2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 17

2015 bled into 2016 just a bit.  But now the season is over and we know where everyone stands.

Not all of the playoff teams are looking strong.  Injuries have prevented some from being at their best, while others dropped off performance-wise.

In the final week of picks for the regular season, I had another lackluster effort. 9-7 straight up, for a season total 153-103.  If that sounds bad, yes, it is quite bad.

Still, it's been a great season, even if there are fewer great teams at the top than we're used to.

Here are the Rankings for Week 17:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 15

Fifteen weeks in, and I think we've got an idea who's good.

There were some bumps in the road to be sure.  But now that the midseason slumps have gone away, the elite teams have separated themselves and now the arguments about contenders will rage.

I guess most people were talking about Carolina vs. the Giants the last two days.  It was a good game, although closer than expected.  Cam Newton locked it up late with a drive for the game-winning field goal; I'm still not a fan of field goals when it's winning time, but the way he played was clearly MVP-level.

And if they finish undefeated, he's the guy.  Hell, he might get it even if they don't finish undefeated, that's how well he's played.

The picks were a little better, at 10-6 straight up.  Had no idea Indy would lose at home to the Texans (an embarrassing loss if there ever was one) or that New Orleans would fail to show up again.

Here are the Rankings for Week 15:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 13

Has the playoff picture gotten any clearer?

I think we're fairly certain who the good teams are at the conclusion of Week 13.  The two teams at the top of the NFC North are just behind and are basically week-to-week in terms of which is better.  Last week it was definitely Minnesota; this week it's definitely Green Bay.  Next week, who knows?  Maybe Chicago will outplay both of them.

My picks were a bit better, but still not where I'd like them to be.  I was 10-6 thanks to going with Detroit and Chicago, among other teams that just got beat outright.

It's probably safe to say that five of the eight divisions are sewn up.  The AFC South should go right down to the wire, along with the aforementioned NFC North and the moribund NFC East.

How bad is that NFC East, you ask?  Well, the AFC South looks pretty good in comparison.

If that isn't a damning statement, I don't know what is.

Here are the Rankings for Week 13:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 12

Thanksgiving threw a wrinkle into the patterns I thought were developing over the 2015 season.

And for whatever reason, I think that successful teams will continue to be successful, generally speaking, as the year goes on.  However, that didn't quite turn out to be the case for a few teams.

The most notable game was Sunday night's Denver/New England matchup that saw the Pats fall out of the #1 spot for the first time in what seems like a year. That leaves one undefeated team, and I think you know who's #1 now.

That said, there still aren't a lot of "good" teams in the league.  Yes, there are more teams with winning records at the moment, but a lot of them are 6-5 and that's not what I would consider to be "good".

My picks were fairly abysmal, which seems to be the usual in this stretch. I had to bet on Baltimore (and thus, that blocked FG that turned into a touchdown) just to get to 8-8.  Monkeys on typewriters...yeesh.

Here are the Rankings for Week 12:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 11

Another interesting week in the NFL as some teams that looked down and out got right and others continued to swoon.

The relative unpredictability (meaning, good teams that fell on their faces) meant that it was a hard week to pick and my picks stunk.  I batted .500 this week, which is not especially great straight up.  I banked on teams like Chicago and Minnesota winning (oops), as well as Philadelphia and the Jets.  So there was plenty of disappointment to go around.

Still, I'm thankful for football, even when it infuriates me.  And Red Zone.

And the internet.

Here are the Rankings for Week 11:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 10

Week 10 of this NFL season was punctuated by stunning upsets of teams that previously looked pretty damn good.  What's particularly galling is that the teams who won were hardly what we might call "high-caliber".  Green Bay and Cincinnati in particular dropped the ball in hilarious fashion and survival pools suffered as a result.

My picks for the week, as could be expected, were a disaster.  6-8 total, with galling losses all over.  I'm not adept at calling the upset, apparently, because other than getting Chicago and Washington right, I floundered.

Also, thanks to Cincinnati's loss there are only two undefeated teams left.

Here are the Rankings for Week 10:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 9

Not even here were the top five set in stone.  And now that every team has played eight games, I think we have a better idea who is for real and who isn't.

As always, these Rankings are descriptive rather than predictive.  I waited until each team had played half their schedule for a reason, after all.  And I still qualify that we actually know nothing until the season is over.  True, we have ideas and we can pick the results with a fair amount of sophistication and accuracy (emphasis on "fair" amount, for sure).

But what do we really know until the playoffs come around?  And even then, performance in the playoffs is what we all focus on.  That is the nature of professional sports.

As far as the picks go, I got waylaid in the late afternoon window by a couple of good teams who lost to significantly worse ones.  Denver and Atlanta were not quite ready to play; they did well enough to avoid blowouts, but that's about as charitable as I'll get.

Here are the Rankings for Week 9:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 8

I was on-board with the NFL becoming a passing league.  But over the last couple of seasons, it hasn't really been borne out, as coaches continue to do their jobs in an overly conservative manner, running the ball is still the way to go, and defense hasn't entirely been legislated out of the game as some might want you to believe.

I put most of the blame on the Seattle Seahawks for winning the Super Bowl a couple seasons ago.  Had Denver won, I think we would be seeing a full-fledged passing league.

Since New England won after last season, I don't see much of a change. They're still the only team that plays confidently and matches their style to the opponent on the other side of the field.  Could that have something to do with their coach?  Most likely.  Belichick has four Super Bowl's to his credit, the best QB in the league, and a bag full of onions.  Yes, onions.

