NFL Power Rankings Pats up Seahawks down entering playoffs

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NFL Power Rankings: Pats up, Seahawks down entering playoffs Published: Jan 01, 2019 at 04:33 AM Elliot Harrison As the coaching world turns, another regular season comes to an end ... While everyone discu ses who gets fired and who gets to keep their job, the storylines that emerged in 2018 were -- and are -- far more interesting. Obviously, a new season is beginning as the postseason tournament approaches, but a quick look reveals the startling things that occurred. My top five stories of the 2018 NFL season, from September through last Sunday, are as follows: 1) The are relevant again.2) can throw a football again.3) A star is born in .4) Mack Daddy, Trubearsky and the rebirth of those Midway Monsters.5) is Santa. Believe it. That list doesn't include Pete Carroll's masterful Yoda-ing of the (more on that below), ruining your favorite team's Sunday or the brilliant march of the (see: No. 1). My personal favorite: Luck. coming into this season because their quarterback hadn't played meaningful football in 20 months. At the time, I really hoped the guy could make a triumphant comeback to make me look stupid. Boy, did he ever -- and the NFL is better for it. Luck has the potential to be the premier quarterback in football, all things considered: productivity, leadership and, ultimately, . also deserves a special nod. Ditto , whose 16 sacks almost went unnoticed. And before we get away from the men in the trenches ... Kyle Williams just caught a pa s.KYLE WILLIAMS JUST CAUGHT A PASS! Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) Awesome. Just awesome -- like this kind of behavior: Inside of the NFL and out, we should all try to make this part of our daily approach in the new year. The final regular-season rendering of the league hierarchy sits below, based on where the teams are right now. Thanks for reading every week, for the eighth straight season. (Don't worry: We'll have a playoff edition next week.) Send your thoughts: As always, is the place. Let the di sension commence! For more in-depth analysis on the updated league pecking order, tune in to NFL Network every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET for "The Power Rankings Show." Want to add YOUR voice? Provide your thoughts in a tweet to , and your comments could be featured on air. Rank 1 13-3 Previous rank: The wrapped up one of the finest seasons in team history on Sunday, . Nobody cared. found himself starting a game for the first time in three years, which, quite frankly, was awesome, irrespective of the outcome. Sean Payton chose to rest key starters like and , and you can't blame him, as the league is too competitive to risk being down a major piece this close to the tournament. Not to mention, who knows how many more chances Payton and Brees will have to earn the city of New Orleans its second Lombardi Trophy? Hard to believe it was nine years ago this team upset the and won the hardware. Might not be typing that sentence in five weeks, though. Rank 2 12-4 Previous rank: The story of the season: The have a $^@#%&$ quarterback. It's about time. True talk: Chicago's best quarterback play since Y2K came courtesy of back in '13 when the vet was thrust into the lineup in place of Jay Cutler for half the season. That's no B.S. Mitch Tru ky made the throws he had to make Sunday, ending the season the right way in Chicago -- playing to win, until the clock hit 0:00. (We won't fault him for lining up late like a nincompoop on that fancy formation, costing the a first down.) Wild Card Weekend: Chicago sees your regalia and welcomes it. The will win next week, so enjoy an Old Style and watch "Rob Roy" on me. Rank 3 13-3 Previous rank: The like it was 2001. Actually, even the "Greatest Show on Turf" didn't bookend any season like that. In fact, the Kurt Warner-infused attack rang up a 48-spot just twice in the regular season during the ' 1999-2001 heyday. So, what now? Los Angeles owns a week off, which is wonderful and all, but halts the rhythm that currently finds (found) himself in (... after three woefully bad outings). was a stowaway for most of the NFL season, but has parked two 100-yard games on his resume in the past two weeks to give Sean McVay an insurance policy for come the Divisional Round. All is well in land. Rank 4 12-4 Previous rank: The weren't . -- Raiders . OK, maybe that's going a little far. But Kansas City found an easy path to home-field advantage. Because your friendly writer's dad was Alan Quine Women Jersey a lifelong fan (they were founded as the Dallas in 1960), this space would have rather seen Andy Reid's group challenged a wee bit more in cla sic Oakland-K.C. fashion. You know, as prep for the franchise's most important postseason appearance in 49 years. That said, tip your cap to , who reached 5,000 yards pa sing and 50 touchdowns in only his second season in the bigs. Bill Kenney never did that. Rank 5 2 11-5 Previous rank: The finished the season the way you would've expected, though confidence in Bill Belichick's outfit had waned in recent weeks. Maybe Sunday's didn't do much to change the current perception of these , but irrespective of the opponent, New England's win was impre sive. Bear in mind that and Co. put up nearly 40 points , and gave the all they could handle . Two guys who needed to have productive days: and . The former to sed four touchdown pa ses, while the latter caught one of those to ses and was heavily involved in the offense. Sans , and without playing up to his usual level, White will be uber-important in the postseason. Rank 6 1 10-6 Previous rank: Little close for comfort, ain't gonna lie to ya. , man. The closed the deal out in exhilarating fashion. It was just like how they ended last season -- Baltimore withstood The Experience long enough to become earning that overused moniker that's already been worn out by the over in the NFC. More important than the media spewing superlatives: The have picked up 267, 242, 207, 194, 242, 159 and 296 yards on the ground in the seven games since took over at quarterback. Good night and good luck, AFC defenses. Rank 7 1 12-4 Previous rank: The closed the book on what can only be deemed a highly succe sful regular season. The Bolts might have finished second in the AFC West, but under Anthony Lynn's leadership, they didn't allow themselves to be derailed by speed bumps, including the early lo ses of (though he's and (remember him?). Even as the No. 5 seed in the AFC, these guys are capable of beating anyone, starting with Yes, Baltimore in Week 16. But think of this weekend's matchup more like a pitcher's second time through the batting order. Don't expect the to cruise. Can't wait for that sucker. Rank 8 10-6 Previous rank: The completed a remarkable turnaround, thrusting their quarterback into the MVP conversation and their head coach into the Coach of the Year maelstrom. should walk home with the Comeback Player of the Year award, but he will be bested by either or as Most Valuable Player. Frank Reich has done an incredible job this season, especially after the 1-5 start. Since that time, Indy has gone a sizzling 9-1, including wins over playoff hopefuls and, on Sunday night, Now, I've been getting grief from fans on Twitter for at the beginning of the season. At that time, Luck hadn't thrown a football in a meaningful game in nearly two years. Reich was a first-time head coach. And don't forget that general manager Chris Ballard was still relatively new. But no doubt, Luck was the sticking point ... until I saw him play. Side note: Apparently it's not just fans waving preseason Power Rankings around. after the game that had them ranked No. 32. Flattered that Reich quibbled with our rankings drivel. Rank 9 1 11-5 Previous rank: The handled their busine s on Sunday, although they were not able to leapfrog the for that all-important second seed. Most encouraging in the win was the performance of the defense. Sure, WR enjoyed a huge day (12 catches for 147 yards). RB came back in an effective, if not prolific, manner. But the defense was the group that got embarra sed in Philadelphia to the tune of 471 pa sing yards and four touchdowns by . didn't approach those numbers. But even against Bortles, three points allowed is three points allowed. Side note: All those people calling for Bill O'Brien's job are going to have to swallow this 11-5 record whole. Rank 10 1 10-6 Previous rank: The on Sunday, and now it's Pete Carroll's group experienced the same troubles the did in the regular-season's final week. Both teams played inferior teams, although Dallas at least had the excuse of being on the road. While neither squad put its best product out there, each found ways to win on a final offensive foray, with their respective quarterbacks making in the end. Can replicate that on the road against a top defense? The other i sue for Seattle will be stopping the NFL's leading rusher, , whose legs should be fresh after Dallas gave him a week off. Read more about that in the Game Picks column, coming hot off the interwebs on Thursday. For now, revel in the fact that Carroll did some of his best work this season and is a front-runner for Coach of the Year. (Gonna keep typing it until voters hear it.) Rank 11 2 10-6 Previous rank: There are two ways to take on Sunday. The good: It included a poised performance from , including to give his receiver a chance to make a play at the end of the game. (Which the receiver did.) And, of course, Dallas finished the season with a thrilling win. The bad: The played most of their starters -- and still beat a team on a crash course . Next up: . Side note: It must be stated somewhere in the body of this article that is one clutch dude. to claw a Prescott heave trailing away from him in the end zone was nothing short of spectacular. How many times has No. 11 come up big? If Beasley -- ever the pesky, indomitable football player -- reminds me of of yesteryear ... well, my first go-to guys would be Bill Bates and Kenny Gant, overachievers who played their a ses off and contributed to nothing but wins. If you want to go really on this topic, Beasley resembles "White Lightning," former wide receiver Doug Donley. If any of you reading out there remember that guy, kudos to you. Rank 12 3 9-7 Previous rank: The punched their playoff ticket Sunday ... with aplomb. What part of the convinced you? You knew Philly was all busine s when, up by that very score late in the fourth quarter, tore through his a signed blocker and pancaked a poor for a sack. The concern now rests with (who left the game with getting ample rest