BY ADAM GREENE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re handing out some well-deserved spankings in the Power Rankings this week as it\u2019s one of the few ways we can take out our frustrations on teams that let us down thoroughly or cost us money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, we can deliver some absolutely worthless rewards to franchises that outplayed their position by a mile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (13-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chiefs did that thing they do; toy around with an opponent and then rip their heart out in the fourth quarter. This last week it was the Saints, who they just might meet up with in the Super Bowl. Then do the same thing again. Last week: No. 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. BUFFALO BILLS (11-3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember a few weeks ago when we thought the Bills were the third best team behind much better Chiefs and Steelers squad. That was weird. Last week: No. 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. GREEN BAY PACKERS (11-3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Packers are doing what they always do; set themselves up for a Super Bowl run only to blow it in the NFC Championship game. They\u2019ve done it in three of their last four trips to the postseason. Last week: No. 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hey, I\u2019m as shocked to see the Colts here as anyone, but they\u2019ve spent November and December winning while everyone else keeps dropping stinker games to losing teams. Last week: No. 7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (10-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Seahawks can claim their first NFC West title since 2016 with a win over the Rams Sunday. Fun fact: Since the modern NFC West was created in 2002, no team has won it more than Seattle. They\u2019ve donned the T-shirts and caps eight times in 18 seasons. Last week: No. 8<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (10-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Drew Brees came back, played well enough to keep New Orleans in the game and they still lost to the Chiefs. Which, really, is what happens to everyone. Regardless of records and all the insanity of last week, the NFC remains wide open. Last week: No. 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. TENNESSEE TITANS (10-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By virtue of their victory over the Detroit Lions, the Titans picked up their 10th<\/sup> win of the season and their first double digit victory season since 2008. Last week: No. 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. CLEVELAND BROWNS (10-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of double digit wins, the Browns not only have their first 10-win season since 2007, they have their first winning season since 2007 period. Last week: No. 9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (9-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can talk about how close the game was or how it was another Falcons choke job and use that to disparage the Bucs, but as the Steelers and Rams proved, all that matters at the end of the day is the victory. Last week: No. 11<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. MIAMI DOLPHINS (9-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Dolphins will now go down in history as the team that officially ended the New England Patriots dynasty. Hopefully for good. Last week: No. 12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (11-3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s your spanking, Steelers. Not since the wheel was first invented have we seen them come off so thoroughly as we have in Pittsburgh\u2019s last three games. The first two losses were at least understandable. Against Washington, that was a decent team vying for a playoff spot. The Bills are just clearly better. But to lose to the Ryan Finley quarterbacked Cincinnati Bengals at this point in the season is absolutely ridiculous. Last week: No. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 12. LOS ANGELES RAMS (9-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of ridiculous, the Rams got to be the team to kill everyone\u2019s parlays, survival pools, teasers and Jets futures bets all in one stupefying performance. And you can\u2019t lay all this one on Jared Goff and the offense. The Rams D was No. 1 in the league and let New York open both halves with touchdown drives. As for what remains for LA, well, everything. The NFC remains wide open and with the Rams penchant for looking good two weeks in a row then stinking it up in the third, they\u2019ll claim an NFC West title with two consecutive victories then lose to the Buccaneers in the opening round of the playoffs. Last week: No. 6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 13. BALTIMORE RAVENS (9-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ravens feast on bad teams and play the Giants and Bengals over the final two weeks of the season. They could go from being out of the playoff mix to the AFC North Champions. Last week: No. 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 14. ARIZONA CARDINALS (8-6)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For the Cardinals, the realistic math is simple. If they win this week at home against a depleted 49ers team, they\u2019ll secure at least the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs. Last week: No. 15<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 15. CHICAGO BEARS (7-7)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bears\u2019 math to the playoffs is a little more complicated, but if they don\u2019t win out, it won\u2019t matter. Last week: No. 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 16. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (7-7)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever playoff chances the Raiders have, they must beat the Dolphins this week to keep them alive. Last week: No. 14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 17. WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (6-8)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington is our last and only hope we have of keeping a losing team out of the playoffs. They have to knock off the Panthers and the suddenly relevant Eagles to do it. Last week: No. 16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 18. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (6-8)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Vikings are one of the two non NFC East team on the NFC playoff bubble. They have to beat a ticked off Saints team that\u2019s lost two straight to stay in it. Last week: No. 18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 19. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (6-8)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s finally over. For the first time since 2008 and only the third time since 2001, the Patriots will not be a part of the AFC playoff field. So that\u2019s already a win for the rest of us. Last week: No. 19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 20. DALLAS COWBOYS (5-9)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You know, I predicted back when the Packers fired Mike McCarthy that (if someone was stupid enough to hire him) he\u2019d never lead a team to double digit wins again. I wondered, with the talent on Dallas\u2019 roster, if that prediction would hold up. I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Last week: No. 24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 21. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (5-9)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s too familiar a refrain at this point, but there are exciting things in store for this team if they clean out most of their coaches. Last week: No. 25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 22. NEW YORK GIANTS (5-9)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re already iffy at QB, it does no help to have the No. 1 guy go down before one of the most important games of the season. Last week: No. 20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 23. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (5-9)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To add more injury to this insult of a 49ers season, Nick Mullens is now out for the year with an elbow injury and running back Raheem Morris will miss the final two games with a high ankle sprain. Last week: No. 21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 24. DETROIT LIONS (5-9)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of talk about 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Selah being hired as the new Lions head coach. I don\u2019t see it happening. I think they go offense and make one more run with Stafford before giving up. Last week: No. 22<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 25. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (4-9-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jalen Hurts changes the complexion of the Eagles offense. Carson Wentz isn\u2019t done in Philly just yet, but if Hurts gets them to the playoffs and wins a game, he\u2019ll definitely have the inside track to start in 2021. Last week: No. 23<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 26. CINCINNATI BENGALS (3-10-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Huge win for Finley and the Bengals over a Steelers team that looks less impressive by the day. Last week: No. 30<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 27. NEW YORK JETS (1-13)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This might be too a high a jump for both the Jets and the Bengals, but there has to be some kind of reward for winning games where you were double digit dogs when all it got you was poorer draft position. Last week: No. 32<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 28. ATLANTA FALCONS (4-10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a familiar refrain to say a team finds a new way to lose every week, but the Falcons don\u2019t. They lose exactly the same way every time. Last week: No. 26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 29. HOUSTON TEXANS (4-10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You know how to screw up your team after firing Bill O\u2019Brien? Hire Jim Caldwell. Don\u2019t do it, Texans. Last week: No. 27<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 30. CAROLINA PANTHERS (4-10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Panthers fired 65 year old general manager Matt Hurney, who replaced then 67-year old Dave Gettleman three years ago. Maybe hire a guy not in AARP this time, Carolina. Last week: No. 28<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 31. DENVER BRONCOS (4-10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This has been a lost season for the Broncos with all the injuries they faced in the preseason and a second-year QB under center. I have no clue what they\u2019ll do at this point and, frankly, they don\u2019t seem to either. Last week: No. 29<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 32. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (1-13)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Congratulations, Jaguars. You can thank a sleepwalking Rams team for Trevor Lawrence. Now don\u2019t screw it up by accidentally winning one over the next two weeks. Last week: No. 32<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow our BetOnline Twitter accoun<\/a>t for the latest sports news and betting odds, and stay tuned on the Instagram feed<\/a> for more good information too.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY ADAM GREENE We\u2019re handing out some well-deserved spankings in the Power Rankings this week as it\u2019s one of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14958,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14954\/revisions\/14958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}