Getty The Ravens locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
The NFL has just one more week left of the regular season as our weekly NFL power rankings head towards its conclusion. There was plenty of good football in Week 16, especially given fans got an extra day of the NFL with three games on Saturday.
The 49ers and Ravens both survived slow starts to pull out wins. San Francisco needed a game-winning field goal to defeat the Rams, while Baltimore eventually pulled away from Cleveland to get revenge for their loss earlier this season. The Ravens have now secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC meaning Baltimore will have home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
New England is once again AFC East champions after Buffalo gave them all they could handle at Foxborough. The NFC East is far from the NFL’s most impressive division, but the Eagles showed enough grit to put themselves in the driver’s seat to punch their ticket to the postseason. Dallas now needs to win their final game and have Philadelphia lose in Week 17 to have any chance at the playoffs.
Barring a Christmas miracle, the Cowboys look to be heading to an offseason full of coaching rumors sooner rather than later. All signs point to the Jason Garrett era coming to a close after next week.
Top 5: The Ravens Secured the AFC’s No. 1 Seed
As the regular season draws to a close, it feels like the Ravens are clinching something new each week. Baltimore secured the final thing left which was the AFC No. 1 seed which will allow them to host the Divisional Round and AFC Championship games if they advance that far in the postseason. The Ravens offense had one of the ugliest first halves we have seen from them this season, but the final score looked similar to what we’ve come to expect from the team as Lamar Jackson caught fire.
The 49ers and Saints held serve, while the Seahawks lost to the Cardinals in a massive upset. It was a difficult week for the Seahawks who suffered season-ending injuries to running backs Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise. Seattle already lost Rashaad Penny for the year earlier this season. The Seahawks also have a number of injuries on defense to deal with ahead of their Week 17 clash with the Niners.
While dominating the Bears is not the most impressive win ever, the Chiefs are proving they are coming into form just in time for the playoffs. Kansas City may be the most intriguing playoff team given we are not sure exactly what they have in Kansas City. The Chiefs were just a few plays away from the Super Bowl last season, but Patrick Mahomes’ knee injury was the focus for a good portion of 2019. Mahomes is back to being elusive which is bad news for the rest of the AFC.
Bottom 5: The Bengals Locked Up the No. 1 Pick
The Bengals and Dolphins squared off in what was potentially the Joe Burrow Bowl. Cincinnati needed to lose the game to lock up the No. 1 pick which looked like it would be no problem after Miami jumped out to a sizable lead. The Bengals mounted an amazing comeback to force overtime. Ultimately, the Dolphins got the win while the Bengals secured the top pick with one week to go.
This is always a tricky time of year for teams at the bottom of the standings. It is hard to imagine any Bengals, Giants, Redskins or Dolphins players wanting to lose just so their team can pick a few spots higher in the draft.
We saw this as both games went to overtime, but the desire of the front offices at this point may be a little different. The rookies the team will ultimately select are looking to take the veteran players’ jobs, so it makes little sense for the current team not to want to win in such a violent game that requires constant sacrifice.
Here is a look at our latest NFL power rankings. We will be updating the table below after Monday Night Football.
NFL Power Rankings After Week 16
| RANKING | TEAM |
| 1. | Baltimore Ravens (13-2) |
| 2. | San Francisco 49ers (12-3) |
| 3. | New Orleans Saints (12-3) |
| 4. | Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) |
| 5. | New England Patriots (12-3) |
| 6. | Green Bay Packers (12-3) |
| 7. | Seattle Seahawks (11-4) |
| 8. | Buffalo Bills (10-5) |
| 9. | Houston Texans (10-5) |
| 10. | Minnesota Vikings (10-5) |
| 11. | Tennessee Titans (8-7) |
| 12. | L.A. Rams (8-7) |
| 13. | Philadelphia Eagles (8-7) |
| 14 | Pittsburgh Steelers (8-7) |
| 15. | Indianapolis Colts (7-8) |
| 16. | Tampa Bay Bucs (7-8) |
| 17. | Dallas Cowboys (7-8) |
| 18. | Chicago Bears (7-8) |
| 19. | Oakland Raiders (7-8) |
| 20. | Atlanta Falcons (6-9) |
| 21. | Cleveland Browns (6-9) |
| 22. | Arizona Cardinals (5-9-1) |
| 23. | Denver Broncos (6-9) |
| 24. | New York Jets (6-9) |
| 25. | Carolina Panthers (5-10) |
| 26. | L.A. Chargers (5-10) |
| 27. | Miami Dolphins (4-11) |
| 28. | Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10) |
| 29. | Detroit Lions (3-11-1) |
| 30. | New York Giants (4-11) |
| 31. | Washington Redskins (3-12) |
| 32. | Cincinnati Bengals (1-14) |
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