A week after backup quarterbacks turned the NFL upside down, the top half of the playoff picture decided to simply take Sunday off and produce a series of inexplicable losses to opponents that are already looking ahead to the draft. In fact, four teams at .500 or below wound up beating a division leader when all was said and done in Week 9. What a wild way to hit the halfway point in the regular season.
With all that in mind and factoring in everything from overall roster strength, to quarterback play, to the coaching staff, here is the latest edition of NFL power rankings and where every team stacks up from 1 to 32.
NFL Power Rankings: Week 10
1. Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 4
It says a lot about the overall level of talent on this roster that they absorbed the loss of their two biggest star players and didn’t miss much of a beat against a division rival. The injury report is starting to get concerning to all involved however as there are only so many playmakers who can hit the IR and still allow this group to keep winning.
2. Baltimore Ravens
Last week: 7
Lamar Jackson and Mr. Automatic Justin Tucker keep bailing out the Ravens and keeping them afloat at the last minute but you wonder just how sustainable that is over the next two months when the playoff chase is likely to come down to a single win/loss.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 9
Terrific bye week for the aging Bucs. They got rested and saw the Saints, Rams, Packers and Cowboys all lose.
4. Tennessee Titans
Last week: 13
No Derrick Henry? No problem if the defense is going to step up like that. It’s still hard to fathom this team losing to the Jets and then promptly running off wins over the Bills, Chiefs, Colts and Rams. If they still had their star tailback around, this may just be the new AFC favorite.
5. Dallas Cowboys
Last week: 2
Whatever that was, just toss the game plan in the trash. You would think that Dak Prescott’s return would cause the offense to function a little more efficiently but that wasn’t the case as Dallas needs to regroup a bit. The silver lining is that there’s still a four-game lead in the loss column for the division.
6. Los Angeles Rams
Last week: 1
Outside the building, there will be plenty of external focus on Matthew Stafford’s play. Inside? Sean McVay is most certainly going to be harping on how this team showed barely a lick of physicality in the trenches and got beat up by the Titans.
7. Green Bay Packers
Last week: 3
Needless to say, Jordan Love was put in an impossible situation but he also didn’t exactly play like the guy who the franchise has been upended for the past two years. At least Matt LaFleur can take solace in the defense playing one of its best games all year in holding down the Chiefs to give Love and the offense a chance.
8. Los Angeles Chargers
Last week: 10
Maybe a little tighter than expected but wins on the road are important wins this time of year and you have to be impressed with how Justin Herbert came out and played near flawlessly. What will keep Brandon Staley up at night is the run defense continues to be a problem no matter how good or bad the opponent is.
9. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 6
Obviously the team has been distracted but that’s a long trip to and from New York to take a loss like that. If the coaches and players still want to nab that elusive playoff berth — or even the division title — they’ll have to rally in a big way over the next few weeks.
10. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week: 11
That’s back-to-back humbling losses for the Bengals and a particularly bad slide on defense to accompany it. Sure Cincy wasn’t quite the world-beaters we all thought but some big questions looming as this team heads into the bye.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 12
Things got a little too tight for comfort late against the Bears but the Steelers still came out on the right side of things. Guess the team is used to winning close games this season even if Mike Tomlin would prefer they find that extra gear in the second half and not keep going with this. Luckily that won’t be an issue next week against the Lions, but after that…
12. Buffalo Bills
Last week: 5
Josh Allen is going to see Josh Allen in his sleep for the next few weeks after that outing in Duval. Surely the Bills won’t also double-down and lose to the Jets too, right?
13. New England Patriots
Last week: 14
Undefeated (4-0) on the road, 1-4 at Foxborough is a confounding place for this Pats team to be at but the signs of being a squad you don’t want to play are all there. The Browns offer a much stiffer test than the Panthers do so it’s not time to declare the turnaround complete just yet in New England.
14. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 15
Patrick Mahomes… still isn’t that Patrick Mahomes and we’ve played nine weeks this season. That might be as eye-opening as anything about this team as they keep winning ugly to remain alive for a playoff bid.
15. Cleveland Browns
Last week: 16
Incredibly, the Browns were just the fourth team ever to score from 60-plus yards out with a pass, run and on defense in the same game. Now that is how you put all the OBJ headlines and hoopla behind you and take it out on a division rival.
