Good morning and welcome to a very important Tuesday. Yes, it’s Power Rankings day but it’s also Election Day and I encourage you to exercise your right to vote (which you can do while reading the Power Rankings in line).
This was a special week because one of the teams I’ve been fascinated with all offseason has risen organically to No. 1. How long I can keep them there is highly dependent on what happens over the next few weeks. However, I don’t remember having this much forced turnover atop the list in recent years (meaning, in the past I could be a bit avant garde and downgrade the Chiefs for a poor performance one week, but it would really be a stretch, whereas this year, it looks like there’s a new best team in the league every Sunday).
I hope this iteration entertains you as much as it entertained me. Let’s get going, shall we?
1. Seattle Seahawks (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: beat Commanders, 38–14
This week: vs. Cardinals
Why do I have the Seahawks No. 1? They’re torching teams who are consistently respecting the threat of Seattle’s run game—despite the fact that Seattle has the second-worst EPA per rush in the NFL after nine weeks. While some take this as a team with a short fuse about to run out, I wonder what’s going to happen when the Seahawks’ numbers inevitably average out.
2. Buffalo Bills (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat Chiefs, 28–21
This week: at Dolphins
The Bills are the only team in the NFL with a higher percentage of run plays than pass plays. Anyone who is complaining about Josh Allen preserving even a little bit of himself for the stretch run is out of their minds. What Joe Brady has accomplished as offensive coordinator is the materialization of years of work in getting Allen to a more sustainable place.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: idle
This week: at Packers
Already active, scooping up high-potential edge talent before the deadline, the Eagles are entering Howie Roseman Super Bowl territory. Imagine being a fan of a team whose general manager actually makes consequential moves at the deadline instead of making a circus out of entertaining the idea.
4. Los Angeles Rams (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: beat Saints, 34–10
This week: at 49ers
The Saints laughably tried to pressure Matthew Stafford on Sunday and, according to PFF, those pressure plays yielded more Stafford touchdown passes than they did incompletions. Better luck next time, New Orleans!
5. Kansas City Chiefs (5–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 28–21
This week: idle
Sean McDermott is always a trend setter against Patrick Mahomes in the regular season and on Sunday his game plan was masterful. The Bills played a lot of DBs, with five corners and two safeties playing at least 50% of the snaps and, as Arrowhead Pride pointed out, simply called Mahomes’s bluff when it came to all of Kansas City’s pre-snap motion. The result was the worst completion percentage of Mahomes’s career.
6. Detroit Lions (5–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: lost to Vikings, 27–24
This week: at Commanders
In our trade deadline primer, we had the Lions calling New Orleans for offensive line help. After watching the left side of that unit get caved in against Minnesota on Sunday, eventually forcing the Lions to alter their game plan because of the ineffectiveness of their RB pass protections, that seems like an inevitability.
7. Indianapolis Colts (7–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: lost to Steelers, 27–20
This week: vs. Falcons (in Berlin)
You can check our note on the Steelers and how unexpected that defensive shift was by moving Jalen Ramsey to safety and altering their coverage tendencies. I think that is as much to blame for Indianapolis’s return-to-earth game than Daniel Jones all of a sudden becoming a bad quarterback. So many of you are eager for these players to turn back into pumpkins when he should simply be enjoying the ride.
8. New England Patriots (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: beat Falcons, 24–23
This week: at Buccaneers
This week on podcast, I played a game with co-host Albert Breer. If you remove Allen, Mahomes and Jackson and also take Sean McVay out of the fold, which offense as presently constructed are you most scared of?
I said Ben Johnson and the Bears.
Albert? Josh McDaniels and the Patriots.
9. Denver Broncos (7–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: beat Texans, 18–15
This week: vs. Raiders
The Broncos get the Raiders on a short week. While I’m never trying to look too far ahead, does a potential three-game lead on the Chiefs (and with the Chargers continuing to get hammered by injury) start to become insurmountable?
