Thanksgiving week is upon us but that doesn’t stop us from ranking the power. One thing I’ll say is this: I can’t wait to watch the Detroit Lions in the 12:30 window. And, to take a fun and hopeful long-term view on this, we should all allow ourselves to believe that what is currently will not always be. Detroit was so bad and so comically inept for so long and now they’re wounding opposing teams like a neighborhood bear that needs to be tranquilized.
We all have some old Lions in us. But we all have some new Lions in us, too. Enjoy the games this week and weekend. Enjoy your loved ones. Enjoy your family and friends.
1. Detroit Lions (10–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: beat Indianapolis, 24–6
This week: vs. Chicago
The Lions—12 games into the season by the way—have become the first team in NFL history to have a running back tandem score 10-plus touchdowns apiece in back-to-back seasons. I said this on The Athletic Football Show the other week and it drew some criticism which I’m ready to take on: In my 14 years of covering the NFL, this is the best football team I have seen. The most complete. The most pristine vibes. The most ways they can defeat a team. I’m not saying anything Detroit doesn’t know. It’s Super Bowl or nothing now.
2. Philadelphia Eagles (9–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: beat Los Angeles Rams, 37–20
This week: at Baltimore
I found this note from the great Aaron Schatz interesting. Saquon Barkley and the Eagles have yet to play one of the top 10 rushing defenses in the NFL (in terms of Schatz’s excellent hallmark defense adjusted value over average, DVOA, statistic). Meanwhile, Derrick Henry has played half of the 10 best rushing defenses in the NFL. While I’m as blown away as anyone, I am placing the Eagles here to recognize their recent streak but hedging that I am glad I can revisit this column once a week.
3. Buffalo Bills (9–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. San Francisco
My friend and fellow Power Ranking enthusiast Dan Hanzus over at Heed the Call is very much against the bye week drop for teams. I’m for it within reason. I would say if this iteration of the Power Rankings had a final poll of the season I probably would have left Buffalo at No. 2. But we’re talking about a living, breathing entity and right at this very second I think the Eagles could beat almost any team in the NFL. Will I feel differently next week? Almost certainly.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (10–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: beat Carolina, 30–27
This week: vs. Las Vegas
I get it that we’re punishing the Chiefs for near wins and, like, they’re 10–1. But the reason I have them at No. 4 this week is because I wonder about the cumulative effect of these games. Removing the Bills loss from the equation, we have seen wins of three points, two points, six points (in overtime), and seven points. This has to be exhausting. And what if there isn’t another gear?
5. Minnesota Vikings (9–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: beat Chicago, 30–27
This week: vs. Arizona
What incredible games from Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison, who were tone setters at different points in time and both of them bailed out Nick Mullens while Mullens was in the game with massive runs after the catch down the stretch. I sometimes feel like Justin Jefferson forces us to have a misperception of the true quality of Minnesota’s skill-position talent underneath the all-world wide receiver.
6. Green Bay Packers (8–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat San Francisco, 38–10
This week: vs. Miami
I watched a cut-up of times when Josh Jacobs touched the ball Sunday against the 49ers and after spending so many years mesmerized by the complexity of the Kyle Shanahan run game, it’s time to give Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich some props. The amount of additional pop they got in the running game by weaponizing Tucker Kraft and John FitzPatrick, the myriad ways in which Jacobs was getting the ball already in motion … it was beautiful. And it’s absolutely going to matter in January.
