By Week 11, a lot of teams know who they are and where they feel like their season will end up.
However, with more than 20 teams still in the hunt for the 14 playoff spots, a key return from injury here or there, or a late-season players-only meeting, can be all a team needs to make the final push towards January. Records don’t tell the whole story, so here’s where teams truly stand going into Week 11:
1 – Chiefs
While many of the wins this season haven’t been pretty (only two wins by more than one score), the Chiefs’ super power is finding a way to pull out a victory, which is the single most important trait a team can have. Until they lose a game they’ll sit atop the Power Rankings. Week 11’s matchup in Buffalo is the league’s best shot at tarnishing Kansas City’s perfect season.
2 – Lions
Sunday’s comeback victory in Houston encapsulates what this Detroit team is all about. They’re so stacked with talent in every crevice of the roster, and so well coached, that even if Jared Goff turns the ball over five times, they still have the determination to carve out a path to victory. The Lions will steamroll to the NFC’s No. 1 seed so long as that performance didn’t break Goff completely.
3 – Ravens
If we wanted to simplify the NFL season, Baltimore and Cincinnati should have to play every week with the winner of the best of 17 series getting a spot in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs. It would be enough good football to satisfy fans and would cut right to the chase.
4 – Eagles
The Eagles are 5-0 since Nick Sirianni shaved his head. The only win to write home about is one against the Bengals in Cincinnati, however that one, along with their divisional games during the winning streak, have been utterly dominant. The Eagles have had the talent the whole time to become a Super Bowl threat, and it seems the coaching has finally caught up to the roster.
5 – Bills
The Bills have won five straight and hold the second-best record in the AFC. However, they’ve only beaten one team that’s currently over .500 (Arizona, Week 1). Their upcoming schedule will determine who Buffalo really is with games against the Chiefs, 49ers and Lions in the next four weeks.
6 – Steelers
Russell Wilson has been unlocked by Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith. Pittsburgh is winning games through the air and by coming from behind, both of which are new to this typically inexplosive franchise. Their biggest game of the season is on Sunday against Baltimore for the division lead. Unfortunately, LB Alex Highsmith will be out for at least that game.
7 – Vikings
An extremely shaky win in Jacksonville has Vikings fans worried about the play of Sam Darnold, who threw three interceptions in the red zone, but Minnesota still hangs onto the second-best record in the NFC. With Chicago falling off a cliff in recent weeks, their rest-of-season schedule isn’t too challenging until they take on their Week 17 and 18 rematches against Green Bay and Detroit, respectively.
8 – Packers
Jordan Love trotted out for the Week 9 blockbuster against the Lions, but it wasn’t enough for the Packers to overcome Detroit. The Week 10 bye should serve Green Bay well to regroup for the final stretch. If they can unlock end-of-2023 Jordan Love, the Packers will be a major threat. That seems like a much bigger “if” right now than it did at the beginning of the season though.
9 – Commanders
Currently 1-3 against teams over .500 and 6-0 against teams under .500, some are calling the fraud police on Washington. They finally conceded the division lead to Philadelphia, but going into ‘The Linc’ and stealing a win over the Eagles on Thursday night would all but cement the Commanders as a legit threat and a playoff lock.
10 – Cardinals
The Cardinals have accelerated their soft rebuild. Their only losses so far this season have come against the Bills, Lions, Commanders and Packers. Not a single soul thought they would be sitting atop the division at this point in the season, but with a favorable schedule down the stretch, Arizona has a great chance to win the NFC West. The Cardinals, and Kyler Murray in particular, usually fade down the stretch (think 2021 season). This is a chance to vanquish that narrative.
11 – Chargers
With the lack of talent on the Chargers’ roster, there’s not a lot of room for error. Thankfully for LA, Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh don’t make many mistakes. The Chargers have more of an identity than most teams. They won’t beat themselves. Their opponent must find a way to take the game from them. That formula has led to easy wins against bad teams, but not many standout victories.
12 – Falcons
The Falcons were set to cruise to an NFC South division title having already beaten the Bucs twice. If they had beaten the Saints, who just fired their head coach, they would hold a three game lead over Tampa Bay with the tiebreaker in hand. However, an embarrassing defeat to New Orleans, who had lost their previous seven games, raises many questions for this Atlanta squad about their legitimacy.
13 – Texans
Injuries have left the Texans snakebitten in a handful of key areas, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of production their offense has put up in their recent skid. The Texans have failed to score a touchdown in the second half of a game since Week 6. A stubborn dedication to the run game should have Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik very much on the hot seat.
