NFL Power Rankings 2025: Rams Remain at No. 1, Jaguars Rise

NFL Power Rankings updated Dec. 22, 2025

Group A:


Los Angeles Rams (11-3) – Previously: 1.
The Rams remain at No. 1 despite losing to the Seahawks. They beat Seattle earlier, after all. The officiating in the Thursday game was absurdly poor, and the Rams had bad luck from the return touchdown anyway. The Rams, who were ahead 30-14 before the madness occurred, are still the best team in the NFL.

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Buffalo Bills (11-4) – Previously: 2.
The Bills have rebounded nicely in four games since their loss to the Texans. Josh Allen was incredible in the second half against both the Bengals and Patriots. This wasn’t the case against the Browns, but that wasn’t a high-effort spot for Buffalo.


Seattle Seahawks (12-3) – Previously: 3.
What an incredible comeback. But a bogus one at that. The two-point play was blown dead, so it shouldn’t have counted, and the Seahawks were aided by a punt return touchdown, which is always fluky. I’ll give Sam Darnold credit for his play in overtime, but the Rams should have won that game.



Group B:


Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) – Previously: 5.
The Jaguars are better than what they’ve been earlier in the season. Jakobi Meyers is such an important presence for Trevor Lawrence because Lawrence has never had a professional receiver in his career. He’s played with talented receivers, but all of them were either mistake-prone or fragile. The defense, meanwhile, has made great strides. I ended up betting the Jaguars to win the Super Bowl.


Philadelphia Eagles (10-5) – Previously: 4.
The Eagles looked like they were going to once again s**t the bed, but they were bailed out by Marcus Mariota’s injury. It also helped that Dan Quinn showed no fight at the end, refusing to do anything aggressively.


Houston Texans (10-5) – Previously: 6.
The Texans no-showed against the Raiders because they had two tough games coming up. They were just begging to lose, but they somehow survived a late Ashton Jeanty onslaught to hang on to the victory.


New England Patriots (12-3) – Previously: 7.
The Patriots had a chance to prove that they are for real by sweeping the Bills. It looked like they’d do so, but they fell apart in the second half. They redeemed themselves against the Ravens, though they were able to benefit from Lamar Jackson’s injury.


San Angeles Chargers (11-4) – Previously: 13.
The Chargers somehow keep winning despite missing their top three offensive tackles. This will eventually cost them, but their defense has been incredible. The defense is now ranked No. 2 in EPA.


Chicago Bears (11-4) – Previously: 9.
The Bears beat the Packers, but looked very unimpressive while doing so. They looked like a mediocre-at-best team for three-and-a-half quarters. But we can’t ignore what Caleb Williams did at the end of that game either.


Green Bay Packers (9-5-1) – Previously: 12.
The Packers were underwhelming earlier in the year in losses to the Panthers and Browns, and near-defeats to the Cardinals and Joe Flacco-led Bengals. However, they were much better after that. They won in a blowout over the Vikings, held multiple 10-point leads in Detroit, and were able to soundly beat the hot Bears. They then had a lead versus the Packers for most of the afternoon. Unfortunately for them, they lost Micah Parsons, Christian Watson, and Zach Tom to injuries. Watson was able to play versus the Bears in the rematch, but then more injuries continued to derail Green Bay.



Group C:


Denver Broncos (12-3) – Previously: 10.
The Broncos are 12-3, but you can’t really take them seriously as a Super Bowl contender with their close wins against the Raiders, Jets, Giants, Titans, and the Redskins. Bo Nix was awful in the Thursday night victory versus Las Vegas. He was so inept that he must have thought he was battling the ’85 Bears instead of the terrible Raiders defense. Nix came back to beat the Chiefs, but Kansas City continued to underwhelm. Nearly losing to Washington should just result in a loss.

But what about Denver’s win versus the Packers? Well, if the Broncos get to battle teams who lose their All-Pro defender, top receiver, and rock-solid right tackle, they’ll win every time. We saw the real Broncos against the Jaguars.

I expect a huge apology from Denver fans.


San Francisco 49ers (10-4) – Previously: 11.
The 49ers have too many defensive injuries to make a deep playoff run, but perhaps they can win one postseason game if Brock Purdy and the rest of the offense remains healthy. They managed to cover against the Titans in a game versus a horrible opponent, but the big take-away was that Ricky Pearsall finally looks healthy since suffering his early-season injury.


Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6) – Previously: 14.
So much for firing Mike Tomlin. The Steelers have bounced back nicely following the Buffalo loss. I still don’t have much faith in them making a playoff run, especially if T.J. Watt can’t play, but at least they probably won’t embarrass themselves again.


Detroit Lions (8-7) – Previously: 8.
What a truly pathetic performance by the Lions. I don’t understand how they couldn’t score against a defense missing T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. And yet, their defense was even worse, as they allowed Jaylen Warren to look like the second coming of Jim Brown.


Baltimore Ravens (7-8) – Previously: 15.
We can say that the Ravens lost because Lamar Jackson missed the second half, but what happened to Derrick Henry? He was so dominant on Baltimore’s final touchdown drive, and then he was nowhere to be seen when they were running out the clock. Did they forgot that he was on the roster?


Minnesota Vikings (7-8) – Previously: 16.
The Vikings have caught fire ever since J.J. McCarthy began battling soft defenses. McCarthy got knocked out just prior to halftime against the Giants, but Minnesota somehow managed to hold on with the anemic Max Brosmer.


