In skits and starts, the Seahawks rediscovered their Super Bowl swagger with a two-week run evoking memories of their 2013 dominance.

Seattle, with cornerback and antagonist Richard Sherman in a starring role, manhandled the San Francisco 49ers four days after humiliating the Arizona Cardinals in a show of strength that pushes them into the favorite role in the NFC West. Not far off — home-field advantage.

Sherman, who used a cardboard cutout of wide receiver Doug Baldwin in a press conference-turned-Saturday Night Live skit to prepare for Colin Kaepernick, picked off two passes and the Seahawks’ defense looks to be back to its smothering ways.

The Seahawks own a tiebreaker over the Green Bay Packers by virtue of their season-opening victory. By winning out, Seattle could be the No. 2 or even No. 1 seed in the division.

The Packers are showing no signs of a slip-up, but their Week 17 finale is against the Detroit Lions (8-4).

Here’s our present take on the top 32 in the NFL:

–1. Green Bay Packers (9-3): No team wants to be sent to Lambeau Field next month. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a 20-0 touchdown-to-interception at home this season.

–2. New England Patriots (9-3): One of three teams to beat. Order is a tossup. Easy to believe Brady and Belichick have another ring left.

–3. Denver Broncos (9-3): Just .500 on the road, it’s fair to doubt the potency of the Broncos if they must play road warrior role in January.

–4. Cincinnati Bengals (8-3-1): Defense really clicking and the schedule dictates that the Bengals will park where they belong in the division. Two left with Steelers, at Cleveland and … Andy Dalton in primetime Dec. 22 vs. Denver.

–5. Arizona Cardinals (9-3): Drew Stanton not putting up points, and the defense is living — or dying — on takeaways. That’s no way to survive this time of year.

–6. Philadelphia Eagles (9-3): Offense can win in many ways. Defense still prone to breakdowns and allows the kind of big pass plays that win critical games.

–7. Seattle Seahawks (8-4): Knock, knock, Seattle surge is no joke. Outscored Cardinals, 49ers 38-6 in consecutive wins.

–8. Detroit Lions (8-4): For all the discipline praise heaped on Detroit, schizophrenic can describe this team week-to-week and often within a single game. Holding my chips on this playoff horse.

–9. Indianapolis Colts (8-4): Built to win shootouts. By the way, has the Trent Richardson trade ever looked worse for GM Ryan Grigson? That was Daniel “Boom” Herron, drafted 188 spots after Richardson (third overall in 2012), starting and starring in the Indy offense.

–10. Miami Dolphins (6-5, Monday at NY Jets): Ryan Tannehill believer, defense is the reason the Dolphins can sneak into the playoffs in a packed AFC. Guessing the Broncos don’t want to see them again, nor would New England.

–11. Dallas Cowboys (8-4): Right on cue, Cowboys limp into December, the month that has historically defined Jason Garrett and Tony Romo as enormous losers.

–12. San Diego Chargers (8-4): Great fight in this underdog, embodied by never-say-die quarterback Philip Rivers.

–13. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5): Tell me more about the harmony of the offense. Le’Veon Bell having a special season, but will the defense have any kick in the end?

–14. Kansas City Chiefs (7-5): Tough two-week stretch in KC with loss at Oakland, another to Denver and safety Eric Berry’s medical matter. Is there one more rally in Andy Reid’s gang?

–15. Baltimore Ravens (7-5): Season-long trouble in the secondary big reason for doubts in Baltimore.

–16. Cleveland Browns (7-5): Twelve games into his rookie season, Johnny Manziel made his first major contribution. By the sound of coach Mike Pettine postgame Sunday, it won’t be Johnny Football’s last.

–17. San Francisco 49ers (7-5): Soap opera drama in Santa Clara — not all caused by coach Jim Harbaugh — makes this the NFL’s most fascinating situation to watch the next 45 days.

–18. New Orleans Saints (5-7): In the NFC South, a warm Brees will be more than enough.

–19. St. Louis Rams (5-7): Jeff Fisher has a dominant defense. Can the offense ever catch up?

–20. Carolina Panthers (3-8-1): Yes, mathematically alive for the division push many project. Appearances are another story.

–21. Buffalo Bills (7-5): What a show by the defense in Buffalo. Bearish nose tackle Kyle Williams has been to the Pro Bowl, but deserves more attention.

–22. Houston Texans (6-6): J.J. Watt grabs the attention and fascination of us all with his dominance. Lost in the shuffle — Ryan Fitzpatrick was actually competent as Bill O’Brien envisioned with six TD passes in rout.

–23. Atlanta Falcons (5-7): They’re winning, but the head coach is on thin ice, and Sunday’s victory over Arizona might be evidence the team has underperformed by a wider margin than initially thought.

–24. Minnesota Vikings (5-7): Mike Zimmer is a career scrapper, and the Vikings are starting to wear his personality well.

–25. Chicago Bears (5-7): Too much talent to be this far out of it, Marc Trestman.

–26. N.Y. Giants (3-9): Tom Coughlin could be the fall guy for a dramatic decline as the losing streak approaches two months.

–27. Washington Redskins (3-9): Colt McCoy outplaying Robert Griffin III. Let that sink in for a moment.

–28. N.Y. Jets (2-9, Monday vs. Miami): Ready for Rex Ryan to take his rightful place behind a pregame show desk.

–29. Tennessee Titans (2-10): Can’t keep a quarterback healthy and this defense carries too much weight behind a substandard offense.

–30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-10): Lovie Smith admits he cost the team a game — and loss No. 10. Worth a reminder he was Tampa’s top choice at $5 million per season, or $2.5 million per win at this stage.

–31. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10): Two defensive touchdowns masked more marginal play of the Jacksonville offensive line (seven sacks allowed).

