NFL Power Rankings
What a week of football it was! The Jets kicked off the week by upsetting the Texans, which saw a MASSIVE shakeup in the top-5 of our previous rankings. For the most part, the remainder of the top 10 stayed the same as those teams handled business. However, a new name has finally claimed the top spot. Some of you may not be surprised, but I finally took the plunge and made the change.
Due to the results of some of the games this week, New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen has been released. Allen was the defensive coordinator for New Orleans for seven years before being promoted to head coach ahead of the 2022 season. This is the second coach firing, and I am sure that we will see more. Some of the candidates that I am seeing are Doug Pederson, Kevin Stefanski, and others. While we don’t want to see this happen as this is people’s livelihood, it can be best for the NFL franchise from a business side.
We see highs and lows every week and this one was no different. The playoff picture currently has Kansas City and Detroit as the #1 seeds of their respective conferences. The AFC would line up with Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Denver with the NFC sporting Washington, Atlanta, Arizona, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Green Bay, respectively. This is a different playoff picture than we are used to and I LOVE it. It’s nice to see things start to change and develop.
Biggest Riser: New York Jets (+10), Biggest Faller: Houston Texans (-9)
1. Detroit Lions (2)
Our first change at the top spot since the beginning of the season, Detroit is everything you want. They just traded for Za’Darius Smith and have one the best rosters in all of football. They are the complete package and dominate opponents week in and week out.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (1)
I know, I know. The last remaining undefeated team not being in the top spot seems odd, but let’s be real, this Chiefs team is far from perfect. They are getting exceptional play from DeAndre Hopkins and Kareem Hunt. Patrick Mahomes will find ways to win, but a superior team could knock them off in a vacuum.
3. Buffalo Bills (3)
Yet again, Buffalo finds a way to win despite key contributors not contributing. James Cook is on a bit of a decline, but that doesn’t matter when Josh Allen is your quarterback. Buffalo is looking like a lock to win the AF East.
4. Washington Commanders (5) 📈
I don’t think there is anyone out of the NFC East that isn’t cheering for Washington. They are an exceptional team and are doing all of the right things. It’s crazy what good coaching and a superstar quarterback will do for you.
5. Green Bay Packers (6)
Green Bay ran into a buzzsaw and that’s just an unfortunate thing to realize. The Packers didn’t play exceptionally well, but they didn’t play poorly. Detroit just played better. I have no doubt Green Bay makes the playoffs but there isn’t a guarantee they make a deep run.
6. Atlanta Falcons (7)
Drake London suffered a hip pointer but is not expected to miss time. You would’ve thought it was Kyle Pitts who got hurt with the way his stat line looked. Regardless, it doesn’t matter to NFL coaches who gets the ball so long as they keep on winning and Atlanta is doing just that.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (8)
Pittsburgh had a bye week but remains atop the AFC North. This has been one of the more surprising teams of the year and Russell Wilson seems to have captured shades of himself from years previous. So long as he keeps playing well, this team will be hard to beat.
8. Minnesota Vikings (9)
The Colts looked like they were going to take the Vikings at the beginning of the game. But, of course, Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson made sure this didn’t happen. The big question here is how well Cam Robinson will fair on his new team.
9. Philadelphia Eagles (10)
How Saquon Barkley does what he does will never cease to amaze me. The backward hurdle is something that will be talked about for years to come. The Eagles are righting the ship but will have to remain consistent if they want to catch the Commanders.
10. Baltimore Ravens (11)
Derrick Henry is and should be the front-runner for Offensive Player of the Year. He slid right into this Baltimore system and didn’t miss a beat. He has 100 more rushing yards than the 2nd running back and is the only running back to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards on the season.
11. San Francisco 49ers (12)
San Francisco had a bye this week but all signs are pointing to them picking up where they left off. George Kittle is the top tight end in the league right now and he doesn’t look to be slowing down. The only thing that will stop this team is injuries and we all know this has plagued the 49ers in recent seasons.
12. Los Angeles Chargers (13)
Everywhere that Jim Harbaugh goes he wins. San Francisco and Michigan turned things around in one year and the Chargers are doing just that. They matched their win total from a year ago this week and they look to be trending upward. Who says a power run game can’t work in the NFL?
