Wild week. Two of our top four teams lost on Sunday, causing a shakeup in the upper reaches the likes of which we haven’t seen this year. We’ll move New Orleans back into the top spot, while the Chargers will just barely sneak past the Patriots … for now. Plenty of surprises up and down the rest of the big board, with the Bears and Dolphins among the big winners and Redskins part of a group of losers. Read on to find out where your favorite team lands.
1. Saints (11-2 — last week, No. 2)
If New Orleans can run the table, the Saints will finish with home-field advantage — the only time New Orleans won the Super Bowl (2009), it entered the postseason with the No. 1 seed.
This week: at Panthers
2. Rams (11-2 — last week, No. 1)
In his three-year NFL career, Jared Goff has now started five games with the kickoff temperature lower than 40 degrees. The Rams are 2-3 in those games and the Los Angeles offense didn’t hit 30 points in any of them.
This week: vs. Eagles
3. Chiefs (11-2 — last week, No. 3)
You know what stood out for me about that Kansas City-Baltimore game? The Ravens aren’t an overwhelming offensive team, but the Chiefs’ defense came up big in several moments down the stretch. A one-off moment or a sign of things to come for Kansas City? We shall see.
This week: vs. Chargers (Thursday)
4. Chargers (10-3 — last week, No. 5)
OK, that’s enough good things about the Kansas City defense. In his first meeting with the Chiefs this year, Philip Rivers threw for 424 yards. Honestly, if the Kansas City pass defense doesn’t show up, he might throw for 500 on Thursday night.
This week: at Chiefs (Thursday)
5. Patriots (9-4 — last week, No. 4)
New England has lost six of its last eight games in Florida dating back the last few years. The good news? No more games in the Sunshine State this year.
This week: at Steelers
6. Bears (9-4 — last week, No. 11)
The Bears and Chiefs are the only two teams to hold a second-half lead in every game in 2018.
This week: vs. Packers
7. Seahawks (8-5 — last week, No. 7)
There’s no Legion of Boom, but Seattle has won four straight and is in the top 10 in scoring defense and offense. Oh, and if you’re a Patriots’ fan, you’re going to be rooting for the Seahawks come Dec. 23 in that Seattle-KC game.
This week: at Niners
8. Texans (9-4 — last week, No. 6)
Houston missed out on a huge opportunity to leapfrog the Patriots on Sunday, but given their remaining schedule, 12-4 is a real likelihood.
This week: at Jets
9. Cowboys (8-5 — last week, No. 10)
Five straight wins make Dallas one of the hottest teams in the league at the right time.
This week: at Colts
10. Steelers (7-5-1 — last week, No. 8)
Tom Brady is 7-1 with 23 touchdowns and just one pick in eight career games against Pittsburgh.
This week: vs. Patriots
11. Ravens (7-6 — last week, No. 9)
In a year where it’s been all offense, the Baltimore defense is good enough to keep the Ravens in the playoff chase — the group is best in the league when it comes to points per game allowed (18.5 points per game).
This week: vs. Bucs
12. Colts (7-6 — last week, No. 13)
Indy will have a ton of cap space this offseason, and Le’Veon Bell keeps flirting with the Colts. Interesting.
This week: vs. Cowboys
13. Vikings (6-6-1 — last week, No. 12)
Minnesota was one of the winners’ of the offseason. Now, the Vikings have fired their offensive coordinator and haven’t beaten a plus-.500 team all year. Oh, and Kirk Cousins is 4-24 against winning teams. Ouch.
This week: vs. Miami.
14. Titans (7-6 — last week, No. 15)
According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Titans' defense is allowing an average of 4.7 yards after the catch this season. Only the Steelers (4.5 yards) are allowing less.
This week: at Giants
15. Dolphins (7-6 — last week, No. 20)
Things are setting up nicely for the Dolphins down the stretch. Their next opponent just fired its OC, and the combined winning percentage of the three teams they have left is .372. Miami might not make the playoffs, but it has a good chance to make it interesting.
This week: at Vikings
16. Eagles (6-7 — last week, No. 14)
One more loss and Philly will become the 11th defending Super Bowl champ to finish with a non-winning record the following season. #lanejohnson
This week: at Rams
17. Packers (5-7-1 — last week, No. 18)
Green Bay won this past week, but there’s still a lot of conversation when it comes to Josh McDaniels possibly the next Packers’ head coach.
This week: at Bears
18. Panthers (6-7 — last week, No. 16)
At the halfway point, Carolina was 6-2 and challenging the Saints for the NFC South lead. Now, with five straight losses, the Panthers could be on the verge of cleaning house.
This week: vs. Saints
19. Giants (5-8 — last week, No. 21)
Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, who grew up a Giants’ fan, said “it would be pretty nice” if New York drafted him. That would be fun.
This week: vs. Titans
20. Broncos (6-7 — last week, No. 17)
Tripped up by the Niners after a three-game winning streak.
This week: vs. Browns
21. Browns (5-7-1 — last week, No. 23)
Cleveland has already won five games this year. The Browns won a combined four games the previous three seasons.
This week: at Broncos
22. Redskins (6-7 — last week, 19)
Was anyone really truly surprised that Washington was going to get crushed rolling Mark Sanchez out there? The Redskins were 5-2, and will likely finish the year 6-10. One of the biggest second-half disappointments in the league, on a number of levels.
This week: at Jaguars
23. Jaguars (4-9 — last week, No. 22)
This GIF perfectly sums up the Jacksonville season better than I could ever hope to accomplish.
Jalen Ramsey with the flop of the yearpic.twitter.com/VXeySQxPvL
— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) December 7, 2018