[MUSIC PLAYING]
TONY ANDERSON: It's cold outside.
The temperatures are going down.
And during the Christmas break, some NFL teams
followed suit by dropping in USA Today Sports's power rankings.
Now other teams did happen to go up.
So let's take a look at some of the biggest changes.
First up, riser, the LA Chargers.
It's a party in LA since the Bolts clinched
their first playoff appearance since 2018
by defeating the Colts on Monday Night Football.
The old adage is, defense wins games,
and that's been true for this LA team.
They sacked quarterback Nick Foles
whenever they felt like it, and they felt like it seven times.
Now offensively, they aren't as hot.
Justin Herbert hasn't thrown a touchdown in two
straight games, but the Chargers now
have two weeks to get this team ready for the playoffs.
Faller, the Seattle Seahawks.
Geno Smith and the Seahawks have crashed back to Earth
after suffering their fifth loss in six contests,
losing to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Are their playoff hopes dead?
Nope.
They're right behind the Giants and Commanders
fighting for a wild card spot and are
looking at winnable games coming up against the Jets and Rams.
Riser, the Carolina Panthers.
Now this one is a bit of a shocker.
You lose Christian McCaffrey, who
is one of the best running backs in the league, period,
and yet somehow you get better.
What in the Bizarro World is going on here?
The Panthers ran wild on Christmas Eve
in an impressive win over the previously
red-hot Detroit Lions.
The NFC South is completely wide open.
And with a pair of games against the Bucs and Saints
to close out the season, Carolina
controls their own fate.
Finally, we end on a team that's fallen
and looks like they cannot get up, the Denver Broncos, woof.
After being blown out by Baker Mayfield and the Rams 51-14
on Sunday, the Broncos front office
had seen enough to dismiss Nathaniel
Hackett from his position.
Unfortunately for them, they can't just
fire Russ and that $48 million a year contract.
Good news for Nathaniel Hackett though,
he's now spared a week 17 visit to Kansas City
where Russ and the Broncos will likely get cooked.