13. Houston Texans (4) 📉
A massive loss for one of the better teams this year, Houston dropped the most in the rankings. CJ Stroud doesn’t look as good as he used to and part of this is due to the health of the rest of the team around him. Still, losing to the hapless Jets is a bad look.
14. Los Angeles Rams (17)
While the Rams don’t lead the NFC West, they still project to be better than the leading Cardinals. Cooper Kupp looks to have returned to stardom and Puka Nacua will continue to thrive, even though it was a bad week. This team is dangerous.
15. Arizona Cardinals (19) 📈
Kyler Murray threw for 154 yards and the Cardinals still won by 20 points. James Conner eclipsed the century mark in rushing and has yet to miss a game for injury. This team is trending in the right direction and currently leads the NFC West.
16. Denver Broncos (15)
The Broncos didn’t have a shot against a superior Baltimore team even with their better-than-average defense. While Bo Nix didn’t throw any touchdown passes, he did catch a touchdown pass from Courtland Sutton. The running game didn’t set the world on fire, but Nix contributed there too showing dual-threat capability.
17. Seattle Seahawks (18)
Even with a massive game from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks still found themselves on the short end of the stick against Los Angeles. It’s not like Los Angeles did anything special against Seattle except commit fewer turnovers. Geno Smith’s 3 interceptions were detrimental.
18. Cincinnati Bengals (21) 📉
The Bengals did what they were supposed to do and pummeled the Raiders at home. While a win is a good thing, the Bengals are supposed to win games like this and still face an uphill battle. They can’t veer far from perfection the rest of the way.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (14)
An overtime loss to the Chiefs drops this Bucs team further in the rankings. Baker Mayfield threw for just 200 yards and the ground game was never able to take off with Bucky Irving leading the way with 24 yards. Without the talent this team has lost, they are in trouble.
20. New York Jets (28)
A statement win against a reeling Texans team has brought this fan base back to life. New York still has a long way to go before they are in playoff contention, but this win brings hope to a franchise that has witnessed nothing but darkness for so long.
21. Dallas Cowboys (20)
Dak Prescott is an IR candidate and CeeDee Lamb will be playing through an AC joint injury. I know there are always memes about the Cowboys missing the playoffs, but when do we start admitting that they are true?
22. Chicago Bears (16)
I don’t want to say Caleb Williams is a bust, but it’s really hard to see how well Jayden Daniels is doing on an “inferior” team and not jump to conclusions. It’s still too early to make a decision, but boy has it been rough in Chicago after an offseason of hope.
23. Indianapolis Colts (22)
With Joe Flacco leading the charge, the hope was that Indianapolis would return to a league-median passing offense yet they stalled. Their lone touchdown was scored by an interception return.
24. Cleveland Browns (23)
The Jameis Revolution was short-lived as the Browns returned to their losing ways and dropped their 7th game of the year. With the Deshaun Watson contract making things cloudy the outlook of this franchise is yet again bleak.
25. Miami Dolphins (27)
The hope was that Tua was going to come back and revitalize this offense but “Captain Checkdown” has become the new norm. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle truthers are starting to squirm.
26. New Orleans Saints (25)
Dennis Allen was fired and Marshon Lattimore was traded as we are nearing the end of an era for the Saints. New Orleans received a 3rd, 4th, and 5th round pick in the deal as they look to rebuild.
27. New York Giants (24)
How the Giants made this such a close game with the Commanders I will never know. I don’t even know where this franchise is heading at this point.
28. New England Patriots (26)
Drake Maye continues to dominate and show that he is the Patriots guy. Now they have to surround him with talented playmakers and can do this with a top pick.
29. Las Vegas Raiders (29)
Las Vegas should keep riding the slide and doing their homework on the upcoming quarterback class. They have to get this pick right.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars (30)
Jacksonville is in a weird spot. They have their franchise quarterback but are still losing. Maybe coaching should change.
31. Tennessee Titans (31)
Tennessee should be looking to lose some games and get a good pick for a quarterback rather than winning them.
32. Carolina Panthers (32)
A surprise win may garner some trade interest as Carolina looks to continue its eternity-long rebuild.
