Happy holidays and welcome to the Week 16 Power Rankings. I hope you’re reading this in a semi-relaxed state with the bulk of your shopping behind you. My colleague, Albert Breer, and I disagree vehemently on the merits of in-person shopping on Christmas Eve but I’m starting to see his point. After a torrid stretch of purchasing, returning, one-starring Etsy pages that promised to deliver on time but waited like three weeks to ship and phoning several Korean barbecue restaurants to ask about digital gift cards, I’ve arrived here in this moment where I should feel complete. 

Instead, just before bed Monday my 5-year-old said he was really hoping Santa brought him a Lego Minecraft Pick Axe. He’s never played Minecraft. He’s never seen a pick axe. What the f— is this s—? 

The point? It can never be perfect. Neither can the Power Rankings. We all do our best nonetheless. 

1. Los Angeles Rams (11–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: lost to Seahawks, 38–37 (OT)
This week: at Falcons

The Rams remain at our top spot despite one of the strangest and most electric losses I’ve seen in a long time. And, there’s this: while I don’t think PFF grades should be a lone decider in any type of argument, the fact that, when you remove quarterback play from the equation and this team is by far the best in every other major category … that’s significant. 

2. Seattle Seahawks (12–3) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: beat Rams, 38–37 (OT)
This week: at Panthers

I get the frustration from Seahawks fans here, but I think there were so many odd conditions that occurred in succession to help the victory materialize. That said, it shouldn’t take away from the meaning of this win, which is incredibly significant and propelling as we get into the postseason.

3. Buffalo Bills (11–4) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: beat Browns, 23–20
This week: vs. Eagles

Josh Allen now has more wins as a starter in his first eight seasons than either Russell Wilson or Tom Brady. And while wins are typically not a total QB stat, they say a lot when many of those wins are dependent on Allen becoming superhuman. 

4. Philadelphia Eagles (10–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: beat Commanders, 29–18
This week: at Bills

The Eagles, miraculously, look like a functional offense now that they’re playing the less-vaunted portion of their schedule. Saquon Barkley is making plays in the backfield again and allowing the offense to get itself into more advantageous packages. Maybe it wasn’t the coordinator after all?

5. New England Patriots (12–3) 

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs
Diggs made several huge plays in the Patriots' comeback win over the Ravens on Sunday night. | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: beat Ravens, 28–24
This week: at Jets

I was struck watching the Patriots’ post-game interview how in line the entire team was—even Stefon Diggs. He deliberately sidestepped a question about the team’s playoff aspirations in a toned-down Q&A that revealed the totality of the Vrabel effect for me. It’s simply bigger than one person. 

6. Chicago Bears (11–4) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat Packers, 22–16 (OT)
This week: at Bears

Caleb Williams doing the sign language for “Bear” after chucking a lights-out overtime walk-off touchdown against the division-rival Packers is legitimately one of the five coolest NFL things I have witnessed this season. 

7. Jacksonville Jaguars (11–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: beat Broncos, 34–20
This week: at Colts

Congratulations to the Jaguars for clinching a playoff spot following Indianapolis’s loss to San Francisco. This is a pivotal moment for fans who have to shift from guerilla-style, torture-the-writers-of-power-rankings to act-like-you’ve-been-here-before classy. It’s not an easy transition. Many fan bases fail. Study the good ones.  

8. Houston Texans (10–5) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: beat Raiders, 23–21
This week: at Chargers

I think commemorating big life moments on a Nintendo D.S. camera should be way more normalized in today’s society: 

9. Denver Broncos (12–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: lost to Jaguars, 34–20
This week: at Chiefs

Like Sean Payton always says …

10. Los Angeles Chargers (11–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: beat Cowboys, 34–17
This week: vs. Texans

The Chargers are allowing fewer than 10 second-half points per game this season and, over the last three games, are allowing fewer than five second-half points per game. Paging Jesse Minter to the head coaching chair.

