Week 17

By Teddy Covers - Covers Expert

The Denver Broncos maintain their hold on the top spot of the rankings heading into the final week of the season. But the Falcons, Packers, and Seahawks are all making late-season pushes up the rankings.

NFL Power Rankings

Current Rank Last Week Change Team W-L-T
(ATS) 		Power Rating Team Comments
1 1 no change in rankings 12-3-0
(9-6-0) 		-7.5 Denver
With ten consecutive wins all by a touchdown or more, the only thing the Broncos have to worry about right now is whether they've peaked too early!
2 2 no change in rankings 11-4-0
(8-7-0) 		-7.0 New England
The Patriots have only faced six playoff teams all year, going 3-3 SU (and 0-2 on the road) against Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Indy, Houston and San Francisco.
3 5 move up in rankings2 13-2-0
(9-5-1) 		-6.0 Atlanta
Matt Ryan and company have certainly looked like a team on a mission to earn some respect over the past two weeks; bouncing back strong from their poor showing at Carolina.
4 7 move up in rankings3 11-4-0
(9-6-0) 		-6.0 Green Bay
With a healthy Clay Matthews back in the lineup, the Packers defense has been dominant for the last two games, notching eleven sacks while giving up only 20 combined points.
5 3 move down in rankings2 10-4-1
(9-6-0) 		-5.5 San Francisco
I'm not going to overreact to a single very bad game in a very tough spot for the banged up Niners, coming off their exhausting win at New England.
6 8 move up in rankings2 10-5-0
(11-4-0) 		-5.0 Seattle
If the Seahawks hadn't blown their game at Miami in the final two minutes, we'd be talking about a team riding a 7-0 SU and ATS hot streak into Week 17.
7 4 move down in rankings3 12-3-0
(9-6-0) 		-4.5 Houston
Elite teams aren't supposed to get blown out at home as TD+ favorites when they're trying to clinch home-field edge throughout the playoffs.
8 9 move up in rankings1 9-6-0
(10-5-0) 		-4.0 Washington
The only playoff team the Redskins have beaten during their six-game winning streak came via a Kirk Cousins TD pass and two point conversion in an OT win vs. Baltimore.
9 12 move up in rankings3 10-5-0
(6-8-1) 		-3.0 Baltimore
John Harbaugh's squad has only played three wire-to-wire good games all year: Week 1 vs. Cincy, Week 10 vs. Oakland and their season-saving Week 16 showing vs. the Giants.
10 6 move down in rankings4 8-7-0
(6-8-1) 		-2.5 N.Y. Giants
When a team gets outscored 67-14 in their two biggest games of the year, there's no sugarcoating the results: the G-men just don't have that same magic in 2012.
11 13 move up in rankings2 9-6-0
(8-6-1) 		-2.0 Cincinnati
The Bengals did everything they could to blow a very winnable game at Pittsburgh. Lucky for Andy Dalton and company, the Steelers were even worse.
12 15 move up in rankings3 7-8-0
(8-7-0) 		-2.0 New Orleans
Let's give the Saints credit for their professionalism and competitiveness, reeling off back-to-wins in the two weeks after their playoff chances ended in a blowout at the Giants.
13 10 move down in rankings3 8-7-0
(6-9-0) 		-1.5 Dallas
Marques Colston's OT fumble that Dallas couldn't recover will give every Cowboys fan nightmares, every bit as bad as Tony Romo's botched hold in Seattle back in January, 2007.
14 18 move up in rankings4 7-8-0
(8-7-0) 		-1.0 Miami
After facing a brutal Seattle-New England- San Francisco three game stretch, the Dolphins bounced back strong with back-to-back home blowouts against lesser foes.
15 19 move up in rankings4 9-6-0
(7-7-1) 		-1.0 Minnesota
Adrian Peterson gets the headlines, but let's not forget about this Vikings defense that has stuffed the run all year long and didn't allow a single 20+ yard pass at Houston last week.
16 16 no change in rankings 9-6-0
(7-8-0) 		0.0 Chicago
The Bears are 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS in games where they scored a defensive or special teams touchdown this year. In all other games, they are 3-6 SU, 2-7 ATS.
17 14 move down in rankings3 10-5-0
(10-5-0) 		0.0 Indianapolis
Indy's last eight wins have all come against weaklings: the Browns, Titans, Dolphins, Jaguars, Bills, Lions, Titans and Chiefs. Seven of those eight wins have come by a TD or less.
