Despite having a tough time against the New York Jets on Sunday, the New England Patriots remain on top of most power rankings around the Internet, heading into the final week of the regular season. New England is 12-3 after a 17-16 victory over the New York Jets, their AFC East rivals. It wasn’t that big a surprise seeing the league’s top team struggle against one of its worst, as the Jets generally give them a run for their money at least once per season.
NFL power rankings, Week 17: Patriots, Seahawks at the top heading into final week
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks top most power ranking lists as the NFL prepares for the postseason. Check out how the rankings look heading into Week 17.
New England is now guaranteed a first-round bye in the postseason. On the other side, the Seattle Seahawks took the top seed in the NFC and they’ll keep their No. 2 spot in the consensus power rankings. There was always a chance that they’d take over the top spot, thanks to the fact that they absolutely dominated the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals, 35-6, but New England didn’t do enough to lose their spot.
Seattle can secure the NFC West and a first-round bye with a win in Week 17.
NFL Playoff Picture
The Dallas Cowboys were among those teams moving up overall. Needing a win over the tough Indianapolis Colts to secure the NFC East, they got it, and in convincing fashion. Dallas won that game, 42-7, and have now moved up in SB Nation’s own rankings, and in the consensus rankings.
| Team | Record | SB Nation | ESPN | NFL.com | Football Outsiders | Average |
| New England Patriots | 12-3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 11-4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 11-4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4.3 |
| Denver Broncos | 11-4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4.0 |
| Green Bay Packers | 11-4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Detroit Lions | 11-4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 7.8 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7.3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 10-4-1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 9.0 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 10-5 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 11.3 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 11-4 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 12.5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 9-6 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 12.5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 9-6 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 11.0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 9-6 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 10.8 |
| Houston Texans | 8-7 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 20 | 15.5 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-7 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 14.5 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8-7 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 13.3 |
| Buffalo Bills | 8-7 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 15.3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 6-8-1 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 26 | 20.8 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6-9 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 18 | 20.0 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7-8 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 17.5 |
| New York Giants | 6-9 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21.5 |
| St. Louis Rams | 6-9 | 22 | 25 | 19 | 19 | 21.3 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6-9 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 17 | 22.3 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7-8 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 22.3 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 6-9 | 25 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24.0 |
| Chicago Bears | 5-10 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 26.0 |
| Oakland Raiders | 3-12 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 28.3 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-12 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 31 | 29.3 |
| New York Jets | 3-12 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 28.5 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-13 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 31.0 |
| Washington | 4-11 | 31 | 27 | 26 | 29 | 28.3 |
| Tennessee Titans | 2-13 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 31.5 |
The four polls we use:
We use four different rankings to compile our weekly average. The idea behind that is to try to get a wider sense of where all 32 teams are being valued with three weeks of play in the books. Our power rankings sources are from our in-house rankings, ESPNand NFL.com. We also factor in the DVOA rankings from Football Outsiders to add an objective statistical measurement to the formula.
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