NFL Week 14 power rankings: Evaluating all 32 teams as Steelers, Packers rise

It’s become obvious at this point that the New York Giants will fire head coach Brian Daboll and, at this point, general manager Joe Schoen is probably out as well. There will be excuses made for Daboll – awful Giants’ quarterback play – but a head coach who has a history of clashing with his defensive coordinator and having “brutal” outbursts directed at the Giants coaching staff and who has seemingly lost the locker room has no business being kept around with an 8-21 record in the last seasons.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars showed far more fight after the dirty hit on Trevor Lawrence than they have all season for head coach Doug Pederson. That should tell Jaguars’ ownership everything about the leadership within this franchise. Unfortunately, Pederson is going to keep trotting out Lawrence and risking his health because Jacksonville still refuses to fire a head coach who should no longer be employed and is actively putting the face of the franchise in jeopardy.

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A win might’ve been best for the New England Patriots “culture”, but that loss puts this franchise one step closer to a top-three pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Drake Maye keeps showing sustained flashes that warrant excitement as a franchise-caliber quarterback. Quite frankly, that’s all that matters for the Patriots (3-10) for the rest of the season.

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Coaching and quarterback play are the Las Vegas Raiders’ two biggest problems right now. The good news is that first-round pick Maxx Crosby already looks like an All-Pro player and hitting on that caliber of talent is huge for the Raiders moving forward. One thing is clear from this season, Las Vegas needs a new head coach and the locker room shouldn’t get to pick him this time.

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It’s hard to fathom how that game could’ve been any uglier for the Tennessee Titans, who trailed 21-0 before the first quarter ended in Week 13. Tennessee did an admirable job this offseason trying to overhaul this roster, but there are just too many holes at critical positions for it to work. Looking ahead at the Titans schedule, there’s probably only one more win looming for this team.

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The biggest thing coming out of Week 13 for the New York Jets is that they are one game closer to the Aaron Rodgers era finally coming to an end. It’s been an utter disaster the past two seasons, with the firings of Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh just the start of a complete teardown for the franchise. Our only hope for New York is that Woody Johnson doesn’t attempt a one-year bandaid to try and compete in 2025, because the results would be disastrous.

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There’s finally hope on the horizon for the Carolina Panthers. Dave Canales’ offense is showing real signs of progress over the last month, Bryce Young is playing with more confidence and excelling against the blitz all while the likes of Ja’Tavion Sanders and Xavier Legette are beginning to emerge as long-term core pieces of this offense. Just don’t ask us to find positives from the Panthers’ defense, at least this unit looked solid on Sunday.

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Everyone outside the organization saw the signs of a locker room turning on Matt Eberflus after the Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. The last three games, all heartbreaking losses caused by coaching mistakes, are further evidence it was time for Chicago to end this. Tradition or doing things the “professional way” doesn’t matter anymore and, after Bears’ captains openly revolted against Eberflus, the Bears finally fired their head coach in-season. Now? Throw a blank check at Ben Johnson this offseason and hope he accepts.

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It’s not unreasonable to wonder after that Monday Night Football performance if the Cleveland Browns could’ve been in Wild Card contention had they started Jameis Winston much earlier in the season. Cleveland’s offense looks functional, even explosive at times, with Winston under center. Unfortunately, loyalties to Deshaun Watson cost the Browns another season. At the very least, the recent performances should ensure coach Kevin Stefanski gets to stick around for another season.

Even at 6-7, the Indianapolis Colts recognize they aren’t playoff contenders and narrowly beating the New England Patriots in Week 14 is a reminder of that. However, what matters to the Colts’ organization and fan base are the bright spots for Anthony Richardson more consistently outnumbering the lowlights. Richardson provided that on Sunday, delivering a 19-play, 80-yard drive and then connecting for a touchdown pass with 12 seconds left before running in the game-winning two-point conversion. With two game-winning drives in the last three weeks, the Colts are happy.

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The Dallas Cowboys are not making the playoffs and this two-game winning streak is absolutely hurting the draft position of a team that needs premium draft picks. With that said, the emergence of running back Rico Dowdle – the first Cowboys’ player with 100-plus rushing yards in the last 26 games – and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown are massive for this team’s long-term future. More than the win, Cowboys Nation should be excited about the emergence of those two.

