2012 NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Does it matter how good the St. Louis Rams are now?

Week 13 2012 NFL Power Rankings are flooding the internet even as we speak, and the St. Louis Rams are all over the place. SB Nation even knocked them down a peg to 26th, despite their win over the Arizona Cardinals (who, to be fair, are ranked 27th.) Elsewhere they're mostly hanging around the edge of the Top 20, which is a nice leap and has seemed like their upside for a while now. But while we compulsively watch their moves for the rest of the season, the question bears asking: Does it matter where the Rams are in this year's power rankings?

Certainly it's nice to see them win, and theoretically they're still in the playoff picture. And whether they finish strong or not—whether Sam Bradford finishes strong or not—has everything to do with how the team will look in 2013. If Bradford looks like a star or star-to-be with the offensive line fully assembled in front of him the team's draft strategy will look a lot different than it does if he stumbles to the finish.

But outside of the broad team narrative—team-coming-together or team-falling-apart—the Rams' position at the end of this season is mostly academic. 19, 21, 26—all it means is that this team is better than it was in 2011, and probably worse than it'll be in 2013. (But if you want more specifics, Turf Show Times has you covered.)