NFL power rankings with 2022 regular season over: Top five unchanged, but Cowboys slip

NFL power rankings at conclusion of 2022 regular season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Bengals (1): They enter the playoffs with an AFC-best eight-game win streak, and AFC North champs also ensured no coin flip would make them hit the road for the wild-card round. However there's no scenario that will prevent them going to Buffalo and Kansas City in the postseason ... aside from the ones where those teams lose, precluding those matchups.

2. Chiefs (2): Kansas City won 10 of its last 11, earning AFC's No. 1 seed for the third time in QB Patrick Mahomes' five seasons as starter. But they won't be playing Bills at Arrowhead Stadium, where they've eliminated Bills past two years, this month.

3. 49ers (3): Hard to believe this team was 3-4 at one point. They finish regular season on a 10-game heater and biggest point differential (+173) in the league.

4. Bills (4): They had largest point differential (+169) among AFC teams despite playing one fewer game. Question now is whether a group that's been buffeted by an emotional roller coaster over the past week can differentiate itself to its first Super Bowl appearance in 29 years.

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5. Eagles (5): They'd looked like the NFL's best team for two months but limped home ... albeit with the NFC's top postseason seed. But as Philadelphia tries to get right in its bid for a second Lombardi Trophy in six years, the inevitability of major changes also loom as other clubs line up to interview coveted coordinators Shane Steichen (offense) and Jonathan Gannon (defense).

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6. Jaguars (7): Beware, Bolts – Jags haven't lost a home playoff game in 23 years, a span in which Duval County has hosted ... one. Still, plenty of signs for many more in the near future given what a rising (risen?) power Jacksonville appears to be in AFC South.

7. Cowboys (6): Maybe you've heard they're 0-7 all-time against Tom Brady? Maybe you've read QB Dak Prescott tied for the league lead with 15 INTs, including at least one in the past seven weeks? Dallas fans have probably heard enough heading into America's Team's Monday showdown against playoff-proven Bucs.

8. Chargers (8): Can't wait for Saturday night's showdown in Jacksonville, QB Justin Herbert and Jags counterpart Trevor Lawrence meeting for their playoff coming-out party. If game goes into overtime, maybe it should be decided by a vote of which young gun has the better mane?

9. Vikings (10): Has a 13-win team ever been more lightly regarded heading into postseason? Arguably not ... though no 13-win team has ever been outscored over the course of a season, either.

10. Lions (11): They're fun to watch. They're fun to listen to. Their fun corps of rookie defenders compiled a record 20½ sacks. They wouldn't have been a fun assignment for the 49ers this weekend.

11. Giants (12): They come off their, ahem, bye week for a rematch with a Minnesota team New York lost to by three points three weeks ago. The Vikes played quite a few of their starters with little to gain in Week 18, so a little rest vs. rust experiment here?

12. Ravens (9): As the Lamar Jackson mystery continues, at least they didn't give Cincy a good scout in Week 18 by resting several other key starters ... to the degree that even matters to a salty divisional opponent that already knows Baltimore intimately well.

13. Packers (13): If they still shared a division with the Bucs – remember the old "Battle of the Bays" NFC Central days? – they'd be playoff bound. Now we're left to mull a post-Aaron Rodgers scenario as he contemplates his future with Pack.

14. Buccaneers (16): The worst regular season of Brady's career was also his first on a team with a losing record (8-9). But Tampa Bay is back in the Super Bowl tourney and, quite frankly, could get back to at least .500 (10-10) given how wide open the NFC postseason bracket appears to be.

15. Patriots (14): Year 24 for Bill Belichick, who just finished his third season without a post-Brady playoff win, needs to look significantly different than Year 23 – especially as it pertains to managing and coaching Mac Jones, assuming he remains QB1 in 2023.

16. Steelers (15): Yes, Mike Tomlin's string of winning seasons remained intact after Pittsburgh salvaged a 9-8 finish. But did you realize Steelers haven't won a playoff game in six years?

17. Panthers (18): A slew of talented young players. A weak division. An owner who's going to aggressively try to fulfill your wish list. While the quarterback issue that plagues so much of the league must also be acknowledged here, there should still be a lot of top-tier head coaching candidates blazing a path to Charlotte.

18. Saints (19): Projected to be almost $40 million overspent in 2023, they'll doubtless do their annual credit card salary cap maneuvers – though you wonder at what point they opt for a teardown.

19. Seahawks (20): Remember how this post-Russ team was supposed to get back to pounding the ball and playing vicious defense? Seattle ranked 18th in rushing and 26th in total defense. Meanwhile, WR Tyler Lockett matched Steve Largent's team record with four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, while QB Geno Smith's 4,282 passing yards overwrote Wilson's former franchise mark.

20. Dolphins (17): They earned their playoff berth, but the last month has been a reminder these seem like the same old Fins – feasting on the weak while getting devoured by the strong.

21. Jets (21): Now commences what should be a fascinating offseason of speculation as an otherwise playoff-caliber team, which continues to parrot support for bust-trending Zach Wilson, decides what to do about its quarterback depth chart.

22. Browns (22): A team that ranked 14th in total defense fired its coordinator, while a team that ranked 14th in total offense... stood pat. Expect the heat to turn up on HC Kevin Stefanski in 2023, when the union with QB Deshaun Watson needs to work a lot better between the lines.

23. Commanders (24): Figures that a team that apparently can't manage quarterbacks debuts what may be its best one after getting eliminated from the playoff picture.

24. Titans (23): So, nine months after their highly scrutinized trade of WR A.J. Brown, is it time to put RB Derrick Henry on the market while the 29-year-old can still fetch a quasi-valuable return?

25. Rams (25): Coming off the worst-ever season by a defending Super Bowl champion, this could become a massive house of cards if HC Sean McVay walks away.

26. Falcons (27): Only Chicago is projected to have more cap space heading into free agency this year. Of course, $75 million and the eighth pick of the draft may not be enough to fix the quarterback riddle (Ridder?) here.

27. Raiders (26): RB Josh Jacobs led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,053) and won the rushing title (1,653), joining Hall of Famer Marcus Allen as the only Raiders to do so. Now, will the pending free agent join Allen by leaving the Silver and Black in frustration?

28. Broncos (30): They lost a record-tying nine games by one score, a statistical anomaly alone that suggests Denver should be much better in 2023 ... assuming the onboarding of the next coach and his integration with Wilson goes a lot more smoothly.

29. Bears (28): Look who's got the No. 1 pick of the draft and the most cap space in the league, approximately $118 million, per overthecap.com. Enough glimmers of hope here to start getting excited about 2023.

30. Cardinals (31): The presence of QB Kyler Murray, warts and all, could be enough to make this the league's most attractive vacant job – though that comes with positive and negative caveats, one of them Murray's recovery from ACL reconstruction.

31. Texans (32): What more could fired coaches David Culley and Lovie Smith, both ousted after one season the past two years, realistically have done given the constraints of this job? Makes you wonder what the next guy will have to do when expectations might actually rise to middling.

32. Colts (29): Interim coach Jeff Saturday concludes season with a seven-game slide – the average margin of defeat 13.1 points, including that historic meltdown in Minneapolis.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.