11. San Francisco 49ers (11–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: beat Colts, 48–27
This week: vs. Bears

Brock Purdy was the first San Francisco 49ers quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game since Joe Montana. And punter Thomas Morstead hasn’t punted in a game since Nov. 30. The 49ers are going to get the No. 1 seed, aren’t they?

12. Detroit Lions (8–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: lost to Steelers, 29–24
This week: at Vikings

Forget about the ridiculous nine-minute long, strangely narrativized explanation for the offensive pass interference at the end of this game. This was the call that officials should be hiding from on Monday morning. The one that actually cost the Lions a postseason berth. 

13. Green Bay Packers (9–5–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: lost to Bears, 22–16 (OT)
This week: vs. Ravens

I shared this thought with Albert Breer on our latest iteration of the MMQB podcast. While I get that the local and national perspectives on this coaching staff are different, you have to look around at the disastrous backup QB scenarios around the league and feel some degree of appreciation for Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich for having the Malik Willis package ready to roll. 

14. Pittsburgh Steelers (8–6) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: beat Lions, 29–24
This week: at Browns

Column on the DK Metcalf situation. Ultimately, I hope the NFL did its due diligence before suspending him for two games. I still would have liked to have seen the fan ejected as well because keeping him in his front row seat only encourages copycat crimes. 

15. Carolina Panthers (8–7)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young
In his last five games, Young has passed for 10 touchdowns with just two turnovers and a 107.0 passer rating. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: beat Buccaneers, 23–20
This week: vs. Seahawks

While game-winning drives are a dubious statistic, the fact that Bryce Young now has 10 of them since being benched in an offense that clearly hinges on an inside run game is pretty impressive. So is his interception-to-TD ratio in that time (42:15). So is the fact that picking up his fifth year option seems like a foregone conclusion now. 

16. Baltimore Ravens (7–8)

Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: lost to Patriots, 28–24
This week: at Packers

If you happen to find yourself on the website today, check out this piece on Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. I think this team is a prime candidate for an Aaron Rodgers-Jordan Love type situation as we head into a disappointing offseason. 

17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7–8) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: lost to Panthers, 23–20
This week: at Dolphins

Column on the Buccaneers’ tailspin, what happens now and why it’s a little more complicated than what you’re thinking. 

18. Indianapolis Colts (8–7)

Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: lost to 49ers, 48–27
This week: vs. Jaguars

Philip Rivers’s pick-six had nothing to do with the outcome of Monday’s game. It had everything to do with another stymied run game and a horrendous performance from the defense. It’s still wild to me that this was anything but a failed experiment. Rivers was not the problem.

19. Minnesota Vikings (7–8)

Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: beat Giants, 16–13
This week: vs. Lions

JAXSON DART RUSHES INTO THE FRAY: Mother of God, someone stop that reckless child!

J.J. MCCARTHY DOES THE SAME THING: All out grit, babyyyyyyy

20. Dallas Cowboys (6–8–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: lost to Chargers, 34–17
This week: at Commanders

Matt Eberflus was moved to the booth, and proceeded to give up 452 yards—the most the Chargers have racked up all season. And while I know it isn’t all his fault at this point, why not audition a potential replacement over the final weeks of the season?

21. Cincinnati Bengals (5–10)

Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: beat Dolphins, 45–21
This week: vs. Cardinals

I feel horrible for Joe Burrow for, in a moment of humanity, revealed that he wasn’t all that happy in the moment. Now, every Sunday for the rest of his Godforsaken career, he’s going to be asked whether or not he’s having fun.

22. Atlanta Falcons (6–9) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: beat Cardinals, 26–19
This week: vs. Rams

I thought that Zac Robinson had one of his better games as a coordinator Sunday and did a phenomenal job of using his weapons as creators of legal traffic to spring open playmakers with room to run. I wonder if this is something Kirk Cousins can see developing a little sooner than Michael Penix and can better take advantage of.

