Nov 30, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Bam Knight (20) fumbles against Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) reacts against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) celebrates after catching a pass for a successful two-point conversion against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (13) makes a catch against Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025.

Week 14 started off wild and finished weird. Thanksgiving day? Three upsets, including the Dallas Cowboys running their record to 2-0 against Super Bowl 59 participants. Black Friday? That's when the Chicago Bears proved they aren't just the benefactor of a light schedule by beating the defending world champions on the road. Sunday night? Bear witness to Marcus Mariota nearly upending the AFC's top defense in a 27-26 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.

There's still time for more chaos to unfold -- the New York Giants, multiple-time villain to folks across the Boston area, take on the New England Patriots on Monday night. But with 15 of this week's 16 games in the books it feels like a proper time to reflect on this season's pecking order with a little more than a month to go before the 2026 NFL Playoffs begin.

Figuring out last place was the easy part. Divining a top 10 in a messy season filled with upsets and lacking a clear-cut, runaway frontrunner? That was much more difficult.

32. Tennessee Titans

Last week: 32

Cam Ward's incremental progress was dashed on a day where he simply had nothing to offer the Jacksonville Jaguars defense. Improving the blocking and skill players around him is a priority. So is ensuring bad habits don't take root in a lost season -- like leading his players into traffic to take big hits on short checkdowns with little upside.

31. Las Vegas Raiders

Last week: 31

Put it on the tombstone for the 2025 Raiders season.

30. Cleveland Browns

Last week: 29

Shedeur Sanders doesn't look like a franchise quarterback. But he doesn't look entirely lost, either.

There's no harm in letting him run out the string in 2025 and see if he can make meaningful improvements with more time as a starter. His processing time will have to improve to get there, but that's something that will only come with game reps against NFL speed.

29. Arizona Cardinals

Last week: 28

This is the most generic team in the NFL. They are a create-a-franchise default, competent but largely immemorable. If nothing else, Jacoby Brissett has earned himself more steady paydays, both from the NFL and Progressive as a perfectly cromulent journeyman backup.

28. New Orleans Saints

Last week: 27

Tyler Shough has shown the capacity to make adjustments as the game goes on, which is promising even if he's moving a bit too slowly for it to matter. He deserves a crack at a lineup with skill players who can elevate him before we make a final ruling on whether or not he can be a franchise quarterback. He's not gonna get that in 2025.

27. Atlanta Falcons

Last week: 24

The Falcons outgained the Jets by 120 yards and still managed to lose after some of the least inspiring two minute drills of 2025. Which, in fairness, is a very Atlanta way to lose.

26. New York Jets

Last week: 30

First John Metchie III. Now Adonai Mitchell. The Jets are gonna put in the work to see if there are any building blocks in this year's crop of young playmakers. At what point will that shift the backfield emphasis from free-agent-to-be Breece Hall to someone like Isaiah Davis?

25. Minnesota Vikings

Last week: 21

Well, Max Brosmer is officially not better than JJ McCarthy.

Glad we sorted that one out.

24. Washington Commanders

Last week: 25

Marcus Mariota fended off the Broncos for 67 minutes. That wasn't enough to pull off a win, but it did remind us all how dang good Terry McLaurin is.

McLaurin faced off with perennial All-Pro Patrick Surtain II in coverage all night. While he only caught seven of his 14 targets (and what could have been a game-winning overtime touchdown wiped out by holding), he turned that into 96 badly needed yards and a touchdown. The Commanders can absolutely play spoiler their final five games.

23. Miami Dolphins

Last week: 22

Miami avoided blowing a late lead to the Saints, but didn't look especially inspiring coming off its bye against an overmatched opponent. Road trips to the Jets and Steelers present a viable path to .500 and the outskirts of the playoff race. Would that be enough to save Mike McDaniel's job? It could give him one last chance to make Tua Tagovailoa a playoff winning quarterback before the former franchise cornerstone can be released in 2027 while counting only $13.4 million against that year's cap.

