the plug on Kirk Cousins. In his last four games, the 36-year-old quarterback has thrown 8 interceptions and taken 8 sacks without accounting for a single touchdown. Strengthening the argument to bench him, the Falcons schedule -at Raiders, vs Giants, at Commanders and vs Panthers – is a very favorable test run for Michael Penix. As for what Atlanta does with Cousins this offseason, the end result is an expensive cap hit either way.

Related: Best NFL players of all time

The Miami Dolphins won on Sunday, but the victory raised more questions about this team’s chances of making the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers had his first 300-yard performance since 2021, an indictment on this Dolphins’ pass defense. Miami did improve to 6-7 with the overtime victory, but matchups against the Texans, 49ers and Browns significantly cloud the Dolphins’ playoff hopes.

Following the miraculous Monday Night Football victory over the Cowboys, Joe Burrow expressed confidence that Tee Higgins will be re-signed this offseason. If that’s the case, it would be a mistake from the Cincinnati Bengals. Investing more than $100 million per year in a quarterback and two receivers, no matter how good those pass-catchers are, is a recipe for your offensive line and defense to be the anchors pulling your team down. If Cincinnati makes that mistake, you can close the door on the Bengals’ window for competing in the AFC for a few years, especially if they keep Zac Taylor.

Related: Cincinnati Bengals coaching candidates to replace Zac Taylor

Credit to Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy. Even with so many key pieces missing on both sides of the ball, mind you this is a top-heavy roster, they put on a clinic in Sunday’s dominant victory over the Bears. George Kittle had one of his best performances in years, Purdy had a season-best performance and even third-string running back Isaac Guerendo (over 100 scrimmage yards) shined. There’s still a path to a playoff spot for San Francisco, but we’re not going to overreact to this one game.

The Houston Texans just don’t look like a good football team right now. After a 5-1 start to the season, Houston ran into countless problems that led to an 8-5 record entering the bye week. That run includes narrow victories over the Colts and Jaguars (23-20) with losses to the Jets and Titans. Considering the upcoming Texans schedule features the Dolphins, Cheifs and Ravens, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that this team could somehow lose the division that was gift-wrapped for them in October.

Related: 49ers could target this QB to drive down Brock Purdy contract price

The good news from Week 14 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is that they won and the Falcons lost, giving the Bucs a one-game lead in the NFC South. Given the upcoming Buccaneers schedule – at Chargers, at Cowboys, vs Panthers and vs Saints – it’s very realistic to think Tampa Bay wins the division. However, Baker Mayfield’s performance in the past two games – 8 sacks taken and 4 interceptions – paired with a woeful defense leave very little reason to believe Tampa Bay would be anything more than one-and-done in the NFL playoffs.

There’s just too much inconsistency from Kyler Murray right now. He threw a pair of interceptions in Sunday’s loss and the poor showing dropped the Arizona Cardinals record to 2-3 in games where he throws an interception. To make matters worse, despite how well-coached this defense is, the lack of talent is starting to show. Winning the NFC West is now probably out of the question, but Arizona can at least feel good about its long-term outlook. Plus, based on the remaining schedule, the Cardinals could still finish with 8 wins, which is how many combined wins they had from 2022-’23.

The Washington Commanders should feel excellent as they return from the Week 14 bye. Jayden Daniels already seemed healthy in his last start before the bye and two weeks off just gives him even more time to to return to 100 percent. Plus, Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore is finally poised to make his Commanders’ debut in Week 15. Already standing at 8-5, it might only take two total wins against the Saints, Falcons and Cowboys for Washington to punch its playoff ticket.

The Denver Broncos defense did the heavy lifting early in the season, carrying this team to victories as rookie Bo Nix settled in, adjusted and learned Sean Payton’s system. Now, the Broncos rookie quarterback is proving just as integral in some recent victories. Before the Week 14 bye, Nix had a 16-4 TD-INT ratio with a 99.8 QB rating in his last nine starts. With the Broncos schedule wrapping up with the Colts, Chargers, Bengals and Chiefs, Denver has a real chance at a 10-win season.

Related: Richest NFL owners

The Los Angeles Rams desperately needed a big win after dropping games in November to the Dolphins and Eagles. Mission accomplished. Matthew. Stafford, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp had a field day on the Buffalo Bills defense, erupting for 44 points in easily the best game of Week 14. Los Angeles now moves to 7-6 and based on the remainder of the Rams schedule – at 49ers,a t Jets, vs Cardinals, vs Seahawks – this team can sneak into the playoffs. If that happens, we’ve seen what Sean McVay and Co. can do.

