There’s a clear hierarchy in the NFL through eight weeks of the 2022 regular season. There are roughly six to eight teams that look like genuine Super Bowl contenders. There are four or five teams that look genuinely bad.
And then there’s the middle, where everyone kinda stinks but still has viable playoff hopes.
That made this week’s round of rankings particularly difficult for slots 11 through 27. Parity continues to reign across the NFL, though in this case it’s hitting the middle class harder than the elites. Franchises we thought could be on the rise — the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Lions and the Houston Texans, for starters — haven’t yet gained that foothold. Otherwise, there’s a wide swath of mediocrity that’s settled over the league and threatens to make the first weekend of this year’s playoffs a dreadfully uninteresting affair.
But there are still 10 weeks to go before we get there and plenty can change. With that in mind, let’s take a look at where we are, one Sunday before 2022’s halfway point.
32
Houston Texans
Last week’s rank: 32
Has Davis Mills played well enough for the Texans to think twice about taking a quarterback with their own top draft pick in 2023? Absolutely not. Has he been average enough to make Houston consider riding with someone like Will Anderson or Jalen Carter instead? Uh, sure. It’ll be a long rebuild for the Texans. They can stand to be patient and add more foundational talent on both sides of the ball before adding a legitimate franchise player under center.
31
Carolina Panthers
Last week’s rank: 30
Week 8 was a perfect Panthers game; good enough to build hope, exciting to watch and ending with an L. Each defeat brings this team closer to C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young.
30
Detroit Lions
Last week’s rank: 29
Dan Campbell’s bunch is now locked into the perfect de facto tank job. With a competitive loss to the Dolphins, Detroit seems to have the pole position for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. And with the sheer talent it has up front, in the backfield, and in terms of pass targets — whoever they potentially take at quarterback might enter one of the league’s better rookie situations in a long time.
29
Las Vegas Raiders
Last week’s rank: 19
Josh McDaniels was supposed to lead the Raiders into a new era of prosperity. Instead, the one good thing about this team — an offense that scores lots of points — failed completely against the Saints. McDaniels failed to scheme Davante Adams open — something the Packers spent years doing — and he and Hunter Renfrow combined for two catches and nine yards in Week 9. Gross.
28
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week’s rank: 20
Why is Tom Brady still here? What did he possibly have to benefit from coming back for Year 23? Retire. Right now! Go away. Do literally anything else … right now! The most accomplished quarterback of all time could’ve retired on top after succeeding without the coach who everyone believed was most responsible for his reputation. Instead, his legendary career looks like it will end with a quiet whimper. This is just plain ole sad. Hope it was all worth it.
27
Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week’s rank: 22
After an encouraging 2-1 start, we regret to inform you the Jaguars are the Jaguars once more. Trevor Lawrence has regressed as opponents have churned through his 2022 game film, and his mistakes this fall have been the difference between a winning record and the club’s current 2-6 resume. A young defense is rising to meet expectations — now the offense has to step up.
26
Denver Broncos
Last week’s rank: 31
Russell Wilson not only got a win in the Jaguars’ home away from home but recorded a positive EPA (expected points added) for the first time since Week 2 in the process. Beating a fading Jacksonville team doesn’t fix much, but it could lay the base for a late-season revival. Denver has a championship defense that’s spent its first eight weeks being let down by Wilson’s offense. If he can merely be an average quarterback, the Broncos could rally to a playoff spot.
25
Green Bay Packers
Last week’s rank: 24
The Packers gave themselves a shot against the Bills by slowing the game down and leaning on a power-running game. Unfortunately, they only committed to bringing this run game to a passing game fight once they were down 17 points. As constructed, Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers aren’t built mto play at a high-octane level. They need to try to bully most teams from the outset just to have a chance to win.
24
Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week’s rank: 21
Kenny Pickett has a 2:8 touchdown to interception ratio, and his growing pains have sometimes been brutal. But he also shows off the athleticism to stretch plays and a connection with his young wideouts in flashes, so it’s not all bad in Pittsburgh. This team beat the Bengals and Buccaneers in 2022, which is wild to think about.
23
Arizona Cardinals
Last week’s rank: 18
DeAndre Hopkins has been the expected matchup nightmare he has always been after returning from a six-game PED-related suspension. Unfortunately, against better teams (like Minnesota?), the Cardinals will need a bit more offensive diversity to succeed. As good as Hopkins is, he can’t do it all alone. Maybe that diversity comes in the form of Rondale Moore, who had one of the better performances of his young career with over 100 scrimmage yards and a score in the Twin Cities.
