NFL Power Rankings Falcons up Jags down entering playoffs

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NFL Power Rankings: Falcons up, Jags down entering playoffs Published: Jan 02, 2018 at 05:19 AM Elliot Harrison So, just when you thought Week 17 wouldn't carry too much drama, and there was but a smidge left in the year ... ... along came a fourth-and-a-mile in Baltimore. The written-off -- and their quarterback, who produced little outside of national indifference this season -- had one last chance to beat their division rivals in front of the ' (cold) home crowd and send the perennially doomed to the postseason. Fourth-and-12 from around midfield. was in the slot. Dan Fouts, doing color for CBS, pointed out he was in single coverage. Gue s saw it, too. Moments later, Boyd was sitting alone, 25 yards downfield, when Dalton's to s hit him square between the 8 and the 3. Throw in a terrifically bad overrun by the safety, and . Oh, and this was happening: From Miami, to Buffalo, to New York City...That playoff moment! Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) You might have seen that video of the jumping around like sixth graders who won the Gopher Bowl. Don't care. You're watching it again. In Seattle, around the same time, was lining up to attempt a would-be game-winning kick. The had officially been eliminated from playoff contention a couple minutes before -- with the nabbing the final NFC playoff spot -- but Walsh could at least secure a sixth straight season of 10-plus wins for Seattle. Oh, and his 48-yard attempt could also send nemesis Bruce Arians off into the sunset under the cloud of a late lo s. Arians won his final game -- and final pre s conference. "We built this program on three words: Trust, Loyalty and Respect." Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) The league will mi s BA. He made the relevant again in a post Ken Whisenhunt/Derek Anderson/Max Hall world. Oh, and he provided the franchise's most succe s since the late . How about with nine ticks left? That preceded a stranger brand of on-field drama: As for the rest of the league ... are you going to do a post week 17 power ranking? Ryan K (@Roadkill823) You bet, Ryan. All 32 teams, more than 4,300 words and maybe a few bad takes. Also of note: The rankings below reflect how all the teams stack up if they were playing this week -- thus, the Aaron Rodgerses and Deshaun Watsons of the world don't factor in. Next week, I will only addre s those franchises that made the playoffs. Following the , though, the entire hierarchy will be reset, including players who were shut down this year. As for this week, send your take: is the place. Let the di sension commence! For more in-depth analysis on the updated league pecking order, tune in to NFL Network every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET for the "NFL Power Rankings" show. Want to add YOUR voice? Provide your thoughts at the bottom of this page or tweet , and your comments could be featured on air. The lineup below reflects changes from . The held down the fort for while also finishing the regular season in the same spot at the top. Bill Belichick stuck with the organizational M.O., playing starters -- notably -- all the way through versus the Was there a risk of injury, especially when Brady was sacked in the fourth quarter? Sure. That's football. Rather go into the postseason with a head full of steam -- or, at the very least, having tried out a few things or straightened out a couple wrinkles. Witne s the emergence of , workhorse. The league's second-best team continued as such, handling its busine s and not letting up on the gas pedal, as so many teams do. In other news, I find it impo sible to root for quarterback . While realizing he won't even get half an MVP vote, his importance to this football team can't be overstated. Side note No. 2: While Minnesota fans surely weren't watching I heard Tony Romo saying on that broadcast that teams like the and (and their front sevens) could give New England trouble. Well, I agree with one of his two choices. The despite playing , and a batch of dudes you don't see on the field that much. At one point, I expected Jason Gildon, Walter Abercrombie and Weegie Thompson to trot out there. While we're at it, why not sign Casey Hampton, Keith Willis and Yancey Thigpen to one-day contracts? Nice to get the W, even in an ultimately meaningle s situation. Now comes more down time and (hopefully) on a certain wide receiver. Back to Weegie: Once saw him catch a key touchdown in a tough lo s to a really good Dan Marino-led team in Miami. **Trivia:** Who threw that ball in 1985? (HINT: It wasn't a trick play. Still, no cheating.) </content:power-ranking> The rested everybody or at least it felt