NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Continue Climb With Second Half Comeback

Minnesota rallied from a double-digit deficit to win its fifth straight game and add more fuel to the fire that this is a Super Bowl contender.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold passes against the Arizona Cardinals in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Throughout the life of this column, I’ve wrestled with the quality of teams beyond the top 10. My bar has shifted from 10 to 15, but the sentiment remained the same: lop off the bottom half of this league and start over with the real competitors. 

This weekend, my thoughts shifted just slightly. I am very much looking forward to this year’s playoffs because I think there are prospective No. 7 seeds in both conferences that could very easily pull major upsets. The Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, for example, are both holding on to 10-plus percentage chances of reaching the postseason. In the NFC, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers loom just outside of the playoff picture along with the Arizona Cardinals. Over the course of 2024, these teams have been very dangerous in stretches and could be again in the right situation. The Cardinals lost to the Buffalo Bills by a touchdown in the season opener. The Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles before Philadelphia’s two-month long win streak.

With that in mind, we approach the Power Rankings with a sunnier disposition in terms of the overall talent pool. While injuries have likely deprived us of a San Francisco 49ers team sneaking from the abyss of the NFC West or the New Orleans Saints RizzBalling their way through the NFC South, there’s enough of a trip wire to keep us interested. 

1. Detroit Lions (11–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: beat Chicago, 23–20
This week: vs. Green Bay

I feel like Dan Campbell is both the absolute best and worst coach to have when you accidentally post your team’s offensive code words on social media. On one hand, he’s saying that it doesn’t matter which is cool and it takes the heat off your back. On the other hand, you have one of the league’s most mysteriously scary coaches in the NFL. Center Frank Ragnow once told me that what’s weird about Campbell is that he’s always at the facility, he’s always jacked and no one has ever seen him work out. You don’t want that guy mad at you. 

2. Philadelphia Eagles (10–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: beat Baltimore, 24–19
This week: vs. Carolina

The play of this defensive line has reached an absolute peak, which is a tremendous credit to the back end of Philadelphia’s coaching staff, a group who has rounded out Jalen Carter, Milton Williams and Jordan Davis into a gap-sound machine that almost takes away the need for a pass rush (Philadelphia has the NFL’s third-lowest pressure rate anyway). This is the true secret sauce behind Zach Baun being able to fly freely through the line and pummel Derrick Henry in the backfield. That said, the situational open-field tackling from Philadelphia was excellent all-round, with Cooper DeJean’s Henry takedown sure to be an Eagles scoreboard highlight favorite for years to come. 

3. Buffalo Bills (10–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: beat San Francisco, 35–10
This week: at Los Angeles Rams

While I think this game looks a lot different if Christian McCaffrey breaks one more tackle early in the second quarter (and doesn’t get injured), this Bills team can be an absolute gail force wind for opponents to play against once they get rolling. I found myself drawn to DaQuan Jones, who had one of his better games of the year, in perfect conditions for his space-eater skillset to pay major dividends and open up rushing lanes for targeted pressure on Brock Purdy.  

4. Minnesota Vikings (10–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: beat Arizona, 23–22
This week: vs. Atlanta

I went back and watched all of Sam Darnold’s sacks, as I’m seeing that bundled into this chorus of uncertainty about the team’s bridge quarterback. On four of those five sacks, there was almost nothing he could do to avoid the pressure. While Darnold definitely missed some throws—I thought he had Trent Sherfield on a deep shot on the play where Aaron Jones fumbled—he’s so much more decisive than he used to be and is only getting better. 

5. Kansas City Chiefs (11–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: beat Las Vegas, 19–17
This week: vs. Los Angeles Chargers

According to DVOA records, the Chiefs are one of the worst 11–1 teams of modern times. Now, I think most coaches would accept this and move on, but Friday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders brought some very big picture issues with their pass protection into clear focus, as well as the continued inability for Patrick Mahomes and Xavier Worthy to finally hone the deep shot that could absolutely knock out an opponent at a moment’s notice. This has the feel of a pared-down Super Bowl LV season, though it is encouraging to see Noah Gray taking on a bigger role as an overall youth movement takes hold underneath the veteran tentpoles of this roster. 

6. Pittsburgh Steelers (9–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat Cincinnati, 44–38
This week: vs. Cleveland

Apropos of nothing, I’d love to know exactly what Cam Heyward saw on that red zone running play where he absolutely plastered Chase Brown three yards in the backfield. The Cincinnati Bengals were trying to reach block him with Orlando Brown, which was a virtual impossibility to begin with, but Heyward had such a high degree of certainty of the play’s eventual direction. This defense is full of people like that and I need this unit to remain healthy for the stretch run. 

