The Week 8 NFL Power Rankings are a fickle mistress. Just when you think you have things figured out, the Ravens get blown out by the Bengals in Baltimore and the Falcons finally hold onto a lead. Everything you know is wrong, so let’s dive into some more things that are going to be wrong next week! Right now, this is how the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings landscape looks heading into Week 8.
32. Detroit Lions (0-7)
Last Week: 32
Looks like we’re going to go back to the “yeah, but they played them really hard!!!” narrative in Detroit this week. Look, I respect Dan Campbell for what he’s trying to do with the Lions. It was an awful situation no one wanted, which is part of the reason Campbell was the best option for their vacant head coach position. But, still, I’m done giving the Lions the benefit of the doubt for losing close games. The fact of the matter is the season is almost half over and they still haven’t won a game. I’ll think about letting them out of time-out when they actually get a win.
31. Houston Texans (1-6)
Last Week: 30
Remember after Week 2 and we all thought the Texans were way better than we all thought they would be? They handily beat the Jacksonville Jaguars then traveled to Cleveland and gave the Browns a run for their money? Yeah. All that optimism is gone. Four of the Texans’ last five games haven’t been competitive, and this 31-5 loss to Arizona was a special kind of non-competitive. The kind of non-competitive that has literally never been accomplished before in NFL history.
30. Miami Dolphins (1-6)
Last Week: 29
How much lower can things get for Miami in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings? The disappointment for a team many thought was headed in the right direction is immense. The story all week has been rumors of the potential blockbuster trade for disgruntled Texans’ quarterback Desean Watson. But would that actually help? Tua Tagovailoa threw for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 80 percent of his passes. Yeah he threw two ugly picks in Falcons territory. But, he also brought the Dolphins back down the field and gave them a lead with 2:33 left in the game. Watson won’t save this team, and losing all those draft picks will probably set them back for years. Actually, if I was Watson, I’d refuse to play there too.
29. New York Jets (1-6)
Last Week: 27
Under most circumstances, getting blown out 54-13 by a team with a losing record would be worthy of a steeper drop than this. Luckily for the Jets, the bottom three teams look even worse than they do after this week. Although, Zach Wilson heard a pop in his knee in the second quarter. Now, every Jets fan in the country is in purgatory. If Wilson misses significant time, it might be time to embrace the tank in Jersey B.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)
Last week: 31
After their 20-game losing streak, the Jacksonville Jaguars have now gone two whole weeks without a loss! I’m kidding. The Jags barely beat the lowly Dolphins last week and didn’t play at all this week. But, there has been plenty of turmoil going on among the NFL’s worst teams this week. So, the Jaguars come out looking slightly less awful in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings than they did a few weeks ago. Now that the national attention is off their dysfunction, can they refocus and stay out of the basement?
27. New York Giants (2-5)
Last Week: 28
Daniel Jones had an ‘ok’ day as a passer this week (23/33, 203 yards, one TD). He didn’t make any major mistakes, which is progress. He also made one of the coolest catches you’ll see all season.
I’m not here to tell you beating the crap out of a Panthers team that has completely collapsed over the last month is praiseworthy. It’s a nice feel-good win for the Giants. But, it was one of the least impressive blowout wins I’ve ever seen. Keep grinding, Giants. There’s potential there, though I’m not sure you’ll find it many more times this season.
26. Philadelphia Eagles (2-5)
Last Week: 24
Poor Jalen Hurts. He’s trying so hard to give Philadelphia something to root for. He started to do just that after the Eagles’ first drive finding Kenneth Gainwell for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Unfortunately, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going again until they were already down 30-7 in the fourth quarter. Like last week, Hurts engineered a pair of touchdown drives late in the game but couldn’t make it happen on their last possession. Even if he had, it might have been too late. But, it certainly would have been a fascinating ending.
25. Washington Football Team (2-5)
Last Week: 25
For most of the first half, it looked like Washington had a chance to pull off a miracle. They had a 42-yard field goal that would have given them the lead, blocked in the second quarter. Then, they blocked one of their own, but couldn’t capitalize. A Taylor Heinicke sack-fumble after the first drive of the second half began a series of unfortunate events. Eventually, it resulted in a 24-7 deficit well into the fourth quarter. I don’t see this loss as confirming anything we didn’t already know about Washington, so at No. 25 they stay this week.
24. Denver Broncos (3-4)
Last Week: 22
After such a promising start, the Broncos are now losers of four in a row. This week, it came against Case Keenum, D’Ernest Johnson, and Johnny Stanton. Who is Johnny Stanton you ask? He’s the Browns backup fullback of course! I can’t believe you didn’t know that. In seriousness, when the backup fullback is making plays against you, you know it’s time to hit the reset button. Something is critically wrong in Denver. It might not be long before they find themselves in the company of those bottom-feeder teams they feasted on in the first three weeks.
23. Atlanta Falcons (3-3)
Last Week: 26
Way to go, Falcons! You finally didn’t Falcon up a huge lead! They lead 20-7 with 20 minutes left in the game. But, in typical Atlanta fashion, they let the opposing team back into the game. In fact, they actually lost the lead near the end of the fourth quarter. Luckily, the Dolphins are awful. Matt Ryan drove the Falcons back down the field to set up an easy 36-yard game winner for Younghoe Koo. Suddenly, the Falcons are 3-3 and knocking on the door of the playoff race.
