Arizona Sports NFL Week 17 Power Rankings: A final look at the league
Dec 27, 2016, 4:05 PM
Sixteen weeks down, one to go.
The New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys remain the clear picks atop the league among our panelists heading into a Week 17 where only two playoff spots are on the line. The NFC North will be determined in Sunday night’s primetime clash between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions at Ford Field. And, the second Wild Card spot will go to either the loser of the Packers-Lions game, the Washington Redskins or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It’s our final NFL Power Rankings of the 2016 season.
Here’s how our 5-person panel voted this week
Here’s each panelist’s individual ballot
1. New England Patriots (13-2) —
The team to beat as far as I’m concerned. — Burns
Next: at Miami
2. Dallas Cowboys (13-2) —
There isn’t much more for the Cowboys to prove. Let the playoffs begin. — Morgan
Next: at Philadelphia
3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) ▲ 2
Dontari Poe is gonna get fat free agent QB money thrown his way! — Marotta
Next: at San Diego
T4. Oakland Raiders (12-3) —
It’s been a great year, but Matt McGloin’s not winning anyone a Super Bowl. — Lapinski
Next: at Denver
T4. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5) ▲ 2
Antonio Brown’s new workout video “Stretching for the Playoffs” will be released soon. — Grialou
Next: vs. Cleveland
6. Atlanta Falcons (10-5) ▲ 2
Offense playing at a historic level. — Burns
Next: vs. New Orleans
7. New York Giants (10-5) ▼ 4
Great throwback uniforms…horrible performance vs. Philly. — Marotta
Next: at Washington
8. Green Bay Packers (9-6) ▲ 2
So basically, when Aaron Rodgers gets angry, he never loses again. — Lapinski
Next: at Detroit
9. Seattle Seahawks (9-5-1) ▼ 2
The Cardinals may own the Seahawks in Seattle, but the Seahawks still own the division. — Morgan
Next: at San Francisco
10. Miami Dolphins (10-5) ▲ 1
They’re in, but they won’t last long. — Burns
Next: vs. New England
11. Detroit Lions (9-6) ▼ 2
It would be so Detroit to lose three straight and miss the playoffs. — Morgan
Next: vs. Green Bay
12. Washington Redskins (8-6-1) ▲ 5
May very well miss the playoffs because of a tie in London. — Lapinski
Next: vs. NY Giants
T13. Baltimore Ravens (9-6) ▲ 1
Tough year in Baltimore sports. Orioles and Ravens had heartbreaking endings. — Morgan
Next: at Cincinnati
T13. Houston Texans (9-6) ▲ 3
Has there ever been a more exciting playoff team? Oh wait — all of them, ever. — Lapinski
Next: at Tennessee
15. Denver Broncos (8-7) ▼ 2
What a mess a year after winning it all. — Marotta
Next: vs. Oakland
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7) ▼ 4
A good rookie year for Dirk Koetter, but they couldn’t finish. — Burns
Next: vs. Carolina
17. Tennessee Titans (8-7) ▼ 2
Lost the game, the division and their franchise quarterback. Awful. Just awful. — Grialou
Next: vs. Houston
18. New Orleans Saints (7-8) ▲ 4
Drew Brees leads the NFL in completions, passing yards and touchdowns. — Morgan
Next: at Atlanta
19. Indianapolis Colts (7-8) ▼ 1
Is Chuck Pagano in trouble? — Burns
Next: vs. Jacksonville
T20. Minnesota Vikings (7-8) ▼ 1
Well, that was a not-so-tidy clean up to a messy story. — Morgan
Next: vs. Chicago
T20. Buffalo Bills (7-8) —
Nothing like having only 10 players on the field with your season on the line. — Lapinski
Next: at NY Jets
22. Arizona Cardinals (6-8-1) ▲ 1
Special teams made three big plays and they won on the road. *Checks sky for meteor hurtling toward Earth. — Marotta
Next: at Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia Eagles (6-9) ▲ 2
Like Cards, Saints and Jags, they played hard when they didn’t have to. — Burns
Next: vs. Dallas
24. Carolina Panthers (6-9) ▼ 3
Newton has been under 50% completions in five of last six games. That doesn’t happen anymore. — Marotta
Next: at Tampa Bay
25. Cincinnati Bengals (5-9-1) ▼ 1
Putting Bengals-Texans on Christmas was good incentive to spend time with the family. — Morgan
Next: vs. Baltimore
26. San Diego Chargers (5-10) —
Lost to the Browns. Seriously. — Burns
Next: vs. Kansas City
T27. New York Jets (4-11) —
Perhaps Todd Bowles should have stayed in the hospital and not made the trip to New England? — Grialou
Next: vs. Buffalo
T27. Chicago Bears (3-12) ▲ 1
Matt Barkley, very generous in this season of giving; eight picks in the last two weeks. — Marotta
Next: at Minnesota
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12) ▲ 1
Only took Blake Bortles until Week 16 to play a good game. — Grialou
Next: at Indianapolis
30. Los Angeles Rams (4-11) ▼ 1
0-2 vs. the 49ers. Not sure St. Louis would even take them back at this point. — Lapinski
Next: vs. Arizona
31. San Francisco 49ers (2-13) —
Had the number-one pick for about three hours. — Burns
Next: vs. Seattle
32. Cleveland Browns (1-14) —
Congrats! (?) — Burns
Next: at Pittsburgh