7. Green Bay Packers (9–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: beat Miami, 30–17
This week: at Detroit

Teams are undoubtedly shaped by their experiences, and I have to imagine that Matt LaFleur having the hardest to tackle team in the NFL right now and a gutting run game is, in part, due to some of the especially painful playoff losses the team suffered at the hands of San Francisco. This is the modern version of those 49ers teams; a unit that can fly when the quarterback is hot or simply generate chunk plays when he is best suited for shorter throws at the line of scrimmage. 

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had 316 total yards but fumbled twice in the loss to the Eagles. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

8. Baltimore Ravens (8–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: lost to Philadelphia, 24–19
This week: bye

A bit of a big-picture observation here: I was struck at how Philadelphia was able to match and overpower Baltimore’s best bully-ball players. Big guys, like Patrick Ricard, Daniel Faalele and even Derrick Henry. You can’t be the Incredible Hulk every week, but it’s a good reminder that Baltimore outflexed nearly everyone for a season last year and then got dunked on by the Chiefs in the playoffs with the Chiefs determined to come in with more energy and aggression. 

9. Los Angeles Chargers (8–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: beat Atlanta, 17–13
This week: at Kansas City

Another complete and total game from the Chargers’ secondary, which is not just the Derwin James show. The Power Rankings have been a huge fan of Tarheeb Still and he had another massive game against a rusty-looking Falcons offense. Clearly, the Chargers cannot sustain this kind of pace without something developing in terms of a non-Ladd McConkey playmaker, and McConkey was banged up in two different places after carrying a 50% target share in this one and amassing almost all of Justin Herbert’s total passing yards. 

10. Washington Commanders (8–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: beat Tennessee, 42–19
This week: bye

I thought this was a quality win for the Commanders. The Titans are not a great football team but have played well defensively in stretches, and Tennessee is one of the better rushing teams before first contact (which shows they’re at least getting to the right place). I was impressed by how well the Commanders blocked situationally early in this game, especially on two big Brian Robinson runs off zone read. The first one was sealed by the absolute stealthiest John Bates block and the second was a stealthy block from Tyler Biadasz. These are the tiny margin plays that are going to keep this offense explosive. And the tiny margin plays that lead to a mammoth 267 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. 

11. Seattle Seahawks (7–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: beat New York Jets, 26–21
This week: at Arizona

I really liked the Seahawks’ Jake Bobo packages from this weekend, which had the utility wideout motioning into the backfield and emerging as part-blocker, part defender-gobbling wideout. This series of tiny little winks and nods led to a very critical opening score for Seattle in which Bobo cleared out Sauce Gardner and trailblazed a huge swath of land for AJ Barner to score. This one is pretty to watch in slow motion but was set up by Bobo coming in and blocking out of that same look on earlier downs. 

The Seahawks are on the board ‼️

AJ Barner was +650 to score a TD ✅pic.twitter.com/6TKM7gTzBz

— Caesars Sportsbook & Casino (@CaesarsSports) December 1, 2024

12. Denver Broncos (8–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: beat Cleveland, 41–32
This week: bye

Bo Nix has evolved beyond typical rookie successes. He is now trying to incept defenses into doing what he wants them to do.

"JUMP OFFSIDE" pic.twitter.com/8m8D5KrFi4

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 3, 2024

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6–6)

Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: beat Carolina, 26–23
This week: vs. Las Vegas

Even before Bucky Irving scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter on Sunday, he was so instrumental in setting up that drive with a handful of critical missed tackles. This is sort of a lazy, general observation, but that drive was not far from a bad and costly Baker Mayfield pick and I feel like Irving has, in a handful of situations this year, yanked the Buccaneers single handedly out of a malaise when the QB play does not meet expectations. 

14. Arizona Cardinals (6–6)

Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: lost to Minnesota, 23–22
This week: vs. Seattle

A nice game for Jonathan Gannon’s situational blitzing. Some of the looks that he was throwing Sam Darnold were absolute curveballs. However, it’s hard to manage a good Kyler Murray gameplan when he’s the one racking up a majority of the explosive runs. James Conner did not hit 10-plus yards until the third quarter of this game. What has to be incredibly frustrating for Drew Petzing, though, is that despite all of this, if Murray can keep his eyes downfield for one more tenth of a second on that Byron Murphy interception, he has Michael Wilson wide open and with room to run. 

15. Houston Texans (8–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: beat Jacksonville, 23–20
This week: bye

If you want to read my take on the Azeez Al-Shaair situation, you can do so here. Only two other quarterbacks threw into more tight windows than C.J. Stroud did on Sunday, and I’m trying to decide whether that’s because his receivers are not getting good separation or if he’s simply not seeing it right now. And I think my takeaway is that Houston is doing a lot offensively to protect Stroud given the struggles of the offensive line, which simply results in fewer available wide receivers. Stroud got smoked on his first attempt on an excellent covert blitz from Devin Lloyd that nearly resulted in a sack but he still managed to get rid of the ball. I think he’s still a plus-player for Houston and is still making some excellent throws despite the circumstances. 

