2015 NFL Power Rankings: Week 14
Updated: December 8, 2015, 12:51 PM ET
ESPN.com
Week:
For most of the season, the Patriots looked invincible. Now they're in the throes of a two-game losing streak.
Are Tom Brady & Co. still a top-five team in their current, injury-riddled state? ESPN's Power Panel says yes, but barely. After a stunning loss to Philadelphia, New England fell three spots to No. 5, easily its lowest mark of the season. Carolina, which narrowly avoided an upset loss at New Orleans to stay unbeaten, is No. 1 for the second straight week, followed by Arizona, Cincinnati and Denver.
Will the Patriots continue to slide? Perhaps. Week 14 brings a road game against the Texans (No. 13), which is hardly a gimme. And with teams such as Seattle, Pittsburgh and Kansas City hitting their stride, there's little room for error in our upper tier.
Overall, the week's biggest mover was Buffalo, which rose seven spots to No. 12. Another team of note is the Jets, who cracked the top 10 for the first time since Week 8.
Note: The comments below are provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
• Vegas Rankings 
| Football Power Index Rankings | Why a Patriots losing streak should worry opponents | Team Power Rankings charts since 2002
| 2015 Power Rankings: Week 14 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | -- Last Week: 1 | Sunday was just the second game this season the Panthers trailed in the fourth quarter (a league-low 35 offensive plays this season). | |
| 2 |  | 2 Last Week: 4 | Don't sleep on the Cardinals. They've scored the most points this season, allowed the fourth-fewest points and have won 23 of Carson Palmer's past 27 starts. | |
| 3 |  | 2 Last Week: 5 | A.J. Green has eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in a season once again. The list of those with 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first five seasons? Green and Randy Moss. | |
| 4 |  | 1 Last Week: 3 | The Broncos have rediscovered their running game, averaging 161 yards and 4.5 yards per rush with Brock Osweiler at quarterback. They averaged 86 yards and 3.8 yards per rush to start the season. | |
| 5 |  | 3 Last Week: 2 | The Patriots have lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2012. The injuries on offense hurt, but the team has allowed 30 points in back-to-back games for just the second time since 2001. | |
| 6 |  | 1 Last Week: 7 | Russell Wilson's past three games: 76.7 completion percentage, 10.2 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 93.6 Total QBR. The Seahawks are averaging 35.3 points per game in that stretch. | |
| 7 |  | 1 Last Week: 8 | Richard Rodgers, who played the hero Thursday, has been one of Aaron Rodgers' most reliable receivers. Richard has caught 72.7 percent of his targets this season. | |
| 8 |  | 1 Last Week: 9 | The Steelers are averaging 35.8 points in their past four games. Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton have combined for 1,251 yards and nine touchdowns receiving in those games. | |
| 9 |  | 1 Last Week: 10 | The Chiefs have won six in a row and they've been winning decisively. Their average margin of victory this season is an NFL-high 17.1 points. | |
| 10 |  | 2 Last Week: 12 | The Jets currently hold the No. 6 seed but they need to capitalize on their next games. They get the 3-9 Titans at home and then take on the Tony Romo-less Cowboys. | |
| 11 |  | 5 Last Week: 6 | Adrian Peterson rushed for 18 yards in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks. He's averaging 44 rushing yards in losses this season, compared to 126 yards in wins. | |
| 12 |  | 7 Last Week: 19 | Tyrod Taylor, a quarterback with 35 career attempts entering this season, hasn't thrown an interception since Week 4. Taylor's streak of 187 attempts without a pick is the longest in Bills history. | |
| 13 |  | 2 Last Week: 11 | The Texans allowed nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter in Sunday's loss. They had allowed seven fourth-quarter points total during their four-game winning streak. | |
| 14 |  | 3 Last Week: 17 | Jameis Winston has been as good as advertised, but the resurgence of Doug Martin has been huge for Tampa. Martin is 49 yards shy of leading the league in rushing. | |
| 15 |  | -- Last Week: 15 | The Falcons are 1-6 in their past seven games, averaging 16.7 points in those games. That's a far cry from their 5-0 start and 32.4-point average. | |
| 16 |  | 2 Last Week: 14 | Forget that 45-10 drubbing Sunday night. The Colts play three of their last four games against division opponents. The Colts have won 16 straight AFC South games. | |
| 17 |  | 1 Last Week: 16 | The Raiders need to learn how to close. They've been outscored by an NFL-worst 72 points in the fourth quarter this season, with 13 of their 20 turnovers coming in the final quarter. | |
| 18 |  | 5 Last Week: 13 | Washington is averaging 2.6 yards per rush in its past three games; it has been held under 3.0 yards per rush in seven of its past eight games. | |
| 19 |  | 5 Last Week: 24 | Who needs offense? The Eagles have gotten 17 touchdowns from their defense and special teams the past two seasons, eight more than any other NFL team. | |
| 20 |  | 2 Last Week: 18 | The Giants have lost four times this season when holding a lead in the final minute of the game. According to Elias, that's tied for the most since the merger. | |
| 21 |  | 1 Last Week: 20 | The loss to the 49ers was bad, but when Jay Cutler has started and played the full game this season, the Bears are 5-5 and have outscored opponents by 12 points. | |
| 22 |  | 1 Last Week: 21 | Sorry, Detroit. It almost seems fitting that the Lions allowed the longest, game-winning, game-ending Hail Mary in NFL history at home against their biggest rivals (per Elias). | |
| 23 |  | 6 Last Week: 29 | At 4-8, the Cowboys are just a game back of the NFC East lead. However, they have the second-toughest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL. | |
| 24 |  | 1 Last Week: 23 | Good things happen for the Dolphins when Lamar Miller gets involved. He's averaging more than twice as many yards from scrimmage in wins (128) than losses (55) this season. | |
| 25 |  | 3 Last Week: 22 | The Saints have allowed at least four touchdown passes in four of their past five games. Fifteen teams haven't allowed four touchdowns in a game one time this season. | |
| 26 |  | 5 Last Week: 31 | A 44-yard, game-tying TD run and a 71-yard game-winning pass by Blaine Gabbert? That was his longest career run and his deepest career completion (46 air yards). | |
| 27 |  | 3 Last Week: 30 | Marcus Mariota showed off his rushing skills with an 87-yard scramble on Sunday, finishing with 112 yards rushing. He entered Sunday with a total of 137 rushing yards. | |
| 28 |  | 2 Last Week: 26 | The Rams have scored 10 points the past two weeks and have lost by 24 points in three of their past four games. No other team has two such losses this season. | |
| 29 |  | 1 Last Week: 28 | The Jaguars are 4-8, but the improvement is there. With four games to play, they have already scored more points this season than they had in any of their past four. | |
| 30 |  | 5 Last Week: 25 | Matt Schaub has had an interception returned for a touchdown in each of his past three games. He gets to face the "Legion of Boom" in Week 14. | |
| 31 |  | 4 Last Week: 27 | The Chargers scored one field goal in each of their past two losses. Philip Rivers threw a pick-six in each game, meaning the offense generated more points for the opponent in each loss. | |
| 32 |  | -- Last Week: 32 | Johnny Manziel will once again get the start for the Browns. He has one win in three starts this season; while Josh McCown and Austin Davis have one win in nine starts combined. | |
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| Glossary |
| The rankings were determined by ESPN's Power Panel, a group of more than 80 writers, editors and television personalities. |
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