I don't know if this whole NFC West playoff chase is all its cracked up to be—when the Seattle Seahawks or the St. Louis Rams show up after Week 17 I bet the NFL tries to pull the old, "Are you sure that was our agreement? Do I know you?" trick. At SB Nation the Rams fall a single spot to No. 23, which sounds about right. What doesn't sound right is the Seahawks all the way up there at No. 19 — is this the same team that's been outscored by 48 points this season? The Cardinals — just two games out of the NFC West title — are 31st in football, ahead of only the Carolina Panthers.
↵On ESPN the Rams actually moved up a spot by losing to the Atlanta Falcons, sitting, at No. 22, just behind the 21-ranked Seattle Seahawks. ESPN shows our division a little pity and places its third-place teams at 26th and 29th. Which is a little better.
↵Finally, Fox Sports' rankings look a lot like SB Nation's, only more optimistic about the San Francisco 49ers. I'm not sure there's really a four spot gap between these Rams and Seahawks teams—it seems like nothing more than a chance for Power Rankings architects to pretend like there's a real frontrunner, a really good team in this division.