NFL Power Rankings after Week 18… the final rankings

The regular season is over, the playoff schedule is set, so let's take a look at where we rank every team after 18 weeks of hard-fought NFL football.

As we have said throughout the season, the Panthers’ plan hasn’t worked. It’s still far too early to judge Bryce Young, but the early signs aren’t good. They need to hunker down, make the right coaching hire, and draft every offensive lineman they can.

During the Pats’ 3-17 loss against the Jets, the announcers seemed to all but confirm Bill Belichick’s firing. A bold decision given his incredible legacy, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. A terrible year for the Pats and an uncertain future too.

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Ron Rivera seems to be heading for the exit door having taken Washington nowhere but backward during his four-year tenure. Another team that needs a QB and a complete overhaul elsewhere, the Commanders could be one of the most interesting landing spots for any potential head coach.

The Cardinals have beaten both the Cowboys and Eagles over the course of the season suggesting they have something to build upon for the future. Kyler Murray seems solidified as the starting QB meaning the target some better offensive weapons in the draft and start to build a competitive team again.

The Giants humiliated their division rivals, the Eagles, in the final game of the regular season, and in some ways, it has only left us with more questions than answers. Why were they playing Tommy Devito over Tyrod Taylor? Why was a defense this aggressive so bad at getting to the QB?

Arguably the worst-performing team against their pre-season expectations, the Chargers got great play out of Khalil Mack all year and Justin Herbert played lights out until his injury. Now they’re looking for a new head coach and an injection of talent in the draft.

If these rankings were based on how infuriating each team was, the Jets are an unquestioned number one. After going all in on Aaron Rodgers in the offseason, they simply refused to try and upgrade from Zach Wilson et al following Rodgers’ injury. It cost them the playoffs and now they’ll be relying on a soon-to-be 41-year-old coming off a torn Achilles heel in 2024.

A mediocre team with little ambition for the playoffs finished 6-11 but were able to stop their division rivals from making it to the post-season. The Titans are in a dangerous middle ground and will be intriguing to follow this offseason.

Arthur Smith shouting at Dennis Allen after the Saints ran in a last-second TD was about as much fire as the Falcons showed all year. There is a lot of talent on this roster, and we will get to see it coached by someone new with the Falcons deciding to move on from Arthur Smith.

Is Aiden O’Connell the future? Probably not, but the Raiders’ decision to move on from Josh McDaniels and give O’Connell the keys to the offense suggests they are going to be brave. Antonio Pierce deserves a shot as the full-time head coach given his impressive showing as an interim.

The Bears found something in the second half of the season as Justin Fields showed signs that he could become a legitimate NFL QB. They do possess the first overall draft pick, though, which gives them several exciting possibilities in the draft.

Another team that lost their starting QB to injury, Minnesota was on course for another good year before Cousins also tore his Achilles. What this season did show was how willing the players were to play for their coach, suggesting Kevin O’Connell has his players’ trust.

A dominant performance to close out the year for New Orleans, putting up 48 points against their bitter rivals, the Falcons. If they are planning on continuing with Derek Carr at QB, there isn’t too much to be excited about moving forward, beyond a .500-ish season, again.

A brutal year for the Bengals given the contract situations of their two stud wide receivers, this could be a very different-looking team next year. The Bengals will be hoping Joe Burrow’s return to full health gets them back in the hunt for a Super Bowl, perhaps more investment in the offensive line is needed.

The Bucs scraped the NFC South division title and now find themselves hosting the recently hapless Eagles. Tampa Bay is 60 minutes away from the divisional round which would cap off a good season for a team with no real expectations in the preseason.

The Broncos could well be much further down this list given how badly the vibes seem to have gotten in recent weeks. Russell Wilson is all but gone meaning a new QB is their first order of business, but given their draft capital, they will need some luck to get one of the big names.

The Packers moved on from Aaron Rodgers and trusted in youth, it’s paid off with a playoff berth and a young, talented QB who has shown time and again that no stage is too big for him. There should be huge optimism in Title Town going into the playoffs and 2024.

The Colts just missed the playoffs, which is a very respectable season for a team that started Garnder Minshew in almost every game. Shane Steichen looks to have command of his team and his offense making Anthony Richardson’s return all the more exciting.

The Seahawks had as much optimism as anyone going into the 2023 season and have somewhat crashed back down to earth. A defense that looked ready to explode never really did and Geno Smith regressed to the mean. Still, not a terrible year and there are exciting young players across the roster.

At one point in November, the Jags had a 99% chance to make the playoffs. Here we are a month and a half later and they’re on the outside looking in as they collapsed horrendously. Trevor Lawrence has never quite clicked in the NFL despite playing at a high level at times, could the Jags be in QB purgatory?

Mike Tomlin simply doesn’t know how to coach a bad team. Despite their issues at QB, and limited talent elsewhere, Pittsburgh finds themselves in the playoffs yet again, although a trip to Buffalo without T.J. Watt makes it a little tricky to see them get beyond the wildcard round.

Everything has gone wrong for the Eagles over the past month or so, losing the number one seed, and now possibly losing Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown for the playoffs. This team has gone from Super Bowl favorites to possibly firing their coach in record time.

Demeco Ryans should win Coach of the Year, and to be honest, it shouldn’t be close. He took a team of no-names and a rookie QB to the playoffs in his first year in charge suggesting Houston has one of the brightest futures in the league.

We had the Rams as one of the worst teams in the NFL heading into the year, how wrong we were. Some incredible rookie performances and Matthew Stafford’s exceptional play sees the Rams in the playoffs again. No one wants to play the Rams right now, it would be of little surprise to see them beat the Lions on Sunday night.

Patrick Mahomes has played well this year despite absolutely awful play from his wide receivers. An excellently coached, and talented, defense has led the Chiefs all year and we are preparing ourselves for them to get on a roll come playoff time. 

The Dolphins had the AFC East and home-field advantage in their hands at one point, now they have to travel to a frigid Arrowhead stadium where they will face a team they have already lost to once this season.

The Browns are fit and firing heading into the playoffs having had the luxury to rest some key players in week 18. Can Joe Flacco do a 2012 and lead his team to a Super Bowl victory? It’s entirely possible and Jim Schwartz's hyper-aggressive defense is going to be a big part of it if they do.

The Lions are a tough team to judge, they feel so much better than the chasing pack, but maybe not quite as talented top to bottom as some of the other elite teams in the playoffs. Still, they are hosting a playoff game and with their offense could well cause teams some real problems.

The top four teams in the NFL are all within a hair’s breadth of each other, so this is no disrespect to the Cowboys who we’ve been high on all year, but someone has to be fourth. Dak has played at an MVP level all season, combined with a brutal pass rush and this team looks tough to stop.

Josh Allen has ascended to another plane in recent weeks, playing his style of aggressive, body-on-the-line quarterbacking like no one else can even dream of. The Bills have suddenly emerged as one of the hottest teams in the league and it would surprise no one to see them reach at least the conference round.

All season the Niners have been nearly unstoppable when they’re fit and healthy. Now, they get a chance to rest up for a week and are guaranteed to host any playoff games they play until the Super Bowl. Can anyone from the NFC stop them? We’re really not sure.

The Ravens have been amongst the best teams all year and have some statement wins over the Niners and Dolphins in recent weeks to suggest they are the real deal. Lamar Jackson is untouchable at the moment and Mike MacDonald’s defense is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Is a rematch of Super Bowl XLVII on the cards?