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 2023 season. See here for last week’s rankings.
There were a couple big moves this week and a few small moves. The rankings predicted the winners pretty well this week, including the Cardinals over the Eagles.
The Steelers beat the Seahawks to maintain the NFL Title Belt and first ranking. The Steelers will play the Ravens next weekend for control of the NFL Title Belt and first. Since the Ravens are locked into the 1st Seed, it is likely that they sit some of their starters and lose to the Steelers. If the Steelers win and miss the playoffs, the belt and first will be left out of the playoffs and cannot be won again until Week 1 of next year. The last time the belt missed the playoffs was 2021.
With the Commanders losing to the 49ers, the Commanders will remain last place. The Commanders can move up next week when they play the Cowboys. The last 8 teams can end up in last place. The highest ranked team that can end up last is the Eagles, which would require all 7 teams behind them to upset their opponents.
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 | 2023 Wk17 | Δ | Notes | |
| 1 | Steelers | – | The Steelers beat the Seahawks to take the NFL Title Belt and first. | |
| 2 | Chiefs | +12 | The Chiefs jumped 12 spots by beating the Bengals. | |
| 3 | Bengals | -1 | ||
| 4 | Browns | -1 | ||
| 5 | Ravens | -1 | ||
| 6 | Saints | +18 | The Saints jumped 18 spots by beating the Bucs. | |
| 7 | Bucs | -2 | ||
| 8 | Jaguars | -2 | ||
| 9 | Dolphins | -2 | ||
| 10 | Jets | -2 | ||
| 11 | Texans | -2 | ||
| 12 | 49ers | -2 | ||
| 13 | Bears | -2 | ||
| 14 | Cardinals | -2 | ||
| 15 | Colts | +2 | The Colts jumped 2 spots by beating the Raiders. | |
| 16 | Raiders | -3 | ||
| 17 | Bills | +4 | The Bills jumped 4 spots by beating the Patriots. | |
| 18 | Patriots | -3 | ||
| 19 | Falcons | -3 | ||
| 20 | Cowboys | +2 | The Cowboys jumped 2 spots by beating the Lions. | |
| 21 | Lions | -3 | ||
| 22 | Broncos | -3 | ||
| 23 | Rams | -3 | ||
| 24 | Seahawks | -1 | ||
| 25 | Eagles | – | ||
| 26 | Giants | – | ||
| 27 | Packers | – | ||
| 28 | Chargers | – | ||
| 29 | Titans | – | ||
| 30 | Vikings | – | ||
| 31 | Panthers | – | ||
| 32 | Commanders | – | The Commanders will remain last after losing to the 49ers. |
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 points total has been reset with the first game of the season.
TEAM Ranking Points Ravens 1 266 49ers 2 187 Browns 3 184 Steelers 4 116 Bengals 5 109 Jaguars 6 100 Rams 7 80 Colts 8 73 Eagles 9 66 Seahawks 10 65 Texans 11 64 Cowboys 12 60 Lions 13 40 Chiefs 14 28 Dolphins 15 15 Bills 16 8 Bucs 17 -2 Titans 18 -38 Saints 19 -44 Packers 20 -47 Cardinals 21 -47 Broncos 22 -63 Vikings 23 -75 Raiders 24 -91 Jets 25 -94 Bears 26 -94 Falcons 27 -95 Giants 28 -128 Chargers 29 -140 Commanders 30 -148 Patriots 31 -159 Panthers 32 -196 The final regular season rankings will be out in the next day or two.
Since the Steelers won and will make the playoffs, first and the NFL Title Belt will be in the playoffs and will therefore go to the Super Bowl champion eventually.