16. Indianapolis Colts (6–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: beat New England, 25–24
This week: bye

Shane Steichen got a lot more heat than Dave Canales for essentially making the same decision to bench a struggling young quarterback and, in both cases, it seems to have worked out. With time, Anthony Richardson seems to be seeing the field better. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player more wide open than Jonathan Taylor on that first touchdown pass, which clearly caught New England off guard from an assignment perspective. On Richardson’s two picks…I think we can reason them away as good plays by the defense, one undercutting a route that his receiver could have helped on and another where the ball was tipped by an athletic jump. 

17. Miami Dolphins (5–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: lost to Green Bay, 30–17
This week: vs. New York Jets

Jason Garrett lazily chalked up the gut-punching fumble on the opening punt as the product of Miami being in Florida, but I don’t think that’s anywhere near the truth. Malik Washington is an aggressive returner and I think he got taken for a ride by a screwy Daniel Whelan punt. As many times as I've tried to slow down the broadcast angle, I can’t get a read on it, but Mike McDaniel admitted after the game it was a late-breaker. Given how scattershot Jordan Love and the Packers offensive line looked on the opening drive, this was an early death knell in a critical game in which I actually liked Miami’s chances. 

18. Los Angeles Rams (6–6)

Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: beat New Orleans, 21–14
This week: vs. Buffalo

Jared Verse has a comfortable lead among rookies in pressures and ended the game for the Rams on Sunday by clipping Derek Carr during a moment of true hesitation. Verse tripled the pressure total of anyone else on the Rams’ defense on Sunday. He is such a smooth player and was in Carr’s face from the get-go. 

19. San Francisco 49ers (5–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: lost to Buffalo, 35–10
This week: vs. Chicago

The 49ers were uniquely hampered by the snow, it seemed, with players sliding and trying to sure-foot a lot of the backfield motions that normally populate this offense. C and D gap runs are more difficult to execute than inside runs, and Buffalo’s interior did a nice job of preventing damaging runs up the gut. I think we can probably bid this team adieu as it heads into a pivotal back end of this season and even more pivotal 2025 offseason in which it must decide how close it really is to another Super Bowl. 

20. Cincinnati Bengals (4–8)

Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: lost to Pittsburgh, 44–38
This week: at Dallas

The Bengals, like other teams, tried to go through a successful and simultaneous growth year, especially when it came to their defensive personnel. Clearly, that has cost them. This has been a team willing to spend in free agency, and it’s not like Lou Anarumo all of a sudden became a bad defensive coordinator. But, with much talk about Joe Burrow wanting his hands on the reins, it will be worthwhile to see how the Bengals finish the season and what the team will do outside of a ceremonious change just to pacify the public. Help has not arrived fast enough. 

21. Atlanta Falcons (6–6)

Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: lost to Los Angeles Chargers, 17–13
This week: at Minnesota

I’m actually a little less freaked out now about the Kirk Cousins four interception game than I was in real time. Shocking how that works and what a strange incubator we work in that All-22 film is not available until 24 to 36 hours post-game (I’ll stop complaining now that the NFL has blessed us with NFL PRO, which, when compared to GamePass, is like going from a Big Wheel to a Corvette). I can actually excuse three of those picks—one in which Drake London trips and falls off his spot after the ball comes out, one in which Darnell Mooney seems to call for the ball off a scramble and then…doesn’t go for it once it’s in the air, and one that looked to be a miscommunication, with Cousins throwing the ball when Mooney settled but Mooney continuing the route afterward. It makes his three-game stretch without a touchdown seem worse than it is…even though he’s still not throwing touchdowns.  

22. Dallas Cowboys (5–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: beat New York Giants, 27–20
This week: vs. Cincinnati 

Another nice game plan from Mike McCarthy that showcased playmakers in space. Two of KaVontae Turpin’s best games in terms of total yardage amassed have been in the last three weeks, even though his target share has remained relatively consistent. Against an unwilling Giants defense, he was a speedy weapon that posed a lot of issues. If Dallas can beat the Bengals in prime time this week, I will officially allow myself to believe that the Cowboys are not yet dead.  

Young has passed for 687 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers over his past three games. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

23. Carolina Panthers (3–9)

Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: lost to Tampa Bay, 26–23
This week: at Philadelphia

I’m proposing a parallel record system in which we give teams the points for any of their missed field goals (up to a certain makable length) to see how good they would be with a more dependable kicker. The Panthers missed two in a game that went to overtime. Two bonus notes: Baker Mayfield did not play a great game thanks in part to a nice pressure package brought by Ejiro Evero. On the flip side, Bryce Young had a plus-EPA performance despite being blitzed on more throws than any other QB this weekend. 

