Does anyone want to hang on to top spot in these Power Rankings? After just one week at number one and having received the kiss of death from yours truly, the Baltimore Ravens are down to third after blowing several big leads in their loss to Cleveland. And that means Philadelphia and Kansas City, who were both on byes, have gone up in the NFL world. And they meet on Monday Night Football in Week 11. Tasty!
The Eagles have the best record in the NFL at 8-1 and have a chance to send a strong message in Week 11 as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Will revenge be a dish Philadelphia can serve up cold? Their pass rush led by Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick and Jalen Carter is heating up nicely. Look out, Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs are coming off their bye week with an impressive 7-2 record. It’s impressive due to the fact that the offense has rarely hit top gear in 2023, yet they keep finding ways to win. The defense has been excellent, allowing opponents to score more than 20 points on just two occasions. Look out, Jalen Hurts.
The Ravens are in decent shape at the top of the AFC North with a 7-3 record. But they have no room for error because they blew several big leads against Cleveland last week. That has been an annoying theme for Baltimore this season – their losses to Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and the Browns should have been wins.
I never really felt like they had gone away, but the 49ers suggested they are very much back in the Super Bowl race after Sunday’s 34-3 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was a complete performance. The passing game was strong and clean, the running game productive and the defense completely dominant.
Dan Campbell is cooking up something pretty special in Detroit and I think he is the frontrunner for the NFL Coach of the Year prize. Jared Goff looks a totally different quarterback than the shell who was run out of Los Angeles. With Chicago at home next, the Lions should go into Thanksgiving with an 8-2 record.
The Dolphins are coming off their bye week knowing some results went their way in Week 10, specifically Buffalo falling to Denver. Miami need to make sure they go on a good run now. Their next five are the Raiders, Jets (twice), Commanders and Titans before welcoming Dallas to South Florida on Christmas Eve.
The Bengals did what so many teams in this unpredictable league do… they win a bunch of games and just when we start showering them with positive stories and proverbial flowers, they lose a contest they should very much be winning… at least on paper. The Trey Hendrickson injury is worth monitoring on defense.
That Cowboys-Dolphins matchup on Christmas Eve will be fascinating because those teams are very similar. Dallas beat lesser teams pretty badly, as they did against the New York Giants last Sunday. But they cannot quite find a way past the elite outfits such as San Francisco and Philadelphia. That has to change.
The Jaguars were force-fed some humble pie by the San Francisco 49ers as a five-game winning streak was ended in emphatic fashion. In assessing that loss, it’s hard to know where to start because Jacksonville was dominated in all three phases. The Jags must win their Week 11 ‘get right’ game against Tennessee.
There is a great spirit about these Browns, who overcame multiple double-digit deficits to beat Baltimore last week. The defense is beastly, the running game has survived the loss of Nick Chubb and what if Cleveland get last week’s second half Deshaun Watson the rest of the way at quarterback? Could be scary.
C.J. Stroud has gone from being a fun story to a genuine MVP contender. He is averaging 292 passing yards per game – most in the NFL in 2023 and most for a rookie in NFL history. And the Texans, at 5-4 and with Arizona to come this weekend, are being talked about as a playoff contender for the first time in years.
The Seahawks are a bit like working your way through a mountain of washing up after your Christmas dinner. There is not much that is fun about the task and it can get a little bit messy at times, but, by the end of it, you’ve got the job done. This team is rarely pretty, but they are 6-3 and on a playoff trajectory.
The Vikings have now won five games in a row with a laundry list of injuries and with the help of their third quarterback of the season, Josh Dobbs. The defense is playing much better under Brian Flores and that helps. Additional assistance should be coming soon with the return from injury of star WR Justin Jefferson.
Buffalo being 5-5 has to be one of the biggest disappointments of this season. There were high hopes for this talented squad. They average 6.0 yards per play to rank second in the NFL, yet offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey has been fired. QB Josh Allen is a major reason for 18 giveaways – second-most in the league.
The Steelers have been out-gained in terms of total yards in every single game this season, yet they are in the thick of the AFC playoff race with a 6-3 record. They are the first team since at least 1940 to have been out-gained every week and still have a winning mark. That Mike Tomlin impact is real and coaching matters.
Justin Herbert keeps getting let down by a porous defense in Los Angeles. Since 2020, the Chargers have scored an incredible average of 22 points in losses – the most in the NFL. While I think their quarterback is really special, I don’t view the Chargers as any kind of contender and that’s on Brandon Staley’s defense.
