A new king is crowned in the NFL Power Rankings.
Another wild week in the NFL power rankings with several teams not playing and with some big-name teams losing.
I tried to be fair to the teams not on the field, but the league is a “what have you done for me lately” business and the power rankings are no different.
32. New York Jets (+0)
Even though many things in the league have been changing, it is nice to know that some things are constants. The rock that I build my house on is the last-place New York Jets providing context for the rest of the NFL.
Joe Flacco came in today in favor of a banged-up Sam Darnold, and the saddest thing was that there was almost no difference in the offense or even what the play at QB looked like. I don’t know what this team has to build around right now and they have yet to find their first win.
31. New York Giants (+0)
This is a heartbreaking loss because I can’t imagine a situation where things go better for the Giants even if you look at the grim reality of that situation. The Cowboys imploded, were dealing with major injuries, sustained major injuries, and the Giants still couldn’t come up with a win.
I still think New York has a stranglehold on the bottom of the power rankings, but the Giants have shown more.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars (-1)
The Jacksonville Jaguars seem to be a really fun team that is just incredibly limited in how good they can be. Weekly they look like they are a step away from being explosive, but whether it is coaching or a lack of talent, they just always fall short.
I said earlier this week that the Jaguars seem like a team that will be in a position to upgrade at quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft, but they will do something stupid like draft a tight end instead of upgrading and it will be the Blake Bortles situation all over again.
29. Atlanta Falcons (-1)
It is a clean house in Atlanta after the Falcons fired HC Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff after an 0-5 start where they never really recovered from losing to the Dallas Cowboys.
I still maintain that all the pieces are there, they just haven’t been able to get enough out of the defense to retain a head coach whose background is on that side of the ball. At this point, it makes complete sense to wipe the slate clean and to hire a GM/HC tandem that can help this team become playoff contenders immediately and find a way to make the most of what time they have left in their “window” if they have one.
28. Washington (+2)
That was terrifying. I raised Washington two spots in my power rankings because I think Alex Smith will make them more competitive in the long term, but throwing him to the wolves today was a bold and dangerous move.
Like I said, if he can be anything close to what he was before the injury, this is going to be a team that gets to five or six wins before the season is over. However, they have to do a better job protecting him going forward or else he won’t be able to get to that point again.
27. Dallas Cowboys (-11)
There is only one reason why a team wins a game and drops this low, and it is never anything close to good.
Dealing with injuries to both starting tackles was bad enough, adding a defense that looked like they were always playing with 10 was worse, but losing Dak Prescott to a season-ending injury is the worst hit that this team could take.
With two wins so far this season, the Cowboys have a commanding lead in the NFC East but that might be the only two that they win all season considering that it took every ounce of strength that Dak Prescott had to go 1-3 with this team despite putting up plenty of points. Unless they somehow add some elite defenders, this is going to get very ugly.
26. Cincinnati Bengals (-1)
The Bengals got smothered by the Baltimore Ravens, but I think this loss goes down as a disappointment for the Bengals and not a huge win for the Ravens. Their spot in these power rankings is probably the best indication of the change in tiers from “might pick first” to “might be alright.”
I’m not breaking new ground saying that the offensive line is terrible, but it looks like the veteran leadership on the Bengals is eroding quickly. A.J. Green wants to be traded, Carlos Dunlap is getting pushed out of the starting lineup, and D.J. Reader is gone for the year.
I believe in Joe Burrow (and rookie year’s for QBs don’t tell us anything) but going forward this team is going to have much fewer assets than I thought they were going to six months ago.
25. Houston Texans (+1)
Congratulations on getting your first win of the season and an even bigger congratulations for getting rid of Bill O’Brien. Long term the outlook is bleak for the Texans and this wasn’t a good game by the centerpiece of their future, but a win is a win.
Now that the shot of adrenaline from getting a new interim HC is gone, will the Texans regress back to losing football against tougher competition? Or is this the start of their rise up these power rankings?
