32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: 32)
After a bye week, the Bucs couldn’t gain any ground. The Raiders and Titans both looked bad, but neither of them looked like they could be blown out by 40 points any time soon. Tampa Bay is still at the bottom.
31. Oakland Raiders (LW: 31)
Once again, Derek Carr showed some flashes of being an effective quarterback, but the rushing attack has been so awful that it’ll be tough for them to eek out any wins this season. If they don’t beat the Browns on Sunday at home, their next chance to win a game likely won’t come until the end of November when the Raiders play the Rams on the road.
30. Tennessee Titans (LW: 28)
Charlie Whitehurst is bad. Bishop Sankey is much worse than I though. The defense is bad. This team as a long way to go.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 30)
Jacksonville’s defensive line embarrassed Cleveland’s hot offensive line, and Denard Robinson actually looked like a legitimate NFL running back (though much of his success was due to Cleveland’s poor rushing defense). I’m holding the Jaguars back though from Blake Bortles’ poor performance, and the fact that they still probably won’t win more than three games this season.
28. New York Jets (LW: 29)
Although New York keeps finding ways to stay competitive in games, their offense is the seventh worst in the league in terms of yards per game, which holds them back game after game. The Percy Harvin trade sounds good on paper, but will having Geno Smith as his quarterback really help him? Probably not.
27. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 20)
Putting the Falcons below the Vikings, Texans, Redskins and Rams might be too harsh, but I’m judging them even harsher for the expectations they had coming in to the season. Atlanta has lost four straight games, and the defense is allowing the third most yards per game. Their next four games are fairly easy, but even if they were to win four in a row, they’d still just be 6-5, which wouldn’t even be enough to save Mike Smith’s job.
26. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 27)
The Vikings’ collapse to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday almost looked like it was on purpose. That’s how bad it was. The defense just can’t hold up, and Cordarrelle Patterson has completely disappeared.
25. Houston Texans (LW: 24)
For as good as Arian Foster has been this season, Ryan Fitzpatrick is holding the offense back. He’s only thrown for 218.6 yards per game this season, less than Brian Hoyer, Mike Glennon and Austin Davis. It’ll be Ryan Mallett time soon, and that still won’t help this stumbling offense.
24. Washington Redskins (LW: 25)
Washington is going to run out Colt McCoy on a Monday night game against the Dallas Cowboys. Yikes.
23. St. Louis Rams (LW: 26)
Did the Rams out-play the defending Super Bowl champions in every facet of the game on Sunday? Yes. Do I feel like the Rams could win even one of their next five games (Chiefs, 49ers, Cardinals, Broncos and the Chargers)? No.
22. Buffalo Bills (LW: 23)
Sammy Watkins appears to be as good as advertised, but the injuries to Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller are huge. Buffalo was averaging 103 rushing yards per game, and will now have to rely on Kyle Orton more, which is scary.
21. New York Giants (LW: 19)
New York’s season is basically over now. With Dallas at 6-1, they are three games out of first place, and the Giants next four games are against the Colts, Seahawks, 49ers and Cowboys. Unless they someone come out of that stretch 3-1, their playoff chances are seriously bleak.
20. New Orleans Saints (LW: 18)
Each week, it seems as if the Saints regress even more. Drew Brees is having a worse season than people are realizing, and it needs to be discussed more. His quarterback rating is lower than Kyle Orton, Charlie Whitehurst and Austin Davis’.
19. Cleveland Browns (LW: 17)
After the Browns flirted with cracking the top half of these power rankings, they basically handed the Jaguars their first win of the season. Brian Hoyer only completed 16 of his 42 passes, and the offensive line looked like it misses Alex Mack more than expected.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 21)
The Steelers seemed destined for an 8-8 season. Sitting at 4-3, their next two games are against the Colts and Ravens, which will likely put them at 4-5. Pittsburgh just isn’t good enough to compete with Baltimore and Cincinnati in the division.
17. Carolina Panthers (LW: 15)
In their past five games, the Panthers are just 1-3-1. Yet they are someone leading the NFC South. The defense has been a revolving door, allowing 38 points to the Packers and 37 to the Bengals last weekend. Carolina also has allowed the sixth most yards per game, while the rushing game hasn’t been healthy enough to keep up.
16. Chicago Bears (LW: 14)
Almost just as surprising as Brees’ poor performance this year has been Jay Cutler’s handling of Chicago’s offense. There’s far too many weapons on that team for him to be Pro Football Focus’ 20th rated quarterback and for him to be tied for the third most interceptions in the league, behind only Brees and Bortles. But there’s still plenty of upside to be had at the skill positions for the Bears to sneak in as a Wild Card to the playoffs.
