NFL power rankings: 49ers drop, Patriots rise entering Week 16

NFL power rankings, Nos. 10-1

W, 24-21 @ Titans

Boy, that was a big and much-needed win for the Texans over the Titans, which propels Deshaun Watson and Co. into the top 10 of our NFL power rankings.

Houston faces off against Tennessee again in Week 17, which could ultimately decide the AFC South. But getting the early on-the-road tiebreaker is invaluable this time of year.

W, 17-10 @ Steelers

The Bills offense might not always provide elite-level results, but that defense is legit. Who cares if it faced off against a third-string Steelers quarterback. Buffalo made Devlin Hodges look bad, and there’s no way around it.

W, 39-10 @ Chargers

The Vikings fall a spot in our NFL power rankings, although it’s no fault of their own. They went into Los Angeles and made the StubHub Center look like a home game for Minnesota, which is a common-enough theme for many visiting teams playing the Chargers.

What’s more important for the Vikings is their defense is getting hot at precisely the right time. That should scare a lot of the NFC contenders.

W, 34-13 @ Bengals

Watching the game tape must have worked, although the Bengals defense doesn’t exactly provide a serious threat against a scuffling Patriots offense.

That Pats offense got back on track, though, which surely has to have all those New England doubters wondering if this year’s edition of writing off quarterback Tom Brady and Co. will follow the same suit as all those seasons prior.

Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots bump up a spot in our NFL power rankings after getting their offense going again.

W, 21-13 vs. Bears

Again, it’s running back Aaron Jones taking care of the Packers offense right now, not quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

That seems to be fine, and the Packers only fall as spot in our NFL power rankings because the team they face in Week 16, the Vikings, seem much more well-rounded right at this point.

W, 23-3 vs. Broncos

Snow or not, the Chiefs are finding their stride at the right time as they look to climb as high in the AFC playoff seeding as possible.

Claiming former Cardinals EDGE Terrell Suggs helps alleviate some pass-rushing attrition, but let’s see if he winds up reporting. Suggs wanted to go back to Baltimore, after all, but at least the Chiefs prevent him from doing that.

L, 29-22 vs. Falcons

It was a trap game against the Falcons, for sure. But the 49ers came out completely flat and looked all kinds of out of sync against Atlanta. While the Niners secondary was banged up, allowing Julio Jones to have his way with the defense all afternoon, San Francisco still couldn’t make up for the setbacks with much of a pass rush or dominant offense.

Tight end George Kittle went off again, getting himself into the record books for the most receiving yards by a tight end over the first three years of an NFL career. But he also had a costly fumble just under the two-minute warning with the 49ers in the lead. San Francisco settled for a field goal, and Atlanta responded with a game-winning touchdown.

The 49ers can still secure the NFC West and a top seed in the conference if they win out, but that Week 17 matchup against the Seahawks will be critical.

W, 30-24 @ Panthers

The Seahawks are back in first place in the NFC West now, and the change comes off yet another one-score victory by Seattle.

According to Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats and Information), the Seahawks are just the second team in NFL history to win 10 games by one score.

Seattle doesn’t need to blow teams out, and the Panthers managed to make that whole one-score trend a thing again.

Week 17 against San Francisco will be critical, though.

W, 34-7 vs. Colts

While the one-sided victory over the scuffling Colts was one thing, Week 15’s Monday Night Football was all about quarterback Drew Brees, who moved past the legendary Peyton Manning for No. 1 on the all-time pass touchdown list.

Brees tossed four touchdowns on the day, but that wasn’t it. He also now owns the best completion percentage in a game with at least 20 attempts, according to ESPN Stats and Information, going 29-of-30 for a percentage of 96.7.

Pretty exemplary from the future Hall of Famer.

Don’t overlook just how dominant New Orleans was on defense, either, as Brees and Co. looked like they bounced back from the tough Week 14 loss versus the 49ers.

W, 42-21 vs. Jets

Now the sole owners of best record in the NFL, the Ravens are still the No. 1 team in our NFL power rankings and are also easily the talk of the rest of the league.

Why wouldn’t they be?

Granted, beating the Jets at home on a short week isn’t a crazy-good accomplishment. But watching quarterback Lamar Jackson toss yet another five-touchdown game is pretty spectacular, although one could argue Baltimore left him in there to help pad some stats when the game was long decided.

Still, Jackson is phenomenal. But don’t overlook the Ravens defense and ground game, which are aspects perfectly capable of picking the team up if Jackson has an off day.

He doesn’t appear to have too many of those ever, though.