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Another MVP-caliber performance from Joe Burrow (309 pass yards, 3-1 TD-INT, 112.7 QB rating) weighed down by the Cincinnati Bengals allowing 40-plus points. The Bengals’ offense is one of the best in the NFL, but it’s all being wasted because this front office allowed the defense to decay so quickly. Burrow deserves better than a 4-8 record, but that’s where Cincinnati stands and we have to keep reminding ourselves it could be worse in 2025 if Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson are gone.

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Alvin Kamara tried to will the New Orleans Saints to a win at home, but he’s on a team that just lacks the firepower to beat teams like the Los Angeles Rams. New Orleans still can’t stop the run and an injury-depleted receiving corps often puts this team in an even bigger hole. Credit to New Orleans for showing more fight under an interim coach, but this season (4-8) is effectively over).

Sunday Night Football was the nail in the coffin for the San Francisco 49ers’ season. The Christian McCaffrey injury, a season-ender, is just the latest devastating blow for a team that has been decimated by injuries on both sides of the ball. At this point, it’s in the best interest of the 49ers and their players to sit the likes of Trent Williams, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the rest of the year. Maybe a single offseason is enough to reset everything, but it truly feels like the 49ers’ Super Bowl window with this core is closed.

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Maybe it’s not so much the frigid cold that gives the Miami Dolphins as it is well-coached and talented teams. The past few seasons have seemingly highlighted that Tua Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel are excellent at beating up on bad teams and winning a few matchups against average to good teams. However, the Dolphins have repeatedly come short against the top competition year after year. At some point, something has to change in Miami.

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The Atlanta Falcons had a 6-3 record on Nov. 3, including a two-game sweep over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that made this team the overwhelming favorite to win the NFC South. One month later, the Falcons have lost three consecutive games and a fourth – at Minnesota Vikings in Week 14 – feels inevitable. Atlanta is dangerously close to dropping from 6-3 to 6-7, gift-wrapping the division to Tampa Bay while the Falcons miss the playoffs entirely.

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The Los Angeles Rams are doing just enough to bet by the teams they need to beat. Matthew Stafford wasn’t especially sharp in Week 14, but Kyren Williams (104 yards, 1 TD and 6.9 ypc) and Puka Nacua (56 yards and 1 touchdown) provided the big plays this Rams’ offense needed. With the Falcons’ slumping, Los Angeles now has two realistic paths (Wild Card or NFC West title) to the playoffs.

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Don’t let the 8-5 record fool you, the Houston Texans aren’t a good football team right now. While C.J. Stroud, Joe Mixon and Nico Collins posted some nice NFL stats against the Jacksonville Jaguars defense, the Texans offense went 1-for-3 in the red zone and 5-for-13 on third-down attempts. We knew Houston’s offense was a problem, but now its defense (373 total yards allowed) is beginning to regress. The Texans will probably win the AFC South, but this will be a one-and-done playoff team.

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Sunday’s performance against the Panthers will definitely raise some concerns about the Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield threw a pair of costly interceptions and this Buccaneers’ defense continues to be a huge problem. Sunday’s showing doesn’t hurt as much because the Falcons look even worse than the Bucs, but it’s hard to trust any NFC South team right now.

The Arizona Cardinals went toe-to-toe with one of the best NFL teams in 2024, only losing by 1 on the road. Arizona is already disadvantaged by a significant talent gap between it and top NFC teams, forcing Kyler Murray to play nearly flawlessly. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Murray has a 1-3 TD-INT ratio with 5 sacks taken in the last two games. Arizona is 0-2 over that stretch with 28 total points scored. The future is still bright for the Cardinals.

There’s the version of the Washington Commanders we’ve been waiting to see. It started on Sunday with running back Brian Robinson Jr. opening things with a 40-yard touchdown run. That opened the floodgates to 28 unanswered points with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter. This was simply thorough domination by the Commanders, securing their 8th win of the season. With the Saints, Falcons and Cowboys remaining on the schedule, Washington has a real shot at 10 wins this year.

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Mike Macdonald’s defense has arrived and that’s the biggest thing for the Seattle Seahawks. Leonard Williams made the biggest play of the day, against his former team, returning a deflected pass 92 yards to the house. Williams’ pick-six, part of 2 takeaways from the Seahawks’ defense on Sunday re the biggest reason why Seattle won. Now standing at 7-5, Seattle could really take control of the NFC West if they take out the Cardinals next week to complete the two-game sweep. If that happens, it’ll be a two-game lead and the tie-breaker over Arizona.