The Colts are a weirdly-wonderful but flawed team. That said, they are 5-5 and still alive in the AFC playoff picture, especially with the likes of Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Las Vegas still to come in 2023. The defense is a playmaking group and Jonathan Taylor is now a weekly factor in the backfield.
The Saints are an example of no one being capable of taking charge of the weak and wide-open NFC South. After consecutive wins over Indianapolis and Chicago, New Orleans lost to the Vikings. They don’t have a tough finish, though, with games against Atlanta (twice), Carolina, New York Giants, LA Rams and Tampa.
The Bucs halted a four-game losing slide with a win over Tennessee in Week 10. Baker Mayfield played well at quarterback in that victory and has been consistent in recent weeks, throwing two touchdown passes in three straight games. From Weeks 8-10, Mayfield has an impressive passer rating of 102.7.
The Broncos were a defensive embarrassment earlier this season, famously allowing 70 points in a loss to Miami. But in their past two outings, the Broncos have shut down attacks led by Patrick Mahomes (KC) and Josh Allen (Buffalo). And QB Russell Wilson has also played his part in a three-game winning streak.
The Raiders have enjoyed a nice little two-game bump in Antonio Pierce’s opening chapters as interim head coach. But those wins have come against New York’s ‘finest’ in the Jets and Giants. Things are about to get a lot tougher – the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs are up next for the Silver and Black.
I think we will work through Ron Rivera’s final days as head coach of the Commanders between now and January 7. Washington should beat the Giants to improve to 5-6 this weekend, but the playoffs are likely beyond them. They still have to play Dallas (twice), Miami and San Francisco. Wintry changes are coming.
Robert Saleh remains committed to Zach Wilson and Aaron Rodgers continues to drop hints of a return from injury some time in December. But can this offense-deficient team hang on long enough to be relevant at that point? The Jets are 4-5 and have Buffalo and Miami up next. The defense will need to hunt.
The Falcons are the perfect example of how good players can become quite ordinary when you don’t have a quarterback to pull it all together. It doesn’t feel like Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke can lead from the front. I would not be surprised to see this team make a run for Kirk Cousins in 2024. That would help.
The Packers said that Jordan Love would be a work in progress throughout the 2023 season. But will he be around in 2024 to continue to gain experience? He has hardly set the NFL world on fire during Green Bay’s 3-6 start. Love has thrown 10 interceptions this season – second-most in the league behind Josh Allen.
Stand down, everyone. It was a false alarm. The Titans are, in fact, not going to be much more watchable and exciting with Will Levis at the helm. After his promising debut in a win over Atlanta, Levis and this team has regressed in back-to-back losses at Pittsburgh and at Tampa Bay. They’re playing out the slate now.
The Rams will be hoping Matthew Stafford’s return sparks life into a season threatening to go off the rails due to three straight losses. This 3-6 team has fared well against Seattle with Stafford at the helm since 2021, winning three out of three. Waking a moribund pass rush on the other side of the ball would help.
The Bears are hoping Justin Fields returns for their final seven games of the season, but will he be able to do enough to convince management he is the long-term answer? Chicago holds the first-round pick of lowly Carolina so could be in prime position to take a new quarterback in next year’s draft in Detroit.
Mac Jones must be done at quarterback for the 2-8 Patriots. And not just for this season. With the game on the line and getting ready for one final drive against the Colts in Germany, Bill Belichick turned to a stone-cold Bailey Zappe. He showed a complete and utter lack of trust in Jones. That is impossible to repair.
Some in the upper offices of the Cardinals must have been settling for a poor season and wondering what a future might look like with this team being led by USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Kyler Murray is having none of that and should guide this Arizona squad to a few more wins between now and the season’s end.
The weather hasn’t quite turned to that degree, just yet, but the bleak mid-Winter has already arrived in Charlotte where this offense is stuck in mud, wins are rare and Bryce Young is continually forced to watch C.J. Stroud light up the entire NFL world. I wonder if Frank Reich will be the fall guy for all of the above?
The Giants have lost three in a row and seven of their last eight. They are going nowhere fast and this unexpected and monumental slide might force significant changes. While I think last year’s NFL Coach of the Year, Brian Daboll, survives; I wonder if NY will go after a QB in the offseason? That would signal an end of the road for Daniel Jones.