22. New York Giants

Last week: 26

We'll see if Jaxson Dart has the magic Giants DNA that gives his franchise super powers when it comes to derailing a big New England Patriots season when the two teams meet Monday night.

21. Cincinnati Bengals

Last week: 23

Joe Burrow's back and he completed the first part of a six-step plan to get the Bengals back to 9-8 and juuuuuust locked out of the playoffs. If they can outgun the Bills in Buffalo next week, the schedule gets much softer from there.

20. Pittsburgh Steelers

Last week: 16

Aaron Rodgers is playing like a 41-year-old who no longer wants to get hit, but the preternatural pocket awareness and athleticism that allowed him to escape in clutch moments is failing him in his advanced age. Of course, it doesn't help that he's getting minimal help from a depleted playmaking corps and an oft-bracketed DK Metcalf.

19. Baltimore Ravens

Last week: 15

Lamar Jackson has to get healthy, because he's been brutal lately. Since Week 11 his -0.151 EPA per dropback ranks 26th out of 32 starting quarterbacks -- even behind Kirk Cousins and Davis Mills. That was enough to get past the Vikings, Browns and Jets. It wasn't enough to keep pace with a returning Joe Burrow on Thanksgiving.

18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last week: 17

Week 13's win over the Cardinals was rain in the desert of an absolutely brutal stretch of games. Now come dates with the Saints, Falcons and Dolphins dotted around the home-and-home with the Panthers that should decide 2025's NFC South champion. Tampa didn't earn any style points with a three-point victory at home, but they pumped out some water from their suddenly foundering ship and bought some valuable time to get back afloat.

17. Los Angeles Chargers

Last week: 18

The football gods continue to test Chargers fans, adding a broken bone in Justin Herbert's non-throwing hand to the list of ailments suffered by the team's key players. Well, uh, at least Omarion Hampton could return soon?

16. Carolina Panthers

Last week: 20

What can you make out of this Panthers team? Bryce Young only has two games this season with more than 1.0 expected points added (EPA), but they were both bangers that came in the last two weeks. He also has four games this season with at least -11.0 EPA, one of which came in Week 12 against the San Francisco 49ers and one that came in Week 10 against the Saints. Dave Canales should be lauded for his ability to take Young this far, but it won't mean anything until he can have performances like his three touchdown showcase vs. the Rams on a regular basis.

15. Indianapolis Colts

Last week: 5

What once looked like a redemptive season is turning into a nightmare. Indianapolis is 1-3 in its last four games and the lone win came in overtime against the Falcons. Every team remaining on the schedule is 7-5 or better. General manager Chris Ballard appeared to have saved his job, but crashing out of the playoff race could lead to a house cleaning in Indiana.

14. Kansas City Chiefs

Last week: 10

Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes. The Chiefs offense didn't turn the ball over. But Kansas City still found a way to lose in Dallas as this team continues to slough off the 2024 one-possession game magic that led it back to the Super Bowl. Regression has hit hard in western Missouri, even if it's impossible to count this team out even with what could be five must-win games remaining.

13. Dallas Cowboys

Last week: 19

Beating both the reigning conference champions in back-to-back weeks is a pretty significant accomplishment. Quinnen Williams has helped stabilize the defensive front, but George Pickens has been the newcomer to watch in Dallas. Over the last 11 weeks he's averaged better than 100 receiving yards per game and been a massive part of the offense that racked up more than 900 total yards the last two weeks.

12. Jacksonville Jaguars

Last week: 14

Jacksonville avoided a trap game in Nashville and made a steadily improving Cam Ward look like an also-ran sixth round rookie. Jakobi Meyers has been such an elevating piece of the puzzle, making Trevor Lawrence's offense better and keeping the offense rolling even on a day where the team's tailbacks averaged 2.2 yards per carry.

11. Detroit Lions

Last week: 6

Jared Goff's offense refused to let Green Bay pull too far ahead on Thanksgiving, even without Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Lions defense, however, couldn't contain Jordan Love through the air. Now that shootout loss threatens to leave Detroit on the outside looking in at a dense NFC playoff race.

