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The marquee matchup of Week 15 was a quarterback battle. When the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers faced off for control of the AFC on Sunday afternoon, the game pitted Tom Brady against a third team in a row capable of playing man coverage and bringing pressure right up the middle—two things Brady didn't like at all when he faced the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills in New England's previous games.

Though the Pats won 27-24, it was a close shave, affected in the closing seconds by a negated Steelers touchdown—yet another version of the NFL's catch rules—and Brady walked away having thrown just two touchdown passes to four picks in his last three games.

New England and Pittsburgh remain on top of the AFC, but the hottest quarterback in the NFL right now doesn't reside on either of their rosters. Most atypically, the hottest quarterback in the NFL right now is Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who has married the most efficient version of himself to his team's stout running game and vicious defense to make the Jags perhaps the league's most dangerous foe.

Over in the NFC, Nick Foles was able to keep Philadelphia Eagles fans from fretting over a cursed feeling with a highly efficient performance against the New York Giants, making the Eagles the conference's top team once again, with the Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Case Keenum on the chase.

And in the NFC West, the Los Angeles Rams' decisive victory over the Seattle Seahawks indicated more than just a one-game trend; we seem to be seeing a true changing of the guard. Head coach Sean McVay's team is now making moves, and quarterback Jared Goff continues to benefit from McVay's offensive acumen, while Seattle's Russell Wilson pinwheels himself into the ground behind an embarrassment of an offensive line and with no credible running game to speak of.

Our weekly quarterback rankings are decided and written by myself, NFL1000 lead scout Doug Farrar, and quarterbacks scout Mark Schofield. I evaluate all AFC quarterbacks, and Schofield does the same with the NFC quarterbacks.

We combine tape analysis and advanced metrics to give you a sense of which quarterbacks are trending up, down and which are better or worse than their reputations might imply.

The rankings are based on recent performance, but they are also adjusted for opponent, talent around the quarterback and the player's history over the last few years.

Good news for some, bad news for others. Here are the NFL1000 quarterback rankings ahead of Week 16.