Week 9 NFL Power Rankings

Andrew Ortenberg

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I'm an NFL handicapper here at Pickswise who was raised in a household full of sports fanatics. Since I unfortunately never had LeBron James' jumping ability I wasn't able to make it to the NBA, and chose writing about sports as the next best thing. An avid sports bettor myself, I'm excited to get to write about the industry as it gets set to take off across the country. Buckle up. For Andrew Ortenberg media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.

1.Patriots (1)

The Patriots’ league-best defense continued to dominate, forcing the Browns into turnovers on three consecutive plays at one point. New England is the clear top dog in the AFC, and there’s no way you can’t have them in the top spot of any power rankings.

2. Packers (2)

Even though Patrick Mahomes wasn’t starting, the Packers still went into Kansas City and picked up an impressive road win. This is the best Aaron Rodgers has looked in years, and they’re going to be hard to stop in the playoffs.

3. Saints (3)

Drew Brees is officially back, and he started his return to bang by dominating the Cardinals in Week 8. New Orleans is getting dominant play in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and it’s a tough call between them and the Packer as to who is the best team in the NFC.

4. 49ers (4)

The 49ers are still undefeated, and they picked up their most impressive win of the season over the Panthers this past Sunday. That being said, they were playing Kyle Allen, and they still haven’t faced many good quarterbacks. The schedule gets much tougher moving forward.

5. Vikings (6)

The Vikings beat the Redskins last Thursday night relatively easily, continuing their hot streak. If Kirk Cousins can keep playing like he has been, they’re going to be scary.

6. Chiefs (5)

The Chiefs lost a tough one to the Packers on Sunday night, and they desperately need Mahomes back. It’s unclear when they’ll get him back though, and they’ve now dropped three of their past four games.

7. Colts (7)

The Colts picked up a narrow win over the Broncos, thanks to a last-second Adam Vinatieri field goal. It wasn’t their sharpest game, but they still did enough to win

8. Ravens (8)

The Ravens were on their bye, and will now face their toughest test of the season as they host the Patriots in Week 9.

9. Rams (11)

The Rams didn’t look like world-beaters in their London win over the Bengals, but they certainly look a lot better than they did a few weeks ago and appear to be back on the right track.

10. Texans (14)

DeShaun Watson made a series of heroic plays to lead the Texans to another win. With Watson under center, they’re going to be in every single game.

11. Eagles (16)

The Eagles always seem to deliver when they have their backs up against the wall, and they did so once again by trouncing the Bills in Buffalo. Doug Pederson managed to quell any concerns about the locker room, for now.

12. Cowboys (12)

Dallas had the week off as they prepared to take on the Giants in a pivotal Monday Night Football game.

13. Seahawks (13)

The Seahawks escaped with a win over the Falcons, but they didn’t look particularly impressive doing it. Their defense somehow got shredded by Matt Schaub, and that’s a concern moving forward.

14. Bills (9)

The Bills finally had to play a tough team, and they got exposed. After barely beating the Dolphins, they got embarrassed by the Eagles. Fortunately for them, they get another easy matchup against the Redskins in Week 9.

15. Panthers (10)

Kyle Allen couldn’t keep his magical run going, and the Panthers got smoked by nearly 40 points in their loss to the 49ers. Allen will get at least one more start, but Cam Newton could be coming back soon

16. Lions (15)

The Lions lost a tough one to Minnesota, but actually moved up because of how incompetent some of the teams ahead of them looked. Detroit has been playing at a much higher level than I expected.

17. Jaguars (17)

The Jaguars picked up a win, albeit against the Jets. With Nick Foles returning to practice soon, it’ll be very interesting to see what they do with Gardner Minshew.

18. Titans (20)

The Titans picked up their second straight win, although I think they got lucky for the second week in a row. I’m not buying the Ryan Tannehill hype just yet.

19. Chargers (22)

The Chargers are starting to get healthier, they just picked up a massive Road win over the Bears. They’ve still got a ton of talent, and I think they could be starting to turn a corner.

20. Raiders (21)

The Raiders might have lost by three points on the road against the Houston Texans, but they looked pretty good while doing it. This Oakland team is better than a lot of people realize, and they could make some noise.

21. Cardinals (18)

Arizona lost to the Saints, although I don’t think they ever could have been expected to win that one. They’ve still won three of their past four, and will be a fun team to watch down the stretch.

22. Bears (19)

The Bears are starting to fall apart at the seams, and they just lost one in devastating fashion. Mitch Trubisky obviously isn’t the guy, and the defense is clearly getting frustrated.

23. Browns (23)

After all that offseason hype, the Browns now enter this week at 2-5. Fortunately for them, the schedule gets a lot easier moving forward.

24. Buccaneers (24)

Tampa Bay lost a game that they should have won against the Titans. I still think the Buccaneers have some potential, but they’re running out of time. So is Jameis Winston.

25. Steelers (26)

The Steelers picked up another win, but it was against the Dolphins, so let’s not give them too much credit.

26. Giants (27)

Daniel Jones look pretty good at times during the Giants’ Week 8 loss to the Lions, and that’s all New York fans can ask for at this point. The Giants just traded for Leonard Williams, signaling that they aren’t giving up on the season.

27. Broncos (25)

The Broncos are bottoming out, and now they’ll be without Joe Flacco as he deals with a neck injury. Brandon Allen is going to be taking the first regular-season snap of his career this Sunday, and things could get ugly.

28. Jets (28)

Sam Darnold had a second straight terrible game, and the Jets were embarrassed once again. Adam Gase’s first season at the helm continues to be a nightmare.

29. Redskins (29)

The Redskins put up a fight during the first half of their game against the Vikings, but then folded quickly. Case Keenum is in the concussion protocol, so we could see Dwayne Haskins make his first career start against Buffalo this week.