7. Baltimore Ravens (8–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: beat Los Angeles Chargers, 30–23
This week: vs. Philadelphia
A spicy game from John Harbaugh, though we would all be pretty confident handing the ball off to Derrick Henry on fourth and short, too, especially when we consider how far this Chargers defense still has to go before the talent meets Jim Harbaugh’s expectations. Kyle Hamilton shifted back to more of a traditional safety in this game which seemed to put a clamp on Los Angeles’s offensive plans.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (9–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: lost to Cleveland, 24–19
This week: at Cincinnati
A Thursday Night Football loss in blustery conditions was incredibly uncharacteristic of this Steelers team. This was such a weird game given that the Browns barely blitzed Russell Wilson, who had a ton of success with deep balls … and yet Pittsburgh lost by five. With Cleveland coming back on the schedule in two weeks, I would be surprised to see them not win by double digits.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (7–4)
Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: lost to Baltimore, 30–23
This week: at Atlanta
With a relatively nonexistent pass rush and Lamar Jackson racking up almost all of his passing yards on extended plays, we have now seen just how far the Chargers have come and just how far they need to go. Wide receiver is still of desperate need, with Quentin Johnston reverting back to 2023 form on a couple of critical balls Monday.
10. Denver Broncos (7–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: beat Las Vegas, 29–19
This week: vs. Cleveland
We’re not talking nearly enough about how good this offensive line has become. Maxx Crosby was a relative non-factor against the quarterback, who was sacked just once. Crosby got one hit, but I didn’t see a ton of obsessiveness in doubling him, either. Mike McGlinchey fared well, as did some of the jumbo tackles. The one time I saw him chipped was a smart design out of the back of Denver’s end zone with a creative usage of a back (a few plays later, Denver went no huddle and cooked a Raiders defense selling out against the run).
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: beat New York Giants, 30–7
This week: at Carolina
The New York Giants are a horrible litmus test for an opponent right now, but in terms of a stylistic victory, this is how you’d want it to look when playing one of the two worst teams in the league. Tampa Bay’s first drive was a haymaker and while I personally felt the game was closer than it looked even at 23–0—and that the Giants did absolutely everything they could to piss this one away—the Buccaneers didn't screw up the first of their tomato-can opponents to come. This is where they take the baton in the dreadful NFC South.
12. Miami Dolphins (5–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: beat New England, 34–15
This week: at Green Bay
Chop Robinson was an absolute menace in this game and by the midway point of the first quarter, the Patriots were straining to find ways to contain him. Robinson was subject to a lot of chips and double teams. His first sack of the game in the second quarter featured him breezing straight through two intended blockers.
13. Seattle Seahawks (6–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: beat Arizona, 16–6
This week: at New York Jets
This was one of the better Leonard Williams games I’ve seen in terms of him popping enough to force me to re-watch snaps again the next day. He plays so well in assignment and was causing situations where Seattle’s faster outside defenders could collapse a lot of plays. His first hit on Kyler Murray was a bulldozer of a rush through two defenders. Williams is drawing about a 50% double team rate, which is a tremendous chess piece for Mike Macdonald’s defense.
14. Arizona Cardinals (6–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: lost to Seattle, 16–6
This week: at Minnesota
James Conner was jolted backward by some excellent complementary tackling on the part of Seattle from all parts of the defense. And, from there, it made life very difficult for Drew Petzing and Kyler Murray to try and generate positive plays. Saying that the Cardinals are better when Conner is better is an obvious one, but without a run game in Seattle one of the most exciting offenses in the NFL was out of options.
15. Houston Texans (6–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: lost to Tennessee, 32–27
This week: at Jacksonville
We learned a lot about how sneaky-nasty this Titans defense was but I think we’re starting to see how uncomfortable teams can make C.J. Stroud. He had just one multi-pick game in his rookie season and now has two in the last three weeks and three total on the season. Tennessee was throwing everything at the Texans and did a great job of varying pressure looks and keeping Stroud guessing.
16. Washington Commanders (7–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: lost to Dallas, 34–26
This week: vs. Tennessee
Full column here on the Commanders loss to Dallas but the TL;DR version is that I respect Dan Quinn’s reasoning for not going for two but wonder why I’m one of the few people advocating for it at the end of Dallas-Washington. Clearly, the Cowboys were gassed and out of sorts defensively and Jayden Daniels can make magic with his legs. I wonder if it was a break-the-slump call that could have wrestled the Commanders out of this phase.
