NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Where do all 32 teams stack up?

Well now, either Kansas City or San Francisco has been #1 in the Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for the last 4 weeks, but the Chiefs’ shocking loss to the Broncos and the 49ers’ third straight defeat have seen them both drop out of the top 3 this week.

With all 32 teams in action in Week 8, there was no hiding place and we were left with very little separating the top 10 teams in the rankings — is there a special team at all this year?

I say every week that these are power rankings, not power standings, but it was hard to ignore the league-leading 7-1 Eagles for the #1 spot this week, even though they hardly impressed in beating the Commanders. The Dolphins, Saints, Titans, Broncos and Panthers are moving up the rankings this week, while the Vikings, Texans And Colts join the Chiefs and 49ers heading in the opposite direction.

You can also check out our early pick for NFL Week 9 and look at the NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.

Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 9

1 (up 1) Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles are back in the #1 spot they last held after Week 3 as the only 1-loss team in the league. it’s good news that Jalen Hurts’ knee issue doesn’t seem to have turned into anything major, especially as they have a gauntlet coming up with DAL-KC-BUF-SF-DAL as their next 5 games. They are now joint-favorites with the Chiefs at FanDuel (+500) but +600 at DraftKings for the Super Bowl.

2 (up 1) Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are still sidling their way up the standings and have now reached their highest placing of the season, even though folks who backed them to cover against the Cardinals won’t think they deserve it. They did win comfortably, though, despite the final score, but are only joint-6th favorites for the Super Bowl at FanDuel at +1200 odds.

3 (up 3) Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins resumed their preferred role of beating up on bad teams this week against the Patriots, but if the pattern of their season continues, it could mean another step back when they meet the Chiefs this week as they have flopped in their toughest tests to date. They are now 4th favorites in FanDuel’s Super Bowl odds at +950 and getting stronger with Jalen Ramsey and Jeff Wilson available again after injuries.

4 (down 3) Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs become our second straight #1 team to drop to #4 the next week – sorry about that, Andy and Pat. You can give Mahomes something of a pass as he was feeling under the weather for the loss to the Broncos, but the way the team seemed to accept their fate from early in the game was not what you’d expect to see from Super Bowl champions, even though the sportsbooks are still confident they’ll be back.

5 (-) Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars are pushing to go higher still after 5 straight wins, and they should get it if they beat the 49ers this week. They’ve only just cracked the top 10 in the Super Bowl odds, though, and can still be backed at +2000.

6 (up 2) Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys impressively dealt with the Rams this week, and their clash with the Eagles will be a big one for these rankings. The good ol’ Boys have already made it into the top 5 in the Super Bowl odds at +1000.

7 (-) Detroit Lions

The Lions got their act together on Monday night, giving the Raiders a beating that was extensive enough to get Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels fired. If they can continue to beat bad teams they’ll end up with a great regular-season record, as that’s pretty much all that makes up their remaining schedule.

8 (down 4) San Francisco 49ers

Losing to the Browns was a surprise. Losing to the Vikings was another. Getting beaten fair and square by the Bengals to go from 5-0 to 5-3 in 3 games is becoming alarming. The 49ers have responded by adding another premium defensive player in Chase Young and sportsbooks aren’t worried yet as they remain in the top 3 of the Super Bowl odds list.

9 (-) Buffalo Bills

It’s W-L-W-L-W for the Bills in their last 5 games now and while they won easily enough, it was disappointing that they didn’t really kill off the Buccaneers the way they could have. They’re 4th favorites to win the AFC, but the +750 odds for that is now better than the price they were for the Super Bowl in Week 1.

10 (up 1) Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow certainly looks like he’s back, which has to be a worry for AFC defenses. The Bengals have the potential to move much higher in this list now their offense has finally sputtered into life and they should if they are able to beat the Bills this week.

11 (down 1) Cleveland Browns

The Browns dip below the Bengals, who they crushed earlier this season, after losing at Seattle, but the fact that they will be devastated to have thrown away the win at Seattle on Sunday overshadows how well they did to even be in that position after going 14-0 down early with PJ Walker at QB. Everything still depends on if and when they get a functional Deshaun Watson back.

12 (up 1) Seattle Seahawks

As mentioned above, the Seahawks started and finished well against the Browns, but in the middle there was a long stretch where they could get little done on offense. Giving the ball to Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet more could work while Geno Smith fails to reach the heights of last season.

13 (up 3) Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers finally found a team whose level they weren’t able to play down to and beat the Tyson Bagent Bears comfortably. It’s still uncomfortable to have a 3-4 team this high in the rankings though, so let’s see how they get on against the Jets on Monday Night Football.

14 (up 1) Pittsburgh Steelers

A home game in miserable conditions against a sun-loving team from Florida should have been just the ticket for the Steelers, but they suffered a second home loss of the season to the Jaguars. Even so, they’ve managed to move up in the rankings thanks to the heavier beating the team coming next suffered.

