NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Latest Outlook and 2017-18 Super Bowl Odds

The new normal cemented itself in NFL Week 14. 

There, contenders like the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints kept right on rolling through any and all competition. Fading pretenders like the Kansas City Chiefs, not so much. 

As the season starts to head into the home stretch, a would-be bettor doesn't have many opportunities to find as many great season-long lines as they did earlier in the year. Oddsmakers have adjusted accordingly with the surprises now few and far between. 

With the dust mostly settled, let's reshuffle the power rankings and check in on the updated Super Bowl odds. 

2017 NFL Power Rankings and Super Bowl Odds

Rank	Team
1	Minnesota Vikings (12-1)
2	New England Patriots (13-5)
3	Los Angeles Rams (16-1)
4	New Orleans Saints (12-1)
5	Seattle Seahawks (25-1)
6	Philadelphia Eagles (7-2)
7	Pittsburgh Steelers (6-1)
8	Tennessee Titans (33-1)
9	Carolina Panthers (18-1)
10	Los Angeles Chargers (33-1)
11	Jacksonville Jaguars (33-1)
12	Baltimore Ravens (66-1)
13	Atlanta Falcons (12-1)
14	Detroit Lions (66-1)
15	Cincinnati Bengals (75-1)
16	Buffalo Bills (75-1)
17	Dallas Cowboys (75-1)
18	Washington Redskins (300-1)
19	Arizona Cardinals (250-1)
20	Oakland Raiders (66-1)
21	New York Jets (1000-1)
22	Kansas City Chiefs (33-1)
23	Green Bay Packers (75-1)
24	Miami Dolphins (1000-1)
25	Houston Texans (500-1)
26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1000-1)
27	Indianapolis Colts (1000-1)
28	Denver Broncos (1000-1)
29	New York Giants (1000-1)
30	San Francisco 49ers (5000-1)
31	Chicago Bears (1000-1)
32	Cleveland Browns (5000-1)

Contender to Know: Seattle Seahawks (25-1)

This is why bettors should never, ever count out the Seattle Seahawks. 

We've seen this story before over the years. Seattle starts slow, turns it on and goes on to make serious noise in the playoffs. It happened again this year when Russell Wilson's team lost two of three to start the season and the only win was a three-point escape from the San Francisco 49ers. 

Since then, Seattle has lost twice and just took down the red-hot Philadelphia Eagles in 24-10 fashion. The strong Seattle defense held Carson Wentz to a single touchdown pass while Wilson threw three, becoming the first team to hold the Eagles under the 20-point mark all season. 

Wilson has an easy case for MVP on his hands at this point, as Ross Tucker of NBCSN helped illustrate: 

The Seahawks haven't had the easiest journey this year. They have losses to Tennessee and Atlanta but wins against these Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams. At worst, it shows Wilson's team can hang with anyone in the AFC, provided they make the postseason. 

For bettors, it's a strong likelihood despite a tough end-of-season stretch including games against Jacksonville and the Rams again. But with the way Wilson keeps elevating the talent around him right now and the team's propensity for turning it on when it matters most, the Seahawks at these sort of odds has to look quite good. 

Forget It: Kansas City Chiefs (33-1)

The Chiefs look alluring at a number like this, yet they're one of the biggest no-fly zones available. 

While still 6-6 and sitting in a solid spot in the AFC West, the Chiefs have now lost four games in a row and six of seven outright. To make matters worse, the Los Angeles Chargers continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NFL and now have a matching 6-6 record. 

The Chiefs and quarterback Alex Smith don't exactly sound like a team able to figure this thing out right now. 

"We're searching, for sure," Smith said, according to ESPN.com's Adam Teicher. "Everyone has a hand in it. We've had some games where I think both sides, offense and defense, really felt like they weren't holding up their end for each other. We haven't put them together recently, both sides."

The most negative development for these Chiefs occurred in Week 13, where they laid a monstrous egg in a 38-31 loss to the New York Jets. Smith threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns, but more concerning is this—the Jets ran the ball 49 times for 157 yards and three scores. They imposed their will, controlled the pace and beat a more talented on-paper team. 

Kansas City just doesn't look like a team with a ton of fight left. There's an impending quarterback controversy and an odd coaching imbalance that led to 33 passes against 11 rushes in New York. The rest of the schedule is a monster, too, as the Chiefs have to deal with divisional opponents in three of their last four. 

Even if they slip into the playoffs, this isn't the same team that beat New England and Philadelphia to start the season, now that the injury bug and the rest of the league have caught up to it. 

Favorite Worth the Bet: Pittsburgh Steelers (6-1)

It seems like the Pittsburgh Steelers have somewhat fallen into the background-noise category when it comes to contenders. 

Like Seattle, though, the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger tend to turn it on as the season progresses, claiming the AFC North along the way while looking like one of the only teams capable of keeping up with the Patriots. 

Case in point, the current six-game tear the Steelers ride into Week 13 Monday Night Football, including wins over Kansas City, Detroit and Tennessee. Big Ben, obviously, is a big part of the late-season pushes over the years and what should be another here, as noted by the team's director of communications, Burt Lauten: 

"

#Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger owns an all-time record of 38-14 (.731) in the month of December & has won 14 of the last 15 such games, dating to 2013.

— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) December 2, 2017"

On the season, Big Ben only has 20 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Le'Veon Bell is only averaging 3.9 yards per carry. But the offense keeps ticking regardless thanks to the newish tandem of Antonio Brown (1,195 yards, eight touchdowns) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (568 yards, five touchdowns). 

Meanwhile, the defense is up to 38 sacks and allows just 193.4 passing yards (second), 96 rushing yards (sixth) and 17.5 points (fourth) per game.

The Steelers haven't always been the most consistent team this year, but they're in a position for good playoff seeding and the usual strong December seems to await. In a weak conference, ignoring Big Ben and the Steelers isn't a wise move. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Odds courtesy of OddsShark.