There’s not much left to decide. With one game to go, we know six of the seven playoff participants in both conferences. We know that Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco control their destinies, in terms of winning home field. The order behind those teams could move a bit, but for the most part, it’s done.

The truth is that there are some teams who don’t care, and haven’t cared for weeks, and then there are some teams trying. So what is there to learn at this point? Not a ton. Just enough to hold your interest though, and that’s why you’ll watch this week. You still won’t really know who is the favorite in the NFC though, because you just won’t. The same could be said of the AFC, which none of you would trust anyway.

So basically you have a couple of meaningful games left. They are:

• Ravens-Steelers- the winner wins the AFC North. If the Steelers win, most people will make them the underdog now, no matter who they play in round one. If the Ravens win, people will start calling them the sleeper, and blah, blah, blah. Lamar has been hurt and inconsistent all year, but I guess that will all change when the calendar changes, according to some.
• Panthers-Buccaneers- If you still believe there are football gods, the Bucs should disprove that for you. They have been one of the worst football teams in the league for about two months, and yet they’re a home win against an 8-8 team away from the playoffs. They’ll probably be favored at kickoff. Meanwhile the Panthers grew from a hideous football team early to become really no worse than some of the NFC’s “contenders” after the first month. And yet, they both have a chance.
• Seahawks-Niners- Winner gets home field, a bye, and wins the best division in football this year. Loser gets either five (Seahawks, where they will still be favored) or six (possible for the Niners, but the reward is a trip to Philadelphia in January). This is literally a difference of having the easiest or one of the hardest roads to the Super Bowl. The Niners might never leave home again this season, a streak that would encompass the last two games of the season, two rounds of the playoffs, and the Super Bowl, or they could travel 3,000 miles to a hostile environment. Completely insane.
• There are other games that sort of matter for seeding, or could matter if Denver were to lose, but those are remote possibilities.

Ok, so on to the rankings.

12/24 rankings. 12/16 rankings. 12/9 rankings. 12/3 rankings. 11/26 rankings. 11/18 rankings. 11/11 rankings. 11/4 rankings. 10/28 rankings. 10/21 rankings. 10/15 rankings. 10/8 rankings. 9/30 rankings. 9/24 rankings. 9/16 rankings. 9/9 rankings.

1. Seattle Seahawks
2. Denver Broncos
3. New England Patriots
4. San Francisco 49’ers
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Houston Texans
7. Chicago Bears
8. Philadelphia Eagles
9. Los Angeles Rams
10. Buffalo Bills
11. Los Angeles Chargers
12. Baltimore Ravens
13. Green Bay Packers
14. Pittsburgh Steelers
15. Carolina Panthers
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
17. Minnesota Vikings
18. Atlanta Falcons
19. Detroit Lions
20. Dallas Cowboys
21. Miami Dolphins
22. Indianapolis Colts
23. New Orleans Saints
24. Cincinnati Bengals
25. Kansas City Chiefs
26. Cleveland Browns
27. Washington Commanders
28. Tennessee Titans
29. New York Jets
30. Arizona Cardinals
31. New York Giants
32. Las Vegas Raiders