10 Teams Peter King Got Wrong In His NFL Power Rankings

If there's a constant in every NFL season, it's that it has a way of making fools out of sports reporters. More than one person has been burned predicting a Super Bowl run for a team that barely makes .500, while the ones everyone ignored are in the playoffs. Oftentimes, a team looks to have made every move needed for success, only for it to blow up in their faces. Sportswriter Peter King has felt that ever since he's been doing his ESPN Power Rankings.

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This season was more notable than ever for King getting it wrong. True, he picked the Bills #1 and the Chiefs at #3 and was correct on teams that struggled. Yet King also got quite a few teams wrong as ones he figured were going to soar, but instead fell to Earth hard. Meanwhile, teams that he brushed off are the ones making a run for the Super Bowl. Here are ten notable teams Peter King got wrong in his 2022 power rankings to show how figuring out the game is trickier than it seems.

10 Las Vegas Raiders #15

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The signing of Davante Adams was supposed to be a sign of the Raiders turning it around this year. They did have Josh Jacobs doing a terrific job with rushing, but that couldn't help them win more games.

Derek Carr was in rough shape and benched for the last two games as the Raiders got a few good wins (like the stunning victory over the Patriots) but also brutal losses, including a shutout to the Saints. Their 6-11 finish is a far cry from the high ranking King figured they'd get before the season began.

9 Denver Broncos #14

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This season looked to be terrific for the Broncos. They had a fresh new coach, some good talent and pulled off the seeming coup of trading for Russell Wilson. And then came the opening game, where Nathaniel Hackett made one of the dumbest clock decisions in NFL history to cost them the win.

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That was the kick-off to a horrific year with a few losses by only a couple of points while others were completely lopsided. It led to Hackett joining the dubious club of coaches fired before their first season was over and only a last-game win over the Chargers kept the Broncos from tying for the worst record in the league. Like many, King fell for the hype, thinking Denver was going to be a contender.

8 New York Giants #24

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Another of the big surprises of the season has been the Giants stunning everyone with a good year. They pulled off a huge win over the Packers in London and a couple of tight losses, along with a tie with the Commanders.

Those went the other way and Giants would have ended up even better, yet 9-7-1 is still better than what King and others thought they'd get to. It's rare to see hope in New York at playoff time, but Giants fans have something to root for this year, even as most expected them to have yet another lousy season.

7 Seattle Seahawks #25

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The narrative before the season was obvious: without Russell Wilson, the Seahawks were going to slump badly and their rough start seemed to confirm that.

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But Seattle rebounded, pulling off some good wins and if some plays had gone the other way, they might have won the NFC West. Geno Smith is having a good comeback and Pete Carroll still leading the way for another postseason berth. Thus, having them all the way at #25 was a poor pick by King, as Seattle proved their doubters wrong.

6 Minnesota Vikings #19

Usually, the Vikings are in the rearview mirror of the Packers. Not this season. Yes, they had a few surprise losses here and there but finished a strong 13-4 and the NFC North title. Kirk Cousins has done a good job at QB and backed by a good defense and offensive line.

They may have suffered a couple of harsh defeats, but the Vikings have shown their stuff very well this season and secured the top spot for the NFC North. That gives hope for the future so they'll be higher in the rankings next year.

5 Jacksonville Jaguars #29

Probably the most unexpected success of the season, the Jaguars weren't expected to be much this year, given their constant seasons of mediocrity. But after a rough start, the Jaguars have been clicking, pulling off some surprising wins over the Ravens and Cowboys and managing to clinch the AFC South.

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Trevor Lawrence is showing great promise as finally a draft pick working out for Jacksonville and securing a playoff berth. While it's questionable how far they can go, there's no denying the Jaguars exceeded any expectations folks had for them this season.

4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers #6

Yes, they ended up winning the NFC South, but that's only because the rest of the division is even worse. For the first time in his career, Tom Brady did not have a winning season as the Bucs barely managed to squeak through a few wins and suffered terrible losses to the Saints, 49ers, Panthers and even the Browns.

King did feel Tampa Bay's schedule would be a challenge and he was right on that, yet putting them that high looks foolish given age appeared to finally catch up to Tom Brady and he might have wished he'd stayed retired.

3 Green Bay Packers #5

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Picking the Packers for the postseason and a playoff run is generally a safe bet. The idea of an Aaron Rodgers-led team not winning the NFC North seemed impossible. Yet it happened this year. The Packers started well, only to hit a nasty losing streak, looking like they had no idea what to do.

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They pulled it together near the end, but it ended with a terrible loss to a Lions team that had already been eliminated from the playoffs. Seeing Green Bay and Rodgers limp to such a weak end embarrassed a lot of pre-season predictors.

2 Los Angeles Chargers #2

They did end up 10-7 and the playoffs, so it's not like the Chargers were a failure this season. But King has to regret his decision to put them all the way at #2 behind the Bills. He thought getting Khali Mack would make the Chargers a top defense and give Justin Herbert room to succeed.

Yet the Chargers lost a few games they likely shouldn't have and ended the season with a narrow loss to the lowly Broncos. Putting them ahead of the Chiefs was crazy in the summer and looks even dumber now, as the Chargers were good but not great.

1 Los Angeles Rams: #4

In King's defense, no one could have seen the collapse of the Rams coming. No team has gone from winning a Super Bowl to 5-12 in a single season. From coaching staff turnover to head coach Sean McVay being overworked, the Rams saw plenty of issues.

The worst was the devastating injuries taking out the core players King boasted would keep the Rams going, such as Matthew Stafford. The result was a team so desperate, they signed Baker Mayfield and limped to an overtime loss to the Seahawks. They may rebound next year, but for now, the Rams have to count as the most shocking disappointment of the season.