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 17 of the NFL Title Rankings of the 2025 season. See here for last week’s results.
6 of the 16 games ended with the lower ranked team winning. The largest jump was the Browns who jumped 18 spots after they beat the Steelers. The Giants are the lowest ranked team to win their game.
The Saints kept first and the NFL Title Belt. The Falcons will have an opportunity to take the belt when they play the Saints in week 18. With only 1 games left, there are only 2 paths left for the NFL title belt to go, Saints and Falcons. With the Saints winning, the belt can no longer reach the playoffs. If Titans had won, the Jaguars could have won the belt and taken it to the playoffs.
The Raiders are still last after losing to the Giants. They will have a chance to move out of last in week 18 when they play the Chiefs. Last place will fall to one of three teams, the Raiders, the Colts, or the Chiefs.
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 Wk17 | Δ | Notes | |
| 1 | Saints | – | The Saints beat the Titans to keep first and the NFL Title Belt. | |
| 2 | Seahawks | +1 | The Seahawks jumped 1 spot by beating the Panthers. | |
| 3 | Panthers | -1 | ||
| 4 | Falcons | +16 | The Falcons jumped 16 spots by beating the Rams. | |
| 5 | Rams | -1 | ||
| 6 | Texans | -1 | ||
| 7 | Jaguars | -1 | ||
| 8 | Eagles | +11 | The Eagles jumped 11 spots by beating the Bills. | |
| 9 | Bills | -2 | ||
| 10 | Patriots | -2 | ||
| 11 | Ravens | -2 | ||
| 12 | Bengals | -2 | ||
| 13 | Browns | +18 | The Browns jumped 18 spots by beating the Steelers. | |
| 14 | Steelers | -3 | ||
| 15 | Broncos | -3 | ||
| 16 | 49ers | +6 | The 49ers jumped 6 spots by beating the Bears. | |
| 17 | Bears | -4 | ||
| 18 | Packers | -4 | ||
| 19 | Vikings | -4 | ||
| 20 | Lions | -4 | ||
| 21 | Chargers | -4 | ||
| 22 | Cowboys | -4 | ||
| 23 | Dolphins | +2 | The Dolphins jumped 2 spots by beating the Bucs. | |
| 24 | Bucs | -3 | ||
| 25 | Commanders | -2 | ||
| 26 | Giants | -2 | ||
| 27 | Jets | -1 | ||
| 28 | Cardinals | -1 | ||
| 29 | Titans | -1 | ||
| 30 | Chiefs | -1 | ||
| 31 | Colts | -1 | ||
| 32 | Raiders | – | The Raiders lost to the Giants 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.
TEAM Ranking Points Seahawks 1 195 Jaguars 2 177 Texans 3 161 Rams 4 160 49ers 5 151 Broncos 6 125 Eagles 7 84 Patriots 8 75 Chargers 9 72 Bills 10 62 Colts 11 52 Bears 12 42 Panthers 13 13 Packers 14 9.5 Steelers 15 4 Bucs 16 -11 Vikings 17 -19 Falcons 18 -20 Ravens 19 -25 Lions 20 -30 Chiefs 21 -34 Cowboys 22 -51.5 Saints 23 -59 Dolphins 24 -68 Bengals 25 -71 Titans 26 -91 Cardinals 27 -95 Commanders 28 -154 Browns 29 -155 Giants 30 -158 Raiders 31 -163 Jets 32 -178