22
Indianapolis Colts
Last week’s rank: 16
Sam Ehlinger couldn’t finish off a rally to beat the Commanders in his first NFL start, but he also wasn’t the reason the Colts lost in Week 8. Losing behooves Indianapolis at this point — each defeat brings the team closer to the class of 2023’s top quarterback prospects. At least the defense is still solid!
21
Washington Commanders
Last week’s rank: 25
Is the Taylor Heinicke Show, now running on two straight wins (three overall if we remember Carson Wentz), sustainable? Probably not. It’s not like Washington can oppose a sixth-round quarterback every week. But in a conference with no discernible middle class whatsoever, the Commanders just might be a factor in the late-seed postseason chase at this mucky pace.
20
Cleveland Browns
Last week’s rank: 28
Jacoby Brissett has been an above average quarterback who has found ways to lose when games get close for the Browns. On Monday night, Cleveland didn’t give him that opportunity, running out to a 25-0 lead after three quarters and giving us all reason to doubt the Bengals — and maybe believe in the Browns once Deshaun Watson returns from his 11-game suspension following more than 20 accusations of sexual misconduct and what the NFL described as “predatory behavior.”
19
Atlanta Falcons
Last week’s rank: 26
The Falcons are 4-4 despite limited contributions from Kyle Pitts (who easily had his best game of the season against the Panthers) and Drake London. Arthur Smith’s mandate to take the ball out of Marcus Mariota’s hands remains baffling, considering he’s got premium pass targets, but that same strategy has Atlanta (somehow?) in first place (?) in the NFC South. So, what do we really know? This team makes no sense.
18
Chicago Bears
Last week’s rank: 27
Justin Fields is finally getting the designed runs on which he can feast, and the Bears’ offense is significantly better as a result. That didn’t matter on Sunday in a 49-29 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but it’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Fields has run for at least 60 yards in each of his last three games and has turned desperation wideout options like Dante Pettis, Equanimeous St. Brown, and N’Keal Harry into touchdown scorers this season.
17
New York Jets
Last week’s rank: 13
Zach Wilson started the season 4-0 in spite of his passing attack, not because of it. The Patriots were finally able to take advantage of his most Sam Darnold-ian throws and turned those into three interceptions, a sub-50 percent completion rate, and a 22-17 win on the road. The Jets’ defense can hang with anyone in the AFC. Their offense, especially with Breece Hall sidelined, cannot.
16
New Orleans Saints
Last week’s rank: 17
The Saints are capable of losing to the Carolina Panthers (with Baker Mayfield under center!) or shutting out the Las Vegas Raiders. I have no idea what this team is, and I’m not sure Dennis Allen does either, aside from the folder on his desktop labeled “TAYSOM HILL TRICK PLAYS.” Cameron Jordan remains awesome at age 33, and a 3-5 record in the broken wasteland of the NFC suggests the team would be stupid to trade away Alvin Kamara before the deadline.
15
New England Patriots
Last week’s rank: 23
After a forgettable, topsy-turvy, and controversial Monday night return, Mac Jones looked solid (if unspectacular) against a good Jets defense. But mostly he won because Zach Wilson was the other quarterback. At this stage in the season, with New England certainly not talented enough offensively to contend, any positive and steady growth from Jones should be paramount.
14
Los Angeles Rams
Last week’s rank: 10
The Rams returned from their bye week learning that they, in fact, still cannot remotely block any defensive front worth writing home about. Funny how that doesn’t change with just a few days off. There’s enough skill position talent to think that maybe Matthew Stafford and Co. make it interesting for the Wild Card race. But this is not an L.A. team strong enough in the offensive trenches to push anyone worth their salt.
13
Cincinnati Bengals
Last week’s rank: 6
/stares at the Bengals
/stares at Monday night’s box score
MAN WHAT THE HECK???
12
Los Angeles Chargers
Last week’s rank: 15
All the internet discourse about whether or not Justin Herbert is actually good is ignoring the fact it doesn’t matter as long as his blocking stinks this badly. The Chargers invested heavily in the offseason to shore up last year’s fatal flaws and have seen little in the way of results. But they still get a lofty spot in the power rankings because, well, the middle class of NFL franchises is mostly flawed, frustrating teams.
