This is an objective, unbiased ranking in the same vein as the NFL Title Belt. As such, the number 1 ranked team will always be the same as the current NFL Title Belt holder.
This is Week 15 of the NFL Title Rankings of the 2023 season. See here for last week’s rankings.
There were a lot of moves this week. 11 of the 16 games ended with the lower ranked team winning.
The Bengals beat the Vikings to keep the NFL Title Belt and first ranking. The Bengals will play the Steelers next weekend for control of the NFL Title Belt and first.
With the Panthers beating the Falcons, the Commanders are now last place. The Commanders can move up next week when they play the Jets.
Let me know if you’d like to see more of this, if you’re curious about how I came up with these rankings, or if you noticed any mistakes.
| Ranking | 2023 Wk15 | Δ | Notes | |
| 1 | Bengals | – | The Bengals beat the Vikings to keep the NFL Title Belt and first. | |
| 2 | Browns | – | ||
| 3 | Ravens | +3 | The Ravens jumped 3 spots by beating the Jaguars. | |
| 4 | Jaguars | -1 | ||
| 5 | Dolphins | +19 | The Dolphins jumped 19 spots by beating the Jets. | |
| 6 | Jets | -2 | ||
| 7 | Texans | -2 | ||
| 8 | 49ers | +4 | The 49ers jumped 4 spots by beating the Cardinals. | |
| 9 | Cardinals | -2 | ||
| 10 | Chiefs | +11 | The Chiefs jumped 11 spots by beating the Patriots. | |
| 11 | Patriots | -3 | ||
| 12 | Colts | +18 | The Colts jumped 18 spots by beating the Steelers. | |
| 13 | Steelers | -4 | ||
| 14 | Lions | +4 | The Lions jumped 4 spots by beating the Broncos. | |
| 15 | Broncos | -5 | ||
| 16 | Rams | -5 | ||
| 17 | Bills | +3 | The Bills jumped 3 spots by beating the Cowboys. | |
| 18 | Cowboys | -5 | ||
| 19 | Seahawks | -5 | ||
| 20 | Saints | +11 | The Saints jumped 11 spots by beating the Giants. | |
| 21 | Giants | -6 | ||
| 22 | Bucs | +5 | The Bucs jumped 5 spots by beating the Packers. | |
| 23 | Packers | -7 | ||
| 24 | Bears | -7 | ||
| 25 | Eagles | -6 | ||
| 26 | Raiders | – | The Raiders maintained their rank by beating and jumping the Chargers. | |
| 27 | Chargers | -5 | ||
| 28 | Oilers | -5 | ||
| 29 | Vikings | -4 | ||
| 30 | Panthers | +2 | The Panthers jumped 2 spots by beating the Falcons. | |
| 31 | Falcons | -3 | ||
| 32 | Commanders | -3 | The Commanders will drop to last after losing to the Rams. |
This ranking assumes that there are never any fluke games and all teams are appropriately ranked. If you beat a team that is higher ranked than you, you move ahead of them and they move down one spot. However, other teams can jump in front of teams that are higher ranked than you, moving you further down the rankings.
Bonus rankings! This one is more straightforward. Teams get points for wins. They get more points for beating good teams and fewer points for beating bad teams. (+32 for beating the best team, +1 for beating the worst). Teams lose points for losses. They lose more points for losing to bad teams and fewer points for losing to good teams. (-32 for losing to the worst team, -1 for losing to the best) The points total has been reset with the first game of the season.
I have also included what playoff seed each team would have won if this ranking were to determine seeding. I have included the conference, the division if the team won their division, and the seed within the conference.
TEAM Ranking Points Playoff Rank Ravens 1 211 AFC N 1 49ers 2 177 NFC W 1 Browns 3 151 AFC WC 5 Bengals 4 121 AFC WC 6 Jaguars 5 109 AFC S 2 Eagles 6 90 NFC E 2 Colts 7 78 AFC WC 7 Rams 8 62 NFC WC 5 Steelers 9 60 Seahawks 10 59 NFC WC 6 Texans 11 53 Cowboys 12 50 NFC WC 7 Lions 13 42 NFC N 3 Chiefs 14 33 AFC W 3 Bills 15 11 AFC E 4 Dolphins 16 5 Bucs 17 -16 NFC S 4 Oilers 18 -24 Broncos 19 -28 Vikings 20 -34 Cardinals 21 -56 Saints 22 -61 Packers 23 -62 Raiders 24 -85 Jets 25 -88 Falcons 26 -94 Chargers 27 -96 Bears 28 -105 Giants 29 -110 Commanders 30 -123 Patriots 31 -149 Panthers 32 -181