NFL Power Rankings Week 18: Eagles on top

Statement on resuming NFL analysis

The NFL is currently paused. On Monday night at the end of Week 17, NFL fans witnessed one of the most shocking events in the history of the league. Damar Hamlin, a defensive player on the Buffalo Bills, required his heart to be restarted on the field in the middle of a game. The showing of support that followed has been immense.

When faced with matters of life and death for a player, other matters become much more trivial. At some point, the league and fans will have to move on. People will vary on when they are ready to resume interest in the NFL for the purposes of entertainment again. While continuing to hope for a speedy recovery for Damar Hamlin, fans and readers of ThePicks.com are invited to read our power rankings when they feel that they are ready.

Top Ten NFL Power Rankings: Week 18

That there is no result for the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills does make the following NFL Power Rankings subject to change. It’s not clear what the NFL will do as a result of the game. They have announced that they will not resume play this week and thus a final score between the Bengals and Bills is pending.

What could the NFL do? They might take the 7-3 score at the time that play was postponed as the final score simply for lack of a better option. They might deem the game a draw. Or they might say that the game never happened for the purpose of the standings and try to come up with seeds for the playoffs in an equitable way without a result from that individual game.

For the purpose of our power rankings, Cincinnati was leading 7-3 and they were into Buffalo’s territory with a first down at the time of postponement. In a situation that no one likes from any point of view, that’s all the information we have. Here are our top ten teams heading into Week 18.

1. Philadelphia Eagles 13-3 (no change since last week)
2. San Francisco 49ers 12-4 (+2)
3. Cincinnati Bengals 11-4 (+2)
4. Buffalo Bills 12-3 (-2)
5. Dallas Cowboys 13-3 (no change)
6. Kansas City Chiefs 13-3 (-3)
7. Minnesota Vikings 12-4 (no change)
8. Green Bay Packers 8-8 (new entrant)
9. LA Chargers 10-6 (-1)
10. New York Giants 9-6-1 (new entrant)

Notes on these rankings

Philadephia remains our top team despite some lost momentum because the team’s recent losses happened while they played their QB2. The Kansas City Chiefs are a big dropper from last week due to sketchy scores against peripheral teams in recent weeks, despite winning. The Green Bay Packers enter our power rankings behind a huge spread against Minnesota and excellent form out of GB in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the New York Giants are back in our top ten following a large-spread victory last week that has them in the playoffs.