2023 NFL power rankings, Week 15: Showdown in Big D is disastrous for Eagles

In the span of seven days, Zac Taylor’s team put a 16-10 home loss to the Steelers in Week 12 in the rear-view mirror in a big way. The Bengals were coming off a 34-31 overtime road victory on Monday night at Jacksonville. They hosted the Colts and were solid on both sides of the ball, outgaining Indianapolis 385-272 in the victory.

With this win and the chaos around the conference, Cincinnati moved up 10 spots in the NFL Power Rankings. The reigning AFC North champions remain in last place in a division where all four teams boast winning records.

Is there reason for concern when it comes to the NFC North leaders? The Lions’ defense had another bad outing and this time it cost them in a big way. The team was down 10-0 after one quarter but ahead 13-10 at halftime. However, Jared Goff and the offense totaled 76 yards after intermission and was shut out in the second half.

Three turnovers, two interceptions by Goff, certainly didn’t help. Dan Campbell’s club has allowed a distressing 201 points and 23 offensive touchdowns in their last seven outings. The team’s division stranglehold is waning.

Cleveland’s defense hasn’t been nearly as formidable in recent weeks. The Browns came into this match-up with the Jaguars off consecutive losses to the Broncos and Rams. Joe Flacco was making his second start of the season and once again he got the team off to a good start, leading the team to TD on the first possession of the game.

Kevin Stefanski’s team owned the lead throughout, but three turnovers (2 by Flacco) allowed Jacksonville to hang around. However, the Browns’ defense sacked Trevor Lawrence four times and picked him off on three occasions.