I like that that the 49ers are listed at 1 despite losing to the Chiefs. We like to think the best team always wins but the reality is sometimes the best team doesn't win. Or just isn't quite clutch enough for the moment. We like to think on any given day there is a chance the lesser team can win. or just step up and play their best game at the right moment. That's sports.
Again the BEARS will never in any universe be ahead of the Lions via power rankings. Especially after DET detonated a hot Denver team and CHI choked away another loss.
While I spend probably too much time on this site - this is one of the more frustrating things, obsession with BAD football teams thinking they're better because they missed some plays.
The Chicago Bears are a top 10 team? I get that standings and power rankings are two different things but what? Crazy. Also don’t be surprised if they keep Fields, it was just last year that they decided to keep him over CJ.
I am biased as a 49ers fan, but I still think Brock Purdy is the clear MVP. A win versus Baltimore would more or less seal it (no easy feat, mind you). He's got the best passer rating in the NFL, best adjusted passer rating, thrown the most touchdowns (29) whilst only throwing 7 interceptions , has the highest average yards per attempt is 2nd* in completion % and passing yards only to Tua Tagovailoa (*I'm not including Jake Browning and Nick Mullens, as they've played limited games, would be 4th in completion % otherwise). He beat Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott in prime-time and has thus far swept the division. Yes, he has elite weapons, but he's maximising their ability to make big plays in ways all the other 49ers QB's under Shanahan did not. I wouldn't hate it if Lamar Jackson won either, as he's been spectacular, but I think Brock has been slightly better. Dak Prescott statistically is neck and neck but had a bad loss to both us and the Bills - the 49ers 3-loss streak included 1 game where Brock was half concussed, and a missed gimme field goal (although that was Brock's worst game).
I've always said never get annoyed with power rankings because they mean absolutely nothing BUT it's absolutely mind-boggling how you put the 9-4 Lions at #12 behind the 5 and effing 8 Bears, behind the Packers never mind the other teams under .500.
Yes the Lions haven't looked great against GB or CHI but by your logic why isn't TEN top 10 and MIA outside of TOP 10, the PACK just lost to Tommy Devito yet they're ahead of the Lions. You keep quoting EPA but your record is still your record. Last year the Vikings were the mostly fraudulent 13 win team in history yet I'd bet they didn't drop anywhere close to outside the top 10 in power rankings. That's my rant...
@j_oliver_23 These aren't season long power rankings, it's supposed to be a guide on who should beat who next week and into the future. Not saying the rankings are right or wrong just that a teams wins weeks 1-4 don't hold much weight at this point in the season.
@j_oliver_23 I'll admit that I am a big Bear fan but I try not to be a 'homer'. The first 4 games for the Bears were a 'nightmare'. Their best OL Tevin Jenkins was on IR. Two other OL were hurt and in and out of the lineup as well as their center. Their OL was arguably the worst in the league. Internal distractions also plagued the team. The Def Coordinator took a surprise Personal Leave just before the start of week 2 and was subsequently terminated by HR for an 'undisclosed reason'. Less than a week later their RB coach was also canned by HR. At virtually the same time the Bears cut C. Claypool for lack of effort, insubordination, whatever. When Jenkins came back and other OL members got healthier, the offense picked up although the coaching staff blew a late lead against Denver and they did the same fade against the Lions in Game 1 against them. Those fades cost them 2 very winnable games. However, J. Fields after returning from IR is beginning to show the type of ability that he has, but had not yet been able to translate that talent into victories because of the quality of the team he was on last year and early this year. I would heartily agree with you that the early season Bears were one of the worst [ if not the worst ] teams in the league. Walter does a tremendous job of focusing on injuries and the impact those injuries have on NFL teams. Right now, the Bears are relatively healthy unlike early in the year. Several rookies have shown signs of improvement and the acquisition of M. Sweat has dramatically improved the Defense. Right now, the Bears have a young, improving team on an upward trajectory. I do not like their coaching staff, but they are very much underrated in my opinion. I also think that Green Bay is rapidly improving and also dangerous. As a Bear fan I detest GB but right now I think the Pack are better than Detroit who have suffered several significant injuries and are not playing anywhere near the level they did early in the season. We do not have much of a 'track record' on Lion's coach Campbell. The players seem to love playing for him, the media fawns over him but he has yet to prove that he is the highly successful coach that the Media loves to portray him. Could he have pushed his team too hard early in the year and the team has peaked ? Are all the injuries they suffered responsible for their subpar play lately ? They jumped out to a big lead down in NOLA but were actually fortunate to hang on and win and cover. I am in total agreement with Walt that the Saints have talent but are poorly coached and in my opinion 'counterfeit'. However, opinions are like a--holes, everyone has one so don't sweat the Power Rankings but use them in your decision making as far as wagering. Al least for me cashing winning tickets is what this is all about. Good Luck the rest of the season.
The Panthers have to be at 32, and it goes far beyond their 1-11 record.
Washington sucks, but at least there's a glimmer of hope with new ownership. They own all their future draft picks (including extra '24 2nd and 3rd rounders), and a promising QB on a dirt cheap rookie contract.
The Carolina organization is lost at sea with no hope for rescue and every top-to-bottom employee under Tepper knows it.
Like Costanza, every decision Tepper and Fetterer have made has been wrong. Every single one.
Every coaching hire.
Every roster construction decision.
("In an era where the best teams load up on explosive skill players, let's trade McCaffrey and Moore, then blow the draft compensation and cap savings on hyper-inefficient Jonathan Mingo and a bunch of plodding, washed up FAs like Thielen, Sanders, Chark, Hurst, etc.! Brilliant!")
Every draft decision - wrong.
Terminally-injured Jaycee Horn, Ickey Ekwonu and Young should have been Pat Surtain II, Charles Cross/Garrett Wilson, and C.J. Stroud.