11
Miami Dolphins
Last week’s rank: 12
Tua Tagovailoa is undefeated in five starts this season, has a sterling 4:1 touchdown to interception ratio, and is No. 1 in the NFL in pure passer rating (112.7). If the former Alabama product continues this run of sparkling play, the Dolphins have a dynamic and worthy facet to their offense that could make them an AFC dark horse.
10
New York Giants
Last week’s rank: 5
In one of the few instances this year, the Giants had their fatal flaw exposed in Seattle. After one of the league’s best ground games was relatively stifled, New York had to lean more on Daniel Jones and a limited passing attack. The end result was much of the same (except in a loss), and wasn’t enough for a team that isn’t built to play from behind. Without more explosiveness in that offensive niche, it might be hard to take the Giants seriously as a true contender.
9
Minnesota Vikings
Last week’s rank: 7
Minnesota is 6-1 and has just one win over a team with a record above .500 — and that was the Teddy Bridgewater/Skylar Thompson Miami Dolphins. Kirk Cousins remains an average quarterback buoyed by playmakers and this defense has yet to slow an upper-tier quarterback. The Vikings still have potential and their hot start almost guarantees them a playoff spot. They just haven’t shown off the chops yet to be more than someone else’s speed bump on the way to Super Bowl 57.
8
Baltimore Ravens
Last week’s rank: 9
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Lamar Jackson and the bruising Ravens offensive line had their way with a defensive front, this time the Buccaneers’ mammoth unit. Rumor has it that Devin White is still being driven 30 yards downfield by Tyler Linderbaum.
7
San Francisco 49ers
Last week’s rank: 14
After throwing a touchdown, catching a touchdown, and rushing for a touchdown against the Rams, it’s obvious why the 49ers traded for Christian McCaffrey. He simply adds another versatile element to what might be pro football’s most multifunctional and multifaceted offensive unit. Regardless of the depressing pop-gun presence that is Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco is a dangerous NFC threat purely because it can throw a kitchen sink of weapons at you.
6
Tennessee Titans
Last week’s rank: 8
The Titans are 5-2 after an 0-2 start and have a 1.5-game lead over the rest of the AFC South and a season sweep of the Indianapolis Colts. Things will have to go incredibly wrong not to repeat as division champs. That’s great, but this offense has yet to prove it can run any deeper in the playoffs than it has the last two years.
5
Seattle Seahawks
Last week’s rank: 11
Geno Smith is playing like a top five quarterback and a beleagured defense beset by losses has allowed only 45 points its last three games. That group’s latest feat is cooling off the streaking New York Giants; over the last two weeks the Seahawks have held Austin Ekeler and Saquon Barkley to 84 total rushing yards.
4
Dallas Cowboys
Last week’s rank: 4
Dak Prescott and a power run game led by Tony Pollard flexed their muscles on an overmatched Chicago defense. And after a 28-7 start, Dallas was never in any real danger of losing despite a slight rally. This might’ve been the first glimpse of what these complete Cowboys are capable of when they have Prescott sitting in the lead orchestral chair.
3
Kansas City Chiefs
Last week’s rank: 3
The Chiefs had the week off and return next Sunday for a showdown with a streaking Tennessee Titans team. Will Derrick Henry’s punishing runs and Mike Vrabel’s rising defense be able to slow down Kansas City? Or is Patrick Mahomes going to drag Tennessee into a shootout its passing game is in no way, shape or form equipped for?
2
Buffalo Bills
Last week’s rank: 2
The Bills built a 24-7 lead then, slowly, let the Packers crawl back into the proceedings in a 27-17 affair that felt closer than it should’ve been. They weren’t helped by a pair of uncharacteristic Josh Allen turnovers. If the Bills had played a better team, they might’ve lost. Sunday night served as a reminder that Allen might truly need to be perfect against the real titans of the AFC in January.
1
Philadelphia Eagles
Last week’s rank: 1
A.J. Brown cost the Eagles a first round pick and a $100 million extension and it looks like a bargain. He had more than 100 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions in the first 25 minutes alone against a Steelers defense that actually did a decent job covering him.
Why did it work out so well? Because Jalen Hurts threw some absolute darts as he rises up the MVP odds chart. Philly might make it into December undefeated and could clinch the NFC’s top spot by Week 16.