that way when watching drop a ball thrown right in his hands. Oh, wait -- he plays regularly. Sorry. Anyway, got the call from Sean McVay. The kid owns a live arm, as well as live inaccuracy. Which is of no matter now, as the prepare to host in Southern California since the 1985 Divisional Round. Remember that game well ... as a childhood fan, I thought Dallas could go into Anaheim Stadium and steal a road win from John Robinson's team. Yep, so the won 20-nothing while Eric Dickerson busted Tom Landry's defense for 248 yards on the ground. TWO Jabari Parker Jersey HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT. L.A. quarterback Dieter Brock went 6 of 22 for 50 yards, and the still won by three scores. Unbelievable. will fare better. Much, much better. Think 148 will be enough for current running back , much le s 248. Not a wonderful look Sunday for the , who were very much trying to win Although it's far from panic time for New Orleans. Division road lo ses happen, and as far as the were concerned, the lo s only affected seeding in the NFC. Time to move on and beat the this season. New Orleans' defense was the star of in Carolina. In the teams' couldn't be stopped -- kind of like all season. Kamara compiled 126 yards on just 14 touches while scoring two important touchdowns. What a ridiculously succe sful rookie campaign it's been for No. 41, who has compiled more than 1,550 scrimmage yards with 14 total touchdowns while averaging over 6 yards per rush. Random question: If you were a GM and had the choice between and Kamara, who would you choose? The look a lot better than much of the postseason field, and they played a bunch of their second- and third-stringers How about 's afternoon? The guy got one carry, and called it a day. With , and all having cooled their jets on the bench, this Kansas City offense will be more than ready for the Of course, the buzz from Denver stemmed from rookie QB , who impre sed with a few of the throws he was able to make against an elite secondary. The numbers might not grab you, but they weren't bad for a first go-around, especially on the road. fans are not going to enjoy seeing their team plummet further, but even this ranking might be too high. didn't play much but when he did, he didn't exactly remind fans of , or even A.J. Feeley. The good news here is that Philly's front seven is better than that of either the or , and group received much-needed rest. As did . Perhaps Philadelphia can ride coordinator Jim Schwartz's defense and the running game in the Divisional Round. Got to make your kicks to win like that, though. This team is almost as inconsistent as the team below it. 's play is confounding. Every time the media says, ... Carolina lays an egg. Newton was erratic continuing a chain of on-again, off-again performances. Look no further than his in-game pa ser ratings over the seven games prior to the matchup with the Falcons: 71.0, 120.4, 59.8, 107.5, 64.9, 128.0 and 65.4. I mean, if you're in Charlotte, his play is like Fury 325 at Carowinds. So I gue s that means Newton dominates this week, right? Despite the constant narrative about the new offensive coordinator, the midseason lull (that included three lo ses to AFC East teams) and 2017 being a far cry from 's MVP season of '16, the found their way into the playoffs. Give credit where it's due. Atlanta played a heckuva ballgame with corner being especially destructive to Carolina's chances. it will be the run defense that is challenged most. Stop , and the have a legitimate shot to defeat the . Who knows what to make of these ? Doug Marrone, as anticipated, played his starters presumably not wanting Jacksonville to stumble into the postseason with two straight lo ses (including a defeat in San Francisco Welp. Maybe the Jags with the strategy of half-heartedly trying to win. Cool, but the performance in Nashville was more than experimentally disheartening. That's because the reality is, even after a three-week glimmer of hope, this team has a quarterback problem. I can read your thoughts right now: But these are Power not Power Don't know about you, but I'd much rather see my favorite team play the than this group. That starts with the quarterback position, where was dialing up long balls just like when you would Duct tape the barrel of your plastic bat and knock Wiffle balls to kingdom come. Rivers still has it -- and the pa s rush is legit. The Bolts need to go back to the well and draft more offensive linemen. Though, don't forget: Second-round pick mi sed the whole year. for the -- and time for the Mafia. Think about this: Some 23-year-old who waits tables at Duff's Famous Wings was a 5-year-old who watched "Blue's Clues" when Buffalo last made the postseason, in 1999. That's when Wade