Week 15 of the 2015 NFL season is officially a wrap following the Detroit Lions shootout win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Lions jumped out to a 28-3 lead and seemed ready to cruise to victory, but the Saints put up one last gasp effort. They cut the lead to 28-20, but could not stop the Lions from scoring a touchdown to open up the lead. The Saints then cut the lead to 35-27, but it was too late for the miracle comeback. Both teams now sit at 5-9, which means the 49ers sit firmly in the sixth spot of the 2016 NFL Draft order due to strength of schedule tiebreakers.
The San Francisco 49ers suffered a 24-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They fell behind 24-0, thanks in large part to a pair of Vance McDonald drops that directly led to interceptions. This is a hard game to describe. I'd say the defense was competitive, but the offense struggled most of the afternoon. They managed late points to make the game a little closer, but it's hard to say they were exactly competitive. Given how the rest of the bottom of the power rankings have been though, I did not drop the 49ers below 30. The bottom of the NFL is pretty putrid. The Browns remain ahead of the 49ers due to their win over them.
Only 13 of the 32 NFL teams have a .500 record or better, as parity has left the league with a lot of mediocre to bad teams. Ten teams sit at 6-8 or 7-7, and they are not playing great football. And yet, the NFL continues to draw record ratings. It is pretty amazing.
Team | LW | |
1 | Carolina Panthers (14-0) | 1 |
2 | Arizona Cardinals (12-2) | 2 |
3 | New England Patriots (12-2) | 3 |
4 | Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) | 4 |
5 | Green Bay Packers (10-4) | 5 |
6 | Seattle Seahawks (9-5) | 6 |
7 | Cincinnati Bengals (11-3) | 7 |
8 | Denver Broncos (10-4) | 8 |
9 | Kansas City Chiefs (9-5) | 9 |
10 | New York Jets (9-5) | 10 |
11 | Minnesota Vikings (9-5) | 11 |
12 | Houston Texans (7-7) | 16 |
13 | Washington (6-8) | 18 |
14 | Oakland Raiders (6-8) | 12 |
15 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8) | 13 |
16 | Indianapolis Colts (6-8) | 14 |
17 | Buffalo Bills (6-8) | 15 |
18 | New York Giants (6-8) | 19 |
19 | Atlanta Falcons (7-7) | 25 |
20 | Philadelphia Eagles (6-8) | 17 |
21 | St. Louis Rams (6-8) | 22 |
22 | Detroit Lions (5-9) | 23 |
23 | Miami Dolphins (5-9) | 20 |
24 | New Orleans Saints (5-9) | 21 |
25 | Chicago Bears (5-9) | 24 |
26 | Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9) | 27 |
27 | San Diego Chargers (4-10) | 28 |
28 | Dallas Cowboys (4-10) | 26 |
29 | Cleveland Browns (3-11) | 29 |
30 | San Francisco 49ers (4-10) | 30 |
31 | Baltimore Ravens (4-10) | 31 |
32 | Tennessee Titans (3-11) | 32 |