NFL Rankings Week 14 2017-2018

Rankings

The Tampa Bay Bucs and Houston Texans became the most recent teams to be eliminated from playoff consideration and out of these rankings. The best game of the week (for me) was the snowstorm game between the Bills and Colts. It went to overtime. There was controversy as the officials called offensive pass interference on the Colts on a two point conversion that they completed. The Colts got the ball back at the end of the game with a chance to win and instead of trying to get in better field position for a game winning field goal elected to run the clock out and missed the field goal.

1. Philadelphia Eagles (11-2)

The Eagles-Rams matchup was everything that was expected. High scoring with neither team backing down. The surprise came after the Eagles lost Carson Wentz for the game due to injury. His backup Nick Foles came in and led the team to victory. It has now been determined that Wentz will miss the rest of the season so the Eagles will go as far as Foles can take them.

​Last week: Defeated the Rams 43-35

Up next: at New York Giants

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2)

The Steelers showed no quit in the their game with the Ravens and were able to come back after being down by two scores to steal a victory away from their bitter rivals. Now the Steelers host the Patriots for supremacy over the AFC.

​Last week: Defeated the Ravens 39-38

Up next: against New England

3. Minnesota Vikings (10-3)

I am not sure how far the Vikings can make it this season. They have played much better than they should have with their third string quarterback, but the ran into a resurgent Panthers team this week. They should be able to take care of the Bengals this week.

​Last week: Lost to the Panthers 31-24

Up next: against Cincinnati

4. New England Patriots (10-3)

The game ended up closer than the final showed. The Patriots were just ugly last night. They did not convert a single 3rd down the entire night. For some reason they always seem to struggle in Miami. For their sake whatever is wrong needs to be fixed before traveling to Pittsburgh this week.

Last week: Lost to the Dolphins 27-20

Up next: at Pittsburgh

	Last Week	This Week
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4)	​Defeated the Seahawks 30-24	against Houston
6. Carolina Panthers (9-4)	Defeated the Vikings 31-24	against Green Bay
7. Los Angeles Rams (9-4)	​Lost to the Eagles 43-35	at Seattle
8. New Orleans Saints (9-4)	Lost to the Falcons 30-24	against NY Jets
9. Atlanta Falcons (8-5)	Defeated the Saints 30-24	at Tampa Bay (Monday 12/18)
10. Tennessee Titans (8-5)	Lost to the Cardinals 12-7	at San Francisco
11. Seattle Seahawks (8-5)	Lost to the Jaguars 30-24	against LA Rams
12. Los Angeles Chargers (7-6)	Defeated Washington 30-13	at Kansas City (Saturday 12/16)
13. Green Bay Packers (7-6)	Defeated the Browns 27-21	at Carolina
14. Dallas Cowboys (7-6)	Defeated the Giants 30-10	at Oakland
15. Detroit Lions (7-6)	Defeated the Bucs 24-21	against Chicago (Saturday 12/16)
16. Buffalo Bills (7-6)	Defeated the Colts 13-7 (OT)	against Miami
17. Kansas City Chiefs (7-6)	Defeated the Raiders 26-15	against LA Chargers (Saturday 12/16)
18. Baltimore Ravens (7-6)	Lost to the Steelers 39-38	at Cleveland
19. Miami Dolphins (6-7)	Defeated the Patriots 27-20	at Buffalo
20. Arizona Cardinals (6-7)	Defeated the Titans 12-7	at Washington

Bottom Four

21. Oakland Raiders (6-7)

The Chiefs has been trending downward since starting 5-0 on the season. The Raiders had been up and down all season but they looked horrible against a Chiefs team that only had one win in their last six games.

Last week: Lost to the Chiefs 26-15

Next week: against Dallas

22. New York Jets (5-8)

The Broncos are not making the playoffs this season yet the Jets made them look like one of the best teams in the league. How they managed to score 0 points against the Broncos is unimaginable.

Last week: Lost to the Broncos 23-0

This week: at New Orleans

23. Cincinnati Bengals (5-8)

They lost to the Bears. They got blown out by the Bears. What else is there to say. They still have a miniscule chance of winning out and making the playoffs, that is the only reason they are still ranked. They will not, but there is a chance.

Last week: Lost to the Bears 33-7

This week: at Minnesota

24. Washington (5-8)

Washington looked early on to be one of the top teams in the NFC. Now they are sitting one game away from being eliminated from playoff consideration.

​Last week: Lost to the Chargers 30-13

Next week: against Arizona

​​Eliminated: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, (Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns)

Fired Coaches

Team	Old Coach	Interim	New
New York Giants	Ben McAdoo	Steve Spagnuolo

​Standings

Nothing has changed in the NFC but there have been changes in the AFC. The Ravens are currently out of the race while the Bills (thanks in part to a phantom offensive pass interference call on a Colts two point conversion) are in.

If the playoffs began today the Eagles and Vikings would have Byes in the NFC and the Patriots and Steelers in the AFC

The Saints and Rams would play the Wild Card teams of the Panthers and Seahawks to fill out the NFC, while the Jaguars and Chiefs would play the Titans and Bills in the AFC.

x-clinched division

NFC East	NFC North
x-Eagles 11-2	Vikings 10-3
Cowboys 7-6	Lions 7-6
Washington 5-8	Packers 7-6
Giants 2-11	Bears 4-9

NFC South	NFC West
Saints 9-4	Rams 9-4
Panthers 9-4	Seahawks 8-5
Falcons 8-5	Cardinals 6-7
Bucs 4-9	49ers 3-10

AFC East	AFC North
Patriots 10-3	x-Steelers 11-2
Bills 7-6	Ravens 7-6
Dolphins 6-7	Bengals 5-8
Jets 5-8	Browns 0-13

AFC South	AFC West
Jaguars 9-4	Chiefs 7-6
Titans 8-5	Chargers 7-6
Texans 4-9	Raiders 6-7
Colts 3-10	Broncos 4-9