24. Miami Dolphins (+3)
What a massive win for the Dolphins today against a team that they had every right to be terrified of, I mean think about the narrative that has been building for a month. It was Jimmy G’s first game back from an injury and the Dolphins had to travel across the country to San Francisco where the 49ers desperately needed a win.
Add in a win that slipped through their fingers last week which led to cries for a QB change, and we had every reason to believe that Ryan Fitzpatrick wouldn’t make it out of this game as the starter. Well, it is Fitzmagic who is laughing now.
23. Indianapolis Colts (-8)
One thing became clear today, Phil Rivers is cooked.
His arm looks completely gone, his decision-making is bad and for some reason he isn’t begging the Colts coaching staff to run the ball more often which is the only way they can move the ball effectively.
Today he had two interceptions and a safety caused by him panicking and throwing it away in the endzone.
The defense was missing their linebackers, but that is something that has happened frequently and maybe that is something we need to just assume from them. As for the rest of the defense, in their first outing against a real NFL team, the Colts crumbled and it was only dropped passes from Jarvis Landry and a special teams touchdown that kept this game close.
22. Detroit Lions (+0)
The Detroit Lions are on a bye week and the rest of the NFL didn’t change in a way where it had any effect on their power rankings from last week.
21. Philadelphia Eagles (-3)
Philadelphia just doesn’t have the horses right now. Somehow their offense managed to put together a pretty solid performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers (who had a relaxing week off) but their defense couldn’t stop one player that the Steelers repeatedly targeted in Chase Claypool.
Every team deals with injuries and I still believe that the Eagles have a great chance at the postseason, but I don’t think they have the coaching or the talent to actually do anything once they get there.
I should say that this was the first time this year where Carson Wentz did anything that should inspire any confidence. If you looked really closely he was able to make some big plays, and while he still looked a little panicky in the pocket early, there were some glimpses of the guy that people used to love.
The score doesn’t do a great job of indicating who was the better team, the problem was that the Eagles put too much faith in Darius Slay who couldn’t make a play when the game depended on it.
20. L.A. Chargers (+0)
The Chargers haven’t played this week and will match up against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. Their spot in the power rankings wasn’t changed.
19. San Francisco 49ers (-6)
Alright. Well, there are some things that we need to talk about from this game but it would take too long to get into all of them. Instead, I am going to focus on one thing from each side of the ball that should terrify the 49ers.
Starting with the most obvious, Jimmy G looked out of his depth all game and it really looked like the 49ers played him when he was much less than 100%. That means one of two things happened, either he looked great in practice and they felt comfortable or the 49ers are feeling desperate.
On defense, the 49ers only sacked Fitzpatrick twice all game but Fitzmagic put up three touchdowns and averaged 12.5 yards per attempt. Any way you slice it that is a dominant performance by that Miami offense which was something that hadn’t been said all season.
18. Arizona Cardinals (+1)
I don’t want to throw a party for the Arizona Cardinals because they beat the New York Jets, but this win did a lot for the NFC West dark horse.
First, this win moves the Cardinals to 3-2 and that winning record is huge because it puts them a full game and a half ahead of the San Francisco 49ers and it keeps them right on the heels of the Seattle Seahawks and L.A. Rams at the top of the division.
Secondly, it helps re-establish their stars on offense in Kyler Murray and Nuk Hopkins who both had great days.
Finally, it helps stop the bleeding after two straight losses which is huge for a young team learning how to win in the NFL.
The Cardinals were dangerously close to falling out of favor with fairweather fans and this helps them keep that momentum despite losing Chandler Jones to a potentially season-ending injury.
17. Denver Broncos (+0)
The Denver Broncos are technically on a bye this week after COVID issues with the New England Patriots forced them to move their game to next week. Because of that their spot in the power rankings hasn’t been changed.
16. Carolina Panthers (+7)
This seems like an overreaction to beating a team that decided to completely commit to a rebuild a few hours ago, but that isn’t it. The reason they are so high in these power rankings is because the Panthers continue to stack good performances.
In fact, Teddy Bridgewater has completely sold me on the fact that you can win with him long-term, especially when you consider what this team is doing without their best offensive weapon.
This past week was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me in that it was the push to get me off the fence and to a place where I firmly believe that they are in a position similar to where the Arizona Cardinals were last year, only they have more talent.
15. Chicago Bears (+9)
I have no idea if the Bears are a good team, but I can tell you that they make it hard to win games against them despite the fact that they really have no consistency on offense. Maybe that is even being too generous, maybe it would be fairer to call them a team that is terrible on offense.
Still, it is hard to look at them and not be impressed that they are 4-1 despite a schedule that is a little better than what we thought it would be heading into the season.
I still think this team is going to have an uphill battle getting into the playoffs, but they just showed they could beat a good team when they played the Bucs so I can’t do anything but give them some respect.
14. Las Vegas Raiders (+7)
Anything can happen when you play rivalry games, so it shouldn’t have been a shock to see the Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs. However, it was an absolute shock to see the Raiders beat the Chiefs and anyone who tells you they saw it coming has some serious work to do to convince me that they aren’t Raiders fans.
The Raiders have been a team that has to be run through Darren Waller and some plays to Josh Jacobs, but Henry Ruggs, Nelson Agholor, and Devontae Booker were great today for Vegas. I haven’t had high expectations for the team, but maybe that should change now.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)
I have been lower than most on the Bucs since Tom Brady signing, so their spot in my power rankings isn’t changing very much. In fact, the biggest issue I had with the Bucs loss on Thursday was that their defense looked bad.
Offensively they were fine, but I think that is what you should expect of Tom Brady on most games going forward, not someone who is going to hit 5 TDs to 5 different players.
The Bucs road gets harder from here on out so don’t be surprised if we get to November and this team is 4-4 and personalities are starting to clash.
12. New England Patriots (-1)
This is the rare power rankings drop on a weekend that doesn’t involve a team playing a game. The Patriots aren’t playing this week because of COVID concerns, but this is more about the Minnesota Vikings doing such a good job that I couldn’t put them below the Patriots.
11. Minnesota Vikings (+3)
That was such a close game and it came down to two crucial plays on the last drives for each team. If the Vikings didn’t have one of the worst blockers in the NFL (Dru Samia) on the field, there is a great chance that they win that game and we are all talking about how we were too quick to judge the Vikings.
I’m going to push them up these power rankings because I think they are a team that can go shot for shot with anyone and they showed that when they lost Dalvin Cook, got punched in the mouth, and then got right back up and went to work.
The trio of (insert whichever RB name you want here), Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen looks potent for the Vikings and they still have an outside shot at the playoffs if they can keep things going as we get into these winter months.
10. L.A. Rams (-1)
Some of the spots in the 4-10 range of these power rankings are interchangeable and it has more to do with which team is looking the strongest at any given time. Right now if you lined up the top-10 teams in the NFL, I think the Rams would do the worst in a round-robin tournament.
They are exceptionally good on the defensive line thanks to Aaron Donald, but what we saw today was a team on the other side of the ball who couldn’t get anything right in Washington. The Rams are a well-oiled machine at this point, but whenever they have to match up with real talent in the NFL, they always struggle or come up short.
While they might be in the top-5 next week, for now, I think they are peaking and I want to see them be really dominant before moving them up in the power rankings.
9. Cleveland Browns (+1)
The Browns are a team that is right there with the Rams in that I think they are hitting their stride right now, especially on offense.
When Cleveland has the ball, they look explosive and dangerous and that is even without Nick Chubb who is banged up right now. Against the Colts they looked like they could move the ball whenever they wanted to, and the only thing stopping them was Jarvis Landry’s drops and a few dumb plays here and there.
This should have been a blowout for the Browns and a complete win, but the only reason they don’t move higher in my power rankings is that they let a clearly inferior team hang around too long and that is going to get them beat soon.