10. Houston Texans

Last week: 13

C.J. Stroud had a triumphant return to the lineup to keep the Colts in their close-but-no-cigar skid. Jayden Higgins is turning into a useful WR2 behind Nico Collins and the Texans defense bottled up Jonathan Taylor enough to dare Daniel Jones and his broken leg to beat them. That's four straight wins for a team that started the season 0-3. A victory over the Chiefs in Week 14 in Kansas City would go a long way toward building trust in a franchise that's yet to advance beyond the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

9. San Francisco 49ers

Last week: 9

The Niners shook off bad weather and the looming specter of Myles Garrett to make up some ground in the NFC West and head into their bye at 9-4. Brock Purdy continues to be modestly underwhelming in his first season since signing a $245 million contract, though the lingering toe injury that's sidelined him in stretches could be the culprit.

Will another week of rest get the young QB back to form? Probably not, but we'll see.

8. Philadelphia Eagles

Last week: 4

Well, the outcomes have finally matched the vibes in Philadelphia. The Eagles have lost two straight thanks in large part to an offense that occasionally scrapes the face of greatness but largely remains earthbound under first year coordinator Kevin Patullo. Sure, "just wing it to AJ Brown" isn't a sustainable strategy every down. Still, it probably couldn't be much worse than Philly's current setup.

7. Seattle Seahawks

Last week: 7

They beat Max Brosmer, which is like destroying a lineup of vegans at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Lost in the win is the fact Sam Darnold struggled against a defense that blitzed him on nearly two-thirds of his dropbacks, showcasing a flaw that could potentially be fatal against the league's top pass rushes.

6. Buffalo Bills

Last week: 11

It took a while -- and for the Steelers offense to collectively barf down its own chests -- but Buffalo found its footing and pulled away from a backsliding Pittsburgh team at not-Heinz Field. Josh Allen has been left without a rock-solid downfield target and it's left him to occasionally revert to 2019 form. Allen's do-it-all-itis has led to seven turnovers his last four games.

5. Chicago Bears

Last week: 12

Chicago needed a monster win to prove their spot atop the NFC North wasn't merely a function of soft scheduling. Going to Philadelphia and beating the defending Super Bowl champions by two possessions qualifies. Even better; they did it on a day Caleb Williams completed only 17 of 36 passes, thanks to yet another bruising, slashing Ben Johnson tailback platoon in D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.

4. Green Bay Packers

Last week: 8

Green Bay's run defense has been suspect at times, but it bottled up Jahmyr Gibbs (again) and created the space needed for Jordan Love to soft-toss a rainbow through the hole for a touchdown. The Packers remain undeniably untrustworthy, but Micah Parsons' presence and the team's ability to bring pressure with a four-man rush should continue to create the leverage this offense needs to win games.

3. Los Angeles Rams

Last week: 1

Matthew Stafford couldn't keep up his pristine streak forever, but Sunday's turnovers were devastating for the Rams -- and good for a combined -18 expected points added (EPA) on a pick-six, end zone interception and third down strip sack in Panthers territory. What's more troubling, however, is how the NFC's top defense made Bryce Young look like an All-Pro in a three-touchdown performance.

2. Denver Broncos

Last week: 3

It wasn't pretty -- and it meant balancing Bo Nix's amazing throws against the ones where he, somehow, blanks the future Hall of Fame linebacker directly in his line of vision:

But after letting Marcus Mariota escape for four-plus quarters, the Broncos defense clamped down and got the stop it needed to escape Washington and improve to 2-0. It does leave some questions to be answered, however.

1. New England Patriots

Last week: 2

The Patriots ascend to the top spot by default while we wait for the Giants to inexplicably give them a tougher game than anyone expected. This is the way the rivalry between "your grandpa from Boston's team" and "your dad from Boston's team" always plays out.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL Power Rankings Week 14: So are the Bears actually good?

Reporting by Christian D'Andrea and Robert Zeglinski, For The Win / For The Win

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