NFL Power Rankings Week 18

6:55 AM ET

NFL NationESPN

Now that 2021 is in the rearview and we’re in 2022, the NFL Power Rankings are looking ahead. While there are still playoff berths to be earned and championships to be won, we decided this was a perfect time to give each franchise a New Year’s resolution for 2022.

To do that, we asked our NFL Nation reporters to pen their version of “Auld Lang Syne” for the teams they cover and come up with a primary goal for the next year. While the New England Patriots went rogue a bit, the rest of the responses mostly fell into a few categories. For contenders like the Green Bay Packers, short-term goals to set up a run at this season’s Vince Lombardi Trophy were the primary focus. For other teams, rewarding deserving players or surrounding stars with better help are what caught the reporters’ attention. And for your downtrodden franchises (sorry, Jacksonville), simply taking a positive step down the long road to respectability was the call.

How we determine our Power Rankings: Our power panel — a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities — evaluates how teams stack up throughout the season.

Previous rankings: 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Preseason

Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

Previous ranking: 2

New Year’s resolution: Help IR guys return

There’s a group of players on injured reserve — and not just any players but starters and some Pro Bowlers — who have a chance to return for the playoffs. Among them are CB Jaire Alexander, OLB Za’Darius Smith, LT David Bakhtiari, C Josh Myers and WR Randall Cobb. After Sunday’s game, Aaron Rodgers spoke optimistically about some or all of them coming back this year, although coach Matt LaFleur downplayed it slightly. The return of any of them could help in the postseason. — Rob Demovsky