JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser's pre-Week 17 2022 NFL power rankings. And we all know how important these are …
Rank.Team (record) | Prev. | Comment
- Philadelphia Eagles (13-2) | 1 | Need Hurts for the postseason
- Buffalo Bills (12-3) | 2 | Three consecutive AFC East titles
- Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) | 3 | AFC-best seven-game winning streak
- Kansas City Chiefs (12-3) | 4 | Must finish a game ahead of Bills for No. 1 seed
- Minnesota Vikings (12-3) | 5 | NFL-record 11 one-score victories this season
- San Francisco 49ers (11-4) | 6 | NFC-best seven-game winning streak
- Dallas Cowboys (11-4) | 7 | Still alive in NFC East
- Baltimore Ravens (10-5) | 8 | Qualified for postseason Saturday
- Los Angeles Chargers (9-6) | 9 | Qualified for postseason Monday
- Miami Dolphins (8-7) | 10 | Still control destiny as AFC's No. 7 seed
- New York Giants (8-6-1) | 11 | Still control destiny as NFC's No. 6 seed
- Green Bay Packers (7-8) | 17 | Not out of it yet
- Detroit Lions (7-8) | 12 | Half game out of NFC's No. 7 seed
- New England Patriots (7-8) | 13 | Still control their postseason destiny
- Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8) | 18 | Your first-place Jacksonville Jaguars
- Washington Commanders (7-7-1) | 16 | Hanging onto the No. 7 seed
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8) | 21 | Can win NFC South with victory Sunday
- Tennessee Titans (7-8) | 14 | Will play Jaguars for AFC South title in Week 18
- New York Jets (7-8) | 15 | Four consecutive losses
- Seattle Seahawks (7-8) | 19 | Half game out of NFC's No. 7 seed
- Pittsburgh Steelers (7-8) | 23 | Still alive – mathematically
- Carolina Panthers (6-9) | 24 | Those Panthers are so hot right now
- Las Vegas Raiders (6-9) | 20 | Too many lost leads to make postseason
- Cleveland Browns (6-9) | 22 | Mathematically eliminated from postseason
- New Orleans Saints (6-9) | 27 | Still alive ... but barely
- Los Angeles Rams (5-10) | 28 | Wow
- Atlanta Falcons (5-10) | 25 | Eliminated Sunday
- Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1) | 26 | Lost season gets more lost
- Denver Broncos (4-11) | 29 | Oof – and the end of the Hackett Era
- Arizona Cardinals (4-11) | 30 | Five consecutive losses
- Chicago Bears (3-12) | 31 | Eleven losses in 12 games
- Houston Texans (2-12-1) | 32 | Up next: Home against Duuuval
