Hi everyone. It’s the Power Rankings again, here to tell you what you already know: There are about 10 good teams in the NFL, and 12 teams will be going to the playoffs. What is always interesting is to see how media outlets react to a good team winning or losing to quality opponents. The Chiefs, for instance, lost to a quality opponent two weeks ago and only dropped one average spot (while the Chargers gained about the same). This week, however, lots of top teams stumbled, and the Patriots might have found the inside track back to the top of these rankings before the regular season is done.

As we found out with the Chargers, it seems that they might have become a bit overconfident with their #2 ranking last week. Either that, or the holidays just beg for a little bit of extra cheer that doesn’t always translate well on the playing field.

ESPN

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Los Angeles Rams

3. Kansas City Chiefs

4. Los Angeles Chargers

Non-QB MVP: PK Michael Badgley. Last season, the Chargers were a consistent kicker away from making the postseason. After Caleb Sturgis struggled earlier in the year, the Chargers released him and finally settled on Badgley, an undrafted rookie. That move paid big dividends. The University of Miami product has made 15 of 16 field goals, including a franchise-record 59-yarder, as well as 24 of 25 extra points, earning him the nickname “Money Badger.” -- Eric D. Williams

5. Chicago Bears

6. New England Patriots

7. Houston Texans

8. Baltimore Ravens

9. Seattle Seahawks

10. Indianapolis Colts

NFL.com

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Chicago Bears

3. Los Angeles Rams

4. Kansas City Chiefs

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. Los Angeles Chargers

Previous rank:No. 2

Sizable drop for the Chargers, who plummet for multiple reasons. Yes, the loss to the Ravens plays a role. Yet, it’s how they lost that’s most important. First, Anthony Lynn’s offensive line was dominated at the point of attack. The running backs made up for it by absolutely whiffing in pass pro. Then there’s the fact that this was a “home game” for the Chargers, yet there was plenty of purple Ravens gear in the stands, save for that one fan wearing an old San Diego-purple Natrone Means alternate jersey. The Bolts own no home-field advantage. More disconcerting, and the main reason for the drop here, is that the Chargers were absolutely dominated in a game in which they could have asserted themselves as the top seed in the AFC and potentially earned the right not to go on the road for the postseason (though their home games have certainly felt a bit like road games this year).

7. New England Patriots

8. Indianapolis Colts

9. Seattle Seahawks

10. Houston Texans

CBS Sports

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Los Angeles Rams

3. Kansas City Chiefs

4. Chicago Bears

5. New England Patriots

6. Baltimore Ravens

7. Los Angeles Chargers

They will now likely have to travel the road path to win in the playoffs. That won’t be easy.

8. Indianapolis Colts

9. Dallas Cowboys

10. Seattle Seahawks

Athlon Sports

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Los Angeles Rams

3. Chicago Bears

4. Baltimore Ravens

5. Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers have road wins against Seattle, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Cleveland so maybe they just play better away from Carson. That may mean it’s just fine to miss out on hosting a playoff game when all is said and done after a sub-par effort at home against Baltimore.

6. Seattle Seahawks

7. Kansas City Chiefs

8. Houston Texans

9. New England Patriots

10. Indianapolis Colts

ProFootball Weekly

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Los Angeles Rams

3. Kansas City Chiefs

4. Chicago Bears

5. Los Angeles Chargers

That Ravens loss really was massive with [the] Chiefs losing

6. New England Patriots

7. Houston Texans

8. Baltimore Ravens

9. Seattle Seahawks

10. Dallas Cowboys

USA Today

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Chicago Bears

3. Los Angeles Rams

4. Los Angeles Chargers

They play road games 16 weeks per season, so — really — how important is “home-field advantage”? They should be more concerned about potentially seeing Baltimore again in wild-card round.

5. Kansas City Chiefs

6. Baltimore Ravens

7. Indianapolis Colts

8. New England Patriots

9. Seattle Seahawks

10. Houston Texans

NumberFire

1. New Orleans Saints

2. Los Angeles Rams

3. Chicago Bears

4. Baltimore Ravens

5. Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed 23-of-37 passes for a season-low 181 yards and 2 interceptions in a 22-10, Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.

Playoff odds: 100% | Super Bowl odds: 5.3%

6. Kansas City Chiefs

7. Pittsburgh Steelers

8. New England Patriots

9. Seattle Seahawks

10. Minnesota Vikings

Conclusion:

Well, there we have it. The media has spoken, and the Chargers are on notice. It was nice to see that they were still favored above the Chiefs in most rankings, which should be remembered as one of this year’s biggest coups.

• Average Ranking: 5.14
• Most common ranking: 5.0
• Drop from last week: -3.14 (that’s right, the Chargers had too much eggnog and dropped the holiday Pi)
• Cost for an actual Christmas goose: $5.89/lb. @ 14.52lbs. While that was a fun adventure, I’m going back to turkey next year so that I can afford to give some presents, too.
• Chargers ranking at this point last year: 12.2 (8-7 record)

Jason Michaels

-Jason “Clark, I’d like to try to fumigate this here season, if you don’t mind. It’s a good quality item.” Michaels