FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — This past week delivered a feast of football — highlight-reel plays, statement wins and one notable upset.
With the Carolina Panthers beating the Los Angeles Rams, the ranking sees a new team take the No. 1 spot. Plus, big wins by the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day shakes up the upper half of the rankings, too.
We look at all of that and more below.
A decisive win for the new No. 1, and the first team of 2025 to reach 11 wins on the year. Who would have thought going into 2025 that this team would be the Patriots?
Good teams win ugly games, and at times, that's what this game against the Commanders was for the Broncos. But still, they prevailed. Which is exactly what a good team does, and it's starting to look like the Broncos are good team indeed.
A little play-action factoid for you seeing as we've been talking a lot about it: Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have connected 21 times for 523 yards and four touchdowns off play action this season (22.7 yards/attempt), making them the only quarterback-receiver duo to have combined for more than 400 such yards.
What's more, Darnold and Smith-Njigba have combined for more play action passing yards by themselves than eight entire NFL offenses. (No I do not know if that includes the Falcons… but it could be a good guess if this comes up at your local trivia night).
The Rams had to come down from on high sooner or later. I just didn't think it would be the Panthers who would knock them down a few pegs. Or intercept Matthew Stafford that many times, either.
With the Rams' loss to the Panthers, it's the Bears who find themselves atop the NFC. Well deserved for a team that has lost just one game since Week 2.
The 49ers did what they were supposed to do vs. the Browns. There's really nothing else to add here.
This was one of the best wins for the Packers to date. Micah Parsons was terrifying, generating 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks on 26 pass rushes for a 38.5% pressure rate, his highest in a game since his rookie season. It was a good day to be Parsons, which means it was a bad day for Jared Goff.
Are the Colts losing a little bit of their sparkle? Or are the Texans finally hitting their stride? I go back and forth.
Even without Omarion Hampton, the Chargers are having no problems running the rock with Kimani Vidal, to the tune of 126 rushing yards and a career-high 12 missed tackles. They've got something good in RB2.
This isn't a horrible loss for the Eagles, but they have to start figuring things out sooner rather than later.
I have no idea what to make of the Bills this year. Some weeks they seem like real contenders, but other weeks they look like they don't even know where they are.
For the first time all year, the Lions struggled to run the ball. Jahmyr Gibbs recorded just 10 yards from 8 carries, averaging 1.3 yards per carry on rushes between the tackles. The Packers stuffed Gibbs seven times, which was a career high for Gibbs. Did the Packers crack a code?
They may not play perfectly all the time, but they are winning. Since their bye week, the Jaguars have won four of their last five games. With the Colts on deck, they have a big week ahead of them to really move the needle.
Another week, another Tampa-Bay-barely-squeaking-by game.
There are many who counted the Texans out after starting the season 0-3. But they had a tough slate of games to start the season. Now they're on a roll and looking like they should, improving to a 57% chance to make the postseason.
The Cowboys came back from their bye week in Week 10 and have been playing like a team with their hair on fire, beating both of last year's Super Bowl contenders in less than 10 days.
There's not a more confusing team in all of football than the Panthers. I mean seriously. They lose 40-9 to the Bills, but beat the Packers the next week. They lose to the Saints, only scoring seven points through four quarters. But then they beat the hottest team in the league? What is happening in Charlotte?
Aaron Rodgers was 10-of-21 against the Bills. He exited the game momentarily after a strip sack left him bloodied. He already has fractures in his wrist. Man, it's OK. Give it a rest. Your brittle old man bones are screaming.
At .500 and with their most recent loss to the Cowboys, the Chiefs have just a 40% chance to make the postseason; a percentage we haven't seen from the Chiefs in quite a while. It almost doesn't feel real.
If the Ravens could have held onto the ball perhaps they would have been in this thing, but they ended up losing a total of 48.2% win probability on turnovers alone. Making this L inevitable.
De'Von Achane recorded his third consecutive game with 120-plus rushing yards in Week 13, finishing with 134 rushing yards and one touchdown on 22 carries in a win against the Saints. They couldn't stop him.
Joe Shiesty is back, baby. Of course he snapped their losing streak.
Things are going from bad to worse with the Vikings. A shutout. Justin Jefferson only generating 0.1 yards per route, the fewest in a single game in his career. J.J. McCarthy in concussion protocol. None of it is good.
Even if the Falcons were to win their final five games, they'd only get up to a 3% chance to make the postseason. They are playing for pride now. That's it.
This is the arguably the best the Commanders have looked in months. They gave the Broncos everything they got. It's unfortunate they couldn't quite push to a win in overtime.
Another week, another Cardinals-not-being-able-to-pull-out-a-win-in-a-one-score-game game.
Tyrod Taylor earned his first win as a starter against the Falcons, marking the sixth different NFL franchise for which Taylor has started and won a game.
No one ask me what happened to Younghoe Koo. I have no idea.
From this point on this blurb is just going to be tracking Myles Garrett sacks as he hunts the single season sack record. He's at 19.
Chase Young has generated a pressure on 20.8% of his pass rushes this season, the 2nd-highest rate among edge rushers with 100+ pass rushes (Nik Bonitto, 21.1%). He's kind of the whole team right now, no?
The Raiders' 2-9 record is the worst win percentage in a season in Pete Carroll's 19 season NFL head coach career. Yikes.
Hard hitting analysis: The Titans are just not good.
