The 2018 NFL season has been a wild ride, but in many ways, it is just getting started. Our latest NFL power rankings reflect what the top teams have accomplished during the regular season, but it also considers each team's outlook heading into the playoffs.
There is no greater picture of what the final day of the NFL regular season is like than seeing the Steelers players watching the Ravens-Browns game on the jumbotron. The Browns came up short which ended the Steelers postseason hopes. For most teams, the final day involves taking care of your own business then doing a bit of scoreboard watching.
One team that did not have to rely on any help was the Ravens. Baltimore's victory over Cleveland clinched the AFC North for the Ravens. Lamar Jackson reflected on what it has been like for him to galvanize a team and city in just his rookie season.
“It means a lot to me,” Jackson said per the Ravens website. “Coming to a new city, a new town, you have to win the fans over. It’s really their stadium, they’re the ones filling up the seats, coming and supporting us, so anytime I can interact with them, I’m going to do it every time.”
The Rams Are Looking to Make a Deep Playoff Run
Last year, the Rams had a promising regular season only to lose at home in the Wild Card round to the Falcons. The Rams are trying to make sure they are not disappointed again, and it helps that L.A. secured the No. 2 seed. This means the Rams will automatically go further in the playoffs than last season.
Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke about how the team plans to treat the week off.
“This week will provide a great opportunity for us to look at ourselves, kind of try to get ahead on the opponent that we anticipate playing in the divisional round,” McVay told ESPN.
The Patriots Avoided Playing on Wild Card Weekend
For as much as everyone has discussed the "death" of the Patriots, it appears to be business as usual in New England. The Patriots secured the No. 2 seed which means they do not have to play next weekend. Consider this, the Patriots are two games away from the Super Bowl and only one of these games would be on the road.
In this scenario, the Patriots would need to defeat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium to advance to the playoffs. There is still a lot of football left to be played, and the Patriots flaws have not magically disappeared. This the most interesting Bill Belichick team we have seen in some time, because we do not know what to expect in the postseason. If history tells us anything, the Patriots are still title contenders.
Click the next arrow to see my latest NFL power rankings heading into the playoffs.
No. 1 New Orleans Saints
The Saints may have been blown out by the Panthers in Week 17, but there is no need to worry. New Orleans rested a number of their key players including Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara. The Saints are about to get even more rest since they are the NFC's No. 1 seed.
New Orleans is two wins at the Superdome away from playing in another Super Bowl. The Saints will face the lowest remaining seed of the Cowboys, Seahawks and Eagles. The Saints' loss to the Panthers may not have impacted the team's playoff seeding, but head coach Sean Payton was not pleased with the outing.
“It is what it is," Payton said per the Saints website. "We didn’t play well and you’re upset about it. You don’t come in here and say that’s going to be a great learning (experience). There’s nothing about it that’s good. It’s disappointing. I told the players the same thing. You can try to spin it any style you want. You can try whatever you want. That won’t work in the end. There are some things (we need to do better). Coaches and players. All of us.”
New Orleans will not play again until January 12th at the earliest. According to OddsShark, the Saints are the early favorites to win Super Bowl LIII with +250 odds.
No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs
After a close race with the Chargers down the stretch, the Chiefs secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Chiefs will now be able to use Arrowhead Stadium to their advantage, but Kansas City will be off for two weeks. According to OddsShark, the Chiefs are No. 3 in the latest Super Bowl odds at +450.
Patrick Mahomes looked calm and collected during the regular season. It will be a different kind of test in the postseason, but Mahomes has answered every call so far in his young career. Mahomes threw for more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in 2018. According to Sporting News, Mahomes became the third player to throw for 50 touchdowns and sixth player to throw for more than 5,000 yards.
Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz noted there is a different feeling on the team this year with Mahomes behind center.
“It’s a different feeling,” Schwartz told The Kansas City Star. “With the quarterback we have and the receivers we have, it’s not like, ‘Oh man, it’s third and 10, it’s going to be incomplete and we’ll get off the field.’ It feels like we’ve converted a not normal amount of those long third downs, and sometimes in spectacular fashion, which fires everybody up.”
No. 3 Los Angeles Rams
After hitting a brief dry spell in early December, the Rams appear to be back on track. L.A. will be the No. 2 seed in the NFC, meaning the offense will get to stay in warm weather for at least the Divisional Round. If the Rams play the Saints in the NFC Championship, the game would be indoors which is advantageous for both teams. The Bears are hoping to have something to say about this potential matchup.
