The Week 15 NFL schedule is loaded in every way with no teams on a bye anymore and three of the more intriguing matchups of the entire season on the Sunday slate.
Green Bay (9-3), which now has the second-best Super Bowl odds per BetMGM, goes to Denver (11-2), which is riding a 10-game winning streak.
Buffalo (9-4) plays at New England (11-2) in the much-anticipated rematch after the Patriots won the first meeting as part of their own 10-game winning streak.
And Detroit (8-5) visits the Los Angeles Rams (10-3) in a battle of the two most explosive offenses in the league.
Then there’s 44-year-old Philip Rivers return to the league as he is expected to start for Indianapolis in Seattle in his first game since 2021, while the Chiefs are looking to keep any hope for the playoffs alive.
Before we get into our weekly NFL preview, let’s reset the power rankings for all 32 teams.
True Super Bowl Contenders
1. Los Angeles Rams (10-3): What team in the NFL absolutely didn’t need any further offensive firepower? The Rams, who nonetheless got a breakout game from second-year running back Blake Corum last week (12 carries for 128 yards and 2 TDs). That was his second straight game averaging over 10 yards per carry, and he effectively split carries with Kyren Williams, giving the Rams suddenly one of the best 1-2 backfield tandems in the league. To go with one of the best — if not the best — wide receiver tandems in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. To go with, of course, the current betting favorite to win the MVP in quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams host the Lions on Sunday in one of the biggest games of the week.
2. Green Bay Packers (9-3-1): We grew frustrated by watching the Packers trail in the fourth quarter every week to bad teams for much of the season and thus had moved them down too low in the power rankings, but we’re believers again. They’ve won four in a row, but it’s more the eye test than anything — the dominant 23-6 win over Minnesota, the 31-24 win at Detroit in a game Green Bay controlled throughout and the 28-21 win over streaking Chicago last week — that has the Packers looking like true Super Bowl contenders again. The defense is legit, Jordan Love is playing his best football of the season with 7 TDs and 1 INT the last two games, and Christian Watson looks fully back after offseason knee surgery and shaking off the rust in his first month and a half back. The last two games, not coincidentally coinciding with Love’s elevated play, Watson has 169 yards and 3 TDs while looking like a premier deep threat again. Green Bay goes to Denver this weekend for one of the best matchups of this whole NFL season.
3. Seattle Seahawks (10-3): Make it three straight wins and seven in the last eight games for Seattle, which has the ability to deliver one-sided blowouts better than any team in the league. The Seahawks’ 10 wins this season have included margins of victory of 14 (vs. Pittsburgh), 31 (New Orleans), 24 (Washington), 22 (Arizona), 26 (Minnesota) and 28 (Atlanta). After the rough finish to his 2024 season and early playoff exit in Minnesota, QB Sam Darnold will still have to prove he can win the truly big games, but the connection between he and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (NFL-best 89 catches for 1,428 yards and 9 TDs) is as good as it gets in the NFL right now. Seattle hosts Indianapolis this week.
4. New England Patriots (11-2): If New England completes the season sweep of Buffalo this week, with the Bills visiting Foxboro in another of the best games of the week, then we’ll probably have to move the Patriots ahead of Seattle. There’s still just that little kernel of doubt, though, despite the 10-game winning streak because the only legitimately good team the Patriots beat in that stretch was the Bills in the teams’ first meeting (23-20). Maybe that’s not fair — the Panthers are OK, the Bucs hadn’t totally unraveled when the Patriots beat them, etc. — but they’ve had a very favorable schedule and made the most of it. That doesn’t discount anything from the season Drake Maye is having with 3,412 passing yards, 23 TDs and 6 INTs with 319 rushing yards and 2 scores. Or the reality that Mike Vrabel is very clearly one of the best coaches in the NFL. But beat the Bills again Sunday and there’s no denying the Patriots as a top Super Bowl contender.
5. Denver Broncos (11-2): Denver is tied with the Patriots for the longest winning streak in the NFL, also at 10 games, and the tinge of doubt in the Broncos’ case is not about the opponents they’ve played but that almost every game (aside from the 24-17 win over the lowly Raiders last week) is so close down to the wire. It’s just hard to sustain winning that way every week. Let’s do the same thing we did for Seattle’s notable margin of victories but with the opposite effect — Denver’s 11 wins have included slim margins of 4 points (Philadelphia), 2 (New York Jets), 1 (New York Giants), 3 (Houston), 3 (Las Vegas), 3 (Kansas City) and 1 (Washington). But the Broncos’ defense is excellent — 3rd in yards allowed (282.0 YPG) and 4th in points allowed (18.1 PPG) — and second-year QB Bo Nix continually thrives late in games. The matchup with Green Bay on Sunday will tell us a lot about both teams.