before the vs. the , with no break coming against perhaps the most talented front seven in the NFC, if not the NFL. If the ' defense can play like it did Sunday at FedEx, it might not matter. Against defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's unit, the gained 89 yards. Total. Rank 13 2 9-6-1 Previous rank: The story -- the receiver didn't play against the and -- is simply weird and doesn't bode well for Mike Tomlin. As far as how Sunday played out, you had a better chance of frolicking with an endangered sea turtle in Oahu than the did of making the postseason. Pittsburgh have the (or have the and tie), and things were looking especially dire when was sprinting through the Cleveland secondary like Omar Epps in "The Program" and was in the first half like it was a road game. Then the defense rallied the troops in Pittsburgh and 's proved more than game in Baltimore. An exciting Sunday ended with the putting together a short drive behind Roethlisberger, leading to a game-winning field goal. Next, a gaggle of Pittsburgh's players to watch Mayfield lead Cleveland on a triumphant march -- Now all the blame will fall on Mike Tomlin. What about the mere 16 points on offense, even after that game-winning kick? Is that on Coach T? In a related question, are you suffering from low T? Ah heck, just trying to divert from a rare playoffle s season in Steelersville. Rank 14 2 8-7-1 Previous rank: Say this for Kirk Cousins: He's consistent. The ' $50 billion man kept up his miserable record against teams with winning records in , dropping to 8-27 in his career against opponents who ended the year at .500 or better, while Minnesota saw its playoff hopes crumble in a heap. Late drops didn't help. Cousins wasn't on his game. Mike Zimmer's defense couldn't mitigate a slew of three-and-outs to begin the day. The let's-not-overwork-Dalvin-Cook experiment apparently still has full funding, as the explosive RB received a scant 11 carries in a game his team had to have. It boggles the mind. Gue sing Zimmer rights the ' ship this offseason, making sure his OC -- whoever that ends up being -- manages to employ his RB1 more effectively. Might start with O-line help, but then again, I never was a sailor. Rank 15 1 9-7 Previous rank: Rough ending to an overall solid Year 1 under Mike Vrabel. While the failed to get back into the postseason following last year's playoff run under Mike Mularkey, this year's group was stronger under Vrabel. Guarantee would have been a closer affair had Vrabel had his QB1 and DT1 available. Sans and , Tenne see struggled against the . did his darndest to keep the ' playoff aspirations afloat -- until that killer interception midway through the fourth quarter. Without Casey, there were bountiful seams for Indy RB to enjoy. Speaking of, Vrabel and GM Jon Robinson have a few holes to fill this offseason. of solves an important i sue right away. Rank 16 7-8-1 Previous rank: Let's be clear here: When the first drafted , a rookie with a cocksure disposition, first overall, it felt a little like Adrien Brody trying to play the tough guy in Mayfield has become far more than a confident field general -- now he's also a particularly productive one, set by Peyton Manning and for pa sing touchdowns in a season. Cleveland benefited from Mayfield's development, along with that of and (and much better coaching), to get back to respectability at 7-8-1. And you know what else? "Predators" wasn't bad. Brody pulled it off, everybody. So did Baker -- and the big, bad , too. Side note: The decision to be made on interim head coach Gregg Williams will be scrutinized for years, especially if he is kept. The Brownies went 5-3 under Williams. Read that line again. #Browns Rank 17 2 7-9 Previous rank: Nobody needs to worry Ryan Pulock Kids Jersey about Dan Quinn this week. But all of , which feels like an overreaction. Losing key players like , and early in the year is the worst, as the team planned for the involvement of those players all offseason and in training camp. At least when coaches lose personnel , they benefit from having had guys like that contribute for half the year, while younger players get to know what the heck they are doing. OK. Let's move on to . You ever get scared when the guy dre sed in chainmail at "Medieval Times" removes the black hood from over the falcon, like it's gonna nosedive on your date's chicken leg and ruin your Groupon night all in one fell swoop? Yep, that was the Bucs' secondary on Sunday. ended the season in hardy fashion, ensuring his did, too, going 31-of-44 for 378 yards and two scores. Ryan threw 35 touchdowns versus a scant seven picks this season, despite the overall disappointing campaign in Atlanta. He'll be back, with a new OC, as well as a healthier nucleus next year. Rank 18 2 6-10 Previous rank: The pummeled the in every way po sible starting with the effort from their giant rookie quarterback. ran nine times for and threw effectively, including three times for scores. The defense throttled Miami, allowing only 225 yards of offense while forcing four takeaways. Buffalo sacked four times. secured three tackles in the final game of an outstanding career. Proud for the mafia getting a win to close out the 2018 season. Not as proud after YouTube-ing " mafia" on the advice of a friend. Holy cow: Get it together. Bring it