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NFL power rankings, Week 16: Meaningless movement

The Rams are at least consistent in one thing: Their place in the power rankings.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

When discussing 32 separate but related things, a list, nay, a ranking is the only way we can possibly comprehend it ... as is my understanding. We're nearing the end of weekly power rankings season, the regular season too, which will, for the 10th season in a row, be all the football the St. Louis Rams.

But they're getting better, slowly but surely. We know this for several reasons: 1) their record compared to the 1-, 2- and 3-win seasons of the past; 2) Bryan Burwell told us so in a love letter to the team today; and 3) they upset the Saints and moved up a spot in the power rankings.

The Rams went from 20 to 19 in this week's rankings from SB Nation.

Having straggled through a couple of lackluster offensive weeks, the Rams broke out the "Hey, Zac - go win the game for us!" plan with impressive results. Stacy battered the Saints for 133 yards on the ground and allowed Kellen Clemens to safely dink and dunk. Led by Robert Quinn's outright demolition of Charles Brown, the Rams D forced enough mistakes to stymie the Saints despite surrendering yet another truckload of passing yards. Jeff Fisher and company can spend the offseason squaring away the QB and secondary situations, while owner Stan Kroenke can focus his efforts on lobbying the Commissioner's office for divisional realignment.

That bit about Zac Stacy hits the nail on the head. The Rams are 5-3 when they run the ball 25 times or more in a game this season. They're 2-7 when they throw the ball 30 or more times.

The lower-middle part (class?) of the power rankings feel just right for the Rams. When this team wins, they tend to win big. The same goes for when they lose games, which makes it a terribly inconsistent bunch from week to week.