23. New Orleans Saints (5–10)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough
In seven starts this season, Saints quarterback Tyler Shough has completed 68.2% of his passes with seven touchdowns and a 91.6 passer rating. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: beat Jets, 29–6
This week: at Titans

The Saints’ rebuild is going to be fascinating, primarily because players like Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill and Cam Jordan don’t seem to want to go anywhere else. Handling this divorce, or incorporating aging veterans onto a different iteration of the team, will be a unique challenge for Kellen Moore. 

24. Miami Dolphins (6–9) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Bengals, 45–21
This week: vs. Buccaneers

I’m not sure I have a definitive thought on Quinn Ewers’s first NFL start, but I do think that if you’re going to be a seventh-round pick trying to make your way on an NFL roster, going full Miami Cowboy is the right move. Just peep this George Straight shirt for one second: 

25. Washington Commanders (4–11)

Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: lost to Eagles, 29–18
This week: vs. Cowboys

Dan Quinn adorably lingered on the field at the end of Eagles-Commanders to make sure there weren’t going to be any more fights like the world’s best little league dad. 

26. Cleveland Browns (3–12)

Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 23–20
This week: vs. Steelers

With the news of Arrowhead Stadium being on its last legs, I’m getting way nostalgic for World War II era builds. Once we’re through the phase where every one of these wretched things has to look like a Cybertruck to appease their gaudy owners, I hope there’s a hardcore return to this aesthetic. 

27. Tennessee Titans (3–12)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward
Over the last three weeks, Ward and the Titans offense have averaged 27 points per game. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: beat Chiefs, 26–9
This week: vs. Saints

*Looks around to make sure no one is there*

Is Cam Ward next year’s Caleb Williams? The parallels are kind of eerie. Ward is 32nd out of 33 qualifying starters in EPA per play this season with a 0.006 rating (ahead of only J.J. McCarthy). Last year? Williams was 31st out of 39 qualifying starters with 0.03 EPA per play. Both of them displayed absolutely incredible instincts off schedule and need a coach who can install a run game that allows them to keep cooking. 

28. Arizona Cardinals (3–12)

Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Falcons, 26–19
This week: at Bengals

So Marvin Harrson Jr. returns to the lineup and we have solved the pressing question of what happens now that Harrison and Michael Wilson are in the lineup together again (following Wilson’s incredible surge): Neither lead the team in targets…even if you combined them. Fantastic stuff. 

29. New York Giants (2–13)

Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: lost to Vikings, 16–13
This week: at Raiders

I used to be a Giants beat writer for The Star-Ledger, a great newspaper based in Newark, New Jersey. We were obsessed with everything New Jersey and when a big national event happened, we always searched for New Jersey ties. Well, the Giants coaching search may come down to a dude from Montvale (Jeff Hafley) and one from Fair Lawn (Anthony Campanile). Be still, my beating heart. 

30. Las Vegas Raiders (2–13)

Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: lost to Texans, 23–21
This week: vs. Giants

Tough break for Chip Kelly, who was dismissed as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator and may have gotten edged out for the Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator job by Bobby Petrino. On second thought, leaving Las Vegas for Chapel Hill sounds like its own version of football hell. 

31. New York Jets (3–12)

Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: lost to Saints, 29–6
This week: vs. Patriots

I hate to belabor this, but we are now two weeks away from the Jets setting an unbreakable record for going an entire season without an interception (until we move to 18 games in two seasons, anyway). The Vikings have twenty-one interceptions this year. The Lions and the Rams, tied for the second fewest interceptions in the NFL, have five. 

32. Topeka Chiefs (6–9)

Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: lost to Titans, 26–9
This week: vs. Broncos

Sorry, you abandon your home stadium and state, you get penalized. Coal in the stocking. A broken air fryer under the Christmas tree. Car doors frozen shut. All the winter pox upon this franchise for taking the money and running.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Power Rankings: Bears, Jaguars Ascend After Statement Victories.

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