22. Seattle Seahawks (2-5)
Last Week: 17
This Seattle Seahawks team is just hopeless without Russell Wilson. It seems like every week Geno Smith has an opportunity to go win the game at the end due to the relative incompetence of their opponent. He’s turned the ball over every single time, whether it’s an INT, a fumble, or a super inaccurate throw to DK Metcalf after taking back-to-back crippling sacks. This team still has a few more weeks before Russ comes back. At this point, I’m not sure even he can save their season.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3)
Last Week: 21
The Pittsburgh Steelers did not play a game this week. They’re back to being alone in the AFC North basement after the Browns got back to their winning ways this week. But, they get those same injury-riddled Browns in Cleveland this coming week. Win, and your season is back on track. Lose, and you’re still stuck in no-man’s land.
20. Chicago Bears (3-4)
Last Week: 19
I have no idea what to make of this Bears team. One week they look legit, beating a very good Cincinnati Bengals team, then they let Justin Fields be sacked nine times against the Browns. Then, they put together two solid wins against the Lions and Raiders. They even did decently against the Packers last week, even though Aaron Rodgers confirmed he still owns them. This week was just a complete rejection of all the progress they’ve made. Justin Fields looks broken and I’m not sure Matt Nagy can put him back together.
19. Indianapolis Colts (3-4)
Last Week: 23
I expected a little more out of a Colts team that took the Ravens so close last week. Yeah, they won, but it was about as ugly a win as you could have. The Colts benefited from four extremely well timed turnovers. They gave it away a few times themselves and seemed only capable of actually scoring any points following a big turnover. This game probably would have looked more like a high scoring baseball game at the end if it hadn’t been for the turnovers.
You’re telling me this was the best you could do for SNF, NFL??? No, it’s ok guys. We don’t need to flex the Bengals-Ravens battle for first place in the division and conference. Everyone is going to love the snooze fest between the two most boring teams in the NFL! Still, they won and there was a ton of movement in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings, so they benefit.
18. Carolina Panthers (3-4)
Last Week: 14
Sam Darnold… just… holy crap man. I don’t think anyone disputes the Jets made him worse. But did they break him beyond repair? He was awful today. Darnold didn’t throw a single pass longer than 10 yards until the second half. He gave up a safety at the beginning of the second quarter with an unnecessary intentional grounding. He took his third sack of the day on the final play of the third quarter and the Panthers benched him for PJ Walker. Walker didn’t fare much better, but at least we learned the Sam Darnold renaissance was fool’s gold.
17. San Francisco 49ers (2-4)
Last Week: 16
Welp. Last week I talked about this team flipping their 2-3 start to 4-3 taking advantage of an easy couple of games. You can’t do that when you turn the ball over four times, which is what the 49ers did against the Colts this week. Jimmy Garoppolo alone accounted for three of those turnovers. All three of them came in the second half. Deebo Samuel’s came in the first, but it helped spark a Colts team that looked offensively inept through most of the contest. Without those turnovers, San Francisco probably grinds away a low scoring 18-7 victory and we basically learn nothing about either team. But, the 49ers refused to win this one the Colts repeatedly tried to hand them.
16. New England Patriots (3-4)
Last Week: 20
Tom Brady might be moved on to his new home in Tampa Bay. But, the Patriots’ absolute dominance over the Jets from that era still lives on. New England still hasn’t lost to Jersey B since a surprise overtime loss in 2015, and they haven’t lost to them in regulation since Mark Sanchez won that inexplicable playoff game in January of 2011. Mac Jones was clinical and Damien Harris rushed for over 100 yards. The Patriots are not dead yet.
15. New Orleans Saints (4-2)
Last Week: 15
Two wins in a row for the New Orleans Saints plus a useful bye week has a generally positive feeling sweeping through Nawlins. Though, they really lucked out that Geno Smith was the opposing quarterback. Winston was sloppy. His fumbled snap turned touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara that gave the Saints their first lead was a microcosm of their entire season. Yeah, it looked like a pretty janky way to score. But they still scored, dammit. I still have no idea if this Saints team is good or not. So, just outside of the playoff teams they remain in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings.
14. Las Vegas Raiders (5-2)
Last Week: 18
I thought the Raiders were dead in the water after the Jon Gruden debacle. This was a sloppy team that I felt deserved ‘pretender’ status as much as the Broncos and Panthers. Then, they lost their head coach. How could they possibly survive that? Well, after two ‘get right’ games against the Broncos and Eagles, the Raiders are suddenly 5-2 and right back in the playoff discussion. Was Jon Gruden that bad of a head coach? Has their soft schedule the last couple of weeks inflated their rebound? It could be a while before we find out as they’re on bye next week and play the Giants the week after their upcoming bye.