8. Tennessee Titans (+0)
The Tennessee Titans are a complete and utter mystery right now. I’m leaving them at 8 because we are going to see them in a few days and hopefully we can see whether the depth on this roster is worth noting or if we are going to move them down the power rankings until their COVID outbreak is fully gone.
As it stands, it looks like the players infected in the first wave of tests are working their way back now including standout defensive tackle Daquan Jones. If the Titans can continue to add players over the next few days, at this time next week we should have a much clearer picture of who they are after facing the Buffalo Bills and the division rival Houston Texans.
7. New Orleans Saints (+0)
I think the New Orleans Saints are good but don’t hold me to that.
Looking at Drew Brees live feels like watching someone with a great poker face because you want to call him out for checking down, but then it works so now you don’t know if he can’t make the difficult throw or if he doesn’t want to make the difficult throw.
Either way, I almost moved them down the list because Michael Thomas is getting called out by his own teammates in practice and he isn’t well-liked apparently.
When one of your best players isn’t well-liked in the locker room, it rarely works long-term for anyone.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (+0)
Are the Steelers good? I thought the defense was going to come out and absolutely pummel the Philadelphia Eagles, and they were good but it was also very close to a loss. A win is a win, but there is something about Carson Wentz getting right against your defense that has to make you nervous.
Offensively, I wonder if Chase Claypool is going to be one of those players who eventually struggles with one part of his game (dealing with press, finidng holes in zone, or whatver you want) and that unravels his dominance. If so, that is fine he still has plenty of ways you can use him, but if it isn’t true then the Steelers might just have their D.K. Metcalf.
5. Buffalo Bills (-1)
This slide could be known as “people who have gotten made at the Titans for being sick”, but it felt wierd to give it a title. Instead I will say that the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers are set to play on Tuesday and that the Bills spot in the power rankings won’t move until then.
4. Baltimore Ravens (+1)
I honestly wasn’t sure that there would be a week in the 2020 NFL Season where one of these two teams would fail to reach the top slide in these power rankings.
However, the Baltimore Ravens continue to be what you think they are, which is a franchise that can absolutely batter opposing teams when they get the lead. As long as they play clearly inferior teams they have nothing to worry about, and that makes them special.
I don’t feel any differently about the Ravens now than I did at the start of the season and they still feel like a team that can go 13-3 or 14-2, but which games they lose will be more important than the games that they win for me.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (-2)
The power ranking champs dethrones after a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Like the Ravens before, the Chiefs are still exactly what we thought they were and this week they met up with a team that could score with them, and the defense (which is their weakness) was exposed time and time again.
Ultimatley this is still the dominant Super Bowl Champion we have seen for three seasons and I will be the bold and brave person to tell you that it is alright to win once every calendar year or so.
2. Green Bay Packers (+1)
This one was close and if the Packers had played this weekend there is a good chance that they would be number one after a very competitive game in Seattle.
But, there is nothing wrong with taking a week off and going up a spot in the power rankings. In fact, the Packers are a team that has been on top of the NFL all season and they get a chance to rest while everyone else tries to catch up to them.
If they use this time to reinforce what is working, this could be a 12-4, 13-3 type team this season.
1. Seattle Seahawks (+1)
How do you grade a game that came down to the last drive in a rainstorm? Well, I think a good way to do it is to look at who won and if they won, then remember not to be too hard on the team because ultimately it is the result that matters.
Right now, the myth of the Seahawks may be greater than the actual product, but it just feels impossible to beat them because if you give them a shot to drive down the field and win the game, that is exactly what Russell Wilson is going to do.
Defensively this team is bad and they have got to invest in that going forward, but even though this isn’t Wilson’s best statisical game, there is something about him leading that game winning drive that is going to renew respect and admiration for him in that locker room.
Oh by the way, D.K. Metcalf is amazing and in a few years, he might be as good as Tennessee Titans legend A.J. Brown.