NFL Week 18 power rankings: Evaluting all 32 teams as Chiefs, Ravens climb

We have to think New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has seen enough of Jerod Mayo as head coach. New England’s defense has taken an alarming step backward in Mayo’s first year at the helm and, even with the excuse of a weak roster, this team just isn’t being coached well. There needs to be a legitimate Patriots coaching search this year and that starts with firing Mayo after Week 18.

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The New York Giants controlled their destiny for the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and now it’s up for grabs. In some ways, that stings for a franchise that seemed determined to draft Shedeur Sanders and now might have to pay a premium to trade up for a quarterback. With that said, we also see positives long-term with Malik Nabers proving to be a difference-maker as a No. 1 receiver and Tyrone Tracy Jr. proving to be a legitimate offensive weapon. It sets up solid building blocks for a rookie quarterback and that’s something to feel good about, even if the tanking effort failed.

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Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan didn’t inherit a good situation by any means, but it’s challenging to find signs of progress under the first-year head coach. Losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars twice further highlighted how dysfunctional the Titans offense was in 2024 and while quarterback Will Levis clearly isn’t a starting-caliber player, he got even worse under this offensive-minded head coach. The reputation of the Titans’ organization would probably take a hit if it fired a first-year head coach, but there really weren’t any positive signs from Callahan this season.

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The only real positive following Week 17 for the New Orleans Saints is that these last two ugly losses guarantee interim coach Darren Rizzi won’t retain the job in 2025. With that said, we’re all out of reasons for the Saints to be optimistic. New Orleans still faces a dreadful salary-cap situation this offseason and there are an alarming amount of holes on the Saints roster. This franchise needs a multi-year rebuild and it has the least attractive head-coaching vacancy in 2025.

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It’s not a surprise that the Cleveland Browns are bringing Deshaun Watson back in 2025, but prolonging the long-term impact of his cap hit is a bad decision. Sure it opens up more cap space in 2025, but there still isn’t enough room to make the improvements this roster needs. It ultimately seems like Cleveland just doesn’t want to take the necessary step of rebuilding, kicking the proverbial can down the road so Myles Garrett doesn’t request a trade. The end result will be a below-average team in 2025 and this franchise has an even bleaker future after that.

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It’s time to blow this thing up. There’s nothing the New York Jets can do about owner Woody Johnson, but it’s clearly time to clean house everywhere else. That starts with cutting ties immediately with Aaron Rodgers and instead of going for band-aid solutions to try and be a fringe contender in 2025, completely reloading. If Garrett Wilson is willing to stick around for that, great. If not, then the Jets should go all-out in their rebuild and trade Wilson for premium draft picks.

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There’s now real long-term concern with the Chicago Bears. Caleb Williams has shown minimal signs of development this season, with the same issues that plagued him in college (holding onto the football too long) now looking even worse in the NFL. Meanwhile, turmoil in the Bears’ front office makes this a less attractive destination for head coaches. Just a few months ago, the Bears’ future seemed so bright. With the offseason nearing, this feels like a franchise that can’t get out of its own way and that’s a hard situation to have any long-term confidence in.

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We can only hope the Jacksonville Jaguars beating the Tennessee Titans twice isn’t enough to convince the Khan family that Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke should stick around in 2025. Granted, nothing is off the table with Jaguars ownership. Jacksonville still has a franchise quarterback and it has to be elated with the emergence of Brian Thomas Jr. this year. Still, there’s a ton of work that needs to be done to fix the Jaguars roster. If Baalke isn’t the one making decisions, we’ll feel better about the team’s future.

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Through his first two NFL seasons, quarterback Anthony Richardson has a 50.6 percent completion rate with an 11-13 TD-INT line and 67.8 QB rating. He’s also missed multiple games due to injury every year. It’s just hard to see him developing into anything that resembles what the Indianapolis Colts dreamed of. If Indianapolis doesn’t have the franchise quarterback, the rest of this roster isn’t good enough to make up for it. At the very least, it seems evident the Colts need to move on from general manager Chris Ballard this offseason.

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Entering late December, it felt like a guarantee that the Las Vegas Raiders would fire head coach Antonio Pierce. Following consecutive wins, even against two of the worst NFL teams in 2024, it feels like owner Mark Davis might be open to giving Pierce another season. While we certainly don’t see that as the right decision for the Raiders organization, the support Pierce has from the Raiders locker room and Davis’ desire to keep players happy leaves the door open to it happening.

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After Week 17, our NFL power rankings are just as much about the future as the present. The Carolina Panthers suffered an ugly loss on Sunday, but Bryce Young keeps showing flashes to provide hope for 2025. We’re also comparing coaching situations and Panthers head coach Dave Canales has proven to be a quarterback whisperer and quality play-caller this year. That’s why we’re feeling much better about the Panthers’ future than we did just six weeks ago.