6. Buffalo Bills (9-4): Ah, the enigmatic Bills. What to make of the Bills. The only sure thing when it comes to assessing this team is to simply acknowledge that QB Josh Allen is as good as it gets in the NFL when he’s at his best. And in those games, Buffalo is very hard to beat. But too often this team comes out totally flat or looks outcoached — far too often for a team considered a legit Super Bowl contender. If Buffalo loses again to New England this week, it’s going to be hard to take it seriously as a team that can consistently play to its top potential and make a deep postseason run.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (8-5): Can’t the same be said about this Eagles team, though? Sheesh. Nick Sirianni has had one of the strangest coaching careers. In 2022, his second season, the Eagles went 14-3 and eventually lost the Super Bowl. The next year, they started 10-1 and then fell off a cliff, losing five of their final six games and then getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Last year, they won the Super Bowl. This year, they started 8-2 and have now lost three straight as their fans clamor for a change at offensive coordinator. QB Jalen Hurts had 4 INTs and a fumble in stinging overtime loss to the Chargers last week. The offensive line also continues to be without right tackle Lane Johnson. Overall, though, this is really looking more like a repeat of the 2023 collapse than either of the teams that made it to the Super Bowl under Sirianni. There’s still four games to change the narrative, though, and knowing what this team was last year with mostly the same pieces, it’s hard to discount its potential. The Eagles host the Raiders in a prime opportunity to get right this week.
8. San Francisco 49ers (9-4): If not for Mike Vrabel in New England, Ben Johnson in Chicago and Sean Payton in Denver, Kyle Shanahan would be a prime coach of the year candidate. He’s kept the 49ers competitive every week despite missing QB Brock Purdy for most of the first 10 games, having top WR Brandon Aiyuk sitting out the season recovering from injury (and all signs pointing to a deteriorating relationship with the organization) and losing its two best defensive players to season-ending injuries. San Francisco will look for a fourth straight win as it hosts Tennessee this week.
Playoff Teams
9. Detroit Lions (8-5): If the season ended after last week, Detroit actually would not be in the playoff field. But it’s hard to see the Lions not playing their way into a wildcard spot given how talented this roster is still. That said, they have a fairly tough final stretch of games to get it done — at the Rams, vs. the Steelers, at the Vikings and at the Bears. So it’s possible Detroit could join Kansas City among the biggest disappointments in the league if misses the playoffs. Jahmyr Gibbs is doing everything to avoid that outcome, ranking fourth in the NFL in combined rushing/receiving yards (1,533). Meanwhile, star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown managed to avoid missing any time with an ankle sprain, posting 9 catches for 92 yards last week. Detroit will need all that offensive firepower going up against the Rams this week.
10. Chicago Bears (10-4): Maybe they’re still a year away from being true contenders, but there’s no denying the Bears are a very good team. They came up short in a 28-21 loss at Green Bay last week, but the Bears managed to tie the game in the fourth quarter and kept the pressure on all the way to the end. They can’t make playoff arrangements just yet, though, as after a game with the Browns this week they close with a rematch vs. the Packers, at the 49ers and vs. the Lions.
11. Houston Texans (8-5): The Texans have won five straight games with two different quarterbacks. The constant is their NFL-best defense that leads the league in both points allowed (16 PPG) and yards (266.3 YPG). Houston just went into Arrowhead Stadium and dealt the Chiefs a damning 20-10 loss in a must-win game for perennial AFC contenders. Houston is a game back of Jacksonville in the AFC South with a favorable closing schedule against the Cardinals and Raiders, at the Chargers and home vs. the Colts.
12. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4): As noted, the Jaguars lead the division and have won four straight games while surging toward a playoff berth in coach Liam Coen’s first season. They’ve also been fairly dominant in three of those recent wins — 35-6 over the Chargers, 25-3 over the Titans and 36-19 last week vs. the Colts. The Jags still haven’t been able to get WR Brian Thomas Jr. (35 catches for 535 yards and a TD) playing like he did last year when posted an 87-1,282-10 line as a rookie, but his 87 yards last week were his second-best of the season so maybe there’s still hope. The Jags host the Jets this week.
Playoff Fringe
13. Los Angeles Chargers (9-4): The Chargers offensive line may be in shambles, but that didn’t keep the team from beating the Eagles in overtime last week in a bit of a statement win to show the injuries upfront haven’t totally doomed Los Angeles’ potential. The reality is they’ve won five of their last six games despite being thoroughly unable to protect QB Justin Herbert, who was sacked 7 times in that win over the Eagles and has been sacked 23 times in the last five games while putting up his three lowest passing totals of the season the last three contests. Ultimately, that seems destined to be the Chargers’ undoing. They’re making it work for now, but the rest of the schedule is unforgiving with road games against desperate Chiefs and Cowboys teams, home vs. that ferocious Houston defense (a scary thought for Herbert’s health) and at Denver. Of any team currently positioned within the playoff field, the Chargers are the most likely to fall out.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6): Maybe Mike Tomlin truly is impervious to ever having a losing season. It was starting to look bleak for the Steelers after five losses in seven games, but they scored a pivotal divisional win over the rival Ravens and now lead the AFC North by a game with a second clash vs. Baltimore still to come. Pittsburgh gets the surging Dolphins on Monday night, but it will be without star pass rusher T.J. Watt, who is recovering from surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung. The Steelers’ margin for error remains slim, so missing Watt for any length of time is significant.