14 – 49ers
San Francisco returned Christian McCaffery this week to the tune of 19 touches for 107 yards. After doubling up the Bucs in yards in Week 10, the 49ers should have had an easy victory coming off their bye week, but that wasn’t the case. Most people will point to Jake Moody‘s three missed field goals, but he was 3/6 on the day. San Fran continues to struggle punching the ball into the endzone. McCaffery should be able to help with that.
15 – Broncos
The Broncos nearly pulled off their win of the decade in Kansas City last week, but had their victory snatched at the buzzer when the Chiefs blocked a game-winning field goal. Denver could have really used that win as they jockey for a playoff spot, but the play of Bo Nix and the defense has Broncos fans in a decent spot. Recovering from that loss will not be easy though.
16 – Bengals
Two heartbreaking losses to the Ravens will likely be their downfall, but the Bengals have a chance to keep their playoff chances alive with their next two games against the Chargers and Steelers. While they’ve been in close games, Cincinnati still doesn’t have a win over anyone ranked higher than 25th on this list.
17 – Buccaneers
Tampa Bay is 1-5 in their last six games, but they’ve suffered four heartbreakers in that stretch, all against good teams. Their schedule becomes much, much easier to end the year and they should get Mike Evans back in the next few weeks. If you like longshot odds, Tampa Bay to somehow win the NFC South feels like a possibly good bet.
18 – Dolphins
Returning Tua is everything for Miami. A win in LA on Monday finally turns the Dolphins season back in the right direction. With a very favorable schedule of their own down the stretch, Miami can carve out a path to the playoffs if they get things started right now. Somehow, they’re second in their division with three wins.
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19 – Rams
The Rams are tough to figure out. They finally returned Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, and had one three in a row going into MNF, yet dropped a game to the Dolphins at home because they couldn’t score touchdowns. With Sean McVay and a finally healthy roster anything is possible, but the Rams’ margin for error is very slim.
20 – Seahawks
The Seahawks lead the league in boneheaded decisions this season. They just released LB Tyrel Dodson, who was one of their best offseason additions this past summer. It seems as if their offensive line issues will be too much to overcome, but there’s enough talent elsewhere on this team to turn things around. Mike MacDonald is going to have to rediscipline his team in order for that to happen.
21 – Colts
The Colts are not focused on the big picture. The Colts are focused on the next game ahead. That’s apparent because they are sticking with Joe Flacco for yet another week even after he turned in an Anthony-Richardson-like performance.
22 – Jets
Shockingly, it might be Aaron Rodgers who is the problem in New York. The Jets had one completion of over 10 yards on Sunday on six attempts according to PFF. That makes it pretty hard to lead a comeback and utilize your all-pro receivers.
23 – Patriots
Drake Maye has made this team a little bit feisty, or at least watchable. Losing games is likely still at the forefront of the minds of the front office, but Jerod Mayo calling out his team for being soft seems like it was the push in the right direction.
24 – Cowboys
With Dak out for the year, NFL fans are going to have to watch Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones do the Rush-Lance dance. The Cowboys’ second-half drives against the Eagles last week went like this: punt, punt, fumble, fumble, interception, punt.
25 – Panthers
We have a winning streak in Carolina! The Panthers can celebrate just a bit as they turned their trip to Germany into a victorious one. Bryce Young has looked better in his return from the bench, and Chuba Hubbard has been a bright spot that deserves his new contract, regardless of whether or not the Panthers needed to extend him or not.
26 – Bears
The Bears are in a free fall right now. Vibes should always be counted when power ranking teams, and the Bears at this moment are up there for worst vibes in the entire league. They just fired their offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who no one thought they should hire in the first place. Some veterans are apparently asking for them to start backup QB Tyson Bagent as well. Yikes.
27 – Saints
Firing Dennis Allen has paid dividends just one week in. The Saints got the better of their division rival, the Falcons, and get to celebrate for the first time in eight weeks. We’ll see if that victory was more than just the interim coach bump, but good for New Orleans.
28 – Browns
The Browns officially gave up on the current version of themselves when they traded DE Za’Darius Smith to the Lions. They have a couple years of work ahead of them to undo the Deshaun Watson trade, but they made a first step in the right direction.
29 – Titans
The Titans have some fight in them, just not enough talent. They at least are aware of their position and are moving towards getting a new QB. At least Will Levis didn’t do anything really reckless this past weekend.
30 – Raiders
The Raiders have lost five in a row and no game has been particularly close. They also have a rough schedule in the next four weeks. Have fun with that, Raider nation.
31 – Jaguars
Mac Jones played for Jacksonville this weekend. It went just about how you’d expect.
32 – Giants
Daniel Jones begone!
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