13. Minnesota Vikings (3-3)
Last Week: 13
In the coming weeks, the true nature of the Minnesota Vikings is going to be revealed. They play the Cowboys, Ravens, Chargers, and Packers each of the next four weeks. The way this team has played, you could just as easily see them pulling off a respectable numbers of wins as getting totally blown out in every game. If I had to bet, they’ll probably split those games 2-2. Because of course they will. For now, they’re still a playoff team in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings based on what we’ve seen so far.
12. Kansas City Chiefs (3-4)
Last Week: 9
Is having the 3-4 Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 5-2 Las Vegas Raiders disrespectful? Probably. That’s what happens when reigning back-to-back AFC Champions flash big-game potential at points in the season, even though they’re putting up their fair share of stinkers too. This was Kansas City’s worst game of the season, and I’m starting to think it might not get better in a timely manner. Hence, nearly falling out of the playoff contenders in the Week 8 NFL Power Rankings. They’ll probably beat up on the lowly Giants this coming week and lose to the Packers. Then they go to Las Vegas. We’ll find out a lot about where the Chiefs are at that point.
11. Cleveland Browns (4-3)
Last Week: 11
Ouch. That’s the battle cry of the Cleveland Browns right now. Luckily, Baker Mayfield is expected to come back at some point this season. D’Ernest Johnson looks good enough to hold the fort down until Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt can come back. This was an ugly win against the Broncos, but this was also an ugly version of the Browns. Kevin Stefanski proved he is a hell of a coach. Watch out for this Browns team once they’re healthy.
10. Baltimore Ravens (5-2)
Last Week: 6
Lamar giveth, Lamar taketh away. The Ravens are far too unpredictable this year to really get behind. They should be 4-3 right now because of an uncalled delay of game against the Lions. They fooled me last week when they put a hurting on an overmatched Chargers team. They’re still a top-10 team based on what they’ve done this season. But, getting dominated like that at home makes me think this Ravens team doesn’t have the consistency to overcome their big game problems.
9. Tennessee Titans (5-2)
Last Week: 12
Derrick Henry, man. Not only is he a force in the ground game, but apparently he can throw for touchdowns too! He was held relatively in check as a rusher this week (3.0 YPC, 0 TDs). But, when he puts together cool highlights like that in a 27-3 beatdown against the reigning AFC champs, you have to take notice. The Titans are as hot as anyone in the NFL right now so watch out.
8. Los Angeles Chargers (4-2)
Last Week: 8
The Chargers are coming off their bye this week to prepare for a New England Patriots team coming off a massive blowout win. They can right the ship after the debacle against the Ravens last week with a win. But, a loss will raise a LOT of questions about whether this team is a true Super Bowl contender right now.
7. Green Bay Packers (6-1)
Last Week: 7
It was a bit of a slow start for the Packers this week. Were it not for TJ Slaton’s blocked kick, the Packers would have been trailing the Football Team at one point in the first half. But, the Packers hit the gas in the second half and wound up with a fairly convincing 24-10 victory. I won’t award any brownie points for that one, but 6-1 is 6-1.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
Last Week: 10
You could make the argument that the Bengals could be 6-1 right now if Evan McPherson had made either of his missed field goals against the Packers. Hell, you could make the argument they could be 7-0 with a bit better luck at the end with the Bears. ‘What ifs’ won’t get you anywhere in the NFL, but beating the snot out of a division opponent on the road absolutely will. After winning only six games the past two years combined, the Cincinnati Bengals are looking like fringe Super Bowl contenders in 2021.
5. Los Angeles Rams (6-1)
Last Week: 5
Matthew Stafford put together a very good performance against his old team. Even though it cost two first round picks and a third, it’s looking like that Stafford-Goff trade in the offseason was a great idea. I haven’t forgotten the Rams struggled to put the Lions away all game. But, they did take the lead in the fourth quarter and sealed it with two interceptions on their former No. 1 overall pick. Like I said with the Packers, 6-1 is 6-1.
4. Dallas Cowboys (5-1)
Last Week: 4
The Cowboys were on bye this week and still managed to separate even further from the rest of the NFC East. There’s still 11 games left to play, but it already feels like this division is wrapped up. The Cowboys might be tested a little next week in Minnesota, but after that it could be a while before they have a realistic chance to slip up.
3. Buffalo Bills (4-2)
Last Week: 3
The Bills get a week of rest to process their loss to the Titans, who look even better after this week. Their next three games? Dolphins, Jags, Jets. I’d be shocked if they aren’t 7-2 when they get ready to host the up-and-down Colts in Week 11.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-1)
Last Week: 2
Chris Godwin had a dominant day against Chicago with 111 yards on 8 catches and a touchdown. Brady’s other three touchdown passes went to Mike Evans, although Evans wasn’t as electric with the ball in his hands this week. The Bucs forced six turnovers on a Bears team that looked totally lost. Could #8 be in the future for Tom Brady?
1. Arizona Cardinals (6-0)
Last Week: 1
The Arizona Cardinals achieved Scorigami this week against the Houston Texans. For those who don’t know, it means their 31-5 final score had never been done before in NFL history. How did they get there? Well, they allowed the Texans to go up 5-0 with a field goal and a safety in the first quarter. But, it was all Arizona after that after Kyler Murray led the Cardinals to four touchdowns and a field goal the rest of the game.
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