Dallas Cowboys (6-8-1) – Previously: 18.
Perhaps it’s for the best that the Eagles’ win eliminated the Cowboys because there’s little doubt that Dallas would have embarrassed itself in a must-win game against the Chargers. Jerry Jones has a lot of work to do with this defense in the offseason.


Cincinnati Bengals (4-10) – Previously: 19.
Joe Burrow returned for this? It’s hard to believe that Burrow was so terrible versus Baltimore. Evan Daniel, my co-host on the After Dark Show on Thursdays, texted me that he suspected that Burrow showed up high to the game. Based on how Burrow played, I can’t blame Evan for thinking that.



Group D:


Indianapolis Colts (8-6) – Previously: 20.
I compared the Colts to a seemingly hot girl at the bar, but when the lights go on, she’s revealed to be a hideous beast. Now, without Daniel Jones, the Colts are even worse. What’s worse than hideous beast? Rosie O’Donnell is the only thing that comes to mind.

Perhaps an extremely old version of Rosie O’Donnell? Philip Rivers didn’t commit any mistakes against the Seahawks, but dinked and dunked the entire time. The Colts averaged just 3.7 yards per play. They are toast.


Carolina Panthers (8-7) – Previously: 21.
Somehow, some way, the Panthers are 8-7. If they make the playoffs, they could end up being the worst team to ever make the playoffs in NFL history. They have a negative point differential of 50 and were extremely lucky to win many of their games this season. They got swept by the Saints!


Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8) – Previously: 17.
The Buccaneers simply cannot beat top-tier competition. They’re 0-4 against Group A teams this year. They couldn’t even beat the Saints in a completely embarrassing defeat or the Falcons in a blown 14-point lead. They’re now 7-8, and they can’t even beat bad teams because Baker Mayfield is not 100 percent.


Atlanta Falcons (6-9) – Previously: 23.
The Falcons have a Group B roster – now downgraded with Michael Penix Jr. being injured – but a Group F head coach. Raheem Morris is the worst head coach in the NFL. Do you think the Falcons could have used some rest following their 11-hour flight home from Germany when the Panthers were mounting a comeback against them? Why didn’t Morris take the bye after playing in Europe? And it was no surprise that they suffered a letdown after beating the Saints. It was also no surprise that they fell apart against the Seahawks following an impressive first half against them. They beat the Buccaneers, but that just shows how good they could have been if they had better coaching.


New Orleans Saints (5-10) – Previously: 26.
There might actually be one first-round quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft if Ty Simpson and Dante Moore return to school, so the Saints will now go with Tyler Shough again next season. Shough had a rough debut against the Rams, but has improved each week and was solid against the Jets in a blowout win.


Arizona Cardinals (3-12) – Previously: 24.
The Cardinals are seven plays away from being 9-5, which is crazy but true. Arizona, however, has gotten blown out in consecutive games before Week 16 and then went on to lose to Kirk Cousins at home.


Cleveland Browns (3-12) – Previously: 27.
It’s hard to believe that the Browns once again lost with the great Shedeur Sanders. Actually, Sanders had a very nice start to the Buffalo game, but didn’t play nearly as well after he injured his pinky finger in the second quarter.



Group F:


Tennessee Titans (3-12) – Previously: 31.
The Titans are now 8-27 against the spread since Week 1 of last year. They looked dominant against the Chiefs, as their defense has been much better ever since they got Jeffery Simmons back from injury. Cam Ward played well against the Chiefs, but we can safely say that Kansas City wasn’t trying very had.


Miami Dolphins (6-8) – Previously: 22.
The Dolphins were outgained by the Redskins in total yards and yards per play. They were about even with the Saints in yardage. They beat the Jets because Tyrod Taylor got hurt after four plays. But as we just saw, Mike McDaniel is utterly clueless if he has to battle a team slotted above 28th in these power rankings.


Kansas City Chiefs (6-9) – Previously: 25.
The Chiefs might be the worst team in the NFL right now. Their defense already sucked, and now they have Chris Oladokun throwing to Xavier Worthy behind an offensive line missing its top three tackles. Yikes.


Washington Redskins (4-11) – Previously: 28.
Congrats to Dan Quinn, who showed no fight at the end of the Eagles game. I don’t understand why he refused to go for it on fourth down, or why he constantly ran the ball. To quote my dad, “He’s a total loser.”


New York Giants (2-13) – Previously: 29.
I bet the Giants to have the worst record in the NFL, and apparently Jaxson Dart did as well, based on how he played against the Vikings. Dart was so promising in his first few starts, but he was outplayed by Max Bosmer somehow.


New York Jets (3-12) – Previously: 30.
New York’s 3-12 record is especially remarkable because it’s gone against Group C-F teams in 11 of its 15 games. The only teams they’ve battled all year that are above average are the Bills, Patriots, Ravens, and the Jaguars. All four of those games were decided by double digits. New York had no chance with Brady “the Chef” Cook.


Las Vegas Raiders (2-13) – Previously: 32.
The Raiders played a very close game against the Texans where Ashton Jeanty looked great. However, they lost, so they inched closer to being able to select a quarterback near the top of the 2026 NFL Draft. Of course, ESPN DEI hire Mina Kimes will argue against this because she insists that Geno Smith is a top-10 NFL quarterback.