There’s still over a week to go until Super Bowl LVII between the Eagles and the Chiefs, but this week’s power rankings hits on the four teams that played on Championship Sunday.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) | Last week: 1
The Jalen Hurts shoulder injury impacted things late during the regular season, but the Eagles were the best team from start to finish in the NFL this year and now have a shot to cap it with a Super Bowl victory. Hurts was actually off with some of his throws in the NFC title game win over the 49ers, but I expect him to be much sharper a week from Sunday. Defensively, Haason Reddick and company have been a dominant bunch when it comes to getting after the passer, and that’ll obviously be a key in trying to stop Kansas City.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) | Last week: 3 (+1)
Many were not happy with the officiating in the AFC Championship, but give the Chiefs credit for making plays—including a-not-100-percent Patrick Mahomes dealing with a depleted receiving corps (Marquez Valdes-Scantling was huge in the victory) and a couple of interceptions by Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Back in the Big Game, Mahomes and Andy Reid—facing his former Eagles team—are looking for a little redemption from their performance against the Bucs a couple of seasons ago.
3. Cincinnati Bengals (14-5) | Last week: 2 (-1)
While Kansas City should get credit for making plays to win the game, I still certainly understand the beef the Bengals have with officiating. That’s two straight seasons (once in the Super Bowl and once in the conference title game) where Cincy feels like they were on the short end of late-game officiating, which is not what you want to see as a football fan. Expect Joe Burrow and the Bengals to be back squarely in the championship mix next season.
4. San Francisco 49ers (15-5) | Last week: 4
I can’t imagine how frustrating it must have been for Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers to deal with the quarterback injuries all year and especially in the NFC Championship, with some questionable officiating—though I do not believe at all it would have made a big difference in the game—on top of that. Brock Purdy sounds like he might be out all next year due to his elbow injury, which is terrible break for someone that appeared to play his way into the team’s starting quarterback role in 2023. My thinking was that Tom Brady would play for his hometown team before he announced his retirement today, but with Purdy, Trey Lance, and impending free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback is a question mark for San Fran this offseason.