To review, for those of you not familiar with the concept of Power Rankings: Every week someone on our staff is tasked with ranking the NFL teams from 1 to 32, based on the quality of those teams rather than just listing the current standings. In response, folks in the audience fill their metaphorical diapers over the fact that teams are not ranked strictly in order of current standings. Meanwhile, the season champion will be determined on the field. And the circle of life is complete.
Feel free to send your typo-ridden missives via Twitter. And… enjoy?
Last week: Win vs. Dallas, 19–9
Next week: Bye
But they have four losses—outrageous! You should stop reading right now and go do something else with your day. The funny thing about the Chiefs is that they’ve been the best team in football all year, it was just a matter of the fluky turnovers drying up, which they always do. But the fluky turnovers haven’t dried up—Sunday’s win featured a chase-down fumble and an interception that bounced off Travis Kelce’s hands—and they’re still on a four-game winning streak.
(tie)2. New England Patriots (7–4)
Last week: Win at Atlanta, 25–0
Next week: vs. Tennessee
This team suddenly smells a lot like the 2018 edition: power run game, efficient quarterback, dominant defense, one of those vanilla-scented car air fresheners. There’s a narrative that the five-game winning streak has come against a soft part of the schedule, but while the Chargers, Browns and Panthers aren’t elite, they’re all quality teams, and the Patriots outclassed all three.
(tie)2. Green Bay Packers (8–3)
Last week: Loss at Minnesota, 34–31
Next week: vs. L.A. Rams
It was vintage Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, but also an injury-plagued defense that finally came crashing back to earth. The Packers would be the best team in the NFC if healthy, but there’s no indication of when Jaire Alexander or Za’Darius Smith will make it back.
(tie)2. Dallas Cowboys (7–3)
Last week: Loss at Kansas City, 19–9
Next week: vs. Las Vegas (Thursday)
I’m not sure there are any real conclusions to be drawn from the loss in Kansas City—a rash of injuries in one position group will do that to you—but I did think it was a positive that the defense held on. Based on the whole body of work, there’s still an argument that this is the best team in the NFC.
(tie)2. Arizona Cardinals (9–2)
Last week: Win at Seattle, 23–13
Next week: Bye
They came away with two wins in three Colt McCoy starts (though they should start McCoy every time they face the Seahawks considering how thoroughly he owns that team) and head into the bye with the best record in football. The 2–2 stretch over the last month saw them regress closer to the mean in small-sample-size stats like fumble-recovery rate, fourth-down efficiency and red-zone efficiency (though all three are still unsustainably high on the season as a whole), but nine wins with Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins coming back (presumably) fresh is a good place to be.
(tie)2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7–3)
Last week: Win vs. N.Y. Giants, 30–10
Next week: at Indianapolis
The offense might not quite get there until Antonio Brown is back, but the news is good on Vita Vea's knee and Carlton Davis could be back soon. Basically, it looks like they're getting healthy just in time for December and January.
Last week: Win at Buffalo, 41–15
Next week: vs. Tampa Bay
They were always one of the five best teams in the AFC. The issue was that they gave away so many red-zone possessions early in the year—and therefore games early in the year—that they put themselves in this hole. They’ve won six of their last eight with the two losses coming in overtime, one because their kicker got hurt in Baltimore and the other in the third-most poorly officiated game of 2021 (behind Bills-Jaguars and Bears-Steelers), against Tennessee.
8. Buffalo Bills (6–4)
Last week: Loss vs. Indianapolis, 41–15
Next week: at New Orleans (Thursday)
Hand-wringing about this offense isn’t going to do you any good. Hand-wringing about this defense, that’s where it’s at. Strength of schedule often gets overrated, but there’s no denying that, coming off a relatively down year in 2020, the Bills D got fat off some truly bad offenses early in the year (Houston, Pittsburgh, Jets, Miami, Miami). They let one slip away in Nashville earlier this season when they couldn’t tackle Derrick Henry, it got out of hand Sunday because they couldn’t tackle Jonathan Taylor, and in December they’ll face power run games against the Bucs, Panthers and, most importantly, Patriots twice (have you seen what Rhamondre Stevenson has been doing to people lately?).
9. Los Angeles Rams (7–3)
Last week: Bye
Next week: at Green Bay
The Robert Woods injury is devastating—his versatility and value as a perimeter blocker can’t be replaced, and the Rams would be better off with a healthy Woods than Odell Beckham Jr. (which apparently isn’t an option). They have some things to smooth out offensively, and defensively this unit has undeniably slid back compared to last year, but a post-bye week trip to Green Bay, to face a familiar opponent ravaged by injuries on defense, should give us a good read on where the Rams are going in the second half of the season.
