Good afternoon, and welcome to The MMQB. The stretch run is here, and the balance of power has never felt shakier. In Seattle, the Seahawks' defense is reviving a familiar energy—enough for Richard Sherman to take notice—while Jordan Love's surge has the Packers suddenly looking dangerous in January. The AFC offers far less certainty. The Chiefs are wobbling, contenders are tripping, and the whole conference picture feels like making a big decision without a safety net. Our latest Power Rankings show just how unsettled things have become. Week 14 could bring clarity—or just more chaos. Bears–Packers for the NFC North lead, two pivotal AFC South matchups, and a Texans–Chiefs showdown with real playoff stakes highlight the weekend. Our staff picks cover every angle. Plus: Sean Payton's quiet COY argument, a new No. 1 atop our 2025 QB rankings, and the 50 best free agents of 2026. Let's dive in. |
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By Greg Bishop There are, yes, legions of similar conversations about defensive football taking place all over the Pacific Northwest. Anyone who lives in the greater Seattle area or pays even cursory attention to the city's beloved Seahawks cannot escape any conversation about the team's current elite defense that does not also include a comparison to the best D in franchise history. Members of that defense—the Legion of Boom—have taken notice. But not in the obvious, inexact, fruitless exercise of comparing two defenses that dominated a decade apart for the Seahawks. Richard Sherman was on the phone this week. And, before elaborating on what does resonate for him and other Boomers, he stopped the common comparisons immediately. "There's only one of any [elite] defense," Sherman says. "But they're playing really good football." That's the part that resonates, the vibe of a defense that is feared playing at Lumen Field south of downtown. That resonates for Sherman, for fellow LOB members and for anyone who can recall what it felt like to watch the Legion boom. Especially at home. Especially in 2013 and '14, those defenses ran through the home tunnel to roars that shook the stadium's foundation. They were rock stars, if rock stars broke offensive schemes and opponents' souls rather than guitars. The Puget Sound, visible from parts of the upper deck. The Hawks Nest and its revelry. The south end zone and the diehards. That distinct marijuana smell wafting everywhere on the walk in. Sold-out crowds, louder than loud, bolstering defenses stamping exclamation points on games and titles and those most special of Seahawks seasons. |
By Gilberto Manzano There might be something wrong with me if I'm giving viral TikTok songs more attention than what Jordan Love has done on the football field this season. In my defense, Carolina MiC's hit song is very catchy, but Love now has my full attention after his clutch Thanksgiving performance to sweep the season series from the Lions. If Love continues building off his recent improvement, the Packers could find themselves in the Super Bowl in Santa Clara. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves because it's anyone's year to win it all after what transpired in NFL Week 13. Carolina MiC's Panthers beat the Rams and the surprising Bears are now in first place in the NFC. As for a different surprise for opposite reasons, the Vikings likely won't be headed to the postseason. Maybe they can use $150,000 to make upgrades at quarterback next season. (Hopefully, you get the reference.) All right, let's get to this week's fact or fiction. |
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Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images |
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By Conor Orr When looking at a Chiefs-less AFC playoff picture, it's a bit like making your first big financial decision without the input of your parents. There is that prevailing feeling of, are we sure about this? I can't say I would wager any significant amount of money on a Patriots team that has not played a ton of great opponents, a Broncos team whose offense is incredibly streaky, a Colts team that seems to be freefalling. The Chargers? The Jaguars? This lack of faith is probably just a psychological manifestation of a fear of change, although when I do an exercise like the Power Rankings, it's tempting to just put a majority of the NFC (and the Bills) ahead of everyone else out of habit. Welcome to the dark recesses of my brain. |
It's Week 14! Thanksgiving is behind us and this is the final week of the season with teams on bye weeks. We are already looking ahead to the top 50 free agents available this offseason, but first there is a playoff race to get to. There are a few big games this weekend, including one between the two teams tied atop the AFC South. The Jaguars will host the Colts, with both teams sitting at 8–4. Speaking of the AFC South, there is another massive AFC showdown on Sunday Night Football. The 6–6 Chiefs are fighting for their playoff lives, and they'll host a 7–5 Texans team that is trying to stay in the AFC South race. Our panel is split down the middle on which team will come out on top in both of those games. And over in the NFC, the Bears lead the Packers by half a game, with first place on the line when Green Bay welcomes its rivals to Lambeau Field on Sunday. Here's who we have making picks this season. |
Isaiah J. Downing/Imagn Images |
From David Gleeson (@davidrgleeson): Why doesn't Sean Payton get any love for COY? All other candidates that are normally mentioned are deserving, but SP is nowhere in sight. Shouldn't he at least be in the conversation? And if COY is all about exceeding expectations, why wasn't SP in the running last year? David, I think the reason is based on expectations. The Coach of the Year award routinely seems to be a most improved team award. In other words, it's a reflection of how a team performs relative to our collective perception of that team. So last year, with a rookie quarterback and a bumpy Year 1 fresh in our memories, Sean Payton was a prime candidate. The problem, even with Denver making the playoffs for the first time in nine years, was that the year-over-year improvement was just two wins. So Payton finished fifth. This year, Payton set the bar very high. The Broncos in no way shied away from Super Bowl talk over the summer, and they've delivered, going 10–2. And in a way, Payton's shot at winning the award becomes a casualty of that narrative. I say that as someone who has a pretty good idea of what Payton was doing, creating a high standard for a locker room he believed was well-equipped to handle it. It was the right thing to do then. It's working, as much as something like that can, now. And that's great. It just won't help him win that award, remarkable as the turnaround he's conducted in Denver is. Which I'm sure he's O.K. with. |
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By Matt Verderame The NFL is giving the term "parity" a new meaning. For years, parity meant a few new teams in the playoffs for both conferences, someone going worst-to-first and a couple of new stars creating a stir. But this season, whether from an individual or team perspective, parity suddenly means a complete upheaval every week, making it impossible to figure out who is good, who isn't, and what actually matters. But parity has nothing on 37-year-old Matthew Stafford, who entered the season after a summer of back problems that kept him out of the preseason. Then the regular season began, and Stafford got rolling. Through 12 weeks, he is neck and neck with the Patriots' Drake Maye for MVP honors. The former Super Bowl champ has thrown an NFL-best 32 touchdowns against four interceptions, helping the Rams to a 9–3 record atop the NFC West alongside the Seahawks. Stafford has one of the top wideout duos in Davante Adams and Puka Nacua, with the former leading the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns while Nacua ranks third in yardage with 1,019 despite playing only 11 games. Unfortunately, we start at the wrong end of the rankings, which brings us to Minneapolis. |
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