The Panthers haven't made a decent Day 2 pick since Donte Jackson in '18. Seriously, look it up.
I'm sure Tepper/Fitterer and whatever chumps they hire to coach will say all the right things about building around Young this offseason, but it won't matter. Every decision they make toward that goal will just be wrong anyway, and Young is a surefire bust. He simply has mediocre traits and is too small to see over linemen and process the field. That's never going to change and we all kinda know it.
The Panthers have four players on their roster that would start for a quality team: Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, Taylor Moton and Donte Jackson. The rest is tumbleweeds.
Burns is visibly frustrated that he's still on the roster, and CAR may have missed the boat on getting proper trade value for him.
Brown is stout vs the run, but offers little interior pass rush. Nice player, but not worth a top 10 draft investment.
Moton and Jackson are approaching 30, and thanks to recent contract restructures both will be unaffordable, likely cap casualties this offseason.
There's little talent and even less hope in Carolina. The coaches and players checked out a while ago. They should be at 32.
As much as I want to claim the Jaguars are a top 5 team, they have to earn the spot. We won’t learn anything about them as they play a pair of backup quarterbacks these next two weeks. If they defeat the Ravens though, then they’re officially an elite team.
On a side note, the Browns were likely out of focus against the Broncos due to the devastating news about Deshaun Watson being out for the season. They’re an underrated team who will almost certainly bounce back with their dominant defensive front. They were only outgained by a total of 25 yards against a surging Broncos team.
Scottmal, don’t wait for a response from the ‘analysts’ here, you won‘t get one. Their fraudulent power rankings even had the Eagles placed 9th when only they and SF were 5-0. Ranking SF first, of course. This week’s ranking has the Eagles, who are two full games up on any othef team in the league, NFC or AFC, ranked lower than three teams which they’ve already defeated, and a game lower than they had them ranked last week. There’s no rationality, only irrational hate. Speaks, infortunately, to a lack of jouranlistic integrity on this site.
I'd argue with Walt about the Eagles back in college in the McNabb era. Felt he was overly harsh on them as an over correction in not wanting to be a homer.
Walt had them as #1 early least season before man others did IIRC.
He's actually picking them to beat the 49ers last I checked. Likes the way they match up with them.
I think its question of how much to you let something like a 'clutchness' factor in. I was reading Charlie Campbell's scoutign report on Herbert yesterday and there it was...has all the tools but doesn't have killer instinct. Meanwhile Hurts just has it in spades.. Whatever 'it' is.
As always, your evaluations are well thought out. I have one issue with this week's rankings though. Of the top 6 teams (I'm an Eagles fan, BTW), the Cowboys have won all games against teams with losing records and the Dolphins have won 7 of 8 games against teams with losing records. The Eagles, Chiefs and 49ers have won just 4 games against teams with losing records. Seems that the Cowboys are over-rated, which seems to be a standard in the industry and so are the Dolphins. Your thoughts...
The Bengals dead last? C'mon. I get that the Burrow injury is catastrophic, but this is still a well-coached team with a lot of talent along the depth chart. There's a difference between being a good team that lost its QB and being an untalented, directionless mess like the Patriots and Cardinals. Still think CIN is capable of winning 2 or 3 of their remaining 6 games.
The Jaguars outplayed the Texans, yet everybody chooses to blame the referees for the Texans loss. The Jaguars were the victims of having several neglible calls against them as well in the game, yet nobody ever brings that up. I wonder why?
The Texans are better compared to last season, but they’re really not that good. They feel average at best.
The thing about the Texans: They likely haven't reached their ceiling this season.
Given their youth and the usual ups-and-downs of new coaching philosophies taking root, they've been impressive, especially when you consider that their O-line and secondary are never fully healthy. I think that once Stingley, Suggs, Perryman, Rankins, Fairbairn, etc., fully settle in following injury/suspension and there's some lineup continuity, we'll see a late season run from Houston. (Their remaining schedule is cake.)
JAX is still the class of the AFC South and will only get better once Tyson Campbell returns to the lineup, but the arrow is pointing up for HOU as well. By the end of the season, I think the Texans will be a dangerous Wild Card team capable of a playoff upset.
Solid list but the "R*dsk*ns no longer go by that name it's the Commanders now. You should really adapt to using their new name it looks unprofessional.
I'm OK with the Eagles at 6 as I get it but I do think there is something to be said about how Jalen Hurts manages games. With Reid's time management issues and Chip Kelly's one speed only there were many years were Philly didn't know how shorten the game. To manage the clock. To play keep-away. They finally do. And what a difference it can make. I'd argue it makes it so you get a few more wins than you otherwise would. But should that be counted for or against in the world of power rankings?
Not sure how anyone can rank Hurts ahead of Mahomes in the MVP race. Aside from Mahomes having a better record and stats than Hurts, Hurts currently leads the NFL in INTs and is one turnover behind Desmond Ridder for the league lead. Not trying to dog Hurts; he's great, but he's working with a far more talented cast of skill position guys than Mahomes, while not performing as well. Mahomes is in his own tier and no NFL player is nearly as indispensable to his team.
I don't disagree but leagues tend to not just give the MVP every year to such players. They like to mix it up. Philly may become an expert city in charity MVPs if Hurts picks one up here. Him and Embiid could become best friends.
The Patriots are finally a dumpster fire, and Mac Jones is on the verge of becoming another Teddy Bridgewater. The Texans are also overrated for the time since 2019, and I can’t wait for their self destruction to commence.
Struggling to see why Mahomes is in the MVP race while Goff isnt. They have the same record, Goff beat him in their matchup, and Goff is superior in virtually every statistical category. You even conceded that Mahomes is getting carried by his defense. Make it make sense or correct it please.
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