Good teams find ways to win, even unusual ones, and the Denver Broncos found the path to victory on Monday Night Football. It was an odd night for the defense, missing No. 2 cornerback Riley Moss, but the big plays on both sides of the ball were enough in a 41-32 game. Now standing at 8-5 in early December, the Broncos realistically need just one more win to likely snag a playoff spot and they’ll have a few golden opportunities (vs Colts and at Bengals) in the next three weeks.

The Los Angeles Chargers’ MVPs from Week 14 are defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, kicker Cameron Dicker and rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still. Minter’s defense held the Atlanta Falcons to a 21.4 percent third-down conversion rate (3-for-14) and a 25 percent red-zone touchdown rate. Dicker made all three of his field-goal attempts and Still’s pick-six, one of two interceptions, gave Los Angeles a lead it would never surrender. Don’t mistake the Chargers for a Super Bowl contender, but this is a very good team that is two wins away from a 10-win season. Quite frankly, we like the Chargers’ chances on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14.

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It’s not something we expected to write this season, but Justin Tucker is now an even bigger problem for the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar Jackson remains an MVP-caliber player in an elite offense and the Ravens defense has really made strides in recent weeks. Unfortunately, Tucker has become one of the worst kickers in the NFL and it sure seems like the problems aren’t going away. It’s an unfortunate way to see an all-time great’s career spiral downward, especially because it’s costing Baltimore multiple wins this season.

Betting against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid rarely works out and all this doubt could be the secret ingredient to a three-peat. With that said, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t look like a good football team right now. Kansas City has a bottom-10 defense since the season-ending injury to Jaylen Watson and the Chiefs’ tackle situation is abysmal. Maybe a healthier Charles Omenihu, Hollywood Brown and DJ Humphries will make a difference. Until we see it though, we’re not confident in the Chiefs’ ability to beat great teams.

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Great teams find ways to win ugly games and that’s precisely what the Minnesota Vikings did in Week 14. Aaron Jones fumbled twice, losing one, and the Vikings offense managed just 68 rushing yards while going 1-for-8 on third-down attempts. Thankfully for Minnesota, Brian Flores’ defense – 2 takeaways and a 16.7 percent red-zone touchdown rate – made the big plays in crucial spots. The Vikings have one of the best records in the NFL (10-2), though, their recent stretch of narrow victories against the Jaguars, Titans, Bears and Cardinals raise some concerns. Set to face the slumping Falcons in Week 14, Minnesota should be able to extend its win streak to six games.

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We’re not too concerned about the Pittsburgh Steelers defense having issues stopping Joe Burrow and this Bengals’ offense, just about everyone does. The biggest takeaway from Pittsburgh for Week 14 is the re-emergence of Najee Harris (129 scrimmage yards) and Russell Wilson turning back the clock with one of the best performances of his career. Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin has secured another winning season and the Steelers now have a shot at revenge against the Browns in two weeks after a well-earned bye.

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The Green Bay Packers already had one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, one that is built for success in January. With Jordan Love and Jayden Reed now healthy, the passing attack could soon catch up to the run game. There are still issues defensively – an inconsistent pass rush and poor pass coverage over the middle of the field – but Green Bay has demonstrated in recent weeks why it’s one of the best NFL teams right now.

Complete domination for the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen’s NFL MVP candidacy gained steam on Sunday Night Football, recording a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown. Buffalo also got big plays from its ground game and this defense looked sharp. With the roster now healthy, the Bills are in the elite tier of NFL teams and one of the few you can count on to dominate most weeks.

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Even without Darius Slay, the Philadelphia Eagles defense neutralized one of the best NFL offenses. That was the driving force in Sunday’s road win in Baltimore. It’s a testament to how good the Eagles are that they find so many different ways to win, which isn’t something that can be said for a majority of the league. What’s clear after Week 14, this season feels destined for an Eagles vs Lions NFC Championship Game.

Survive, that’s the name of the game for the Detroit Lions right now with so many injuries defensively. It was evident in the second half that this Lions’ defense, missing multiple starters at all three levels, just didn’t have the talent to stop the Bears’ offense. Fortunately, a dominant first half and classic Bears mistakes secured the win for Detroit. It’s a stellar 11-1 record with a chance to create even more distance from the Packers in the NFC North on Thursday Night Football.

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