15. Baltimore Ravens (6-7): The Ravens haven’t looked right for a while even during their five-game winning streak, so back-to-back losses to the Bengals and Steelers weren’t all that shocking. Because they still have a viable path to winning the AFC North, they’re firmly in the playoff hunt, but this looks nothing like the Ravens of recent years.
16. Indianapolis Colts (8-5): With Daniel Jones out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, the Colts have called Philip Rivers out of retirement as the future Hall of Famer is set to make his first start since 2020 with Indianapolis visiting Seattle. The Colts are trying to snap a three-game losing streak that has put their playoff hopes in peril.
17. Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1): The Cowboys had a three-game winning streak snapped in a 44-30 loss to the Lions as their supposedly improved defense looked more like its early-season version. Three turnovers didn’t help either. Dallas is 1.5 games behind the Eagles in the NFC East and winning the division remains its real true path to sneaking into the playoffs.
18. Carolina Panthers (7-6): Why is it so hard to believe in the Panthers even though they are leading the NFC South by a half game now? It’s because Bryce Young has been held under 210 passing yards in all but two games this season, and the Panthers are the ultimate wild card from one week to the next. They’ve alternated wins and losses the last six games, but that stretch includes wins over the Packers and Rams — the top two teams in these power rankings. Make it make sense! Carolina comes off a bye to play at New Orleans.
19. Kansas City Chiefs (6-7): That 20-10 home loss to Houston — the Chiefs’ fourth in the last five games — pushed Kansas City to the brink of elimination from the playoff picture. There is still an unlikely path to the postseason, though.
Like a horror movie villain, until the rest of the NFL truly kills the Chiefs’ dynasty it can’t be counted out fully. Kansas City hosts the Chargers on Sunday.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7): The Bucs blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead Thursday night in a 29-28 loss to the Falcons on a decisive field goal as time expired. They’ve now lost five out of six games, and coach Todd Bowles called out his players after this latest stinging setback. Tampa Bay is in a full freefall at this point. It’s hard to see that turning around at this point.
Better Luck Next Year
21. Cincinnati Bengals (4-9): The Bengals will at least be entertaining the rest of the way with Joe Burrow back, and they have the potential to play spoiler this week while going for the season sweep over the desperate Ravens.
22. Miami Dolphins (6-7): Yes, Miami is still technically alive in the playoff hunt, but we’re going to be realistic here. It’s impressive enough that Mike McDaniel rallied this team from 1-6 to this point with four straight wins and five in the last six games. But with the Steelers, Bengals, Bucs and Patriots to close out the schedule and zero margin for error, the magic is bound to run out at some point.
23. Minnesota Vikings (5-8): J.J. McCarthy looked functional last week, passing for 163 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INT in a 31-0 win over Washington. But excuse us if we remain unconvinced after seeing too much else from McCarthy thus far.
It’s Almost Over
24. Atlanta Falcons (5-9): The Falcons overcame that 14-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Buccaneers on Thursday night, but it will take a lot more than that to save coach Raheem Morris’ job.
25. New Orleans Saints (3-10): Rookie QB Tyler Shough is getting a full audition for the job the rest of this season, but the results have been mixed. He’s thrown for 5 TDs and 5 INTS and thrown a pick in five of the six games in which he’s started or had a meaningful role. He did rush for 55 yards and 2 TDs last week in a win over Tampa Bay to offset his muted passing numbers (144 yards and an INT).
26. New York Giants (2-11): The Giants remain a weekly soap opera, firing their assistant defensive line coach Brian Cox during the bye week reportedly because of his reaction to having his seat on the team plane moved. This is how a team loses seven straight games — total organizational dysfunction (and injuries, sure).
27. Washington Commanders (3-10): Washington fans are praying this isn’t RGIII all over again as second-year QB Jayden Daniels was brought back to a lost season after that gruesome dislocated left elbow injury only to aggravate that injury in his first game back. Marcus Mariota will start this week as the Commanders continue a dismal season.
28. Arizona Cardinals (3-10): It will be interesting to see how committed the organization is to coach Jonathan Gannon, who is now 15-32 in three seasons with the Cardinals.
29. Cleveland Browns (3-10): Even when QB Shedeur Sanders has a breakout game — 364 passing yards, 29 rushing yards, 4 total TDs — it can’t go without controversy as coach Kevin Stefanski was under fire all week for pulling Sanders off the field and going without a QB for a failed potential game-tying two-point conversion try to seal a 31-29 loss to the Titans.
30. New York Jets (3-10): With Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields injured, the Jets will start undrafted rookie Brady Cook at QB against the Jaguars. Cook was 14-of-30 passing for 163 yards, 0 TDs and 2 INTs last week off the bench in a loss to the Dolphins.
31. Tennessee Titans (2-11): The Titans beat the Browns in a wild finish last week to snap a seven-game losing streak, but now they’re now longer in line for the No. 1 draft pick, projected to finish behind the Giants and Raiders in the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker if all three stay at 2 wins.
32. Las Vegas Raiders (2-11): With Geno Smith now injured, Kenny Pickett is in at QB. Better question — does Pete Carroll return for a second year as head coach?