17. San Francisco 49ers (5–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: lost to Green Bay, 38–10
This week: at Buffalo
My two takeaways from this game are that we should all have a better perspective of Brock Purdy and what he brings to this offense. And, teams are playing San Francisco a lot differently and taking away a lot of their outside runs. Obviously the team was thrown off pace early with a bunch of penalties and administrative errors, but Kyle Shanahan needs to find a new groove before it’s too late.
18. Los Angeles Rams (5–6)
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: lost to Philadelphia, 37–20
This week: at New Orleans
A really disappointing performance against an Eagles team that, I feel, is in Los Angeles’s wheelhouse. The Rams double teamed Jalen Carter to little effect and found themselves hammered by some of the depth on this roster, like former Sports Illustrated Most Underrated standout Milton Williams. I went from hoping this team can sneak into the playoffs to praying the 49ers get it together so we can have a legitimately fun and competitive NFC playoff field.
19. Cincinnati Bengals (4–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. Pittsburgh
The path opens up for Cincinnati if it can defeat Pittsburgh this Sunday. From there, the team’s schedule lightens considerably and could allow for the run we’ve been hoping for. The maligned Lou Anarumo defense played well in stretches of the Chargers loss while also showing its age and vulnerability. That’s not fixable, but could a good bye week self-scout allow for something stop-gap against a good but not great Steelers offense … enough for Joe Burrow to cook?
20. Atlanta Falcons (6–5)
Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Atlanta’s remaining schedule is fascinating. I would absolutely not want the Chargers coming off a HarBowl loss. I definitely would not want to go to Minnesota the week after, either. But if Atlanta can somehow split this series, the team comes out the other side with matchups against the Raiders, Giants, Commanders and Panthers to close out the season. With Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa all getting cupcakes at the end of the year, it’s truly a bizarro downhill cheese race for the NFC South title.
21. Indianapolis Colts (5–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: lost to Detroit, 24–6
This week: at New England
I have not been wrestling with the Anthony Richardson conundrum like many people have. I don’t see this as a black and white conversation about should we or should we not spend time developing the kid and is he really as bad as the statistics say. There’s nuance for every quarterback and in Richardson’s case my thoughts are this:
The Colts have a grabby offensive line and commit a ton of killer penalties. Some of those penalties, like an illegal man down the field early in Sunday’s game, is directly resulted to having Richardson because offensive linemen tend to know less often where mobile quarterbacks are on the field. There were roughly four unforgivable drops, but as I’m writing this during Monday Night Football, Quentin Johnston just coughed up a handful of balls.
And so, there you have it. This is not a yes or no, good or bad, right or wrong conversation. But … let’s have that conversation about every quarterback.
22. New Orleans Saints (4–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Coming off the bye, the very pumped, wild and unquantifiable New Orleans Saints now have a slagging Rams team, the freefalling Giants and the struggling Commanders coming across the conveyor belt. Out of every team that is nipping around the outer edges of playoff contention, New Orleans would be one of the most enjoyable because of the ramifications of a long-term run. What would you do with the interim coach, for example?
23. Dallas Cowboys (4–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: beat Washington, 34–26
This week: vs. New York Giants
Good for Mike McCarthy, who got some love from Troy Aikman as I was writing this during the Monday Night Football telecast. He is a good football coach. He was absolutely hung out to dry by ownership this year and, if we take a generous view of it all, was a bad Cooper Rush fumble from being in last week’s game against Houston as well. Dallas isn’t going to turn the season around at this point, but I wouldn’t count McCarthy out as a third-time head coach, as crazy as that sounds right now. Let’s remove the man from the situation.
24. Chicago Bears (4–7)
Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: lost to Minnesota, 30–27
This week: at Detroit
Over the last two weeks I think we have witnessed the impact of a rising tide. Caleb Williams is playing better, he’s putting his body on the line more often, he’s making more impact-worthy throws. And, in turn, his receivers are making better catches. This is not a team that’s quit, as evidenced by the wild rally at the end of Sunday’s game. Against 80% of the other teams in the league right now, this is a four-quarter effort that probably wins the game. If Williams throws the ball away in overtime, even, we could be talking about a victory.
