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.
By sweeping the Raiders, the Broncos secured a key tiebreaker with the Patriots, earning a common-opponents edge between the two teams if they finish with the same record. That gives them pole position for the AFC's No. 1 seed, even if this thing could -- and probably will -- go down to the wire. Bo Nix led a very efficient offensive attack, with Denver scoring its first opening-drive touchdown since Week 2 and not letting up. There wasn't anything mind-blowing about Sunday's performance, but it was what was expected from a strong Denver team against a weak Las Vegas club, with the Raiders' late TD and field goal making this contest look a lot closer than it actually was. The Broncos' final four games are a real test, and don't expect any mercy when they visit Kansas City in a few weeks, even if the Chiefs are officially eliminated from postseason play by then.
Ten straight wins, followed by a bye and a shot to end the Bills' division run this Sunday in Foxborough. The Patriots are flying high in what could be a post-Chiefs playoff field, with a chance to earn a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Beating Buffalo won't be easy, especially with Josh Allen heating up and undoubtedly champing at the bit for a second crack at that Patriots defense, which will be without Milton Williams. New England also will be shorthanded on the offensive line for a bit, and the run game has had its limitations. But Drake Maye and his receivers, with some brilliant guidance from Josh McDaniels, have made it work quite well to this point. The Pats aren't a perfect team, but they're pretty darned compelling, and they'll give anyone they face from here on out a great battle. That's guaranteed.
Jordan Love has stepped up in a major way over the past couple games, with four touchdown passes against Detroit and three more vs. Chicago, rallying on Sunday after a bad early interception. The big-play threat is back in the Packers' offense, even if it was surprising how much man coverage the Bears threw their way. Still, Christian Watson had two long touchdowns, Bo Melton added one of his own, and Jayden Reed reprised his old role (with three big first-down conversions) in his long-awaited return from injury. It also helps when Josh Jacobs is grinding out late yards, fueling the game-winning drive with some big plays. The defense looked gassed by game's end, but a third-down stuff and fourth-down pick were just what Green Bay needed. This is a tough team with Super Bowl potential, even if the Pack nearly coughed up a double-digit lead to the Bears.
Down 10 points late, with the snow really piling up, Josh Allen and an opportunistic Bills defense dominated the final eight minutes with an incredible flourish against the scrappy Bengals, keeping Buffalo's faint divisional hopes alive. The Bills will need to beat the well-rested Patriots on Sunday in Foxborough -- and do more than that -- to even harbor those thoughts, but it's possible. Yet, I think this team remains dangerous as a wild card, if that's the way it goes. With the Bengals, Ravens and Chiefs all falling off, and even the upstart Colts falling on hard times, you simply cannot count out an Allen-led group in the playoffs. I'm not ignoring Buffalo's defensive limitations, nor am I looking away from James Cook's rising fumble total. But with Allen, the Bills nearly always have a chance.
This was a humbling loss, not a demoralizing one, even if the Packers have seized temporary control of the division. The Lions aren't going away, either, and to demonstrate just how tenuous everything is at this time of year, the Bears fell from the top seed in the NFC last week to the last team in the playoff field. All for a team that was a few plays away from potentially stealing the game up in Green Bay. The rematch in two weekends remains huge and could shift the division back in the Bears' direction, but their hopes of a first-round bye might be gone now, and the wind's at Green Bay's back. Caleb Williams had his moments but couldn't finish, and the defense just gave up too many big plays, with not enough pressure and crossed wires in the secondary.
The league's most beat-up team rode into the Week 14 bye on a high, winning three straight, and you could make a strong case that having their week off earlier in the season might have helped more from a health standpoint. They're not going to get back any significant players from injury, and Kyle Juszczyk's status remains up in the air. That said, it's probably a great thing that San Francisco's stars -- especially workhorse Christian McCaffrey -- had a break. Winning out could actually give the Niners a shot at the No. 1 seed, and three of the final four are at home, with the lone road game (at Indianapolis) looking different following Daniel Jones' injury. Don't count San Francisco out, even with all the injuries.
If you were to ask me to identify Jacksonville's superpower, I'd probably stumble my way through an answer before mentioning the run defense. But once Daniel Jones was knocked out of Sunday's game, the Jaguars flexed their muscles and put the Colts away to wrest temporary control of the division. The Texans are coming, but these Jaguars are making things work in Liam Coen's first season. He might be running third in the Coach of the Year race behind Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson, but Coen's offense looked nice early against Indy before slowing down after halftime. All in all, though, this team is playing good football at the right time. Jacksonville has allowed just 13 points per game over the past four, and it's looking like the Jags could face undrafted rookie Brady Cook at QB when the Jets come to town this Sunday.
With their backs against the wall, the Lions willed their way to victory over the Cowboys and kept alive their streak of 15 straight wins following a loss. That's the kind of mental toughness Dan Campbell has instilled in his team, but that resilience is going to be put to the test with Brian Branch suffering a season-ending Achilles injury. The star safety is as much the heartbeat of Detroit's defense as Aidan Hutchinson is -- losing Branch at an already-thin position could be a massive blow to Kelvin Sheppard's unit. Adding to the degree of difficulty: three road games in the final four, with zero gimmes remaining. The Lions' only contest against a team that's not currently in the playoff field comes in a short week at Minnesota on Christmas Day. With Jahmyr Gibbs on their side, anything is possible. But no doubt, the Lions still have a ton of work to do and several obstacles in their way.