24. New Orleans Saints (4–8)

Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: lost to Los Angeles Rams, 21–14
This week: at New York Giants

I watched the final fourth down play again to see if I could get inside Carr’s head. There was…not much in the way of options, though I am curious why, on a fourth-and-3, he didn’t at least think about dumping the ball down to Alvin Kamara when he slipped out of the backfield, gambling that your best player can somehow beat Kam Curl and force him to break a tackle (though Curl blew Kamara up earlier in the game). 

25. Chicago Bears (4–8)

Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Detroit, 23–20
This week: at San Francisco 

Since I mostly watch football alone (it’s not sad, I promise), it was incredible to be around an entire family’s worth of people just being introduced to Matt Eberflus late-game clock management. While this one is clearly on the quarterback, there have been so many of these moments over the years that it has to make one wonder how situational football is drilled with this team. Williams dawdling as the clock ran down was the kind of car crash horror story you simply couldn’t pull away from. As an aside, here’s some info about the team’s next prospective head coach. 

26. Tennessee Titans (3–9)

Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: lost to Washington, 42–19
This week: vs. Jacksonville

I would not be surprised at this point if the Titans decide to go into next season with Will Levis as the betting favorite to win the QB job. If you remove a lot of the situational stuff from Sunday’s trouncing at the hands of Washington—this drive chart is really worth a look—Levis played well considering that Dan Quinn knew the poor kid had to throw on every down. The Titans had two false start penalties on the first drive and fumbles on their third and fourth drives, one of which occurred before Levis could even get his hands on the ball. In taking a very broad view of where Levis was when he arrived and where he is now, that could be a moderately positive takeaway for the Titans long-term. 

27. Cleveland Browns (3–9)

Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Denver, 41–32
This week: at Pittsburgh

Cleveland had three timeouts left when Jameis Winston threw his second pick-six of the night against the Broncos. Is anyone going to touch the Broncos cornerback who picks off the pass, lays on the ground momentarily, gets up off his back and then runs for a touchdown? 

28. New England Patriots (3–10)

Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: lost to Indianapolis, 25–24
This week: bye

An interesting note from NFL Pro: Since Drake Maye has taken over the starting job, no quarterback has compiled more rushing yards over expectation. This in a league with Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels. 

29. New York Jets (3–9)

Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: lost to Seattle, 26–21
This week: at Miami

The first thought that came to mind when I watched the Jets score a touchdown on the Isaiah Davis shovel pass was: Okay! This is the kind of offense I’d picture the Steelers running with a late-career Ben Roethlisberger (they didn’t). Rodgers had the RPO game working early and got some Davante Adams single coverage situations that placed him in something of a groove. He looked healthy. Almost enough that you could convince me to run it back. 

Of course, when you factor in that the Jets were spotted two possessions via fumbled kick returns and the team still lost…well…that takes a bit of the wind out of the old sails, doesn’t it? 

30. Jacksonville Jaguars (2–10)

Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: lost to Houston, 23–20
This week: at Tennessee

Not that it matters, but Brian Thomas should have had 100-plus yards on two catches once Mac Jones got into this game. The first one was a deep ball with a little too much air under it and the other was a well-designed crosser that gave Thomas some room to run for 56 yards. If nothing else, this is going to be a fun offense—and defense—for someone to inherit once a few more functional roster pieces are in place. 

31. Las Vegas Raiders (2–10)

Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: lost to Kansas City, 19–17
This week: at Tampa Bay

The sad part about the Raiders’ loss, and really the entirety of the Raiders season, is that Antonio Pierce is getting the best out of some defensive players. K’Lavon Chaisson had a good enough game against Kansas City that he had to be double-teamed with Samaje Perine out of the backfield. Scott Turner called a good game and dialed up two great 30-plus yard explosive touchdowns. There has been a league-wide malady of—or perhaps merely added focus on—game management issues, which is unfortunate that so many are ruining otherwise good performances. Is that indicative of bad coaching, though? An interesting question. 

32. New York Giants (2–10)

Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: lost to Dallas, 27–20
This week: vs. New Orleans

This is a tough year in which the blow of the season cannot necessarily be softened by an elite quarterback class atop the draft. Let’s be honest, we’re not really thinking about Drew Lock are we? As a kind of secondary question, for a team that isn’t willing to get up and tackle against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, is any quarterback really going to fix the situation all that fast? There were so many yards after first contact in this one surrendered by a defense that feels like it is more of a name-recognition entity than a serious unit right now. Since Week 5, only the Jaguars and Buccaneers have been worse. Had it not been for the fourth-and-1 stuff or the Bobby Okereke would-be fumble punch, I would have failed to come up with an instance of truly inspired play.