NFL Week 16 Power Rankings: Chargers Rise To Top Of AFC; Patriots Keep Falling

Week 15 of the NFL season showed it might be time for fans on both coasts to hit the panic button.

The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams both have lost two consecutive games and are trending in the wrong direction as the playoffs near. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time since 2013 and now look to be the cream of the AFC crop.

With 15 weeks of action now in the books, here’s how we’re ranking every NFL team from No. 1 to No. 32. (For our Week 14 power rankings, click here.)

1. New Orleans Saints (12-2; Last week’s rank: 1): The Saints still look like the best team in football and the road to Atlanta likely will go through New Orleans in the NFC.

2. Los Angeles Chargers (11-3; 4): No Melvin Gordon, no Keenan Allen (for all but one play), no problem for the Chargers. Philip Rivers and Co. faced three separate 14-point deficits against the Kansas City Chiefs but eventually prevailed 29-28 to stay in contention for the AFC West title.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-3; 3): KC’s poor secondary play finally caught up to it against the Chargers. The Chiefs still are in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but one more loss could send them to the wild-card round — on the road.

4. Chicago Bears (10-4; 5): The Bears clinched the NFC North title by knocking Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers out of playoff contention. With the Los Angeles Rams sliding, the No. 2 seed in the NFC isn’t out of the question for Matt Nagy’s club.

5. Houston Texans (10-4; 7): With the Patriots losing their second straight game, the Texans now own the No. 2 seed in the AFC. Houston now has won 10 of its last 11 games and will be a nightmare for any team to face in the playoffs.

6. Los Angeles Rams (11-3; 2): The Detroit Lions showed the blueprint for how to defend the Rams two weeks ago, and teams have taken note. Opponents have started to ignore the offensive window dressing and not bite on the play-action, leaving Jared Goff to make throws in tight windows, something he was unable to do in the Rams’ 30-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5-1; 12): Pittsburgh’s back was against the wall after three straight losses, but Mike Tomlin’s club held Tom Brady and the Patriots to 10 points to earn a much-needed win.

8. New England Patriots (9-5; 6): What is wrong in New England? After two consecutive losses, the Patriots now sit in third place in the AFC and are in danger of playing a wild-card game for the first time since 2009.

9. Indianapolis Colts (8-6; 11): The Colts are firing on all cylinders after posting a 23-0 win over the previously red-hot Dallas Cowboys in Week 15. Indy might be the one team no one wants to see come playoff time.

10. Baltimore Ravens (8-6; 10): Lamar Jackson moved to 4-1 as a starter after leading the Ravens to a 20-12 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Ravens likely will need to run the table to get into the playoffs, which will be a tough task with a Week 16 tilt with the Chargers on deck.

11. Seattle Seahawks (8-6; 8): Apparently all the praise being heaped on Seattle was too much for the Seahawks to handle, as they went to San Francisco and laid an egg against the lowly 49ers in Week 15. Seattle will look to bounce back against a pissed off Chiefs team in Week 16.

12. Dallas Cowboys (8-6; 9): It turns out Amari Cooper isn’t the best player in NFL history, who knew? The Cowboys’ offense was stifled by the Colts on Sunday, as quarterback Dak Prescott completed 24 passes for just 206 yards while Cooper caught only four passes for 32 yards.

13. Tennessee Titans (8-6; 13): It once again was the Derrick Henry show for Tennessee on Sunday. The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns in the Titans’ 17-0 win over the New York Giants.

14. Minnesota Vikings (7-6-1; 14): Hey, what do you know? The Vikings started running the ball and the offense took off. In the first game under new offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski, Dalvin Cook ran for 136 yards and two scores in Minnesota’s blowout win over the Miami Dolphins.

15. Cleveland Browns (6-7-1; 16): The Browns’ road to the playoffs is all but closed, but we’re still going to enjoy watching Baker Mayfield spin it for the rest of the season.

16. Philadelphia Eagles (7-7; 19): Nick Foles is back and the magic apparently hasn’t worn off yet. Can he lead the Eagles back to the playoffs?

17. Carolina Panthers (6-8; 17): The season is all but over for Cam Newton and the Panthers.

18. Washington Redskins (7-7; 25): Josh Johnson kept the Redskins in the playoff conversation by leading them to a last-second win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The dream ride likely will come to an end in Week 16 when Washington visits the Titans.

19. Denver Broncos (6-8; 15): It feels like Vance Joseph might only have two more games left in his Broncos tenure.

20. Miami Dolphins (7-7; 17): OK, now can the Fins go away?

21. Green Bay Packers (5-8-1; 20): Better luck next year.

22. Atlanta Falcons (5-9; 24): Beating the tar out of the Arizona Cardinals apparently still counts as a win. Who knew?

23. New York Giants (5-9; 21): All right, Eli Manning might be toast.

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-9; 22): Can the Bucs save Dirk Koetter’s job by winning the final two games? Doubtful.

25. Cincinnati Bengals (6-8; 26): Only the Oakland Raiders would lose to Jeff Driskel.

26. Buffalo Bills (5-9; 28): Josh Allen will get his first look at Bill Belichick and the Patriots in Week 16. Good luck.

27. Detroit Lions (5-9; 23): Should Matt Patricia make it to Year 2?

28. New York Jets (4-10; 27): Todd Bowles is a dead man walking.

29. San Francisco 49ers (4-10; 31): Apparently the 49ers don’t want the No. 1 overall pick.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-10; 29): It’s been an impressive fall from grace for the Jags.

31. Oakland Raiders (3-11; 30): The Raiders couldn’t even cover against the corpse of the Bengals. Pathetic.

32. Arizona Cardinals (3-11; 32): Steve Wilks might be a one-and-done in the NFL coaching fraternity.