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Even if the Brock Purdy injury isn’t serious, the scare has to be another potential warning sign to the San Francisco 49ers. For as well as he’s played for the majority of his time as the starter, durability has been a problem. The injuries around him have also shown that while he is still an above-average starter, there are limitations when he isn’t surrounded by All-Pro talent. It all just sets up for a fascinating offseason regarding a potential contract extension for him.

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The Miami Dolphins feel like a franchise that is going to just keep treading water for years. Tyreek Hill is on the wrong side of 30 and showed signs of decline in 2024. Another concussion for Tua Tagovailoa also re-ignited concerns about how bad things can get for this offense if he goes down again. Miami has numerous holes on both sides of the ball with just $5 million in cap space for 2025 right now. Fighting for the No. 7 Wild Card spot feels like the best-case scenario for the Dolphins next season because not a ton can be done to make this roster better.

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The Arizona Cardinals defense – 257 total yards and 4.8 yards-per-play average allowed – did everything it could to win against the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately for Arizona, Kyler Murray is increasingly becoming part of the problem. Murray had his second two-interception game in December, giving him a 5-7 TD-INT ratio in the last six games. Arizona obviously shouldn’t be moving on from him in 2025, but next season might need to be a prove-it year that determines if Murray can be the long-term franchise quarterback for the Cardinals.

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A Week 17 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles likely won’t change the fortunes of head coach Mike McCarthy. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been singing McCarthy’s praises for months, even before Dallas started playing better football late in the regular season. It feels safe to assume Dallas will run things back in 2025, though, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Cowboys executive Will McClay might leave for a GM job this offseason and that would be a significant blow for this team.

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The Houston Texans being AFC South champions is entirely an indictment of that division. Following a strong 5-1 start to the season, the Texans have gone 4-6 and they looked like one of the worst NFL teams in Tuesday’s Week 17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. C.J. Stroud has regressed, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is only making things worse on his second-year quarterback and the Texans offensive line ensures this team can’t have sustained success. Houston has a lot of problems and, unfortunately, not even a full offseason can fix them all.

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Taking the Washington Commanders to overtime is at least a step forward compared to the caliber of football the Atlanta Falcons have played recently. Michael Penix Jr. is showing plenty of flashes and both Bijan Robinson and Drake London have become everything the front office hoped for. Whether Atlanta wins the NFC South or not, unlikely, the big priority this offseason must be upgrading this defense.

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The Seattle Seahawks won arguably the ugliest NFL game of the 2024 season, but their playoff hopes died anyway. These victories are just about building momentum to carry over into the 2025 season. On that note, first-year head coach Mike MacDonald’s defense has held its last seven opponents to an 85.9 QB rating and 188.7 passing yards per game with a 36.8 percent third-down conversion rate. We’re very excited about Year 2 of Macdonald’s system and the Seahawks’ future is even brighter if they ever fix the offensive line.

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We’re still not sure why the Denver Broncos didn’t go for the two-point conversion. Instead, Sean Payton settled for overtime and Denver now finds itself back in the must-win situation for Week 18 had a two-point attempt failed. Of course, Denver being in this position because the defense has slipped in recent weeks and Bo Nix has seemingly hit a bit of a rookie wall. The Broncos’ season is still a success, compared to preseason expectations, but even beating the Chiefs’ backups can’t be considered a foregone conclusion.

Plenty still needs to go right in Week 18 for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs, but it’s a feat in itself that this team has a shot at the postseason. Joe Burrow has played at an MVP-caliber level all season and that continued in Week 18 with 20 points produced after the third quarter, with a dime of a throw to Tee Higgins setting up the game-winner. From 4-8 to 8-8, the turnaround is impressive and might be the push ownership needed to get the money together to pay Tee Higgins.

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Just too easy for this Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. Baker Mayfield absolutely feasted on the Panthers’ defense, but the bigger story is how good rookie running back Bucky Irving has been this season. Tampa Bay took full advantage of its get-right game and easily avoided the Panthers playing spoiler again for another team. Now all the Buccaneers have to hope for with their playoff destiny back in their hands is a victory over a Saints team that seemingly gave up a few weeks ago.

The Pittsburgh Steelers simply hit their ceiling. Injuries on the defensive side play a key part in the regression over the three-game losing streak – 124.7 QB rating and 10 total touchdowns allowed – but this team’s issues go beyond that. Russell Wilson was always a limited passer at this stage of his career and even with George Pickens returning, Pittsburgh lacks the quality of offensive weapons to compete with elite offenses. Unless the Steelers get a Wild Card matchup against the Texans, they’ll be one-and-done in January.

