NFL Power Rankings – Week 16
Who’s up, who’s down? Frank Schwab surveys the NFL landscape now that the Week 15 games are in the books.
The Green Bay win seems like a distant memory after two horrid performances. What a mess in Arizona. (Josh Rosen)
Did you know Derek Carr hasn’t thrown an interception since Oct. 7? Over Carr’s past nine games: 194-of-293, 2,056 yards, 12 touchdowns, no interceptions, 100.1 rating. (Derek Carr)
Doug Marrone’s disappointment tour continued with a home loss to the Redskins. Marrone is the second-worst NFL coach of this season behind Hue Jackson. On Sunday, Marrone probably passed Jackson as the worst coach of this season. (Cody Kessler)
Nick Mullens has been good enough that the 49ers should feel OK if Jimmy Garoppolo’s ACL recovery goes slow and Mullens has to start a game or two next season. (Nick Mullens)
Joe Mixon had 129 yards and two touchdowns for an offense that has no other weapon to worry about. Part of that is the Raiders defense stinks, but Mixon has been fantastic this season. (Joe Mixon)
When you examine Sam Darnold’s rookie year, it’s fair to look at his best moments and be excited about the future. There’s still work to do, but the Jets should feel good they made the right pick. (Sam Darnold)
It’s looking like Eli Manning will be the Giants’ quarterback again in 2019. They put themselves in this corner by passing on a quarterback with the second overall pick. (Eli Manning)
How much of this miserable season is on Matthew Stafford? Put blame on the coaches and Stafford’s bad supporting cast, but he has to be better than this. (Matthew Stafford)
Matt Ryan is on pace for 4,922 yards, 34 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 107.6 passer rating. No quarterback in NFL history, with a minimum of four starts, has ever posted a 105 rating on a losing team. (Matt Ryan)
Jameis Winston’s past two games have been brutal: 31-of-63, 370 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, 64.9 passer rating. Good luck if you’re the Buccaneers trying to figure out what to do about his future. (Jameis Winston)
Longtime Packers reporter Tom Silverstein of PackersNews.com laid out a harsh but fair assessment of Aaron Rodgers‘ season. “The degree to which Rodgers’ invincibility has shrunk this season has to make any coaching candidate cringe when thinking about taking this job.” (Aaron Rodgers)
The report that John Elway wanted to bring back Mike Shanahan to coach the Broncos a year ago is bonkers. It’s amazing how quickly Elway’s reputation as a GM has slipped, and in such a short time. (John Elway)
Let’s take a second and acknowledge how awesome the Josh Johnson story is. He was drafted in 2008, is 32 years old and was a free agent until being signed on Dec. 5. He had never been a starting quarterback for an NFL win before Sunday. (Josh Johnson)
How many of the Bills who had an offensive touch on Sunday have you heard of? We’ll spot you Josh Allen, and here are the others: Keith Ford, Marcus Murphy, Patrick DiMarco, Ray-Ray McCloud, Isaiah McKenzie, Robert Foster, Jason Croom, Zay Jones. (Robert Foster)
The Panthers need to shut Cam Newton down for the season. His shoulder doesn’t look anywhere near right. He’s tried to fight through it, and credit to him for that, but the Panthers’ season is over and Newton’s should be too. (Cam Newton)
Kenyan Drake had one carry in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. You’ve read complaints about Drake’s usage all season in this space, but it’s still as stupefying as ever. (Kenyan Drake)
That was a monster win for the Eagles on Sunday night. I’m not sure Nick Foles is ready to lead the Eagles to the playoffs, but it’s not impossible. All of a sudden the Eagles’ home game against the Texans next Sunday is really interesting. (Nick Foles)
Let’s just fast forward to the Dec. 31 news conference when GM John Dorsey is explaining how the Browns responded to Gregg Williams and that’s why he’s getting the full-time job, even though for the first time in forever the Browns will be the most attractive head-coaching opening in the league. (Gregg Williams)
We’ll see if the Vikings keep playing this well on offense after firing coordinator John DeFilippo or if Sunday was one of those one-game bounces. But if the Vikings play a few more games on offense like Sunday, that has to reflect poorly on DeFilippo. (Tyler Conklin)
It’s funny, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was a Josh McDaniels hire. He stayed on when McDaniels double-crossed the Colts. Eberflus has done an outstanding job coaching a unit playing way above its talent level. (Denico Autrey)
The most interesting race left, aside from the AFC West, might be for the final wild-card spot in the AFC. The Titans, Colts and Ravens are tied at 8-6. The Titans and Colts play Week 17, and the Ravens aren’t out of the AFC North race either. (Marcus Mariota)
A loss to the 49ers really doesn’t hurt the Seahawks that much, even though they face the Chiefs this week. Seattle finishes against the Cardinals and if they lose that game, they don’t deserve to make the playoffs anyway. (Mike Davis)
The implications of the Ravens-Chargers game on Saturday seem clear for the Ravens. With a win, the Ravens are in incredible shape to make the playoffs. With a loss to the Chargers, Baltimore is going to need a ton of help. (Marlon Humphrey)
The Cowboys are in a really weird spot. They still are in control of the NFC East but have no shot at a first-round bye. It’s not a shock they were flat against the Colts. There’s no need for alarm. (Dak Prescott)
It’s hard to say Sunday was a season-saving win over the Patriots, though that might be accurate. The Steelers’ playoff hopes at 7-6-1 heading into a game at New Orleans would have been bleak. (Jaylen Samuels)
The Patriots are a miserable 3-5 on the road this season and they’ve lost a grip on the No. 2 seed. They’v turned things around before, but the road is a lot tougher this season. (Chris Hogan)
The Patriots’ loss is a big one for the Texans. They play at the Eagles on Sunday. If they win that, all that stands between them and a first-round playoff bye is a home game against the Jaguars, one of the worst teams in the NFL. (DeAndre Hopkins, Demaryius Thomas)
The Bears might run the NFC North for a while. There’s no reason to believe the Packers or Vikings will be better than them next season (we don’t even need to mention the Lions). (Mitchell Trubisky)
The last two weeks don’t look very good, but the rams get the benefit of the doubt. And obviously, if Todd Gurley’s knee injury is worse than it appears, this becomes a different team. (Todd Gurley)
The Chargers went on the road without Melvin Gordon and mostly without Keenan Allen and beat the team with the best record in the AFC. They look like the best team in the AFC right now. But … (Mike Williams)
The Chiefs still have the inside track to the No. 1 seed. The Chargers would be the fifth seed and possibly have to beat the Steelers and Texans on the road to even get an AFC championship game at the Chiefs. (Travis Kelce)
The Saints offense has vanished, but all that really mattered on Monday night was getting the win. Now they have two home games, and need to win just one, for the all-important No. 1 seed in the NFC. (Chris Banjo, Eli Apple)
Week 16 NFL Power Rankings
Who’s up, who’s down? Frank Schwab surveys the NFL landscape now that the Week 15 games are in the books.