18 21 move up in rankings3 6-9-0
(8-7-0) 		1.0 Carolina
If Carolina hadn't lost at KC following the Jovan Belcher tragedy that brought out the best in the Chiefs for a week, we'd be talking about a Panthers 5-0 SU and ATS winning streak.
19 11 move down in rankings8 7-8-0
(5-9-1) 		1.0 Pittsburgh
Pundits are going to blame Big Ben for his late INT's in each of the Steelers last two losses, but the reality is that this team went 1-5 SU in their last six games, collapsing down the stretch.
20 23 move up in rankings3 7-7-1
(10-5-0) 		1.5 St. Louis
The Rams have a reverse home/road dichotomy; winning each of their last three on the highway all as underdogs, while getting blasted at home by the Jets and Vikings.
21 17 move down in rankings4 5-10-0
(8-6-1) 		2.0 Cleveland
After overachieving for the better part of the season, the Browns defense has shown signs of wearing down, allowing 72 points in their last two games, both blowout losses.
22 25 move up in rankings3 6-9-0
(7-8-0) 		2.5 San Diego
Coach Norv Turner and GM AJ Smith will be fired within hours of their regular season finale, yet the Chargers have won by double digits in two straight early start East Coast games.
23 20 move down in rankings3 6-9-0
(9-5-1) 		3.5 Tampa Bay
Last year, Raheem Morris lost his job following a ten-game Bucs losing streak to end the season. This year, Greg Schiano has guided them to an ugly five-game late season skid.
24 22 move down in rankings2 4-11-0
(5-10-0) 		4.0 Detroit
Calvin Johnson just broke Jerry Rice's all time receiving yards in a single season record. It's surely worth noting that Rice's Niners went 11-5 that year and won the NFC West.
25 27 move up in rankings2 4-11-0
(3-11-1) 		4.0 Philadelphia
I've got to give Philly some credit here; another team that is still playing very hard despite working with a lame duck head coach at the end of a wildly disappointing season.
26 26 no change in rankings 5-10-0
(6-9-0) 		5.0 Buffalo
The Buffalo's five wins this year have come against KC, Cleveland, Arizona (in OT), Miami (on a Thursday with limited time for a rookie QB to learn the game plan) and Jacksonville.
27 24 move down in rankings3 6-9-0
(7-8-0) 		5.0 N.Y. Jets
When your QB gets sacked eleven times in his first NFL start, there's only one person to blame - offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, who didn't install a decent game plan or adjust on the fly.
28 28 no change in rankings 5-10-0
(5-10-0) 		5.5 Tennessee
The Titans' blowout loss at Green Bay this past Sunday was their sixth loss of the season by three TD's or more - this team does NOT dig down deep when trailing by margin!
29 29 no change in rankings 5-10-0
(6-8-1) 		6.0 Arizona
Yes, the Cardinals are lacking a healthy NFL-caliber quarterback. But the fundamental weakness here is on the offensive line, something the TV talking heads don't seem to notice.
30 30 no change in rankings 2-13-0
(7-8-0) 		6.5 Jacksonville
The big news out of Jacksonville is that they're looking for Tim Tebow as their potential quarterback of the future. Good luck with that!
31 31 no change in rankings 4-11-0
(4-11-0) 		7.0 Oakland
Dennis Allen's quote about backup QB Matt Leinart's awful showing at Carolina: "I'm sure there was a little bit of rust there." Leinart has thrown a grand total of four TD passes since 2007.
32 32 no change in rankings 2-13-0
(5-10-0) 		7.5 Kansas City
It's a true measure of ineptitude when a team rushes for 352 yards, holds their opponent to a modest 20 points and still loses SU and ATS as a home underdog.

Power Ratings compute offensive and defensive statistics into one number for each team, while accounting for factors like recent performances and strength of schedule. Power Ratings can be used as a baseline for relative spread index to compare current or future match-ups between two teams. The relative spread does not account for non-statistical factors like home-field advantage, recent injuries, game time decisions, rivalries, publicity, and weather.