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: idle
This week: vs. Patriots
Todd Bowles is always in the lab. Coming off the bye week, Tampa Bay’s head coach admitted that he’s watching a lot of college football and 7-on-7 football. A fun test of that newfound knowledge comes against New England this weekend, a team whose main deficiency may be its ability to protect Drake Maye.
11. San Francisco 49ers (5–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: beat Giants, 34–24
This week: vs. Rams
All Mac Jones has done is keep the 49ers relevant during the Brock Purdy–injury saga. The least someone can do is ensure he’s included in the dance.
12. Green Bay Packers (5-2-1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: lost to Panthers, 16–13
This week: vs. Eagles
I think Peter Bukowski of The Leap had the perfect point about Jordan Love after Sunday’s unserious loss to the Panthers. When Love has bad, mistake-ridden games, the mistakes are On Sunday, like That feeds a narrative of inconsistency that just isn’t accurate.
Still, Love was a dropped pick away from being in a very, very bleak place this week.
13. Pittsburgh Steelers (5–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: beat Colts, 27–20
This week: at Chargers
By completely flipping the script against the Colts and utilizing a ton of two-safety looks, the Steelers accomplished two critical benchmarks this weekend: placed Jalen Ramsey at a position that takes better advantage of his skillset and completely muddies up the preparation of their opponents for the next few weeks. The double safety looks seemed to free up some of Pittsburgh’s younger defensive playmakers like Payton Wilson.
14. Baltimore Ravens (3–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: beat Dolphins, 28–6
This week: at Vikings
Because he missed games, we’re not going to give Lamar Jackson the benefit of putting the proper perspective on what he’s done through his first five starts, which yielded league highs and career highs in touchdown percentage, average yards gained per attempt and QB rating per game (136!). Oh, and he has just one pick.
15. Los Angeles Chargers (6–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: beat Titans, 27–20
This week: vs. Steelers
The Chargers are obviously better with Joe Alt on the field. But they are also better with Joe Alt on the field. Markedly better air yards per attempt, pass yards per attempt and TD to INT ratio. If Jim Harbaugh continues on playoff pace, this will go down as nothing short of a miracle.
16. Chicago Bears (5–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: beat Bengals, 47–42
This week: vs. Giants
Here’s a column from Sunday on the Ben Johnson effect. The Bears are only a game better in 2025 than they were in 2024. But thanks to the kind of victory they notched over the Bengals on Sunday, it feels like a world apart.
17. Minnesota Vikings (4–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: beat Lions, 27–24
This week: vs. Ravens
My full thoughts on the J.J. McCarthy comeback are here. Essentially…he’s good enough that we don’t have to overreact in any meaningful way. That’s perfect.
18. Jacksonville Jaguars (5–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: beat Raiders, 30–29
This week: at Texans
While we don’t know exactly what Trevor Lawrence was dealing with Sunday, head coach Liam Cohen called him “ghost like” in color, and Lawrence’s wife alluded to a serious illness on Instagram. We can have a lot of takes on how Jacksonville’s offense hasn’t embodied quite what we hoped. But we cannot deny this team has a grit—defensively, in the run game and via the QB position—that we weren’t as in tune with a year ago.
19. Carolina Panthers (5–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: beat Packers, 16–13
This week: vs. Saints
A great look at what Bryce Young is bringing back to the fold with Carolina. Loved this eagle-eyed observation from the brilliant Josh Norris, who pointed out that Young is faking pass protection calls in order to free up Rico Dowdle for one of his many, many big runs.
20. Arizona Cardinals (3–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: beat Cowboys, 27–17
This week: at Cowboys
Here come the Cardinals. My Lord, does Walter Nolen make a difference. And, my Lord, can Marvin Harrison Jr. make you look silly:
And…my Lord, how do you put Kyler Murray back into this offense right now?
