FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — We've got a new No. 1 team in this week's ranking as the New England Patriots saw the Buffalo Bills stomp out their 21-0 lead to ultimately beat last week's top-ranked team.
This loss allows the Los Angeles Rams to shimmy their way up one spot to sit atop all the rest.
And even though the Falcons and Saints have nothing but pride to play for, they've made things very interesting for their NFC South counterparts in the Buccaneers and Panthers as they hunt out a divisional lead down the stretch.
All of this and more in Week 16's Power Rankings.
The connection between Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua is lighting the league on fire right now. If you take away the Rams snafu in Carolina a few weeks ago, one could argue Los Angeles has deserved this No. 1 spot for a while.
Everything seems to be working for the Broncos right now. They have the longest active win streak in the NFL and they secured their playoff spot with the win this weekend. They are the first AFC team to do so.
An interesting note about this: In each of the last three seasons, the first team to clinch a playoff berth in the regular season has reached the Super Bowl. All three, however, ultimately lost. This, of course, could mean nothing for the Broncos, but hey, it's interesting.
The NFC West could come down to a short week as the Seahawks and Rams face off this Thursday night. The Rams narrowly escaped a home win the last time these two teams faced off in Week 11. More than curious to see what happens in Seattle this week.
I almost turned this game off at the half when the Patriots were up 21-0. Glad I didn't. I mean, heck, who would have thought? The Patriots had a 124-1 record when leading by 21-plus points at any point in a home game in team history. And yet…
For the first time since 2013, the Chargers swept the series with the Chiefs after having lost seven consecutive games vs. the Chiefs entering the 2025 season.
What's more, Justin Herbert passes Patrick Mahomes for the second-most passing yards by a player in their first six NFL seasons. The tides are changing in the AFC West.
The NFC West has three teams in the top 10 of this ranking week after week. And even though the Rams and Seahawks are ahead of the 49ers, it's San Francisco that holds an 8-2 record vs. NFC opponents, the best record of any team this season vs. their conference opponents.
This was a huge win for the Bills — both from a divisional rankings standpoint and morale. Buffalo's win probability dropped to as low as 8.9% when the Patriots went up 21-0. Never count out Josh Allen, though.
A stat to watch: Caleb Williams needs 283.3 passing yards per game in the Bears' final three games to become the first player in Bears history with 4,000 passing yards in a single season. That's going to be quite the challenge to reach that mark, but not outside the realm of possibility.
Trevor Lawrence went off against the Jets. With his performance he became the first player in NFL history with five-plus touchdowns, one or more rushing touchdowns and over 50 rushing yards in a single game.
Kudos to all of you who started Lawrence on your fantasy teams, because wowza.
The Broncos pressured the crap out of Jordan Love — on 52.2% of his dropbacks which was the highest pressure rate of his career as a starter. It led to one of Love's worst performances through the air in 2025, with two interceptions and a 68.3 passer rating.
An absolutely dominating performance by the Eagles: Their first shutout win since Week 17 of the 2018 season and the 75 total yards allowed are the fewest by a Philly team in a single game in the Super Bowl era.
After starting the season 0-3, the Texans are on their longest win streak (six) since the 2018 season (nine). And just this week, Nico Collins joined Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins as the only player in Texans franchise history to record 1,000-plus receiving yards in three straight seasons.
The Texans are right where they want to be with three games remaining and an AFC South championship in sight if they win down the stretch.
This game had an Arthur Smith special: A Jonnu Smith rushing touchdown.
In his first game since 2020, Philip Rivers completed just two of his eight attempts over 10 air yards for 33 yards and an interception, compared to 16 of 18 attempts for 87 yards and a touchdown on underneath passes.
He's 44 years old. So, this tracks.
Derrick Henry averaged 9.1 yards per carry en route to a 100-rushing yard day. He is just the fourth player in NFL history to record at least 3,000 rushing yards in his first two seasons with a new team. Oh, and he's also 31 years old and shows no signs of letting up.
Does no one want to win the NFC South?
I'm so serious — no one?
Dak Prescott has thrown for at least 265 yards in each of his last four games, and has averaged 329.5 yards per game since Week 11. But the defense has given up 30-plus points in the last two losses, making Prescott's stats a footnote.
This loss snapped the Chiefs' streak of 10 straight seasons making the playoffs, which was the longest active streak in the NFL. This marks the first time Patrick Mahomes has been eliminated prior to overtime of the AFC Championship Game in his career as a starter.
Mahomes also tore his ACL in the loss. Things went from bad to worse for the Chiefs quickly.
J.J. McCarthy accumulated a career-high 250 passing yards in the team's win vs. the Cowboys. Only 22 of those 250 yards went to Justin Jefferson, marking the third straight game he has failed to reach 30 receiving yards. That feels potentially problematic.
I'll be honest that I haven't watched a ton of Miami football of late, but I definitely didn't expect the drop off in play from Tua to be so steep.
The Falcons are out of playoff contention, yes. But they showed up and fought. That's all you could ask for with times being tough.
There's something in the New Orleans water these days, because what do you mean the Saints have beaten the Bucs and Panthers in just as many weeks?
The Commanders snapped the league's longest active losing streak in the NFL by beating a team that hasn't won a game since Week 6. So, grains of salt.
A weird — and not so great — full circle moment: The last time the Bengals were shutout was… against the Ravens in Week 1 of the 2017 season.
In the spirit of highlighting top players on losing teams who would otherwise be highlighted if their teams were winning, let's spotlight Trey McBride.
He had a career- high 134 receiving yards against a very stout Texans defense. His now 16 games broke a tie with Travis Kelce (15 games in 2018) for the longest streak of games with five-plus receptions by a tight end in NFL history. McBride also became the first tight end in NFL history to have 100-plus receptions in back-to-back seasons.
Weird stat alert: The Jets only have two turnovers this year. No interceptions at that. They are on pace to be the first team since at least 1941 with fewer than seven total takeaways in a season and the first team since at least 1932 with no interceptions in a season.
Myles Garrett is one sack away from the NFL record. That's kind of all there is to say about the Browns right now.
I still miss Cam Skattebo. At least he made the Giants fun.
The Titans' performance against the 49ers was better than the Raiders' shutout loss to the Eagles. So, we have a new No. 32 team for the first time in a few weeks.
Maxx Crosby has tackled opposing ball-carriers for a loss or no gain 22 times this season, the most in the NFL. Like Myles Garrett and the Browns, that's kind of all there is to say about the Raiders.
