NFL Power Rankings: Most dangerous playoff teams that can stop the Chiefs and Lions

At the start of the year, I picked the Detroit Lions to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 down in New Orleans. Only a few weeks out, and that could still conceivably happen. While I do feel rather confident that both No. 1 seeds will meet in The Big Easy for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, I understand fully that the NFL is a league of parity, meaning an upset is bound to occur soon.

While upsets do happen during Super Wild Card Weekend, the divisional round is the bread and butter for that sort of thing. For that reason, I would be shocked if we got the No. 1 seeds in both leagues hosting their respective No. 2 seeds in their conference title bouts. My thought is three of the four will inevitably get there, but probably not all four. The gap is not as wide as it may readily appear.

So what I am going to do today is power rank the six remaining playoff teams outside of the Chiefs and Lions, based on who I think has the best chance of knocking any of them or both of them off. I could be totally wrong in this, but that is the point! All six teams I am about to rattle off are already 1-0 in the NFL playoffs this postseason. They are the ones with momentum after having won last week.

Let's start with the team I feel will be everyone's favorite underdog should they keep on advancing.

6. Los Angeles Rams

They may have only been slight underdogs in the NFC Wild Card game vs. the Minnesota Vikings, but the Los Angeles Rams clobbered their opponent. It was an eating of the lunch when it came to Sean McVay asserting his dominance over protege Kevin O'Connell's team. It did not help that Sam Darnold devolved into a pumpkin down the stretch. The Rams might have won that game coming off the bus.

However, this is a team that I am not sure is all that great. They lost so much of their staff off last year's team to my Atlanta Falcons. Jared Verse may be the real deal, but Aaron Donald is not walking through that door. To me, I struggle to see the Rams beating the Philadelphia Eagles at their place before potentially taking on the Lions in Detroit for the NFC championship, should they get that far.

Coaching and a quite confidence is what I like the most about this team that is about to bow out soon.

5. Washington Commanders

I am not ruling the idea of the Washington Commanders being a giant killer just yet. They have the right quarterback to potentially do that, as well as a team that does not care if you continue to doubt them. I was fully convinced that the second NFL team Dan Quinn got to run would be better than his first stab at running the Atlanta Falcons. There has never been more optimism surrounding this team.

While I think they could be the ones to knock off the Lions this weekend, it may end up being the inverse of the 1991 NFC Championship game with Detroit coming out on top. So in order for the Commanders to even have a shot at the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in New Orleans, they have to beat the Lions. Again, I am not ruling it out just yet, but I do not think it is very likely to happen for them.

Washington may be able to win another playoff game, but this team has a championship game ceiling.

4. Houston Texans

As is the case with Washington, the Houston Texans have a great shot of being able to pull off the improbable this weekend when they take on the Chiefs at Arrowhead. While the Texans seem to be the toast of the town in the lousy AFC South, they still have never gotten to a conference championship in their 22-plus years as a franchise. Then again, there is a first time for everything!

For as much as I like C.J. Stroud's upside as a franchise quarterback and DeMeco Ryans as one of the best up-and-coming head coaches in the league, they are still tasked with the near impossible. They have to beat Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the rest of the Chiefs at Arrowhead this weekend. Doing so would probably feel cathartic, but Mahomes has largely owned the Texans in his NFL career.

If Houston beats Kansas City, the Texans could win the Super Bowl, but I am doubtful that they will.

3. Philadelphia Eagles

If anyone is coming out of the NFC besides the Lions, my money is on the Philadelphia Eagles to be that team. While I am not the biggest fan of Nick Sirianni as a head coach, he and his team have been a fixture in the postseason since he took over for Doug Pederson. Philadelphia has the roster good enough to go the distance. I just wonder if they have the right temperament to win three more games.

Even though I am picking the Eagles to get past the visiting Rams in the divisional round, I need to see how the Lions look vs. the Commanders first before I definitively pick them to get to the Super Bowl. I would not be shocked if it is Philadelphia going to New Orleans, but we are still two games out from making that a reality. I will say though that the Eagles could beat both the Lions and then the Chiefs.

The Eagles are the first of three non-Chiefs or Lions teams that I think could win the Super Bowl.

2. Baltimore Ravens

For better or worse, the Baltimore Ravens intrigue me. While there may be a finite ceiling to winning meaningful playoff games when trailing with Lamar Jackson under center, he has benefited tremendously from having worked with Todd Monken as his offensive coordinator. We have seen the multi-time NFL MVP level up under his guidance. I like this team, but I also do not trust this team...

I do not know if it is the John Harbaugh of it all or if it is because the Ravens are winning in a different way than many of us are accustomed to, but I cannot put my finger on it. That being said, I would not be surprised if Baltimore beat Buffalo this weekend to be the one to go to Kansas City for the Arrowhead Invitational. If anyone can dethrone Mahomes, it might as well be Jackson and the Ravens.

I feel different about this year's Ravens team. I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing just yet.

1. Buffalo Bills

If not now, when? This has to be the year the Buffalo Bills get it done. Yes, I understand that Baltimore is a brutal Divisional Round matchup, but who cares. Get. It. Done! Josh Allen has leveled under Joe Brady's watch and might win NFL MVP. At the very least, he is in the conversation for it with the likes of the multi-time winner he is going up against this week in Lamar Jackson. Buffalo has to be ready.

Getting Baltimore at home this weekend is a huge plus, but Buffalo would still need to beat Kansas City at Arrowhead first. That is assuming Houston does not knock them off first. Again, do not count on it. From there, the Super Bowl would be untrodden territory for this Bills team as much as it would be for a team like the Lions. Only the Eagles and Rams have been to a Super Bowl relatively recently.

Buffalo has the roster, the experience, and potentially the playoff runway to knock off both favorites.