Atlanta Falcons Surprise Move in ESPN's Week 15 NFL Power Rankings

The Atlanta Falcons were competitive with the Seattle Seahawks for a half in Atlanta on Sunday. It was 6-6 at halftime. The Seahawks opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and the floodgates opened in an eventual 37-9 loss for the Falcons.

The loss ensured the Falcons would have another losing season, their eighth in a row.

The top of the NFL appears to be wide open this season. There's no real superpower. The AFC-leading Denver Broncos (11-2) are home underdogs this week to the Green Bay Packers, who have three losses and a tie. The Rams are currently No. 1 in ESPN's NFL Power Rankings, and they were beaten by the upstart Carolina Panthers just 10 days ago.

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However, the floor in the NFL has gotten lower. The bottom of the league has some absolutely wretched teams.

Want proof?

Despite losing seven of eight, getting blown out at home, and dropping to 4-9, the Atlanta Falcons actually moved up a spot in ESPN's Week 15 NFL Power Rankings. They moved from No. 25 to No. 24.

As bad as the Falcons are playing, it's hard to picture eight teams worse than them right now. Two teams below Atlanta will have the chance to climb above them. The Falcons play at the No. 26 Arizona Cardinals on December 21st and host the No. 27 Saints in the season's final week.

The Saints are coming off a relatively shocking win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who at 7-6 are tied with the Panthers for the lead in the NFC South.

Of course, this is also the time of year when most losing teams are incentivized to lose by getting a higher pick in April's NFL Draft. NFL personnel likes to clutch their pearls at the idea of tanking, while simultaneously rewarding it.

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With their third win of the season, the Saints don't appear to be in that mode, though. They like what they've seen so far from rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, and want to build momentum heading into 2026.

The Cardinals, however, have lost five in a row, but their schedule has been brutal with losses to the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, Buccaneers, and Jaguars, all teams in playoff positions.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is fighting for his job after another underachieving season, and with their 2026 1st round pick (James Pearce Jr.) currently sacking quarterbacks at a historic rate, losing isn't going to help them in the first round in April.

"I think you’ve got to go out there and just show what you're capable of doing and being very good at what you are," Morris said on Monday when asked about what he can show to prove the Falcons are better than their record.

"Being able to go do those things on offense, being able to go do the things on defense that we finished, and then really, being on special teams, really recapturing the moment and finding out what you could have been and what you should be doing."

The NFC is wide open this year, and the NFC South has been down for several years, and yet another season goes by where the Falcons are looking up in the standings, wondering what could have been.