Phillips went with Rob Johnson and his headband over Doug Flutie, and Buffalo fell victim to . Now the take on the , who ironically owned the best record in football in 1999. By the way, Duff McKagan sported the headband far better than Johnson. Flutie far better, too. The ' ascension over the last month and change has been phenomenal. Sure, those guys in yellow tights only like the 11-5 . (What a glorious uni matchup!) But how can anyone knock a 34-13 win? wasn't even his legendary self, making two poor decisions in the first half that resulted in interceptions. Still, San Francisco's running game piled up 171 yards, while the defense let backup QB know it didn't care if this was his audition for potential future work. That group worked over the former Oregon State star, giving this team its sixth win in seven games. Look out, 2018. giveth; taketh away. The ended the 2017 campaign on a down note on the game-winning field-goal attempt. There was this feeling that Seattle could survive the lo ses of and , as well as general uneven play, to still make a run for the postseason, much like they've survived in years past. It just wasn't in the cards for Pete Carroll's bunch, partially because of the (who won in Seattle earlier this year and took care of busine s Sunday), and partially because of the actual Cards. What an interesting offseason it will be in this NFL city. Does Carroll stay to keep running around the sidelines like a starved hyena with silver tips? The as you surely know by now. What you may know is that Caldwell is the first Detroit head coach to depart with a winning record since Joe Schmidt, way back in 1972. In fact, when Schmidt resigned, the had posted four winning seasons in a row. Back then, only four teams qualified for the playoffs (three division winners and one wild-card team). That's relevant, because owners, GMs and fan bases are not nearly as forgiving of postseason-le s campaigns in the expanded format the league carries now. Meanwhile, sent the into the offseason with some semblance of momentum. The cynical fans of this team, far too weary after the Wayne Fontes playoff disappointments and Matt Millen's stewardship, will ask, Fair. Yet, an obvious focal point of the offseason to come is Detroit's search for a running game to support its top-10 quarterback. Were the i sues all attributable to or a banged-up offensive line? Stafford can't carry the by himself, even if he so often ( often) does. How can the be headed to the postseason yet be ranked 16th here? Harsh, yet appropriate. Let's dispense with the accounting first: Tenne see moves up four spots on the strength of in a must-win game. That said, the Jags didn't need the win, and it was speculated that they were experimenting on offense early. Moreover, the lost three games in a row prior to their Week 17 contest vs. Jacksonville. They haven't put up more than 24 points in a game in two and a half months. And the bread and butter of their offense -- the ground "attack" -- was only present when took off on a scamper. rushed 28 times -- -- for 51 yards. Still, nice rebound from Dick LeBeau's defense when Tenne see had to have it. Hands down the most disappointing performance of Week 17 came . Were they blown out? No, not even close. , a team going nowhere, in front of a home crowd smelling playoffs, was awful. More puzzling was the fact that the weather conditions were conducive to a defense-centric group like Baltimore. Most puzzling was the safety play . Not only was it fourth-and-12, but the overrunning after the catch was just ... just ... next year. up in the win column, down big here. If you didn't catch , , of Dallas at Philadelphia, here's what you mi sed: Facing predominantly backups on the ' offense and defense, the managed all of six points. Going against , completed 17 of 30 pa ses for 179 yards and a touchdown. That's not even 6 yards per attempt. I spoke with and one of the best Twitter follows of this franchise, , to see if the performance was as awful as I thought. Their answer? Before you start blaming first, as has been the case lately ... . Oh, and eclipsed 100 yards rushing. Read into that what you will. Monday was a sad day in pro football. Watching Bruce Arians' , you couldn't help but feel for the person (especially when speaking of mi sing 40 years of his son's life) while also feeling for all of us. Arians' style, Kangol hat and strategy will be sorely mi sed. In this era of mind-numbing-boring-as-@#$%-I-don't-want-to-lose-the-game-bubble-screen-offenses, Arians wanted to be aggre sive. