The Los Angeles Rams remain a clear top-5 team in the NFL after their Week 15 win over the Detroit Lions. The victory clinched a playoff berth for the team and gave them a late edge in both the NFC West and for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

But a lot hinges on a Week 16 showdown with the Seattle Seahawks. A loss could lose the division and the top seed, while a win would almost assuredly help secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

When it comes to the rest of the NFL, though, the Rams’ time at the top remains in flux. Some pundits put the Rams as the clear No. 1 team in the league after 15 weeks, while other still aren’t sure about how close they are to that spot heading into the final stretch of the season.

Here is a roundup of the top expert power rankings for Week 16.

The best team in football? We’ll find out Thursday night in Seattle. But hard to bet against this team given the way its offense can simply takes games over − LA scoring at least 34 points in six of its past eight outings.

[Puka] Nacua is eligible for an extension this offseason, and getting that done will be a priority for the Rams. The 2023 fifth-round pick had nine catches for 181 yards against the Lions. It was his second straight game with at least 150 receiving yards, and he became the first Rams player to meet that mark since 2004, according to ESPN Research. It will likely be a record-setting contract for Nacua; Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase leads all receivers with $40.25 million per year.

They lit up the scoreboard against the Lions, but the defense gave up a lot of big plays. They have to tighten that up heading to Seattle this week.

The Salt-and-Pepper Slinger topped 350 passing yards for the third time this season, going 24-of-38 for 368 yards. He’s second in the league in passing yards (3,722) and first with 37 touchdown passes. That’s four short of tying his single-season best (set in 2011 in Detroit and matched in 2021 in Los Angeles), and it’s a staggering number considering he has only five interceptions. Losing Davante Adams (hamstring) would hurt, though.

The Rams’ win on Sunday was impressive. It would have been easy to look past a capable Lions team and start thinking about Thursday night’s game in Seattle. But the Rams kept focus, put up 41 points and won. The Rams are already a significant Super Bowl favorite, and that’s despite them being just 55.6% to win the NFC West (via DVOA). If the Rams win Thursday, they’d be a near lock to win the division, get the No. 1 seed and they’d be an overwhelming favorite to win it all. Lose on Thursday and the Rams might end up as a wild-card team playing a cold weather game in Green Bay, Chicago or Philadelphia. The stakes are enormous.

That was a heavyweight fight they won against the Lions. Losing WR Davante Adams is a concern, though, especially on a short week and with a rematch against the Seahawks looming.

The Rams stumbled early against the Lions before leaping past Detroit with an explosive offense, this time fueled by the running game. The defense showed a few more holes, but has more margin for error given the success of the Rams’ offense.

There’s a chance that both quarterback Matthew Stafford and head coach Sean McVay will become Hall of Famers when their careers are over—and this season might be the top line on both of their résumés. The Rams are in an offensive groove that no team in the NFL can match right now, and they effectively snatched Sunday’s game away from the Lions on four scoring drives in the second half. Stafford has been supported by a consistent run game and two excellent (albeit currently banged-up) receivers, and there’s nothing that defenses can do to bother him anymore.

They have nothing to prove against Seattle this week. They should just get healthy over the next three weeks and go win Super Bowl LX.

In a week where serious injuries claimed two of the game’s brightest stars, Davante Adams sustaining what is considered a week-to-week issue is a sigh of relief. While I welcome a chaotic playoffs with few monolith teams, Los Angeles’s ceiling with this roster is too high—and too enjoyable to watch.

After weeks in the No. 1 spot, the Los Angeles Rams dropped a couple of rungs following their Week 13 loss to the Carolina Panthers, but they didn’t fall out of the top three. With the New England Patriots’ loss to the Buffalo Bills, one can argue that it’s between the Denver Broncos and Rams for No. 1 in the power rankings.

Unlike the Broncos, the Rams have shown they can blow out teams in decisive wins. They needed to rebound from a mistake-filled first half against the Detroit Lions and still scored 41. Los Angeles is one of the league’s best, competing for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, though Davante Adams’ injury could deal a blow to its high-powered offense. Still, you trust head coach Sean McVay and this team more than any of the other Super Bowl contenders.