A 10-win season and a playoff berth for the Los Angeles Chargers. Just more marvelous coaching by Jim Harbaugh. He really did it again, even after a decade away from the NFL, Harbaugh took over a team and immediately led them to double-digit wins. The Chargers roster certainly isn’t good enough to make a deep playoff run, but the future is glowing bright in Los Angeles.

It wasn’t a crisp performance from this Los Angeles Rams offense, with Puka Nacua (10-129) the only player to clear 75-plus scrimmage yards. Fortunately, this young Rams defense – 4 sacks and 2 interceptions – saved the day just as it did a few weeks ago against the 49ers. Los Angeles is on a five-game winning streak with the Rams taking the NFC West. If the matchup is right in the NFL playoffs, the Rams can absolutely steal a Wild Card game.

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Jayden Daniels is simply incredible. The rookie delivered another MVP-caliber performance on the national stage, with the latest insane showing punching the Washington Commanders’ ticket to the playoffs. Washington is even in a position to take the NFC’s No. 6 seed for a Wild Card matchup versus the Los Angeles Rams or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the level Daniels is playing at, the Commanders have a legitimate shot at making it to the Divisional Round.

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The Green Bay Packers simply aren’t on the same tier as the six top NFL teams right now, Week 17 is another example of it. Sure, mounting injuries in the secondary were part of the problem on Sunday, but this was the latest example of Green Bay’s disappearing pass rush. It also certainly doesn’t help that Jordan Love is too focused on big-play hunting and that can’t work against great defenses. The Packers just aren’t built right now to be a Super Bowl contender, but let’s also not forget this is the youngest team in the NFL.

While the Philadelphia Eagles are dropping a spot in our NFL power rankings, the best NFL teams are truly interchangeable depending on preference. The Eagles’ defense is healthy and its probably the best in the NFL right now. Philadelphia has also been battle-tested with some big wins this year. As long as Jalen Hurts (concussion) is cleared to return before the playoffs, the Eagles have just as strong of a shot at making a Super Bowl run as the top-five teams.

Dan Campbell’s decision to play his starters didn’t hurt the Detroit Lions, which is certainly a good thing since this team can’t afford another injury. Even without David Montgomery, we have confidence the Lions’ passing game will fare very well versus Brian Flores’ defense. However, the absences on this Lions defense just loom large. Detroit has proven us wrong plenty over the last two years and they’ll have a chance to do it again by beating the Vikings in Wek 18. For now, the injuries just seem like they are going to catch up to Detroit.

The Buffalo Bills lost out on home-field advantage and a first-round bye in the AFC, but Josh Allen certainly gives this team its best Super Bowl hopes in years. Regardless of who people think should ultimately be NFL MVP, Allen has carried this Bills offense like no one else this season. We do tend to believe Buffalo is the third-best team in the AFC right now, but the playoff field has never been more wide-open. Each of these clubs has a weakness and for Buffalo, it’s this defense and how it will fare against the Ravens or Chiefs.

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The Baltimore Ravens are back on track as one of the best NFL teams right now. Lamar Jackson boasts a 130.3 QB rating with a 29-2 TD-INT ratio over the last 10 games, arguably making him the NFL MVP. Derrick Henry is on fire, with 354 scrimmage yards total in the last two games. Meanwhile, the Ravens defense has held its last six opponents to 171.2 passing yards and 95.8 rushing yards per game with a 29.1 percent third-down conversion rate allowed. Oh, Justin Tucker – 17-for-18 (94.4 percent) on field-goal attempts since Nov. 25 – is back on track, too. Plus, Baltimore has the run game to beat Buffalo.

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The Minnesota Vikings are the best team in the NFC. Our biggest concern was what would happen to this offense after it lost Christian Darrisaw, but it hasn’t lost a beat. Sam Darnold is playing at an MVP-caliber level and an elite supporting cast makes this offense incredibly difficult to contain. Pair that with a top-two defense and you have a club that can beat anyone. It’s certainly a different story if the Lions are healthy, but Minnesota is the better football team as of now.

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The Kansas City Chiefs are the best team in the NFL. Moving Joe Thuney to left tackle provided stability and fixed a glaring hole in this offense with the return of Marquise Brown unlocking this passing game. Kansas City now has a top-10 offense with Patrick Mahomes – 98.1 QB rating and 11-0 TD-INT ratio – playing like an MVP in the last six games. Paired with the recent improvements from the Chiefs defense and two weeks of rest before hosting a Divisional Round game in the NFL Playoffs, Kanas City reclaims its title as the team to beat.

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