15 (down 1) Los Angeles Rams

Yes, the Rams have to be moved down after they were disappointingly dismantled by the Cowboys, looking like they wanted no part of it. It’s 3 losses in 4 games for Sean McVay’s team now, and the alarm bells will really be ringing if they go down to the Packers this week.

16 (up 6) New Orleans Saints

The Saints had lost 4 of 5 games heading to Indianapolis, but turned in an impressive performance to win 38-27. They face teams with quarterback issues in their next 3 games against the Bears, Vikings and Falcons, so it will be disappointing if they’re not still in the top half after that stretch.

Check out our NFL injury report update for the key news to know this week

17 (-) New York Jets

The Jets didn’t really deserve to move up for scraping a win against a team that literally could not pass the ball, but I guess a win’s a win so they can stay where they are after triumphing in a low-quality Battle of New York.

18 (up 5) Tennessee Titans

Well, well, well. What have the Titans found in Will Levis? And if they knew he could do what he did in his 4-TD day against the Falcons, why on earth was he behind Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis on the depth chart? The good news is he is here now and the future looks brighter in Tennessee, as the 5-place climb indicates.

19 (-) Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons are another team making a quarterback change, even though they had stubbornly refused to see that Taylor Heinicke might give them a better chance of winning than Desmond Ridder. If he can be just okay, then skill players on the Falcons should be able to make him look pretty good.

20 (down 8) Minnesota Vikings

Kirk Cousins’ Achilles injury is up there with Aaron Rodgers’ similar issue and Nick Chubb’s devastating knee injury as the most impactful of the season. Some people will probably only realise how good he has been for Minnesota when someone else tries to take over and have the same results. After 4 wins in the last 5 games it’s still a big drop for the Vikes after their major loss. Get well soon, Captain Kirk.

21 (-) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We said last week that the Bucs seems to fall short every time they play a strong team and, oh look, it happened again with a 24-18 loss in Buffalo that wasn’t really that close. They have a chance to break their 3-game losing skid against the Texans this week, though.

22 (up 5) Denver Broncos

Congrats to the Denver Broncos, who have gone from a 0-3 start including a 70-20 loss to a 3-5 record thanks to a win over the Super Bowl champions that wasn’t even lucky. They’ll get another big jump if they can beat the Bills too this week.

23 (down 5) Houston Texans

CJ Stroud came out second-best to Bryce Young in the battle of the top picks in this year’s draft, even though the game featured only 28 points. The  Texans have lost their .500 record, but they’re still 2nd-favorites for the AFC South, albeit at +750 odds.

24 (down 4) Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have lost 3 straight, allowing 37 or more points in each game. Their offense look lively enough but they need wins from their next games against the Panthers and Patriots to stay relevant.

25 (up 1) Washington Commanders

The Commanders move up after giving a good account of themselves against the Eagles for the second time this season, even though they have lost both games. Selling off star defensive assets Montez Sweat and Chase Young on deadline day doesn’t sound like a team that has big plans for this season, though.

26 (down 1) Las Vegas Raiders

Hmmm. Do we judge the Raiders on their poor effort in Detroit on Monday and obvious dysfunction behind the scenes, or give them some credit for basically firing everyone in a bid to start again? We’ll leave them here for now and see what happens next. Just don’t force us to watch their next 2 games against the New York teams please.

27 (up 1) New England Patriots

The Patriots edge up the list merely because it’s understandable for them to have lost to a good team in the Dolphins while worse things happened to the team below. I’m still not sure what the Patriots are trying to do this season — except, presumably, making plans to bring Josh McDaniels back to their staff.

28 (down 4) Green Bay Packers

It’s 4 straight losses and 5 of the last 6 for the Packers now and looking at their schedule things aren’t going to get a lot better any time soon. They are +450 odds to make the playoffs with DraftKings but I won’t be rushing to buy a ticket.

29 (up 3) Carolina Panthers

A win! We no longer have to tell you what odds the Panthers are to go 0-17 this season as they, and everyone else in the league, now has a win this season. It was by 2 points at home to the Texans but it still counts. And having a functional quarterback automatically puts the Panthers above the 3 teams still to come.

30 (down 1) New York Giants

Were you there when the Giants had minus 9 net passing yards (after overtime!) in a game with Tommy DeVito at quarterback? What wild times we live in. And they should have won! The good news is Daniel Jones looks on the path to returning this week, so we can just the Giants properly again, like a real NFL team.

31 (down 1) Chicago Bears

The second episode of the Tyson Bagent Story wasn’t as engaging as the first, but unlike the Giants, it doesn’t seem like Justin Fields is coming back to rescue the Bears just yet. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on the wall when Montez Sweat heard he was being traded to Chicago?

32 (down 1) Arizona Cardinals

Josh Dobbs was doing his best for the Cardinals, but he has been traded to the Vikings even before Kyler Murray is quite ready to come back, so rookie Clayton Tune is likely to make his NFL debut against Myles Garrett and the Browns defense. That sounds like a character-building experience.