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep his quarterback healthy. Or . Bet you 1,600 Kangol hats that DJ would have topped 's . Hand it to those spunky . Right when you thought they were D.O.A., D.D.B.S. (dead down the back stretch) and that Marvin Lewis had lost the handle on his roster, Cincy knocks off not one but . wasn't perfect on Sunday, barely completing half his pa ses, but you can't beat those three touchdowns with no interceptions. He'll be back. Others? Well, beginning with the head coach, no one is sure how the 2018 will differ from this 7-9 outfit. Start with the offensive line, which the scouting department should bolster in the draft. ***(UPDATE:** The that Lewis has been signed to a two-year contract that will carry him through the 2019 season.)* </content:power-ranking> Ugly way to ride into the offseason, with suffering through three interceptions and (franchise?) in disarray. Thought Sunday's outcome at the Big Snoopy was Week 17's most surprising, given the uptick in Washington's play over the last month. Now all questions divert to Cousins' future. Approaching a spring full of questions after his worst showing of the year, when he posted a 31.1 pa ser rating (Cousins came into the game with a number in the high 90s), won't ruin the franchise QB-to-be, but it might hurt his bargaining power with his current employer. While many point to the as a potential suitor, the make much sense. Of course, it would make more sense if Washington were Chris Copeland Jersey to retain Cousins after three solid seasons in a row. Who knows? The yin and yang of coaching musical chairs this time of year is always riveting for the news cycle. While Bruce Arians leaving the profe sion sucks, the potential of Jon Gruden re-entering is exciting. Surely there is more to play out with Gruden's potential return to the , including po sible objections over the organization's handling of the Rooney Rule. Couple of thoughts here: Oakland has done more for minority advancement than almost any member club, from hiring the first modern-day black head coach in Art Shell to currently employing Reggie McKenzie as general manager. Not saying any of this absolves the team of ignoring the rule (if it did ignore the rule), just trying to provide additional context. The other talking point will be Gruden changing the "culture." That is precisely what he did as a young man two decades ago. The were disappointing in 1994, '95 and '96, while being a downright ugly football team in 1997. Gruden led them to the AFC Championship Game in his third season. Can't wait to see him work with , which should make for a good marriage. Difficult team to evaluate, knowing they can compete with anyone with a healthy . The shut him down, and their finish was what it was -- three straight lo ses, barely competitive over the last two. And now they are in search of a new defensive coordinator. , Dom Capers has absorbed much criticism over the last few years. Never mind the growing proce s of a young secondary or the lack of consistent production from . While fans are quick to kick him out of town, I hope they realize that there is this team would have won XLV without his work. The were second in points allowed that season, and the turning point of that Super Sunday game came from . Another tough team to evaluate. is likely gone. Same goes for several veterans. Even is due to hit free agency. Two players who should be huge for the going forward were headed backward Sunday, . Which, of course, made it far more difficult for and the Miami offense to complete the improbable comeback from 22-3 down. Seemed like a microcosm of the entire season. pick 11th come April. Guard? Pa s rusher? Other? from a Bucs squad determined to not let 2017 go down with another disappointing L in a close game (SEE: , , ). After much speculation regarding Dirk Koetter's future, he will be leading the charge again in 2018. He also plans to retain play-calling duties, although those things are often fluid over the course of the offseason and summer. He must find a way to develop a stronger run game. has to make it a priority to protect the football in the pocket and rein in the emotions. For defensive coordinator Mike Smith, the breakdowns could certainly be helped with an infusion of talent on the back end, but there is probably a solid 500 hours of film work to be done. Or basically the time it took to find everything in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City." Uh, wrong town. OK, but you get the point. Another site of coaching change. players cared about John Fox. Fans? Not so much. Or at least it seems that way. After 6-10, 3-13 and 5-11 seasons, team bra s had seen enough. In fairne s to Fox, he inherited a bit of a me s in the wake of the Marc Trestman tenure. Quarterback was among them, although the organization might have solved that i sue with the drafting of Mitch Trubisky. The low expectations, rich tradition of this