21. Atlanta Falcons (3–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Patriots, 24–23
This week: at Colts (in Berlin)
A day later, and #ClapGate (gross, nevermind) in Foxborough doesn’t really seem to be holding any water. I’ve watched this play almost 100 times and cannot seem to find where the phantom clap (again, gross) arose from.
22. Houston Texans (3–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: lost to Broncos, 18–15
This week: vs. Jaguars
One incredible aspect of Sunday’s Texans loss to the Broncos is that all of Houston’s points were a direct result of some fantastic special teams play. Not only is the Texans’ defense playing at a first-class level, but Frank Ross’s special teams unit is once again among the best in the NFL.
23. Cincinnati Bengals (3–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: lost to Bears, 47–42
This week: idle
I was so incredibly—irrationally?—excited about the Joe Flacco era in Cincinnati. What I did not see coming was a defense that is on pace to rewrite history and not in a good way. Since 2000, no team has given up more points per drive through nine games. No team misses a higher percentage of tackles in 2025. And it syncs up well, apparently, to the theme.
24. Washington Commanders (3–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: lost to Seahawks, 38–14
This week: vs. Lions
Here’s my column on the aftermath of the Jayden Daniels injury. In short, I really don’t think you blame Dan Quinn for having Daniels in the game. This is exactly what we’ve come to expect out of the modern quarterback.
25. Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: lost to Cardinals, 27–17
This week: idle
I think there are a lot of examples societally where I wonder why people are giving a certain person so much oxygen and why we’re so desperate to reprint every half-baked thought that exits their brains and farts out into the universe. Then I realized that taking Jerry Jones seriously when he says something like he did Monday—that he had completed a trade but just won’t announce it yet—was part of the problem. Wake me up when this man takes actual steps toward bettering this franchise.
26. Las Vegas Raiders (2–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Jaguars, 30–29
This week: at Broncos
I was ready to emotionally reinvest in the Raiders after seeing this offense with a full complement of playmakers. Brock Bowers put together one of the best tight end games I’ve seen in the last five years and has a straight-up freaky level of athleticism. Geno Smith was one touch throw away from having Vegas at a very manageable two games under .500.
27. New York Giants (2–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: lost to 49ers, 34–24
This week: at Bears
Jaxson Dart has the juice, but the Giants defense is completely and totally sucking the life out of this franchise. The 21st-best pressure percentage with a hyped trio of pass rushers, a league-worst EPA against the run—yes, worse than the Bengals—and no accountability post-game. When it looks like this….
…you know you have some trouble.
28. Miami Dolphins (2–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: lost to Ravens, 28–6
This week: vs. Bills
The Dolphins pulled the plug on the GM. Here’s a breakdown of who I think might get that job and why Chris Grier had to go long before Mike McDaniel (though almost no one I’ve spoken to at this point expects McDaniel to hold onto the gig).
29. Cleveland Browns (2–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: idle
This week: at Jets
Count me among those excited to see Tommy Rees get some play-calling reps in Cleveland. As a longtime Notre Dame fan, I can attest to Rees’s ability to get some really good football out of mid-level quarterbacks. That seems to be a prerequisite for succeeding in Cleveland these days.
30. Tennessee Titans (1–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: lost to Chargers, 27–20
This week: idle
The Titans have not had more touchdowns in a game than their opponent in the last 14 contests they’ve played. If that seems bad to you, the CBS broadcast Sunday pointed out that it’s four games worse than a one-time record for futility set by the…Dayton Triangles. Interestingly enough, the Triangles went on to become the Brooklyn Dodgers.
31. New York Jets (1–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: idle
This week: vs. Browns
For those of us still thinking of Nick Mangold a week later, here’s a link to the National Kidney Foundation, where you can make a difference for the 90,000 Americans on a transplant list.
32. New Orleans Saints (1–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: lost to Rams, 34–10
This week: at Panthers
The Saints need to blow it all up this afternoon at the deadline. Stats like these are not indicative of a team that deserves to play together.
