Before Sunday, there were two one-loss teams in the NFL, and all seemed pretty safe with the order of power. Then, the Ravens beat the formerly 10-1 49ers in a nail-biter in Baltimore, and the Texans slammed the Patriots on Sunday night, and everything changed.
With their win, the Ravens, who haven’t lost a game since Week 4, became the AFC’s top seed. And with their loss, the Patriots moved to second, with the Texans right behind them. The Chiefs, Bills, and Steelers now round out the AFC playoff picture, with the red-hot Titans on the outside looking in.
The NFC playoff picture wasn’t going to make since until Monday Night Football was decided. When the Seahawks came away with a narrow escape at CenturyLink Field, they moved to the second seed, just behind the Saints. And the 49ers plummeted like Monty Python’s proverbial dead parrot, all the way to the wild-card round. A harsh reality for a 10-2 team while the Cowboys get a higher seed based on their “lead” in the NFC West with a 6-6 record, but the ways in which teams are seeded? That’s an entirely different discussion.
The point is, the 49ers and Patriots losing on the same day brings a wide-open feel to both conference races we really haven’t seen all season. Here’s how all 32 teams line up in our Week 14 Power Rankings.