–32. Oakland Raiders (1-11): After his inspired message two weeks ago — following the Raiders win over Kansas City — can we get video of Tony Sparano’s postgame speech this week?

What we learned Week 13

Chargers 34, Ravens 33

Quarterback Philip Rivers started his 140th straight game, the second longest streak in the NFL behind Eli Manning (163). Rivers took a hard shot to the ribs by Ravens rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley in the first quarter and he hesitated to get back up. However, he shook it off and led the Chargers to the victory. Much of San Diego’s success this season can be tied to River’s durability and toughness to finish games. He completed 34 of 45 passes for 383 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Rivers has now thrown two or more touchdown passes in eight of the past 11 games.

“To come into this atmosphere and win means so much to our confidence,” Rivers said. “This was an awesome victory for us, especially the way we won. The game was back and forth all afternoon and we kept our confidence and won.”

Falcons 29, Cardinals 18

Is Arizona’s dream season unraveling? The Cardinals won nine of their first 10 games, but have not played well the past two weeks since quarterback Carson Palmer was lost for the season to a knee injury. At 9-3, the Cardinals still have a one-game lead in the rugged NFC West, but unless backup quarterback Drew Stanton improves his play, Arizona is going to have trouble down the stretch. Stanton struggled to move the ball against an Atlanta defense that entered the game last in the NFL against the pass. He’s thrown one touchdown with three interceptions that past two weeks.

Wide receiver Julio Jones has developed into the kind of weapon that the Falcons envisioned when they traded up to get the Alabama product in the 2011 draft. Jones caught 10 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals and went over 1,000 yards receiving on the season.

Jaguars 25, Giants 24

The Jaguars are full of veterans on defense and have an offense dominated by first and second-year players. Needless to say, the defense needs to set the standard. It did so Sunday by scoring a pair of touchdowns, the first time in franchise history that this has happened.

“I tip my hat to our defense every week,” said wide receiver Cecil Shorts. “They’ve been strong consistently for us all year. They set the tone and today they gave us a lift with those two scores. We’ve got to get the offense playing on the same consistent level that the defense is.”

The Jaguars start eight rookies or second-year players on offense while only one rookie started on defense Sunday. That was linebacker Telvin Smith who has started half a dozen games at linebacker this season.

Vikings 31, Panthers 13

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s final numbers weren’t gaudy Sunday, but the rookie was efficient and did a fantastic job of protecting the football. Bridgewater completed 15 of 21 passes for 138 yards and two scores, but did a couple of other things that could be good news for the Vikings: He threw perhaps his best deep throw of the season to Wright during the third quarter. And of course, he didn’t turn the ball over.

“A great bounce-back game,” receiver Greg Jennings said. “Teddy Bridgewater definitely took a step today. It’s a growing process. Every week, you want to see guys get better. Today that took place.”

Texans 45, Titans 21

As improbable as it may seem, defensive end J.J. Watt has built a solid case as league MVP. Watt finished with three tackles, two sacks, six quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on defense. He added a 1-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter for his fifth touchdown this season, his third on offense. “It’s what you dream about,” Watt said after being bathed by MVP chants in the fourth quarter.

Bills 26, Browns 10

The unveiling of Johnny Football for the Browns was riveting — at least relative to the recent backslide from Brian Hoyer. Manziel scored a 10-yard touchdown for the Browns’ lone score.

Buffalo invested heavily in the offense during the offseason and has an offensive-minded head coach, but is being led by its defense. The Bills held the Browns to just three points in the first half, and went into halftime lamenting their mistakes. In the third quarter, the Browns had negative yardage, and the Bills rode their defensive dominance to a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Bengals 14, Buccaneers 13

It wasn’t pretty, but winning on Sunday while the rest of the division lost was huge. Shortly after the Bengals scratched out a one-point win, word spread throughout the locker room at Raymond James Stadium that the Steelers had lost to the Saints. And the Ravens had lost to the Chargers. And the Browns lost to the Bills. All of a sudden, the Bengals hadn’t just maintained their position atop the AFC North — they’d moved ahead 1 1/2 games (two in the loss column) with an 8-3-1 record and the rest of the division standing at 7-5.

The Bucs’ lack of discipline might be their biggest problem. They committed 13 penalties for 94 yards on Sunday. Just for the sake of comparison, consider that they only totaled 75 rushing yards on 25 attempts. You’re not going to win games that way, especially when your penalties prolong opponents’ drives and put your offense in impossible situations.

Colts 49, Redskins 27

Indianapolis is one of the few NFL teams that has enough firepower to overcome three first-half turnovers and still win by 22 points despite having the ball for only 23 minutes and running only 49 plays while the Redskins were running 74.

The Colts are doing what most playoff bound teams do — they beat the teams on their schedule that they are supposed to beat, including the 3-9 Redskins. Indianapolis has lost to Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New England, but is 8-0 against everyone else, including lowly Jacksonville twice, Tennessee and the New York Giants.

Rams 52, Raiders 0

It didn’t take long for the Raiders to lose the glow of their only win in a calendar year.

The Rams again were well-prepared to start a game, racing out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter. Their plus-54 point differential in the first quarter is second-best in the NFL. Their 38 points off opening drives have been topped by just two teams — San Francisco and Green Bay (41). The difference in this and other games is that St. Louis didn’t let up with a big lead, pouring the points on and making it a laugher before halftime.

Saints 35, Steelers 32

Embattled defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s unit showed some spark. Though the Steelers wound up with 538 yards, that figure was deceiving. Pittsburgh gained 193 yards on its final two drives after the Saints had built a 35-16 lead. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 435 yards but was intercepted twice and went just 8 of 22 for 115 yards in the first half while the Saints took the lead for good, 14-6.

–Some information contributed by Sports Xchange writers covering each game.