The Ravens' 56-19 thumping of the Miami Dolphins solidified their status as the best team in the NFL.
For the second week in a row, Baltimore (13-3) is No. 1 in all 10 sets of power rankings we monitor.
"They look like the best team in the NFL — and it isn't especially close," Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport wrote.
| Source | Ranking | Last Week's Ranking | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL.com | No. 1 | No. 1 | “Maybe the Bills or a Joe Flacco-led Browns team can come into Baltimore and win in the playoffs. After all, the Ravens have already lost to the Browns at home, and Gardner Minshew won there once. But the way this team is playing reminds me of the Denver Nuggets or Texas Rangers getting white hot at exactly the right time en route to winning the NBA and MLB championships, respectively. If there's an immediate worry, it's in the secondary. Kyle Hamilton and Brandon Stephens missed Sunday's win over Miami, and Marlon Humphrey (calf) and Daryl Worley (stinger) both left the game with injuries. Of course, Baltimore can survive without them in Week 18, with the Ravens having already clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and there will be two weeks of additional healing time before their first playoff game. Regardless, Lamar Jackson's superpower — the reason he just feels like the clear-cut MVP right now — is that he can offset some of your problems and coax an entire team, not just an offense, to turn in a dominant performance any given game.” — Eric Edholm |
| Bleacher Report | No. 1 | No. 1 | “After what we saw from the Ravens on Sunday, I don't know how you can call them anything but the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Lamar Jackson has receivers now. Baltimore's defense is as good as any in the league. The Ravens have won six straight, including victories over the Rams, Jaguars, 49ers and Dolphins. They look like the best team in the NFL — and it isn't especially close." — Gary Davenport |
| ESPN | No. 1 | No. 1 | |
| Sports Illustrated | No. 1 | No. 1 | “The bananas part about the Ravens posting 56 points on the Miami Dolphins is that, at the 1:44 mark of the first quarter, the Ravens were down 10–7 and Lamar Jackson was about to be dragged down short of the first-down marker by Bradley Chubb. How the tenor of a game can change with this team.” — Conor Orr |
| CBS Sports | No. 1 | No. 1 | “They are the class of the NFL right now after blowing out Miami just a week after dominating the 49ers. Lamar Jackson is the MVP.” — Pete Prisco |
| The Athletic | No. 1 | No. 1 | “John Harbaugh hit back-to-back home runs by hiring Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald in 2022 and Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken in 2023. As a result, his Ravens clinched the AFC’s top seed by thumping the Dolphins on Sunday. Well, that, and having Lamar Jackson, who was 18-for-21 for 321 yards and five touchdowns against Miami. Jackson’s plus-28.2 passing EPA was the best single-game performance since Joe Burrow against the Ravens in 2021 (plus-34.1), according to NextGenStats, and probably clinched the MVP award.” — Josh Kendall |
| Sporting News | No. 1 | No. 1 | “The Ravens made sure they left no doubt about the team to beat ahead of Super Bowl 58 by throttling the 49ers and Dolphins in consecutive weeks. Along with those stellar offensive performances, Lamar Jackson has all but sewn up his second MVP.” — Vinnie Iyer |
| Fox Sports | No. 1 | No. 1 | “We know for sure that the 37-point beatdown of Miami locked up the No. 1 seed for the Ravens. I'm also firmly convinced Lamar Jackson's five-touchdown day against the Dolphins wrapped up his second NFL MVP award. Now, we wait to see if they can keep rolling in the playoffs.” — David Helman |
| Yahoo! Sports | No. 1 | No. 1 | “The Ravens aren't just beating good teams. They're destroying them.” — Frank Schwab |
