NFL Power Rankings Week 9 – The Jump Start To The Finish

The questions of “who’s hot, who’s not” has been legitimate in football for some time now. The fluctuations of teams being good, then all of a sudden being bad (or vice versa) is uncanny. With several more weeks to play, we might have several different thoughts about your favorite team.

 

1.) Chicago Bears (6-2)
When watching their game against Seattle, it sure looks like the move for Jeffrey Simmons has immediately paid off. His ability to generate pressure gave Chicago the luxury of blitzing less and keeping more guys in coverage.

 

2.) San Francisco 49ers (6-1)
Coming off of their bye, the 49ers will face the Las Vegas Raiders at home before they head to Dallas for a classic NFC matchup.

 

3.) Buffalo Bills (6-1)
Buffalo has the look and feel of a Super Bowl champion. If they can put up 30 points against the vaunted Minnesota defense, I might make them as my favorite.

 

4.) Denver Broncos (6-2)
Four of the Broncos’ wins have come due to a fourth quarter comeback. Bo Nix has engineered 12 fourth quarter comebacks and 15 game-winning drives overall during his young career.

 

5.) Minnesota Vikings (6-1)
Once again, Minnesota has stifled an opposing top tier offense. The reaccurring struggles on offense has kept this team from being marked the favorite on a lot of scorecards.

 

6.) Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2)
The Jaguars have scored 30 or more points four times already this season. They had six such games last season.

 

7.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)
The Chiefs have lost two in a row averaging, 13.5 points per game during that stretch. They average 23.8 points per game overall this season.

 

8.) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
The Steelers have won four in a row, outscoring their opponents 103-57 in that stretch. They have outscored their opponents by a total of 36 points for the entire season.

 

9.) Detroit Lions (5-2)
Linebacker Jack Campbell has full movement in his lower body and is making progress with his upper body movement while he remains hospitalized. That’s all that matters concerning this team right now.

 

10.) Green Bay Packers (5-3)
Green Bay has recently started looking like a team that could win a very tough division and conference. To add to the good news, the Packers have opened the 21-day practice window for Micah Parsons, making his return only a matter of time.

 

11.) Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
The Bengals are 2-1 when they allow 25 points or more. That means that they’ve been able to outscore their opponent while trotting out a run of the mill defense week after week.

 

12. ) New England Patriots (5-3)
The Patriots have won four out of their last five, but the tough part of their schedule seems to be starting this week. Five out of their next six opponents have winning records.

 

13.) Cleveland Browns (5-3)
Deshaun Watson has been placed in concussion protocol and his status for this weekend’s game is unclear. Shedeur Sanders could get his first start of the season if Watson is unable to clear.

 

14,) Los Angeles Rams (4-4)
Just a couple of weeks ago, we were here talking about if the Rams could be ready to make a run. The streak has officially started with their second win in a row.

 

15.) New York Giants (4-2-1)
The Giants didn’t play last week and somehow still moved up the standings.

 

16.) Baltimore Ravens (4-4)
The story will start with Lamar Jackson not being there, but what is Baltimore supposed to do without Tyler Huntley being there? A last minute trade for a veteran perhaps?

 

17.) Seattle Seahawks (4-4)
Seattle is currently ranked first in total yards allowed and seventh in total points allowed. This is after giving up over 30 points and almost 400 yards of offense to Chicago.

 

18.) Las Vegas Raiders (4-4)
If you’re the Raiders, you could really hang your hat on a really great passing attack, especially considering the little known players at wide receiver.

 

19.) Carolina Panthers (3-4)
I don’t know whats happened to this division the last several years, but winning it doesn’t require a winning record usually. Carolina is the best of a bad set of sub .500 teams.

 

20.) Arizona Cardinals (3-5)
Jacoby Brissett’s career with Arizona has finally come to an end. The Cardinals are finalizing a deal to send Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens. Gardner Minshew will take over at quarterback for Arizona,

 

21.) Atlanta Falcons (3-5)
Its extremely hard to get a real feel for a Michael Penix Jr.-led Falcons team. In 18 career starts, he’s gone 7-11, with 21 touchdowns and 11 Interceptions. This year he’s 3-3 with nine touchdowns and after his four interceptions on Sunday, it brings his total to six. Very hard to read indeed,

 

22.) Dallas Cowboys (3-5)
We need to start looking at Dallas as a lower level team instead of a playoff team. With the names they have on the roster, their play has been underwhelming at best.

 

23.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5)
Tampa Bay won a game by rushing for 324 yards, hitting a few field goals and forcing four Falcons turnovers. They literally did nothing in the passing game (-2 yards passing) with zero completions.

 

24. Washington Commanders (2-4-1)
In the three games they didn’t lose, Washington has shown a bit of resiliency. They battled back in every one of those games after falling behind in the first quarter.

 

25.) Houston Texans (2-5)
Is it time to throw in the towel on the Texans? Their next four opponents are the Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland, Indianapolis Colts and then Baltimore with what could be Jacoby Brissett first start at quarterback. If they are made of anything, a four-game winning streak would catapult them up the standings.

 

26.) New Orleans Saints (2-5)
The Saints will play four teams with a winning record in their next six games. The other two games will be against division leader Carolina.

 

27.) Philadelphia Eagles (2-6)
Should the Eagles start selling before the deadline? With a murky future at best on offense, should they start seeing what they could get in draft capital?

 

28.) Indianapolis Colts (2-6)
The recent trades have left the Colts decimated, leading them to their lowest point total of the season. They play Dallas next, so maybe they’ll score more than seven points this weekend.

 

29.) New York Jets (2-6)
The last time the Jets scored 30 or more points, it was Week 8 of last season against Cincinnati. The last time they scored 30 or more points and lost the game was Week 1 of last season against Pittsburgh.

 

30. Miami Dolphins (1-6)
The Dolphins have now had a lead in two straight games after having none the first five weeks. The problem was a combination of inept play and bad play calling that turned a halftime lead into a sizeable loss.

 

31.) Tennessee Titans (1-7)
Cam Ward recorded his first 300-yard passing game of his career last week, as the Titans went blow for blow with the Bengals. It also marks the fourth time in his career he’s thrown multiple touchdown passes.

 

32.) Los Angeles Chargers(0-7)
The Chargers have gone 27 drives without a touchdown. It’s the longest streak since the 2024 Miami Dolphins. Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was the head coach in Miami at that time.