franchise and a promising young quarterback on the roster makes this a desirable opportunity. Chicago needs a few pieces, starting at wide receiver ... then wide receiver ... and maybe wide receiver again. Somewhat lost in a busy news day on Monday: The retaining Vance Joseph. The reviews weren't favorable for the rookie head coach, but that's the whole point, isn't it? Coaches should receive more than one year. Not so much to put their plan in place, so to speak -- though that's clearly important. How about getting their feet wet as organizational front men? Remember, Joseph only spent one season as a defensive coordinator before this opportunity came along. John Elway's primary task is not figuring out what to do with the head coach, but rather, figuring out what to do at quarterback. Would Denver dare spend another first-round pick on QB, thus swiftly bailing on ? Tough call. That's why free agency comes first on the NFL calendar, folks. Sort of. Of all the coaching moves and non-moves of the last couple of weeks, applaud what the did with Todd Bowles. Maybe he's not the answer, but giving him more time to prove or disprove that makes sense. Plainly speaking: This locker room played its arse off for this head coach. People questioned whether that would happen after a hugely disappointing 2016 campaign. But it appears the 2016 meltdown -- featuring such hits as -- was more of an indictment on the cancers in that locker room than on the head coach. Fans and media will continue to question Bowles' in-game decisions. In that area, he might improve. Bear in mind he can't play quarterback. While you're at it, also keep in mind it was Gang Green that was supposed to go 0-16, not the . With Chuck Pagano -- the ultimate "lame duck" head coach -- , the offseason truly started New Year's Eve. Everyone will focus on the situation. Luck himself said he regrets being a distraction to the team while he tried to get his shoulder right. But let's not overlook the glaring holes the have on defense. Indy needs a pa s rusher, help at linebacker and another corner. So there are severe needs on, like, all three levels. That's it. Not much to see here. The only lost their Khris Middleton Jersey premier player for the season, benched the quarterback who won two Super Bowls, fired their head coach with multiple games to go, reinstated that quarterback to the starting lineup, heard their star safety call out a teammate for being a cancer (oh, the Eli "Crapple" headline), then, when nobody expected it (or watched), . Even with that Ody sey-length run-on sentence, we didn't get to , , injuries galore, , Steve Spagnuolo's future or the head-coaching search. Hey, how about for the road? Thought you could use that, and a beer or six. The newly finished season was wild for the , who uncovered the most exciting player to enter the NFL in years, while also enduring multiple key injuries en route to a dismal 4-12 season. The season, despite being two days old, has already been as noteworthy. Bill O'Brien made waves in that he can't work with the GM. Then Rick Smith, who has been Houston's general manager since 2006, to tend to his wife, who is battling cancer. Again, this is all in the last couple of days. We wish the Smiths the best. And, as my colleague Michael Silver put it (paraphrasing), O'Brien and Smith are two talented people who are good at their jobs, but don't nece sarily work well together. Underneath all the happenings, humming in the background, is the treadmill -- with members of the ' nucleus getting healthier every day. This group, when healthy, will fly up the rankings faster than any other team, including the one 200 miles up Interstate 45. Depending on your view of life, the today are encapsulated by the image of ... or consoling Coleman moments after said drop. What capsized Cleveland was not solely talent (as the players will tell you), or apparently Hue Jackson ( ), but rather a gnarly concoction of events. None of which matter now. What the do with their picks is . Going winle s in the modern era stinks. It warps the perception of an organization, its legacy and outlook. All of which, at the end of the day, can be absolved with a few smart picks. Consider the 1976 Bucs, who went 0-14, but drafted Ricky Bell and Doug Williams the next two years and then reached the 1979 NFC Championship Game. The 2008 took their first overall pick in 2009, and turned it into . How many wins would a guy like Stafford be worth to Cleveland? Go . *Follow Elliot Harrison on Twitter . And be sure to tune in to the "NFL Power Rankings" show on NFL Network every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET. * This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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