NFL Power Rankings 2018: Updated Standings, Super Bowl Odds for Week 15

The NFL's playoff picture got shook up quite a bit in Week 14. With teams like the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings losing, a lot of individual playoff races remain open.

The Rams and New Orleans Saints have clinched their respective divisions, while the Kansas City Chiefs have secured a playoff spot. That's all that has been decided with just three weeks to go. Heck, there's still even a possibility that the 5-7-1 Cleveland Browns could win the AFC North.

What we want to know, of course, is which of these teams are actually championship-caliber and which are just pedestrian teams with winning records.

That's what we're going to examine here. We're going to run down our Week 14 power rankings—based primarily on the latest Super Bowl odds from OddsShark—and take a closer look at some of the most intriguing potential playoff teams heading into Week 15.

First, though, let's take a look at the current standings.

AFC East

1. New England Patriots (9-4)

2. Miami Dolphins (7-6)

3. Buffalo Bills (4-9)

4. New York Jets (4-9)

AFC South

1. Houston Texans (9-4)

2. Indianapolis Colts (7-6)

3. Tennessee Titans (7-6)

4. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9)

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5-1)

2. Baltimore Ravens (7-6)

3. Cleveland Browns (5-7-1)

4. Cincinnati Bengals (5-8)

AFC West

1. Kansas City Chiefs (11-2)

2. Los Angeles Chargers (10-3)

3. Denver Broncos (6-7)

4. Oakland Raiders (3-10)

NFC East

1. Dallas Cowboys (8-5)

2. Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)

3. Washington Redskins (6-7)

4. New York Giants (5-8)

NFC South

1. New Orleans Saints (11-2)

2. Carolina Panthers (6-7)

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-8)

4. Atlanta Falcons (4-9)

NFC North

1. Chicago Bears (9-4)

2. Minnesota Vikings (6-6-1)

3. Green Bay Packers (5-7-1)

4. Detroit Lions (5-8)

NFC West

1. Los Angeles Rams (11-2)

2. Seattle Seahawks (8-5)

3. Arizona Cardinals (3-10)

4. San Francisco 49ers (3-10)

Week 15 Power Rankings, SB Odds

1. New Orleans Saints (3-1)

2. Los Angeles Rams (63-20)

3. Kansas City Chiefs (24-5)

4. New England Patriots (7-1)

5. Chicago Bears (9-1)

6. Los Angeles Chargers (10-1)

7. Houston Texans (19-1)

8. Dallas Cowboys (19-1)

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (19-1)

10. Seattle Seahawks (28-1)

11. Baltimore Ravens (40-1)

12. Indianapolis Colts (50-1)

13. Minnesota Vikings (50-1)

14. Philadelphia Eagles (50-1)

15. Tennessee Titans (85-1)

16. Denver Broncos (150-1)

17. Carolina Panthers (150-1)

18. Cleveland Browns (200-1)

19. Miami Dolphins (250-1)

20 Green Bay Packers (250-1)

21. New York Giants (250-1)

22. Cincinnati Bengals (250-1)

23. Washington Redskins (300-1)

24. Detroit Lions (300-1)

25. Atlanta Falcons (400-1)

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (500-1)

27. Jacksonville Jaguars (500-1)

28. Buffalo Bills (1000-1)

29. New York Jets (1000-1)

30. San Francisco 49ers (3000-1)

31. Arizona Cardinals (3000-1)

32. Oakland Raiders (5000-1)

2. Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams headed into the weekend in control of the NFC's No. 1 seed. Their offense couldn't get going against the Chicago Bears, though, and the ensuing loss gave the No. 1 seed back to the New Orleans Saints.

Chicago was a good test for the Rams and their Super Bowl aspirations. L.A. has continued to roll this season largely on the back of Sean McVay's innovative game plan. The Bears were able to neutralize the Rams' scheme and force Los Angeles to beat them with tight offensive execution and strong defense.

Not every team has the collection of defensive talent Chicago does in order to implement this strategy, of course, but this is likely to be the game plan against the Rams from here on out.

Up next is a physical but injury-hampered Philadelphia Eagles defense.

"You still see elite players up front," McVay said, per Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.

Philadelphia will provide an opportunity for the Rams to show that they can outexecute an opponent and be more physical rather than relying on a finesse offense. It will be important to show this, as teams like the Bears and Seahawks will be ready to test L.A. in the postseason.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are in trouble. There really isn't another way to look at it. They suffered an avoidable loss against the Oakland Raiders because of injuries, mishaps and at least in part to mismanagement.

Pittsburgh didn't have running back James Conner against Oakland, which hampered the offense. It lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a rib injury for most of the second half.

The Steelers didn't allow Roethlisberger back on the field until they were trailing and have since blamed a faulty X-ray machine for not knowing the extent of his injury.

"We never had a clear understanding of what the injury was," coach Mike Tomlin said, per Will Graves of WBRC.com. "We would only reinsert him if it was necessary."

Roethlisberger nearly led the comeback, but Pittsburgh's defense collapsed, kicker Chris Boswell missed yet another kick (his 11th this season) and Pittsburgh dropped their third straight.

That inconsistent defense is a major issue, as is the suddenly unreliable kicking of Boswell. Those problems are magnified by the fact that without Conner, the Steelers don't have a threatening run game.

If the Steelers fall to the Patriots in Week 15 and the Baltimore Ravens pick up a win, the Steelers will lose their lead in the AFC North.

10. Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks cannot win the NFC West because the Rams have already clinched it. However, the way Seattle has played over the last couple weeks suggests they're completely capable of knocking off their divisional rival in the playoffs.

Seattle has lost both matchups with the Rams, but both losses came by a total of seven points.

Over the second half of the season, Seattle has shown the kind of rushing attack that can wear down any defense in the playoffs. Against the Vikings on Sunday, the Seahawks showed the kind of defense that helped propel them to a Super Bowl in the Legion of Boom era.

Now, the Seahawks cannot expect to hold opponents under 300 yards on a weekly basis the way they did Minnesota. What they can do is expect to hold opponents under 30 points—they've done so against every opponent aside from the Rams this season—and that will always give Russell Wilson and the offense a chance to pull ahead on the scoreboard.

Seattle is going to be a dangerous team to face in the postseason, and barring a major slip-up, the Seahawks are going to get there. Seattle can lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 and still notch 10 wins.