This is an objective, unbiased ranking in the same vein as the NFL Title Belt. As such, the number 1 ranked team will always be the same as the current NFL Title Belt holder.
This is Week 16 of the NFL Title Rankings of the 2025 season. See here for last week’s results.
5 of the 16 games ended with the lower ranked team winning. The largest jump was the Patriots who jumped 11 spots after they beat the Ravens. The Titans are the lowest ranked team to win their game. 3 of the upsets were only one game difference.
The Saints kept first and the NFL Title Belt. The Titans will have an opportunity to take the belt when they play the Saints in week 17. With only 2 games left, there are only 4 paths left for the NFL title belt to go, Saints, Titans, Falcons, and Jaguars. 3 of the 4 are already eliminated from the playoffs.
The Raiders are still last after losing to the Texans. They will have a chance to move out of last in week 17 when they play the Giants.
Let me know if you’d like to see more of this, if you’re curious about how I came up with these rankings, or if you noticed any mistakes.
| Ranking | 2025 Wk16 | Δ | Notes | |
| 1 | Saints | – | The Saints beat the Jets to keep first and the NFL Title Belt. | |
| 2 | Panthers | – | ||
| 3 | Seahawks | +1 | The Seahawks jumped 1 spot by beating the Rams. | |
| 4 | Rams | -1 | ||
| 5 | Texans | – | ||
| 6 | Jaguars | – | ||
| 7 | Bills | – | ||
| 8 | Patriots | +11 | The Patriots jumped 11 spots by beating the Ravens. | |
| 9 | Ravens | -1 | ||
| 10 | Bengals | -1 | ||
| 11 | Steelers | -1 | ||
| 12 | Broncos | -1 | ||
| 13 | Bears | – | The Bears maintained their rank by beating the Packers. | |
| 14 | Packers | -2 | ||
| 15 | Vikings | -1 | ||
| 16 | Lions | -1 | ||
| 17 | Chargers | – | The Chargers maintained their rank by beating the Cowboys. | |
| 18 | Cowboys | -2 | ||
| 19 | Eagles | -1 | ||
| 20 | Falcons | – | ||
| 21 | Bucs | – | ||
| 22 | 49ers | – | ||
| 23 | Commanders | – | ||
| 24 | Giants | – | ||
| 25 | Dolphins | – | ||
| 26 | Jets | – | ||
| 27 | Cardinals | – | ||
| 28 | Titans | +2 | The Titans jumped 2 spots by beating the Chiefs. | |
| 29 | Chiefs | -1 | ||
| 30 | Colts | -1 | ||
| 31 | Browns | – | ||
| 32 | Raiders | – | The Raiders lost to the Texans to remain last. |
This ranking assumes that there are never any fluke games and all teams are appropriately ranked. If you beat a team that is higher ranked than you, you move ahead of them and they move down one spot. However, other teams can jump in front of teams that are higher ranked than you, moving you further down the rankings.
Bonus rankings! This one is more straightforward. Teams get points for wins. They get more points for beating good teams and fewer points for beating bad teams. (+32 for beating the best team, +1 for beating the worst). Teams lose points for losses. They lose more points for losing to bad teams and fewer points for losing to good teams. (-32 for losing to the worst team, -1 for losing to the best). The point total was reset with the first game of the season.