1 – Philadelphia Eagles (2)
There’s only one team left in the NFL without multiple losses, and it’s the Philadelphia Eagles. After suffering their first and only loss to the Jets, Philly has bounced back with back-to-back wins against Miami and Washington to get to 7-1 on the year. In those two games, Jalen Hurts has thrown for six touchdowns and just under 600 yards. At receiver, A.J. Brown is continuing to put up numbers at a historic pace. Last Sunday, he became the first player in NFL history to go over 125 receiving yards in six straight games. In Week 9, he’ll look to do it once again in a huge divisional tilt with the Cowboys.
2 – Baltimore Ravens (3)
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are rolling right now. The team won their third straight game last Sunday against Arizona and will get another chance against an NFC West opponent when Seattle comes to town for Week 9. Playing against the NFC is usually a good thing for Baltimore, as Lamar has only lost once to teams from the conference since he came into the league. The Ravens are simply well-rounded and dangerous on both sides of the ball. Lamar may not run it as much as he used to, but he runs it enough to hurt defenses. This team is for real!
3 – Miami Dolphins (5)
Tua and the ‘Phins have probably moved up and down this list more than any other team in the league. I still think they have to beat a great team to be taken seriously as contenders, but for now, they deserve to be up here just as much as anyone else. You can poke holes in pretty much every team’s body of work so far this year, and the Dolphins are no different. At the end of the day, though, if you only lose to very good teams, you’re probably still a very good team, too. If they can beat Kansas City this week, Miami may be able to hang around the top here for a little longer.
4 – Jacksonville Jaguars (6)
No team is hotter than the Jacksonville Jaguars right now. Winners of five straight games, the Jags continue to simply get the job done and will now get to enjoy a Week 9 bye. Travis Etienne has been terrific during this stretch, scoring seven touchdowns and going for at least 70 total yards in every game. If Etienne can continue to score, Trevor Lawrence’s job will only get easier as well. They’re firing on all cylinders right now, and every other contending team in the AFC should seriously take note of what’s going on in Duval.
5 – Kansas City Chiefs (1)
The Chiefs had won a few games without their best stuff this year, but their luck ran out in a big way against Denver. Patrick Mahomes and the offence turned the ball over four times and scored zero touchdowns on the afternoon, and Mahomes fell to the Broncos for the first time in his career. Things are clearly different this year for the Chiefs, but it’s hard to ever rule this team out. Like it or not, they’re still at the top of the AFC with a record of 6-2. With that being said, Week 9’s game against Miami will be a great indicator of how exactly this version of the Chiefs stacks up to other top teams in the AFC.
6 – Detroit Lions (8)
Jared Goff and the Lions weren’t great at all on Monday night against the Raiders, but they got the job done. Rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs was the story of the night in Detroit, as he ran the ball 26 times for 152 yards and a touchdown while also hauling in five receptions for 37 more yards. As good as those numbers are, it’s tough to say exactly what his role will look like when David Montgomery returns after the bye in Week 9. Either way, though, Dan Campbell’s Lions will continue to be one of the better teams in this league.
7 – Dallas Cowboys (7)
Yet again, Dallas beat up on a bad team this past weekend. It was their fourth win of the year with a point differential of at least twenty points, but it still didn’t say much about this team that we didn’t know already. It was nice to see CeeDee Lamb play such a big role in the game as he went for 158 yards and two scores, but the upcoming Week 9 matchup with Philly will show us much more about who this team is. It’s been the same story for the Cowboys for most of this season, and I don’t expect that to change unless they can beat up on a very good team the way they do against the bottom-dwellers.
8 – Cincinnati Bengals (n/a)
After his Week 8 performance against the 49ers, I think it’s safe to say that Joe Burrow is back. In the game, he threw for three touchdowns and 283 yards, while completing 28 of his 32 attempts. A career-record 19 of those completions were consecutive. Burrow and the Bengals are no strangers to mediocre starts, and it’s for that reason that I think we can be confident that this team is still very good. JaMaar Chase has also exploded recently, grabbing 31 passes for 372 yards and four scores in the last three weeks alone. Catching the Ravens in the AFC North won’t be easy, but this team could certainly do it.
9 – San Francisco 49ers (4)
Three straight losses. Earlier in the season, a lot of people would have thought that it’d be almost impossible for the 49ers to lose three straight. Now, they head into a Week 9 bye with a record of 5-3 and a lot of new questions. Sure, they’ve had a few injuries, but the best teams in the league can find ways to push through that. Getting Deebo Samuel back will certainly help, but the overall health of Brock Purdy is a much more interesting issue. Hopefully, the team will use this off week to get healthy for what is now a very competitive division title race with the 5-2 Seattle Seahawks.
10 – Seattle Seahawks (9)
Yes, those 5-2 Seattle Seahawks will round out our Power Rankings behind the 49ers. They may be ahead in the standings right now, but their best this season hasn’t matched up with what we know San Francisco can do. Geno Smith has had some ups and downs, and he’ll need to get that offence moving a little better in the red zone in the second half of the season. Overall, this is a team that still has their best days ahead of them and any success this year just sweetens the deal. At the same time, though, if they can go into Baltimore in Week 9 and get a win, they deserve to be taken very seriously right now.
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