25. Carolina Panthers (3–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: lost to Kansas City, 30–27
This week: vs. Tampa Bay
Only three teams—three—since 2013 have scored on 75% of their offensive drives against an Andy Reid football team. One of them was the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. If you have not been watching this team, which put Kansas City on the ropes this past weekend without one of their best wide receivers of late in Jalen Coker, you are missing the story of the second half of this season.
26. Tennessee Titans (3–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: beat Houston, 32–27
This week: at Washington
Will Levis finished the week with the second-highest passer rating of any signal caller despite being pressured on more than 50% of his dropbacks. In Levis’s defense, I re-watched the pick-six multiple times and have talked myself into believing that Levis thought he had moved Jimmie Ward with his eyes and had him off balance. This was less egregious than others and, don’t look now, but over the last four weeks, Levis has been playing a little bit better (in terms of EPA+CPOE) than Aaron Rodgers, Jayden Daniels and Bryce Young.
27. Cleveland Browns (3–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: beat Pittsburgh, 24–19
This week: at Denver
If I would have told you that the Browns were going to beat Pittsburgh in a cold-weather snowfest because Jameis Winston was playing incredibly well on the run and outside the pocket, you may have looked at me like l had some kind of amnesia and thought we were still in 2015. Alas, the NFL is a strange place sometimes. We can be confused but ultimately happy for Nick Chubb, who collected a lion’s share of Cleveland’s points.
28. New England Patriots (3–9)
Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Miami, 34–15
This week: vs. Indianapolis
The worst offensive line in the NFL and a defense that was susceptible to getting head-faked by Tua Tagovailoa is a bad combination. Jerod Mayo’s predecessor had helped some defenses last year with a blueprint that hampered the Dolphins a bit down the stretch. Mike McDaniel adjusted, which was evident on Sunday.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (2–9)
Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. Houston
The Jaguars are 2–9 and the curse of getting whipped by the Lions is real—teams that lose to Detroit often have a long-term hangover—but the Jaguars’ schedule really, really opens up now. I think not firing Doug Pederson in season is an attempt at keeping the train on the tracks (for now). This stretch especially of games against a reeling Texans team, Tennessee twice, the Jets and Las Vegas could put a Hello Kitty band-aid on what has been an absolutely awful season to this point.
30. New York Jets (3–8)
Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: bye
This week: vs. Seattle
The Jets have hired former general manager Mike Tannenbaum’s 33rd team think tank to run their next general manager search. Tannenbaum, who was the last executive to pilot this team to the playoffs, will co-pilot this one with Rick Spielman, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings. I have no problem with the decision, only to note that Johnson previously used Charley Casserly to run a search as well. At this point, putting two respected names between the decision and himself seems like a smart move after Johnson took an absolute blowtorch to this franchise and upended a season that started with some promise.
31. New York Giants (2–9)
Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: lost to Tampa Bay, 30–7
This week: at Dallas
A meltdown in New York just feels different. Malik Nabers complaining after the game and calling the team soft is similar in relative combustibility to someone like Calvin Ridley complaining about a lack of targets a few weeks ago when the Titans were freefalling. But this is not Nashville. Brian Callahan is not Brian Daboll. And now we have entered into a stage of theatrical behavior and reactiveness that does not typically bode well for coaches in this area.
32. Las Vegas Raiders (2–9)
Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: lost to Denver, 29–19
This week: at Kansas City
I think it's about time Mark Davis comes out and starts to discuss the offseason plan here. What is Tom Brady’s level of involvement? (I have heard one thing and have read reports to the contrary). Is the plan to bring back Antonio Pierce? Asserting that there are hands on the steering wheel might be a prudent business move at this point.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Power Rankings: Eagles Soar Behind Saquon, Chiefs Out of Top Three.