in, fellas. Side note: Take another look at , which would have made jealous. Rank 19 2 6-10 Previous rank: The finished 2018 with in the most Lionsy way ever -- when said win mattered the least. As one fan I know put it (paraphrasing), "We even suck at sucking." (Courtesy: ) Detroit kicked the all over their own field. The out-first-downed them, 25-9, outgained them, 402-175, and held the ball for 36:54. With the win, Detroit is officially out of the top five of , which has a few fans peeved. Would you rather Matt Patricia coach his guys to lose heading into the offseason? Besides, Patricia to any meeting in which losing would have been pre-decided upon. Rank 20 2 5-11 Previous rank: Pat Shurmur says he wants back. What means, however, is that the will be in prime position to take a quarterback in the 2019 draft, should they choose to do so. They own , to be precise. That also means they can snag the quarterback they in the 2018 draft. This team has more needs than simply uncovering an eventual QB1: You can start on the offensive line before making a U-turn toward the defensive side of the ball. Worth pointing out is the effort the team made these last two weeks, taking two playoff teams ( ) to the final bell. These players competed for Shurmur, which is something to build on for next season. Rank 21 4 6-9-1 Previous rank: The rumor mill is already in full, uhh, milling. Josh McDaniels is the name that is popping up most prominently in the ' head-coaching search. Whoever the new front man will be, he won't glean much from . That would be like a film major learning the trade from watching hours and hours of "The Legend of Hercules" or "Fifty Shades Darker." Everything about the lo s to the was humiliating for Green Bay, from zero points to zero to score points to zero defense. The Pack was outgained by 227 yards. Detroit totaled 16 first downs. You know how many rushing yards the Green Bay running backs gained? Six. If there was indeed a worse season-ending lo s in history, I don't want to look it up. Rank 22 4 7-9 Previous rank: At the time of this writing, there is . Typing about another head coach's future feels akin to an iPad devolving into a circling crow over FedExField airspace. Gruden hasn't delighted in spring pools of football luck over the last two years. His offensive line has been decimated by injury two years running, which spilled over into the rest of the offense. No matter how much the league has changed since 1920, line play still makes the whole thing go. In today's game, talent outside doesn't hurt, either. That hasn't been a Washington strong suit, especially with out for most of the year. Rank 23 4 7-9 Previous rank: , which is a wise move. There could be as many as nine teams looking for new head coaches, and it would seem Carolina already employs a pretty decent leader in Rivera. The man has won Coach of the Year twice, after all, while his team has reached the postseason four times in his eight seasons pacing the sidelines. That's as many times as the franchise made it in the 16 years prior to Rivera's arrival. His 71-56-1 regular-season record certainly merits another chance to reroute what appeared to be a team on the rise before the second-half collapse. What becomes going forward is the larger question, as next season will be the franchise QB's ninth. Throughout NFL history, quarterbacks in their 30s tend to run le s. Can Newton adjust his game? First priority: get healthy this offseason. Rank 24 1 4-12 Previous rank: The roller-coaster ride is over, after one last corkscrew that saw the Niners and . continued his a sault on the NFL record book, including to set the new TE mark for receiving yards in a Jordan Eberle Men Jersey season at 1,377. The fantasy-points gobbling got so crazy in this game that even ran for 111 yards, on 16 carries and two bald tires. The problem is that as quickly as the Niners score 'em, the defense Kyle Shanahan has much work to do this offseason, but you can expect this team to hit the defensive side of the ball hard in the draft. Wide receivers will get a long look, as well. While you are daydreaming about dreamy Jimmy G, don't forget that mi sed the whole season, too. Rank 25 1 4-12 Previous rank: No sooner was I done writing this blurb than for Mark Davis and Jon Gruden. Happy for Mike, now a colleague. And can't wait to see how he and Gruden collaborate to collect the appropriate personnel for the going forward. Tell you this: Three first-round picks don't hurt. That's also a heckuva lot of pre sure on Mayock to make on-point decisions right out of gate. As for ... Gue sing tight end is . Oh boy. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh ... that wasn't the way the season was supposed to end. Not after the closed out Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum . Not after Coach Gruden had his boys playing competitive football for the last month and a half. The naysayers are fully out of the closet after being locked in there during this recent winning (kind of) streak. Rank 26 2 6-10 Previous rank: Irrespective of what you think of Marvin Lewis' time leading the , it is difficult to think about the franchise about him roaming the sidelines. His first year in town was Carson Palmer's rookie year, all the way back in 2003. The Bungles, as they were known, were the of the laser-disc generation. When Lewis got hired, Cincinnati had won a grand total of eight games the previous two campaigns. Lewis' 2003 team won that many games with journeyman QB Jon Kitna under center and Palmer parked on the bench learning. The would go on to make the postseason in 2005, 2009 and 2011-15. Yet, they could never get a win. There are still many fans who wonder where Cincinnati, and its coach, would've gone if Palmer didn't have his of the 2005 playoffs. Whoever the new head coach is, he will be darn lucky to man the post for as long as Lewis did. Rank 27 2 5-11 Previous rank: The Bucs pulled the plug on the , dismi sing the third-year head man following a narrow . That means the search for a new head coach should be on at least its second day by the time you read this. While Koetter was far from perfect (like any coach), it seemed he could never rely on his franchise quarterback. 's situation going forward is a fascinating case study in whether to extend his rope (... or if that would be just enough rope to tie up the organization for another year). No matter what, Tampa must upgrade the secondary in April. Not optional. Hopefully optional: . That would be amazeballs. Rank 28 3 6-10 Previous rank: The , specifically John Elway, said enough is enough on Monday, releasing Vance Joseph . Fans and analysts can point to many things during Joseph's two-year run that led to this outcome. A moment that sticks out was playing for a lonnng field goal with a timeout and precious seconds to get kicker closer . Joseph and staff eschewed throwing over the middle, opted for the 51-yard kick (which was mi sed), and lost to Houston. Had Denver won, they would have been 4-5 heading into the bye with le s space between them and other wild-card hopefuls. Joseph felt like an odd hire to replace Gary Kubiak from the beginning. A first-timer, he also lacked extensive experience as a coordinator. Joseph had been a DC for only one year, a season in which his unit finished 29th in yards allowed and 18th in points allowed. Now Elway will launch a new drive, trying to score in a limited field with so many other organizations searching. Rank 29 3 7-9 Previous rank: In a move that wasn't particularly surprising, bra s decided to after three seasons. Miami was 7-6 a few weeks ago, but the offense was mostly abhorrent. Or if it wasn't at that point, it went that way quick. Over the last five games, the ' offense manufactured 175, 412, 193, 183 and 225 yards. Outside of that anomaly against the in Week 14 where the offense moved the ball ( ), those totals are awful. Not even Baltimore's legendary 2000 defense could make up for that lack of production. regre sed, if anything. The run game could be effective, but was used so intermittently it was mind-boggling. All of which spelled doom and gloom for a coach whose discipline was on that side of the ball. Rank 30 5-11 Previous rank: Ownership came out Sunday and made clear that Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone . As for and , who knows? Not a good look from , but the image of the ' 2018 campaign. Who was more disappointing than these Jags? Jacksonville followed up an AFC Championship appearance, citing the " " at every turn, only to turn around and go a humbling 5-11. The sequence that defined the season came , when Fournette scuffled with DE while his offense was parked a few feet from Buffalo's goal line. , the Jags went backward with a holiday-party-punch full of penalties and a sack, capped off by a mi sed field goal that would have given Jacksonville the lead. The won, Jacksonville dropped to 3-8, and a lost season went further down the drain. Rank 31 4-12 Previous rank: The following three subpar seasons in a row. New York never rebounded from its collapse at the tail end of the 2015 campaign, when it couldn't take advantage of a win-and-in scenario . In 2016, the veteran locker room collapsed, with enough finger pointing and Fitzerratic to hasten the ' transition from contender to AFC East doormat. The blowout lo s was simply the exclamation point, as Bowles' got it handed to them at Gillette. The next head coach needs to find a WR1 and unearth a viable ground game to help the future, . Side note: Much talk about Bowles' character, which still counts for something, even in the NFL. Cla s. Rank 32 3-13 Previous rank: In the least-publicized of the coaching moves, Steve Wilks was by the on Monday. Here's the deal: Firing a guy after one year, no matter how bad that initial campaign was, never feels right. It used to not be the norm, either, and now it's become a little too normal. Everyone was up in arms, or at least it seemed that way, when the fired Ray Rhodes after his first season -- an 8-8 campaign -- in 1999. Not so for Wilks, partially because times have changed and partially because Arizona was barely competitive at 3-13. The Cards sure put up a fight in Week 17, though, at their place. It wasn't enough, however, to dispel the fond memories of predece sor Bruce Arians, who went 8-8 last season despite losing in Week 1. The latter never consistently produced this year. Getting Johnson back on track will be a priority for whomever owner Michael Bidwill and GM Steve Keim tab as the ' new head coach. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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