The Rams are a bit banged up and will look to take advantage of the time off. This is the time of year where the additions made on defense over the offseason should become very apparent. Rams head coach Sean McVay likes his team's chances after they get some rest.
“I think we’re better positioned just based on getting the chance to get some rest now and maybe get ahead with the preparation,” McVay told ESPN. “(I’m) not sure who it’s going to be that we play but obviously it’s going to give us a chance to get healthy No. 1 and you always use those experiences, whether it’s regular seasons, playoff games, to be able to try to get better and I think with some of our young players, specifically at the key spots, a lot of the games that we played not only this year but last year and even going back to the playoff atmosphere against Atlanta will serve us well and say ‘We’ve been in this type of setting.’”
No. 4 New England Patriots
It is hard to know exactly where to slot the Patriots heading into the postseason. This ranking is giving New England a bit of the benefit of the doubt based on their past history. For as vulnerable as the Patriots have looked, they still ended up with a No. 2 seed, meaning their only potential road game would be against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
This Patriots team has holes, but it also has experience on its side. Can Tom Brady and Bill Belichick squeeze one more year of playoff success out of Father Time? We will find out, but it is within the realm of possibility.
Things would have been much more difficult for the Patriots if they had to play on Wild Card weekend. Now, it is hard not to like their chances to get to at least the AFC title game. After the Patriots blowout victory over the Jets, Brady noted that he viewed their Week 17 matchup like a playoff game with the No. 2 seed on the line.
“We had a great opportunity for it and I’m just glad we could close it out,” Brady explained to ESPN. “Just ended up being a great way to finish the year -- win two games at home against division opponents after two pretty tough losses. Showed some resiliency. We’re going to need it going forward. Certainly a lot of things to learn about ourselves, a lot of things we can improve on. See if we can win a game here in two weeks.”
No. 5 Chicago Bears
The Bears were not able to climb to No. 2 in the NFC and earn a first-round bye. It is hard to call the defending champs a favorable matchup, but the Eagles now could be without their top two quarterbacks after Nick Foles went down in the second half against the Redskins.
Chicago could have opted to play it safe by resting their players, but the Bears decided to play the Vikings just as they normally would. Chicago linebacker Danny Trevathan believes playing at Minnesota in a hostile environment will help Mitch Trubisky heading into the playoffs.
“This was a great situation for him here, especially with the situation we’re in,” Trevathan told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Heading into the playoffs, it’s good to play a good defense on the road. The crowd was stupid loud, but I felt like he held his composure, faced a little adversity, came out there and made throws and the plays that he needed to make.”
If Foles is unable to play, the Bears have to especially like their chances with one of the best defenses facing a third-string quarterback. After their win over the Vikings, Bears head coach Matt Nagy noted he felt winning their regular season finale was worth risking injuries.
“I just love winning,” Nagy explained to Tucson.com. “Let’s just play ball. That’s the fun part; that’s what we’re going to do...I was going off my gut reaction and gut feeling with our guys because it’s not easy. You have a lead, you know you’re in (the playoffs) next week, and I wouldn’t feel good to lose a guy in that situation. Those are hard, that’s a valuable experience for me down the road,”
No. 6 Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have won six of their last seven games heading into the postseason. Lamar Jackson's impact on the team has been much greater than the statistics show. Jackson is not putting up Mahomes-type numbers, but he has given the Ravens the spark they needed to win the AFC North.
Baltimore was able to survive a late comeback by the Browns as a turnover sealed their playoff fate. A loss would have had the Ravens on the outside looking into the postseason picture. The Ravens will once again play the Chargers in the Wild Card round.
The Ravens came away with a sizable win over the Chargers just two weeks ago and will get to host their matchup this time around. Browns head coach Gregg Williams remarked on just how fast Jackson is when you see him play in person.
“Until you are on the field and see how quick Lamar Jackson is, and understand his ability to make plays and make some people miss out in space,” Williams told BaltimoreRavens.com. “We had the space populated at times. We just didn’t make the plays.”
Running back Kenneth Dixon had a breakout performance against the Browns.
“It was a great journey,” Dixon said per the Ravens website. “I am thankful for everything that happened. It absolutely grew me up as a man. I am grateful for the team sticking beside me through everything. The injuries, the off-the-field issues. I am just happy to be here.”
