NFL Power Rankings, Week 15: Bills and Steelers surge back up the board; Eagles and Colts plummet

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Let’s face it: Not everyone loves the holiday season.

Consider the 2025 Chiefs, who saw their realistic playoff dreams fade away on a cold night at Arrowhead, the place that used to fuel other teams’ nightmares.

What about the Colts? They watched their starting quarterback go down for the season in a loss to their division rivals, putting them at serious risk of becoming just the third team since 1990 to start a campaign at 7-1 and miss the playoffs.

Then there are the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles, who dropped their third straight — with the offense committing major sins in each — in a Monday OT heartbreaker, casting more doubt on their chances to repeat.

Of course, the holiday spirit was strong for our top three teams from last week (who remain as such this week), with all winning convincingly and building momentum for the postseason. The Packers and Bills aren’t too far behind them, and they celebrated rousing victories on Sunday. And no team did more to diminish the winter blues than the Steelers, who suddenly find themselves back in the AFC North driver’s seat after crashing one week prior.

Make no mistake: This playoff field is going to be utterly fascinating — and likely quite different from what we’ve seen in recent years.

NOTE: Up/down arrows below reflect movement from the Week 14 Power Rankings.

A week after their first loss since early October, the Rams racked up season highs in points (45) and yards from scrimmage (530) in a road beatdown of the Cardinals. Arizona played tough early but collapsed under the onslaught of Los Angeles’ persistent and balanced attack. Right now, the Kyren Williams–Blake Corum backfield combo looks like a real winner. The Rams nearly ran for as many yards (249) as they threw for (281) on Sunday, and their only negative plays on offense came on a few annoying penalties. Other than that, they were dominant, rewarding my faith in them — keeping them in the No. 1 spot — after the Week 13 defeat at Carolina. Tough games lie ahead against the Lions and Seahawks, the latter of which likely will decide the NFC West and could seal the top seed for the Rams.

The Seahawks were surprisingly sluggish in the first half, but they cranked it up after the break, with Rashid Shaheed giving them a huge nudge via his 100-yard kickoff return. What makes these ‘Hawks dangerous is that they have firepower in all three phases of the game. The special teams feature big legs and TD potential in the return games. Sam Darnold and the offense certainly can turn up the heat, as they did in the second half at Atlanta. But the defense might be the most incendiary unit on the team, holding the Falcons to three field goals and forcing three turnovers. Granted, Seattle hasn’t faced the most fearsome group of quarterbacks (and will avoid Daniel Jones in this Sunday’s game against Indianapolis), but Mike Macdonald’s defense is close to full health and firing on all cylinders.

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