NFL power rankings: Super Bowl, QB issues invite massive shake-up

LAS VEGAS – An epic Super Bowl 58 has been forever etched into NFL lore while also cementing the (still) champion Kansas City Chiefs atop the final iteration of this season’s power rankings. And you can bet a team that’s already setting its sights on the first Super Sunday three-peat will be parked at the top for at least the next few months.

Or, as superstar TE Travis Kelce said after the overtime thriller: ‘I’ll see you all next year.’

Yet these power rankings aren’t purely reflective of the now-completed 2023 campaign. Since our last entry, which preceded Week 18, much has changed across the league – including eight head coaching hires and quite a few starting quarterback jobs in some level of serious flux.

So with one eye on the playoffs and one on the 2024 offseason, here are your post-Super Bowl power rankings (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Kansas City Chiefs (4): Any questions about whether they’re the NFL’s newest dynasty have been definitively answered. And if they become the first to three-peat? That could be an unprecedented hype machine. But next up, K.C. must determine if and how to keep DT Chris Jones and CB L’Jarius Sneed while likely considering how to get three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes another weapon.

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2. San Francisco 49ers (2): Sunday’s painful loss is certainly bound to linger. Yet the Niners will essentially return intact in 2024 and appear to have a significantly easier route to Super Bowl 59 than the Chiefs.

3. Buffalo Bills (3): They’ll enter 2024 as four-time-defending AFC East champs. Only a barely missed field goal in the divisional round prevented Buffalo from taking Kansas City to overtime. GM Brandon Beane is likely about to shed a lot of depth in free agency, but the Bills’ nucleus should remain in place.

4. Baltimore Ravens (1): Another fantastic regular season, QB Lamar Jackson deservedly capturing MVP honors. Another baffling postseason ouster, Jackson a shell of himself with the chips on the table – and obviously undermined by the play calling.

7. Dallas Cowboys (T5): The league’s most publicized team got disappointing awfully fast. Feels like Super Bowl-or-bust for HC Mike McCarthy and QB Dak Prescott in 2024, though the latter’s unwieldy contract might spare him from the uncertainty of free agency in 2025.

9. Houston Texans (11): An up-and-coming squad – the first to win a division crown in the Super Bowl era with a rookie head coach and quarterback – will have the spending power to selectively upgrade during free agency.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (9): Seems like a good wager that experienced coordinators (OC Kellen Moore, DC Vic Fangio) will get much better results after this team ultimately came unglued with two inexperienced ones.

12. Cincinnati Bengals (21): They lose OC Brian Callahan, but QB Joe Burrow returns to a group that had a better record (4-3) without him than with him (5-5) in 2023.

13. Miami Dolphins (10): And they still have the league’s longest drought since their last postseason victory, which occurred 21 years ago. HC Mike McDaniel’s teams are forging a reputation as late-season faders that can’t win removed from ideal conditions – and they won’t be if injured pass rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips require a long road back to the lineup.

15. New York Jets (26): Amazing how similarly consecutive 7-10 seasons can feel … when Zach Wilson is your quarterback. But things should change in 2024 – they better for HC Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas – with Aaron Rodgers presumably back in the saddle.

17. Pittsburgh Steelers (19): Also remarkable they eclipsed .500, but that’s what Mike Tomlin teams do. They also don’t win playoff games as of late and suddenly have a major question at quarterback two years after drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round.

18. Chicago Bears (16): They won five of their final eight games, saving HC Matt Eberflus’ job – for now, though not everyone else’s – and head into the offseason with ample cap space, two Round 1 picks and a near certainty to add more draft capital, whether they trade the No. 1 selection or QB Justin Fields.

19. Los Angeles Chargers (30): The last time Jim Harbaugh took over an NFL team (2011 Niners), it improved by seven victories. Don’t pencil the Bolts in for 12 wins in 2024, but expect a quantum leap – no matter this offseason’s inevitable cap casualties.

22. Seattle Seahawks (20): Little doubt new HC Mike Macdonald will soon resurrect this defense, despite pending free agents like LB Bobby Wagner and DL Leonard Williams. But hard to say how an ineffective offense will fare with new coordinator Ryan Grubb, an NFL newcomer but fresh off a successful season at nearby University of Washington.

24. Atlanta Falcons (17): The return of Raheem Morris as head coach should provide an exciting lift for the players. Quarterback remains a huge question … though this club could become exciting quickly if it turns out that, say, Fields becomes the answer.

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12): No, this isn’t a hot take intended to shade a club coming off an admirable and unexpected run to the divisional round. It’s merely a reality check given the Bucs’ most important players (save LT Tristan Wirfs) – QB Baker Mayfield, WR Mike Evans and FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – are all free agents and could be following former OC Dave Canales to less pewter pastures.

26. Washington Commanders (31): New HC Dan Quinn should infuse a needed culture change in the locker room for an organization just emerging from a quarter century of bad vibes.

27. Las Vegas Raiders (23): They probably made the right move by removing the interim tag from HC Antonio Pierce two years after opting not to extend that opportunity to Rich Bisaccia. But Pierce and new GM Tom Telesco have a lot to figure out, maybe starting with whether it makes sense to try and trade WR Davante Adams for maximum return soon.

30. New England Patriots (25): No longer the NFL’s reigning dynasty, the Pats have a new coach in Jerod Mayo. They don’t have a general manager … or a franchise quarterback … or many capable young cornerstones. Good luck, Coach.

31. Tennessee Titans (29): A club that’s been in steady decline will also need a new identity, among other things, given the departure of HC Mike Vrabel and near certainty RB Derrick Henry will be leaving NashVegas next.

32. Carolina Panthers (32): If ever a team needed (another) No. 1 draft pick, it might be this one. Alas. … At least the Panthers could serve as a punchline for Keegan-Michael Key on ‘NFL Honors.’

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.