No. 7 Los Angeles Chargers
If any team has room to complain after the playoff matchups were revealed, it is the Chargers. L.A. finished 12-4 which is a better record than the Texans, Patriots and Ravens. However, the Chargers are seeded No. 5 in the AFC behind all three teams. The reason is the Chargers did not win the AFC West, and the division winners are automatically given the first four seeds in each conference.
The Chargers even have the same record as the Chiefs, who are the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. The teams split their two matchups this season, but the Chargers lost the division to the Chargers based on tiebreakers.
To make matters worse, the Chargers now have to go on the road to face a Ravens team that had their number just two weeks ago. The Chargers' offense has slowed down over the last few weeks, but Philip Rivers still believes the team has what it takes to have postseason success.
"It's not as good as we want to play," Rivers explained to ESPN. "But I don't see any pattern. It hasn't been as good, but I think if you look at our collective body of work this year, it's been good enough to win 12 games."
We will see if the Chargers can overcome unfavorable seeding to make a postseason run.
No. 8 Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Luck and company took care of business when it mattered most. The Colts headed into their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Titans needing a victory to make the playoffs. Indianapolis blew things open in the fourth quarter thanks to a few defensive stands to seal their postseason fate.
The Colts now face a Texans team they defeated a few weeks ago. Indianapolis started the season 1-5 and now are in the playoffs. Colts head coach Frank Reich discussed how the team was able to turn things around.
“To do what we just did is a pretty good feeling, pretty good feeling,” Reich told Colts.com. “To be 1-5 and to do something that only two teams have done in the history of this league, to make the playoffs after a 1-5 start is quite an accomplishment. It’s a real credit to the guys...We talked about there’s three things: there’s trust, there’s toughness, and there’s team. That’s what the foundation is, that’s what the culture is, that’s what the belief is, and those aren’t just words. We lived that this year. We lived it, and we’re not done yet. We’re in the hunt. This is where we wanted to go, but we’ve got another mountain to climb."
Luck looks similar to the quarterback we were used to seeing before he battled recent injuries. The Colts quarterback noted the team has been in playoff mode for some time.
“We’ve been in playoff mode for a long time now," Luck explained to Colts.com. "We really have. I honestly think that helps. It helps us when we’re in a quote-unquote ‘win and in’ situation. Things don’t change this weekend now. It’s the same. So, excited, very happy, and certainly proud to be a Colt.”
No. 9 Houston Texans
The Texans avoided a potential upset against the Jaguars as Houston looked in control from start to finish. Unfortunately, their slip up against the Eagles in Week 16 ended up costing them a bye. The Texans will host a red-hot Colts team that has been playing as well as any team in the NFL.
Houston is on the other end of the spectrum as the Texans have gone 2-2 over their last four games after having a fast start to the season. Overall, it has still been a great season so far for Houston. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson credited head coach Bill O'Brien for the turnaround.
“Went from 4-12 to 11-5, so that speaks for itself, the success we’ve been having,” Watson told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m still young. We’re still figuring out the relationship … and that takes time. But the great things and success we’ve been (having) is going to continue to grow. Once we get on that same page and we really, really understand each other, the sky’s the limit.”
The Texans and Colts have already faced each other twice. The teams split their matchups, but the Colts won just a few weeks ago proving this is not going to be an easy task for the Texans.
No. 10 Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks needed a late field goal to escape Week 17 with a win over a Cardinals teams that now has the No. 1 draft pick. Seattle has already overachieved preseason expectations, but there are a few reasons to think the Seahawks could make some noise in the playoffs.
The core of the Seahawks is the same as it has been when the team has had the most success under Pete Carroll. The Seahawks have a punishing rushing attack where they can utilize multiple running backs. Seattle also relies on a defense full of young and hungry players who have taken over for the Legion of Boom era.
Chris Carson rushed for a career-high 122 yards against the Cardinals. Carson was able to have a stellar day despite several injuries to the Seahawks offensive line.
“There’s going to be times like that, when the running game is going to take a minute to get going, but we were one big play away from having a big spark, and that’s what happened today,” Carson told The News Tribune. “The offensive line did a great job sticking with it, and we came out with a victory.”
Seattle now faces a Dallas team they beat earlier this season under many different circumstances. The game was at home and safety Earl Thomas had a major impact on the contest. The Seahawks will be without their home crowd and Thomas this time around. The previous game also occurred before the Cowboys traded for Amari Cooper. Dallas is a slight favorite in the game, but we expect an extremely close contest.
NFL Power Rankings: Ravens, Chiefs & Rams Ready for Playoffs