Week 17 NFL power ratings: How to value all 32 teams, including teams with potential QB changes, for ATS picks

Week 16 saw multiple teams seemingly give up on young quarterbacks and turn to capable veteran backups who nearly delivered massive comeback wins. It was enough to make you wonder if anything would be different for those teams had they made those decisions earlier in the season.

For the Giants, Tyrod Taylor took over for an ineffective Tommy DeVito and nearly sparked a comeback win after the Giants entered halftime down 20-3. Taylor threw an end zone pick at the end of the game with his team down eight, and while his statistics don't look that different from DeVito's once you set aside the long TD to Darius Slayton, he's clearly an upgrade over the undrafted free agent signal-caller, and it's hard to see Brian Daboll going back to DeVito after making the in-game switch. I've upgraded the Giants three points in my spread power ratings from where I had them last week, which was tied for worst team in the league.

For the Commanders, Jacoby Brissett put together two TD drives against the Rams after replacing Sam Howell in Week 15, then replaced Howell again this week with his team down 27-7 against the Jets and engineered three straight touchdown drives (giving him give straight TD drives over a two-game stretch) to take the lead. Brissett fell one drive short of completing the win, however, and a three-and-out led to a game-winning field goal for the Jets. Even with a terrible defense, it's possible Washington is on the fringe of the playoff race with Brissett as starter all year instead of playing out the string. I'm upgrading my power rating for the Commanders two points with the likelihood Brissett is named starter for the final two weeks.

Another team facing a QB decision is the Steelers after Mason Rudolph breathed life into the Pittsburgh offense in a rout of the Bengals. Right now Rudolph is expected to get another start, but we'll see where Kenny Pickett is in his recovery at the end of the week. If Pickett is cleared to return, which QB will Mike Tomlin go with as he chases a playoff berth? If I knew for sure we'd get Pickett under center, I'd probably upgrade the Steelers one point from where I have them now.

If you need a refresher on how to build spread power ratings, why they're important for beating the market and how successful I've been with this system at SportsLine, check out the Week 1 version of these power ratings. You can also check out SportsLine on Sunday afternoons as I give my initial power ratings adjustments for each team to get ahead of the market openers before diving in fully for this Tuesday feature. Otherwise, we'll jump right in.

Which lines are several points off their power rating projections for Week 17? And which teams are being undervalued by the market? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Week 17 power ratings from the expert who's 535-450-30 on ATS picks from 2017-22, returning $3,532 to $100 players!