2023 NFL Power Rankings: Week 10
The Eagles are the team to beat. Period.
The AFC is wide open. I’ve been so low on this Ravens team all season. I’m done with that. They’re awesome. The Chiefs are still out of sorts offensively but their defense continues to show up. And I’m not worried about Reid, Mahomes and Kelce come January. The Jaguars may be able to compete with the big boys this season. They’re a well-rounded team. The Bengals are confirmed back. Completely. If the playoffs were this week, they’d be the top team in the AFC in my eyes, but it’s tough to just completely discard the first month and a half of the season. The Bills are kind of a mess, but they still have Super Bowl as their goal. And the Browns are my sneaky team in the AFC that may make some noise. Their defense is that good and their offense looks competent.
The Lions seem the team best-equipped to take down the Eagles in the NFC. They come out of their bye as healthy as they can hope for and are as well-rounded a team as their is in this league. The 49ers may get back to that level, but until they do, they’re still a little lower on my list. I still think they need to give Sam Darnold the nod at QB. He may not run the offense as smoothly as Purdy out of the gate, but his talent could take this offense to new levels when certain weapons are out.
I’m done thinking the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Are they fun? Sure. But they’re 0–3, and by a wide margin, against their only 3 challenges this season. I have a similar thought with the Cowboys. They crush bad teams, but lose to good ones. Philly tried to give them the game this week and they just refused to take it. Dak looks good though, so I could see them jumping a tier if they beat Philly in a few weeks. The Chargers may be at that point in the season where everyone falls in love with them if they win this week, which would be a nice win against Detroit. But until they do, they don’t look to be at the level of the top teams in the AFC. The Seahawks were humbled this week. I still like this team though. The Saints look like the best team in their division, but that’s not saying much. Much like the Browns, the Jets defense makes them a threat. Unlike the Browns, their offense is not competent. The Steelers are a poor man’s Browns in my eyes, as their defense is very good, but not elite, and their awesome borders on competency. The Texans are officially a playoff contender. I really like this team, but it still may be a year too early for them. And the Vikings with Josh Dobbs stay relevant. They’ve really turned their season around.
The Commies got a nice win this week. But they traded away arguably their two best players, so they’re not a contender. Tough loss for the Buccaneers this week. It was a nice start for their season but they won’t be contending for the playoffs. What a disaster by the Falcons. They might sneak into the playoff contender level, but it’s not looking likely. The Packers beat up on a Matthew Stafford-less Rams team, which doesn’t say much, but they’re both hanging around at least. The Colts somehow have stayed relevant. The Raiders with Anthony Pierce leading the charge seem like they’ll play some meaningful games for a few more weeks at least. Tough loss by the Titans, but Will Levis has injected some life into their offense at least.
The Broncos, Bears, Patriots, Giants, Panthers and Cardinals are all very bad. I’d be shocked if these 6 teams weren’t all in the top 10 in next year’s draft, and likely will all be in the top 7.
