NFL Power Rankings, Week 16

Week 16 of the NFL schedule looms, and no one's talking about resting starters for the playoffs this year. Just 32 games are left in the regular season, and all we've got settled is one division champion (Chicago) and a third of the 12-team playoff field (the Patriots, Steelers, Falcons and Bears).

Last season through 15 weeks, there were already six playoff berths locked up, and five division champs crowned. The Colts were 14-0 but about to play their B team for the last two games against the Jets and Bills, perhaps unwisely helping New York into the playoffs as an AFC wild card.

This year, we've got playoff races galore to hold our attention during the holiday weeks. Five of the eight divisions feature either ties at the top, or teams separated by one game. Four divisions have a third team that's still alive in the playoff hunt, and no division leader has more than a two-game lead (there were four first-place clubs with three-plus game leads last year at this point).

Best of all, we should be in for a fun final two weeks of scoreboard watching with 20 of the remaining 32 games matching division opponents. Most of them will be meaningful affairs for someone. The NFL playoffs make for the football season's best month of the year, but for a change, the two weeks before the postseason begins should be just as good this time around.

Now on to this week's rankings ...

NFL Power Rankings, Week 16