2023 NFL final regular-season power rankings: Bills rally to win AFC East, Ravens finish on top

For the second time in three weeks, the Giants took on the playoff-bound Eagles. In the 33-25 Christmas Day loss at Philadelphia, the club nearly rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to win. This time around, Big Blue jumped out to a 24-0 lead at intermission and was never really threatened. Tyrod Taylor led an attack that gained 415 yards.

It was nice to go out with a win, but Brian Daboll’s club could not build on last season’s 9-7-1 playoff showing. There were problems throughout. One positive was the fact that the Giants played better vs. divisional foes.

What a fall from grace for the Purple Gang. The reigning NFC North champions saw quarterback Kirk Cousins go down after eight games and Kevin O’Connell wound up starting four different signal-callers this season. However, one of the biggest reversals of fortunes for this year’s Vikings, 13-4 in 2022, was the failure to win the close games.

At Ford Field, Nick Mullens threw for plenty of yards (396) and two scores but served up a pair of interceptions. Minnesota finished with 34 turnovers, 11 more miscues than a year ago (23) when they won the NFC North.

Make it seven consecutive losing seasons for a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 50 in 2015. Sean Payton’s debut in the Mile High City has to rank as a disappointment, although there was some progress made from a year ago. Sunday’s loss at Las Vegas made it eight straight setbacks to the rival Raiders.

What does the future hold for veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, benched these last two weeks? On Sunday, backup Jarrett Stidham was sacked five times, and the Denver defense surrendered 359 total yards in the loss.