Week 17 Power rankings: Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels debate flips as Bears surge, Commanders unravel

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Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels? The future of the Chicago Bears or the future of the Washington Commanders?

There was no way a year ago you could even ask those questions without getting side-eye. But the schedule maker in the NFL works in funny ways, as both the Commanders and Bears played this past Saturday on national television, showcasing both teams, giving a barometer of sorts. OK, sort of for the Commanders.

Their season has been a disaster, and Daniels hasn’t played much because of injuries. He was shut down two weeks ago because of his latest injury, which means Marcus Mariota is at quarterback.

Williams, meanwhile, is flourishing. The Bears are as well.

The Commanders are heading to exotic islands in a few weeks, while the Bears are going to the playoffs. The Bears have a better roster and a younger one.

The question about Williams and Daniels isn’t that outlandish anymore. In fact, many would likely take Williams now.

After beating the Green Bay Packers in dramatic fashion Saturday night to up the Bears’ record to 11-4 and take a firm grasp of the NFC North, Williams was the talk of the league. He made an incredible throw in overtime to win it with a touchdown pass to D.J. Moore. He tied it late with one against an all-out pressure.

Williams shines in the biggest moments, which is what you want with a quarterback.

I preferred Daniels when they came out in the draft, and that looked to be the right choice last season, but that’s not necessarily the case anymore. Daniels has missed time with injuries, but they would be close right now even if he were on the field.

What Bears coach Ben Johnson has done to improve Williams and improve the offense will earn him Coach of the Year votes. It has them up to No. 4 in my Power Rankings this week as well.

Williams deserves a ton of credit for buying into what Johnson was selling. He’s a changed quarterback, and that debate about him and Daniels will go into year five or so before we have a true winner. But, for now, any gap from a year ago has certainly closed.

The Bears and Williams are going to the playoffs.

The Commanders and Daniels will be sitting on a beach somewhere wondering what went wrong.

Biggest Movers

2

Seahawks

5

Broncos

Rk	Teams		Chg	Rcrd
1	Seahawks	Rallying to beat the Rams has the Seahawks as the top seed in the NFC with two weeks to go. They face a tough road game with the Panthers this week.	2	12-3-0
2	Patriots	Drake Maye’s showing vs. the Ravens helps his MVP chances. Coming back from 11 points down is a good sign for this young team as they ready for the playoffs.	2	12-3-0
3	Jaguars	They have ripped off six straight victories as Trevor Lawrence has been as good as any passer in the league the last five weeks. Liam Coen is in the Coach of the Year conversation.	2	11-4-0
4	Bears	They impressed in the comeback against the Packers, but they face another tough test at San Francisco this week. Caleb Williams is playing with confidence in the big moments.	2	11-4-0
5	Rams	Losing the way they did at Seattle has to sting. The defense suddenly has some leakage on the back end, which isn’t good. Special teams killed them, too.	3	11-4-0
6	Broncos	The vaunted defense got shredded by the Jaguars, which was a shock. They have to flush it quickly since they play at Kansas City on Thursday.	5	12-3-0
7	49ers	Brock Purdy lit up the Colts. If they play like that, they will be a real threat in the NFC playoffs. They have a chance to be the NFC’s top seed. Amazing.	—	11-4-0
8	Texans	They didn’t look good in the victory over the Raiders, which is concerning as they head to play the Chargers this week. The offense has to be better.	—	10-5-0
9	Bills	They seemed to struggle to get going in the victory over the Browns, but they found a way. They can’t play that way this week against the Eagles … or they will pay.	—	11-4-0
10	Eagles	They have beaten up two bad teams the last two weeks to seemingly right things. Now they face a tough road game at Buffalo with just seeding on the line since they clinched the NFC East.	2	10-5-0
11	Chargers	They have righted their season after the blowout loss to the Jaguars five weeks ago. The defense has really stepped it up, but their maligned offensive line was good against Dallas, which is huge for the playoffs.	—	11-4-0
12	Packers	Blowing the lead to the Bears the way they did has to be killing this team. Jordan Love’s health with the concussion is the big issue this week.	2	9-5-1
13	Panthers	They made the key plays down the stretch to beat the Bucs in a big game Sunday, but now face a tough Seattle team. Bryce Young made some big throws on the game-winning drive.	1	8-7-0
14	Steelers	Look who suddenly has taken hold of the AFC North. One more victory — likely this week against the Browns — and they are in the playoffs. DK Metcalf won’t be part of it because of his suspension.	1	9-6-0
15	Buccaneers	The offense isn’t clicking right now. Baker Mayfield simply doesn’t look right. But two more victories and they win the division. It’s that simple.	2	7-8-0
16	Ravens	After blowing an 11-point lead to the Patriots, they now face long odds to make the playoffs. Their game with Green Bay on Saturday night is essentially a playoff game because a loss eliminates them.	1	7-8-0
17	Lions	They face long odds to make the playoffs now, which has to be a major disappointment for a team with high expectations coming into this year. The defense is bad.	1	8-7-0
18	Colts	Philip Rivers couldn’t save that defense against the 49ers. They have too many injuries on both sides of the ball, which is why their season went rotten.	2	8-7-0
19	Vikings	The defense has really played well the past seven weeks. That unit dominated the Giants on Sunday as Brian Flores has again done a heck of a job.	—	7-8-0
20	Cowboys	The defense was back to being bad again in the loss to the Chargers. Will they make changes to the staff on that side of the ball after the season?	—	6-8-1
21	Bengals	Joe Burrow lit up the Dolphins and the Bengals showed signs of life. It’s a shame we won’t see that offense come playoff time.	2	5-10-0
22	Falcons	Does beating Arizona save coach Raheem Morris? Or is it too little, too late? They have won consecutive games.	2	6-9-0
23	Chiefs	No Patrick Mahomes, no compete. It’s that simple. They were lifeless at Tennessee in the loss to the Titans.	2	6-9-0
24	Dolphins	Benching Tua Tagovailoa didn’t solve anything for this team. Two embarrassing losses in a row isn’t a good look for Mike McDaniel.	2	6-9-0
25	Saints	Kellen Moore and Tyler Shough give this team hope for the future. They have won three straight. Impressive.	—	5-10-0
26	Commanders	It’s hard to believe this was a team playing in the NFC Championship Game last year. The current team isn’t very good.	—	4-11-0
27	Cardinals	The injuries keep mounting with each loss, which is not a good thing for coach Jonathan Gannon. Can he get another season to turn it around?	—	3-12-0
28	Titans	They beat the Chiefs, which hurts draft position, but should make the young players feel better. Two more games and it’s time to hire a new coach.	2	3-12-0
29	Jets	They are going in an ugly direction when it comes to the product on the field. One has to wonder if Aaron Glenn is safe — even if some say he will be.	1	3-12-0
30	Giants	They just keep losing games, and rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart was awful in the loss to the Vikings. The good news is they would have the first pick right now.	1	2-13-0
31	Browns	The injury to rookie runner Quinshon Judkins really puts a damper on their loss to the Bills. Shedeur Sanders doesn’t look like the long-term guy, either.	—	3-12-0
32	Raiders	Hey, at least they showed some fight against the Texans. That’s progress.	—	2-13-0

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