NFL Power Rankings Playoffs | Tier 2: Dangerous playoff teams
The teams in this category have the goods to make legitimate playoff runs if they can just tweak a few things.
10) New England Patriots
It was a season of streaks for the Patriots. They started off struggling before they rattled off seven wins in a row. Then, they finished the year much like they started – by losing three of four.
Can New England return to their dominant ways as the playoffs approach? If they get down in games early, will Mac Jones prove he can throw his team back into games? We’ve looked for that answer a few times late in the season with less than ideal results.
But if the playoffs are won with defense and the run game, this Patriots team has the right formula to win games in January and February.
9) Arizona Cardinals
This is not the same Cardinals football team that was beating every good club in the NFL by multiple scores earlier in the season. Aside from the Dallas game, Arizona players on both sides of the ball have struggled as of late. Losing DeAndre Hopkins is a massive blow. But the Cardinals have had more problems on offense than any unit with Kyler Murray should.
Arizona has now lost four of its last five contests. Additionally, Murray – who at one point was making an MVP push – has led the team to 30 points just once in their last five outings. Now, they get a third matchup against the Los Angeles Rams after splitting the regular-season series.
8) Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford isn’t playing consistent football. It’s really as simple as that. He has some of the best pure arm talent in the NFL. Unfortunately, with great power comes great responsibility, which he lacks far too often. It’s not Carson Wentz-levels of hero ball, but Stafford is disinterested in low-degree-of-difficulty throws.
The Rams have flaws, plain and simple. They lost to Jimmy Garoppolo’s torn hand and a Trent Williams-less offensive line. LA will need to wake up Stafford’s decision-making – and more importantly, their rushing attack – if they want to beat the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card round.
7) Cincinnati Bengals
I did not expect much from Brandon Allen, and we didn’t receive much in return. This football team is about Joe Burrow, and as long as he’s taking the field in the Wild Card round, the Bengals can feel pretty comfortable with their chances.
It was nice to see rookie Chris Evans get some work running the ball. It would behoove Cincinnati to find a legitimate second option for Joe Mixon. He had 333 touches in 2021, and he’ll be heading into Year 6 next season.
Many weeks back, I said Cincinnati deserved to make the playoffs but wouldn’t because of their stiff strength of schedule. They went out and proved me wrong, winning games against Denver, Baltimore, and Kansas City down the stretch to make Week 18 effectively obsolete.
6) Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys used Week 18 as a dress rehearsal against an Eagles team without many of their starters. Dak Prescott played like a machine, and the rushing attack saw 20+ yard runs from three different players.
However, we didn’t learn much from the contest – except that when the Cowboys are rolling on offense, they’re practically unstoppable. We do know that they’re the most penalized team in the NFL, which usually becomes a problem for the offense, as holding penalties kill drives.
5) Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen and the Bills passing attack didn’t have the best day at the office. What they did do, however, is absolutely dominate a bad Jets offense. They allowed just 1.2 net yards per play. Buffalo is a strong team with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
The issue remains ground weapons outside of their QB. Devin Singletary had 88 yards on 19 carries against New York, but he picked up 40 on one run. Nobody has consistently offered the Bills an edge on the ground aside from Allen. That could cause issues in the playoffs, despite all their talent.
4) Tennessee Titans
The Titans spent quite a long time low in the NFL Power Rankings. However, this is an incredibly fluid process, and getting Derrick Henry back right before their playoff run is a massive development. The other development was the emergence of Julio Jones against the Houston Texans.
If Jones can look somewhat healthy for the playoffs and Henry comes back close to 100%, this immediately becomes one of the most dangerous teams in the playoff picture. If Tennessee can continuously produce good looks off play-action, the passing attack will be efficient.
What looked like maybe one of the more disappointing top seeds in NFL history quickly got healthy, and with their health comes danger to postseason opponents.
3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are an outstanding football team, but the losses of Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin could be a lot to overcome in a playoff environment. Now, it’s never wise to count out Tom Brady, so I’ll refrain from doing that. At 44 years old, his arm looks better than it did when he was 30. We’ll probably be stuck with him for another three-plus seasons.
Losing Lavonte David is another big loss, but Tampa Bay will get Shaq Barrett back from his minor knee injury and COVID-19 protocol in time for the Wild Card round. The Bucs very well could be the best team in the NFL, but they haven’t played with quite the consistency of the Packers all season.
NFL Power Rankings Playoffs | Tier 1: Super Bowl Contenders
The top two teams have separated themselves from the pack. If the Super Bowl were played tomorrow, these are the two squads that should be voted in.
2) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs needed a win against Denver to have a chance at the top seed in the AFC. They did just that, but it certainly wasn’t as pretty as it could have been. If the Broncos wouldn’t have struggled so much in the red zone, they could have – and should have – won.
Kansas City cannot struggle against the run in the playoffs the way they did against Denver in Week 18. Melvin Gordon torched the Chiefs for nearly 10 yards per carry, and Drew Lock used his athleticism to score 2 touchdowns on the ground himself.
1) Green Bay Packers
The game didn’t matter for Green Bay, aside from getting another peek into the window of a possible future with Jordan Love. Nobody outside the head of Aaron Rodgers knows what his plans are for 2022. What we do know is life doesn’t always seem greener, or more lovely, on the other side.
Getting David Bakhtiari and Josh Myers back is huge for this team as they head into the playoffs. They’ll get a week to rest and get even healthier with Jaire Alexander returning for the postseason run.