16. New Orleans Saints
Last week: 8
Let’s face it, Trevor Siemian wasn’t the real reason why the Saints inexplicably lost to the Falcons on Sunday. Now they have to hope the defense, among others, rebounds at the Titans or this loss has a chance to snowball quickly.
17. Denver Broncos
Last week: 19
That was a job-saving first three quarters in Dallas out of the Broncos and Vic Fangio. While you might have thought they would be throwing in the towel after trading Von Miller, this group just proved that wasn’t the case and they will remain a pesky out the rest of the way this year.
18. Seattle Seahawks
Last week: 18
Whatever Russell Wilson did to come back from that injury in time for next week’s game, we’ll take two of. The door is still ajar for this team with their QB back in the fold but they have to be better on both sides of the ball for it to matter during the stretch run.
19. Indianapolis Colts
Last week: 22
A lot of fans in Big Ten territory are used to seeing Jonathan Taylor run all over opponents. Now the tailback is doing it at the NFL level consistently with a dash of explosiveness that just seems different.
20. Minnesota Vikings
Last week: 23
This poor fan base keeps getting tortured by the Vikings blowing leads on a weekly basis. The loss to the Ravens could be labeled a new low but that’s been said for much of the past month about a team that is 3-5 but is a few plays away from the top seed in the NFC.
21. Chicago Bears
Last week: 24
That Monday nighter might have been the best Justin Fields has looked… since playing Clemson last season at Ohio State? The ending was literally just short of a win in typical Bears fashion but the improvement out of the QB position has plenty of fans excited about the long-term future.
22. San Francisco 49ers
Last week: 17
Nobody denies that injuries have been an issue by the bay but… is it time for the team to start questioning Kyle Shanahan at this point? The record is the record and as much as the Super Bowl run seems like it happened yesterday, the reality is that one good season during his tenure isn’t going to be enough if things don’t get turned around quickly.
23. Carolina Panthers
Last week: 21
If it wasn’t abundantly clear that the Panthers would be searching for another QB this offseason, that’s no longer the case following the loss to the Pats. Sam Darnold’s comment about seeing ghosts was not just good fodder for social media jokes but a seemingly accurate assessment of his play.
24. Atlanta Falcons
Last week: 26
After the Braves hoisted a title, anything the Falcons can give Atlanta would be house money. It got wobbly near the end, but Matty Ice and company made it three wins in four to climb back into the conversation amid a bunched-up NFC Wild Card picture.
25. Philadelphia Eagles
Last week: 20
Nick Siriani still hasn’t won at the Linc so far in his tenure and you wonder if that might have been the Eagles’ best shot until late December. The offense remains limited by Jalen Hurts as a passer even if the group is finally starting to figure some things out in the run game.
26. New York Giants
Last week: 28
Daniel Jones had only 110 passing yards, the Giants had no 100-yard rusher and somehow they knocked off a division leader. Xavier McKinney is a good young player but nobody thinks that was anything but a one-off in the Big Apple until this team starts stringing together more consistent performances.
27. Washington Football Team
Last week: 25
It was around this time last year that the WFT started to really turn things around. Nobody is expecting a similar story in 2021 given some of the upcoming opponents and *gestures at everything* what’s going on around the franchise.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week: 29
The Jags kept the highest-scoring offense in the league out of the end zone to inexplicably win a game they shouldn’t have. Urban Meyer might be as pleased with that feat as he was seeing his team respond to some of the offensive adversity they faced on a day where the starting QB spent a little time on the sidelines.
29. Miami Dolphins
Last week: 30
Even with that lackluster win over the Texans (helping their draft pick in the process), this seems like a franchise at a crossroads. The talent level isn’t close to being what it should, the coaching staff is rightfully under fire, and the execution is lacking across the board. And despite public insistence that Tua Tagovailoa is the guy at QB, between his play and injury history, that is very much not written in stone.
30. New York Jets
Last week: 27
Getting thumped by the Colts in prime time for all to see at least brought the nation a reminder that Josh Johnson was still in the league — and the backup QB was far from the reason why the Jets were blown out on Thursday.
31. Houston Texans
Last week: 31
Terrible week in Houston all around and the loss to the lowly Dolphins was quite the way to close things out. Tyrod Taylor’s return certainly could have gone much better but it’s inescapable that this is just a bad football team without the draft capital to do much about it anytime soon.
32. Detroit Lions
Last week: 32
If you include the preseason, the Lions are on a 15-game losing streak dating back to a four-point win at the Bears last December. Given the upcoming schedule