The Cowboys keep moving up in the NFL Week 15 Power Rankings, while the Lions keep falling.
After getting criticized all season for how they played against some of the best teams in the NFL, the Cowboys proved they were real Super Bowl contenders with a 33-13 victory over NFC East rival Philadelphia in Week 14.
Check out the list below to see where the Cowboys and all other NFL teams stand in Athlon Sports’ Week 15 NFL Power Rankings.
The winner in the NFC East by more than 10 points will have to go upon the road to make the playoffs. Three teams in the NFC South are all 6-7 and want to play a playoff game at home.
This is how the divisional system works. The division winners automatically make the playoffs, and the teams are not reseeded.
Instead, the division winners get the top four spots. This is why the Eagles’ loss against the Cowboys on Sunday night felt so big.
In the last Power Rankings, our Nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 teams all lost in Week 14. This was a shocking end to the season for the league’s supposed giants, even though some of the teams they faced were pretty good.
Because of this, many division races are still very close, and there is still a lot to settle in the NFL’s middle as well as upper-middle classes. Within this point, only the 49ers are sure to make the playoffs.
As a sports fan, that’s pretty much all you can ask for: Don’t let anything settle until the first week of January. Give me as much confusion as you can.
It makes work in the Power Rankings area harder and messier, but don’t worry—you can still complain about my order on social media. I’d be scared to take that away from you.
There was a 30–6 win for the Jets over the Texans in Week 14. The Texans had the worst team scoring grade of the week, with a 46.2.
The Jets’ team attack grade of 70.8 was good enough for ninth place and was their best grade of the 2023 season.
It was clear that the Bears beat the Lions. With a grade of 54.7, the Lions’ team offense was placed 28th. This was their worst grade of the season.
The Bears had too many chances to score because quarterback Jared Goff threw two picks and lost a fumble. With a score of 68.1, the Bears’ offense was rated as the 12th best in the league.
The Vikings and Raiders both had strong defenses. The Vikings had the best team defense in the league (86.5), while the Raiders came in sixth (74.0). On offense, neither team got a score of 60 or higher.
Two shocking upsets happened on Monday night football: the Giants beat the Packers as well as the Titans beat the high-flying Dolphins. According to PFF Greenline, the Dolphins have the toughest schedule left.
In Week 14, their team attack got a 75.8 grade, which was good enough for fourth place.
It looked like the Bengals were doomed when Joe Burrow got hurt, but backup quarterback Jake Browning stepped in and hasn’t done much wrong since. The Bengals are once again in the running for the playoffs.
In Week 14, Browning had the highest passing grade in the league (85.7 PFF), which helped the Bengals win their second straight game.
At the end, he didn’t make any plays that could have led to a mistake because his pick-six bounced off the receiver’s hands.
It has been getting worse for the Chargers for a few weeks now, and they will now must conclude the season without their leading quarterback, Justin Herbert.
The Bengals’ roster is strong enough to win without their main quarterback, but the Chargers’ isn’t.
Easton Stick, their backup quarterback, has only dropped back to pass 27 times in the regular year since being selected in 2019, and 26 of those times were last week.
Some teams, like the San Francisco 49ers as well as Baltimore Ravens, won and stayed near the top of their conferences.
Other teams, like the Detroit Lions as well as Kansas City Chiefs, lost and are now on the same path to the playoffs.
As we head into Week 15, our NFL Power Rankings have changed a lot. The 49ers are still at the top, but there were big moves in the top 10.