Speaking of the best QB in the league, most want to see that title given to Aaron Rodgers.  I think he proved that he isn't when he wilted against Denver's defense Sunday night.  We'll see how Brady does in a few weeks, but as of right now he's the best and the other top teams don't really have a guy that's in his league currently.  I mean, would you take Cam Newton or Andy Dalton over Brady?  How about Peyton Manning?

My picks were a little better than usual, but I still could have done more.  I was 10-4 straight up; picking Tennessee, the Giants, and Green Bay doomed me to a worse week than I could have had.  I didn't see Atlanta losing to Tampa Bay; that one was a surprise.

Here are the Rankings for Week 8:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 7

How many good teams are there after seven weeks?  I'm going to go with nine.

Is that problematic when I do a top ten every week?  Yeah, but somehow I manage.  And this week, I have both teams that ostensibly play in NY (though it's actually New Jersey) in at the bottom.

No sign of Buffalo, but hey, that's what they get for losing to Jacksonville, because no matter where the game is played, you can't lose to Jacksonville and still be taken seriously.

I went 9-5 straight up in Week 7, thanks to somewhat explicable losses by Indy and Pittsburgh, the aforementioned trip to London for Buffalo, and San Diego being one of the worst teams in the league despite having the "perpetually underrated" Philip Rivers.

Here are the Rankings for Week 7:

2015 NFL Power Rankings, Week 6

Beyond the top 5, it's a bit difficult to know who's good through six weeks.

I always figure that by the quarter pole, teams will have themselves figured out or be closer to that point than they usually are.  I guess I'm a bit too optimistic in that sense.

My picks suffered a bit as I went 8-6 straight up.  I had a feeling about New Orleans but didn't pull the trigger.  I also got burned by the Jaguars not stepping up at home against a beatable opponent and the Steelers showing that they really can overcome the loss of Roethlisberger, even if it takes a third-string kid to do so.

Also of note, especially where I'm concerned, only one undefeated team (Atlanta) fell in Week 6.  But as the other five teams remain undefeated, it's bluntly obvious who is up there and who isn't.

Here are the Rankings for Week 6:

2014 NFL Power Rankings, Week 4

26 of 32 teams reached the quarter pole in Week 4.  The other six will reach it after the conclusion of Week 5.

What does this mean?  Hell, I'm not sure.  It's been a wacky four weeks in the NFL so far, and mediocr...I mean, parity (duh) is reigning supreme.

Well, mostly.  13 teams are 2-2 right now.  Had the teams on a bye in Week 4 played, I'm sure that number would be higher.  The majority of the rest are either flying high at 3-1 or looking like garbage at 1-3.  What's surprising is that New Orleans and New England (perennial contenders and weekly Rankings holders) are not only out of the Rankings but the Saints are 1-3 and the Pats are 2-2.  I find it incredibly difficult to believe that two elite QB's could fall so hard.

Then again, Aaron Rodgers just had his first good game in Week 4.  And while Peyton Manning has looked good, he's clearly not on the breakneck pace of 2013.

So the elite QB's mostly stink and we're left with guys like Rivers, Dalton, and Flacco.  Of this group, Flacco has a ring and an unearned SB MVP (that should have gone to Jacoby Jones, but I digress), which puts him slightly ahead of the other two.  But honestly, Dalton and Rivers have looked better.

I think I'll wait until the halfway point to make a judgment on the Cowboys.

Here are the Rankings for Week 4:

2014 NFL Power Rankings, Week 3

Another interesting week in the NFL and we're down to three undefeated teams.

Who's good?  I still don't know.  So you'll probably notice that a number of teams have dropped out again and a couple who were in previously are now in again after winning.  The least of these, at the moment, is Baltimore, who won on a last-second field goal in Cleveland.  I bet that had people sweating for multiple reasons.

Buffalo and Houston were two previously undefeated teams that dropped out. I thought their performance was a fluke.  Neither team showed up well in situations that were tailor-made for wins.  It seemed.  Buffalo had perennial road chokers San Diego in their house.  Houston went to Jersey to take on the 0-2 Giants.

And now they're both out for the time being.

Four previously undefeated teams lost in Week 3 and four winless teams won in Week 3.  Everything's nice and symmetrical, yet still mostly unpredictable.

Although I did go 11-5 straight up this week, which has me feeling a bit better and less like a monkey on a typewriter.

Here are the Rankings for Week 3:

2014 NFL Power Rankings, Week 2

Parity is mediocrity.

Last week, the NFL season started with a bang.  Week 2 wasn't less surprising, necessarily, but the standings show a stark regression to mediocrity.  There are 32 teams in the NFL, as you know.  18 of them are now 1-1.  Seven are 2-0, seven are 0-2.

Thus, for people who try to figure out which teams are good and which are not on a weekly basis, we really have no choice but to throw our hands up in the air and practically give up on the whole enterprise.

But as I said last week, it's early and things like Rankings are basically a crapshoot.  I don't think that's any less accurate after two weeks than after one, although at least we know that results will have teams trending toward mediocrity rather than greatness, at least in the early going.

Some of the unforeseeable results, like Seattle losing to San Diego, shake up the Rankings quite significantly.  And of the seven 2-0 teams, I would venture to bet that at least four of them weren't on anyone's radar in the preseason. Or maybe they were and I was listening to the wrong people.

Also in Week 2, you'll notice that each team has brackets after their record. What this indicates is the movement since last week.  For example, [+1] means that a team moved up one spot.  A [-] means that the team wasn't in the Rankings in the previous week.

Here are the Rankings for Week 2: