NFL power rankings: A dose of reality for top teams and a jab of controversy at Packers
If you were a heavy favorite going against a team with injuries, chances are you lost Sunday.
That was the theme of an odd weekend in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys — thought of quite highly in these power rankings — fell to the Denver Broncos. The Los Angeles Rams couldn’t overcome the Derrick Henry-less Titans. The 49ers, who haven’t won a game in Levi’s Stadium since the 90s (it’s a joke), got smacked by the Colt McCoy-led Cardinals.
Even the Buffalo Bills lost to the fighting Urban Meyers in Jacksonville. And the Raiders lost to the New Jersey Giants. Nothing made sense, so we’ll try to make sense of it all here.
Let’s rank the NFL teams, powerfully!
1. Arizona Cardinals 8-1 (last week: No. 4)
Even if the 49ers are having a tire fire of a season, winning without your MVP-candidate quarterback, top two receivers and future Hall of Fame defensive end counts for a lot, especially on the road. So the Cardinals jumped back in the top spot this week for the way they thumped San Francisco in Santa Clara. They’re the only one-loss team in the NFL and also the league’s top team in the all encompassing DVOA metric from Football Outsiders. They’re the second-highest-scoring outfit in the league while their defense is ranked third in opponents scoring, and they have impressive wins on their schedule to back it all up.
2. Green Bay Packers 7-2 (No. 2)
The Packers are immunized from falling down these rankings despite their loss on Sunday in Kansas City. The woke mob continues to believe in Aaron Rodgers, who will return from the COVID-19 list eventually, after he helped beat the Cardinals on the road less than two weeks ago. We’ll continue to take a homeopathic approach to ranking these teams. I’ve submitted a 500-page rubric to my editors explaining exactly how these rankings work. Hopefully it gets approved. Joe Rogan gave it a proofread.
3. Tennessee Titans 7-2 (No. 9)
We’re grading these Titans on a similar curve to the Cardinals, who went to Los Angeles on Sunday night and beat the Rams without Henry, the league’s preeminent non-quarterback MVP candidate. They’re the only seven-win team in the conference, making them the current No. 1 seed. That’s insane to think about. Holding the Rams to 16 points and winning by 12 despite being out gained 347-194 could be a complete anomaly. But this isn’t a ranking of teams in order of confidence they’ll win the Super Bowl, it’s about their body of work.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-2 (No. 6)
They went undefeated after their bye last season en route to winning the Super Bowl. They just had their bye last week. So we won’t be surprised if they go on a run again. None of their next four opponents have winning records.
5. Buffalo Bills 5-3 (No. 3)
We’re just going to pretend that loss in Jacksonville never happened. Deal? Great.
6. Dallas Cowboys 6-2 (No. 1)
The Cowboys clearly took their collective foot off the gas pedal last week after we ranked them first in this space. We even had the gall to point out how easy their remaining schedule was, then they lost to a 10-point underdog on their home field. If the league’s top-ranked offense doesn’t come out firing against the Falcons next week, they’re going to have some serious bulletin board material coming from the revitalized Sacramento Bee print edition.
7. Baltimore Ravens 6-2 (No. 7)
The Ravens stay in the same spot after needing overtime to take care of the Vikings on their home field. While that, in of itself, isn’t all that impressive, they did gain 500 yards on offense with 36 first downs. Mark them down as one of the more intriguing destinations for Odell Beckham Jr.
8. Los Angeles Rams 7-2 (No. 5)
They’re adding Von Miller to a defense that’s given up the second-fewest passing touchdowns in the NFL. He’ll likely make his debut on “Monday Night Football” against the 49ers. Their two losses have come to good teams (Tennessee and Arizona), so they still deserve consideration as one of the top teams in the conference. They get their bye after the 49ers game and then travel to Green Bay to face Rodgers for a chance at giving their playoff hopes a booster.
9. Los Angeles Chargers 5-3 (No. 10)
They course corrected Sunday in Philadelphia after dropping consecutive games to Baltimore and New England. Their run defense ranks dead last in the NFL. But if you’re going to have a weak spot, that might be it. Especially when Justin Herbert can throw 356 yards while completing 84 percent of his passes, like he did Sunday.
10. New England Patriots 5-4 (No. 15)
Mac Jones didn’t have to try spraining my ankle to get his team into the top 10. Their back-to-back road wins, thanks largely to a defense that ranks No. 5 in DVOA, is mostly responsible. The typical top tier of AFC teams has been lacking this season, leaving the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick a chance to make a statement over the second half of the season.
11. Kansas City Chiefs 5-4 (No. 13)
Those plucky underdog Chiefs are back over .500 after beating the Packers at home Sunday. It didn’t include a great performance from Patrick Mahomes, who threw for just 166 yards. It marked the second-fewest he’s thrown in any start of his career. But a win is a win, and we’re confident the Chiefs are going to regain their elite status at some point this season.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers 5-3 (No. 14)
Bears pass rusher Cassius Marsh played for the Steelers last season and was released at final cuts in August. So when he sacked Ben Roethlisberger in a key moment at the end of Monday night’s game, he had a right to give the Steelers sideline a stare down. But, because the NFL can’t stand personality, he was flagged 15 yards for taunting via eye contact. But congratulations to Pittsburgh fot pulling out the win as they sit in the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoff picture.
13. New Orleans Saints 5-3 (No. 11)
They dropped two spots after falling at home in Atlanta, though they still have a hold on a wild cart spot for the time being. That will be hard to maintain given their quarterback situation. But if there’s a coach to trust in choppy waters, it’s Sean Payton. Plus the defense is still really good.
14. Las Vegas Raiders 5-3 (No. 12)
Derek Carr will deserve some big-time credit if he can drag this team to the playoffs given all its gone through this season. But losing to the Giants, as they did Sunday, doesn’t bode well.
15. Cleveland Browns 5-4 (No. 18)
The Browns looked like they took out their frustration from the Beckham situation on the Bengals during their big, 41-16 victory on the road. They’re currently on the outside looking in on the playoff race, but they have the talent on defense to carry Baker Mayfield and his left shoulder that’s duct-taped to his torso.
16. Cincinnati Bengals 5-4 (No. 8)
They fell more than any team this week because they lost a lot of equity in losing to the Jets and backup quarterback Mike White last month. This is still a Joe Burrow-friendly space, but Cincy needs to prove it can handle hype before it deserves equity as a real contender in the conference.
17. Denver Broncos 5-4 (No. 20)
They won three straight to begin the year. Then they lost four in a row. Now they’ve won their last two, including Sunday’s big one against the Cowboys in Jerry World.
18. Atlanta Falcons 4-4 (No. 23)
There’s very little about the Falcons that says they’re a good team. But they’re currently the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff standings. This is what happens when you add a seventh playoff team to each conference.
19. Seattle Seahawks 3-5 (No. 21)
No one is better at performative injury recovery than Russell Wilson, who put together this stirring piece of content to announce that he’s coming back from his surgically repaired fractured finger. He’ll suit up for this weekend’s game against the Packers. The Seahawks roster mostly stinks outside of their receivers, but they hop up the rankings this week because Wilson’s the best quarterback on the board.
20. Indianapolis Colts 4-5 (No. 19)
Remember when they jumped out to a 42-10 on the Jets in the third quarter of last Thursday night’s game? Me neither. I had to look it up. But allowing three straight touchdown drives to the Josh Johnson-led offense adds a little salt to that frosting.
21. Minnesota Vikings 3-5 (No. 22)
Hanging with the Ravens on the road is worth moving up a couple spots as we get to the thin part of these rankings. Sadly, the Vikings often play to the level of their competition, they just rarely win.
22. San Francisco 49ers 3-5 (No. 17)
It’s a nightmare season for Kyle Shanahan, who is neither winning games nor developing Trey Lance. Fortunately for him, the NFC is exceedingly not great as a conference and San Francisco remains just a game out of the final wild card spot. The bad news: the Rams are coming to Levi’s Stadium on Monday angry after getting upset at home.
23. Carolina Panthers 4-5 (No. 16)
Sam Darnold reportedly fractured his scapula, which is bad news on a couple fronts. First, Carolina could be without their starting quarterback. Second, Darnold was their starting quarterback.
24. Chicago Bears 3-6 (No. 25)
The Bears lost in Pittsburgh on Monday night but Justin Fields put together another solid performance and continues to get better. Apparently playing rookie quarterbacks allows them to improve (Kyle Shanahan was unmoved last time I made this joke).
25. Philadelphia Eagles 3-6 (No. 24)
Jalen Hurts has played better in the last two weeks. It’s come as the team has expanded its reliance on running backs. Here’s the thing though, it’s not a great sign for your quarterback when he needs to rely on his running backs.
26. New York Giants 3-6 (No. 28)
The Giants have won their last two home games. But after their bye, three of their next four are on the road.
27. Jacksonville Jaguars 2-6 (No. 31)
Don’t look now, but Trent Baalke’s team is rolling!
28. Washington Football Team 2-6 (No. 26)
When you’re this bad, you drop two spots on your bye week to the Giants and Jags.
29. Miami Dolphins 2-7 (No. 29)
Rumors has it the Dolphins played the Texans on Sunday. We’ve sent our top people to look for proof.
30. New York Jets 2-6 (No. 27)
A team with Robert Saleh on its coaching staff has had to use its third string quarterback, or the equivalent, in four of the last five years, dating back to his time as the 49ers defense coordinator.
31. Houston Texans 1-8 (No. 30)
That Week 1 triumph over the Jaguars feels so long ago.
32. Detroit Lions 0-8 (No. 32)
Hopefully someone made the hilarious joke about the Lions going undefeated during their bye!
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 7:44 AM.
