Well, friends, it's been a long time coming since we started doing these NFL Power Rankings roundups, but in Week 17 it's finally happened, just in time for Sunday night's nationally televised showdown—the St. Louis Rams have pulled away from the Seattle Seahawks. A full game ahead of their ostensible rivals, the Rams moved all the way up to 19 on the historically pessimistic SB Nation power rankings, leaving the Seahawks behind at 24.
↵They move 10 spots ahead of the Seahawks on the ESPN list, moving up to 16 as the Seahawks continue their free fall to 26. That puts them just one spot ahead of the San Francisco 49ers, who lost to the Rams and then fired their head coach. Fox Sports agrees, putting the Rams and the Seahawks in the same spot. The Arizona Cardinals, as ever, fight the Carolina Panthers for the very bottom spot in the NFL. Unfortunately they can't join the fight for the top pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
↵It's a truly impressive show of confidence-losing from the Seahawks. And now they are a victory away from making the playoffs. It's good, as a Rams fan, to have a team in the NFC West playoff hunt that even I can feel indignant about.