Related: Love Los Angeles Sports? Check Out LAFB Network

As if the Ladd McConkey injury didn’t loom large enough over the Los Angeles Chargers offense in Week 14, the team also lost its second-best weapon, tight end Will Dissly, to an injury on Sunday Night Football. THe Chargers’ defense still kept the team in the game, but the absence of two critical weapons for an offense that is already very short-handed in that area cost the Chargers another game.

Even without Kenneth Walker, the Seattle Seahawks proved they are the unquestioned team to beat in the NFC West. First-year coach Mike Macdonald’s defensive scheme takes time to learn and over the last month, we’ve seen a top-10 Seahawks defense that has helped deliver some critical wins. If Seattle can maintain an above-average defense, with the way Geno Smith is playing and this run game gets going, Seattle can be a very dangerous playoff team. At the very least, the Seahawks are ahead of schedule with a very bright future.

The great news for the Baltimore Ravens is that, since making changes in the secondary, this defense has played a lot better in recent weeks. Pair that with MVP-caliber play from Lamar Jackson with Derrick Henry in the backfield and you can still see a path to this being one of the best NFL teams come playoff time. However, Justin Tucker can’t be trusted and we’ve also seen enough evidence in recent years to suggest John Harbaugh’s teams seem to fall short on the biggest stages.

Related: NFL defense rankings, evaluating all 32 defenses

Thursday Night Football showed that the Green Bay Packers are a very good team, but the mental mistakes and inconsistent execution that come from fielding one of the youngest rosters in the NFL are still showing up. Jordan Love has his moments and this Packers defense can get some stops. Until Love can consistently play at a high level and Green Bay’s pass rush improves, though, this team can’t win the NFC.

Related: Best NFL dynasties ever

The Kansas City Chiefs escaped on a game-winning field goal again. Maybe it’s the NFL script writers or the football gods operating in mysterious ways, either way, Kansas City finds a way to win a game it should lose nearly every other week. On the one hand, that’s a testament to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. On the other, it’s not unfair to wonder how things would’ve gone if the Chargers had their only reliable wide receiver on the field Sunday. A win is a win for the Chiefs, though, who remain in firm control of the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

Josh Allen did everything possible to beat the Rams in one of the highest-scoring NFL games this season. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills forgot to bring their defense on the cross-country trip to Los Angeles. Allen was practically flawless on Sunday, accounting for 6 total touchdowns with another 300-yard performance through the air and he led the team in rushing by more than 50 yards. The MVP-caliber performance was just wasted by this defense in a tough 44-35 loss. Time for Buffalo to put this behind them quickly because the Detroit Lions are looming.

Even without No. 1 receiver George Pickens, the Pittsburgh Steelers still put up three offensive touchdowns. The run game wasn’t dominant by any means, but Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren did combine for 100 rushing yards on 25 carries. Plus, most importantly for a playoff contender like the Steelers, this offense turned turnovers created by Pittsburgh’s defense into offensive touchdowns. This is the most well-rounded Steelers team we’ve seen in years and they are clearly one of the best NFL teams right now.

Safe to say the decision to move on from Kirk Cousins worked out perfectly. Sam Darnold is thriving in this offense, Aaron Jones was the missing ingredient to fix the run-game woes from last season and a healthy Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson give Minnesota one of the best pass-catching trios in the NFL. Pair that with an elite defense, you can at least make the case that the Vikings are a Super Bowl contender.

Related: Love Minnesota Sports? Check Out Minnesota Sports Fan

Maybe we all need to put some respect on the Carolina Panthers’ name, The Philadelphia Eagles, much like the Chiefs, had to claw their way to a victory over Carolina and a dropped pass nearly resulted in a stunning loss. The good news is, Philadelphia improves to 11-2 to keep pace with the Vikings and there is plenty on film in this game for the players and coaching staff to correct. We can’t wait for the Week 15 clash between the Eagles and Steelers, a matchup between two of the best NFL teams in 2024.

Related: Eagles may be in on new Offensive Coordinator next season

Dan Campbell is a gambler and there will be times in the future when it might cost the Detroit Lions a game. The beauty of Campbell’s aggressiveness, however, is that it works because the Lions are the best-coached team in the NFL. That continues to be proven true as Detroit keeps winning games despite one of the longest injury reports in the NFL. There are three elite NFL teams right now, Detroit is one of them and home-field advantage in the playoffs can lead to the Lions becoming Super Bowl champions.