NFL Power Rankings, Week 17: Browns avoid finishing on bottom to close out 2016 season
The six Pro Bowl quarterbacks named to the initial AFC and NFC rosters: Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers. The connection to these Power Rankings? Those QBs’ respective teams make up six of the top seven on our final rankings of the regular season—Carr’s Raiders are the only team outside, mainly due to Carr’s season-ending leg injury.
The lone top-seven club without a Pro Bowler (at least for now) is the Chiefs, led by Alex Smith.
It’s not enough to have just a star quarterback, but time and again we get reminders that this is a QB-driven league. The franchises that are strongest under center tend to be those we’re still talking about come January.
One more quick note before we launch into the list: Thanks for reading these all year long. I know Power Rankings carry little weight aside from entertainment value, so hopefully these have been worth your time most weeks. An extra tip of the cap to those of you who have reached out with comments or criticism—both are welcome and appreciated.
Anyway, let’s get to why we are here. Enjoy Week 17.