15. Miami Dolphins (LW: 22)
Miami looked like a legitimate contender for a Wild Card spot against the Bears on Sunday, holding them to just 14 points. The Dolphins are actually the league’s ninth best scoring defense, and can rely on Cameron Wake to generate pass rush. On the offensive side of the ball, Lamar Miller has been great despite the absence of Knowshon Moreno, but they need the receivers to improve if they want to make the playoffs.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 16)
Despite cutting Brandon Flowers and losing Mike DeVito and Derrick Johnson to injury early on in the season, the Chiefs are still the fifth best scoring defense in the league, and have held opponents to 20 or fewer points in three of their past four games.
13. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 10)
As easy as it is just to place the struggles of a team on the quarterback, Colin Kaepernick has actually had an exceptional season. San Francisco’s offense has struggled because both their running backs, Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde have a negative Pro Football Focus rating. In the past two games, Gore has averaged just 2.3 yards per carry. That needs to improve if the 49ers want to pass the Cardinals in the NFC West.
12. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 8)
At one point in Sunday’s game against the Colts, the Bengals had seven drives, and all seven of them were three-and-outs. Andy Dalton and co. need to get it together to keep up with the Ravens.
11. New England Patriots (LW: 13)
After people (including me) were writing off Tom Brady, he’s averaged 304.67 yards per game in his past three starts, all three games that were victories. The Patriots are cruising now. However, the injury to Chandler Jones will be one to monitor for New England’s defense.
10. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 4)
The Seahawks take a big drop this week after the Rams won convincingly. Russell Wilson has been pressured on a higher percentage of his dropbacks than anyone else in the league, per PFF, but the Seahawks are lucky that Wilson has such great elusiveness to keep plays alive. If they can’t get the run game going again with Marshawn Lynch though, this team could be in legitimate trouble.
9. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 12)
Arizona has the fourth best scoring defense in the league, and has convincing wins against the Chargers and 49ers this season. However, a big test will come this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Cardinals find a way to slow down that offense, they’d be a top five team this time next week.
8. Detroit Lions (LW: 12)
Despite having one more loss than the Cardinals, the Lions get the edge here for having a higher upside on offense. Once Calvin Johnson returns, Matthew Stafford should improve, but for now, I feel perfectly comfortable with the Lions’ No. 1 scoring defense against any team ranked below them.
7. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 9)
It’s easy to look at the box scores and rave about Justin Forsett and Joe Flacco, but Baltimore’s wins this season have only come against the Bucs, Falcons, Browns, Panthers and Steelers. All of those teams are ranked in the bottom half of the league this week. This Sunday’s matchup against the Bengals will be Baltimore’s first real test since the Colts three weeks ago, a game that the Ravens lost.
6. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 5)
Philadelphia gets pushed down a spot this week because of how great Indianapolis looked, but they are firmly a top 10 team for the remainder of the season.
5. San Diego Chargers (LW: 2)
I’m bracing for a big drop in San Diego the next two weeks. They play the Broncos on Thursday night, a game that Peyton Manning might throw for four touchdowns in. Still, the Chargers have only lost their two games this season by a combined four points, so I can’t fault them much for losing to the Chiefs.
4. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 7)
The Colts have the third best scoring defense and the best scoring offense this season. That’s a very dangerous combination for opponents. In an AFC Championship game between the Colts and Broncos right now, I wouldn’t give the Broncos any more than three points.
3. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 4)
I’m probably being stubborn on this, but I can’t put the Cowboys ahead of Green Bay because of their defense. No matter how great DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant have been, I can’t help but feel like an opponent is going to figure out this defense at some point, and it won’t be pretty.
2. Green Bay Packers (LW: 6)
In Green Bay’s past four games, its scored 38, 42, 27 and 38 points. Aaron Rodgers is PFF’s top-rated quarterback this season, and he’s throwing to two receivers who rank in the top 20 at their positions as well. At this point in the season, I just trust the Packers ability to keep up their production than the Cowboys, given how much Dallas has run Murray.
1. Denver Broncos (LW: 1)
Just watching the Broncos play, it’s easy to see that they are the NFL’s best team. Peyton Manning has just been so effective, and Ronnie Hillman has been such an upgrade at running back over Montee Ball that it’s impossible to find a flaw in the offense. On defense, Von Miller and Demarcus Ware rank first and second, respectively, in sacks this season (though Ware is tied with five other players with seven). Denver’s the Super Bowl favorite right now, and it’s not close.