NFL Power Rankings: Week 11
Oh boy. After months of little movement at the top, this week shuffled things around a lot. The Chiefs have now claimed the top spot in the rankings as both the Eagles and Bills took Ls this week. Both of these teams have not looked great in recent weeks, but I have no doubt they’ll turn things around. The surprise is how good the Vikings have looked as they continue to win. At this point, it would be disrespectful to not include them in this tier.
The Dolphins continue to roll and are very close to jumping into that Elite tier. Their offense may be the best in the league. The 49ers managed to escape with a win, despite a lesser effort. I know I’m higher on this team than most, but I still view them as one of the top threats in the NFC with this versatility on offense and speed and physicality on defense. The Ravens and Bengals both had byes to heal up, and with the Bills sliding down, both of these teams seem to pose real threats in the AFC. And the Cowboys did not look good this week. I’ve said all season I didn’t really believe in them, despite their defense being very good. I have no confidence in Dak or their offense.
The Jets have a huge opportunity out of the bye in New England to prove them beating the Bills wasn’t a fluke. This game is huge for the realness of what the Jets have done so far this season. You can’t get swept by the worst team in your division. The Seahawks were brought back down to life a bit by the Buccaneers in Germany. Tampa has the luxury of playing in an awful division where they have this time to figure things out and simply get healthy since they’re essentially guaranteed a home playoff game. The Giants continue to win without looking particularly impressive. But 7–2 is 7–2. The same can be said about the Titans at 6–3 without looking all that dominant. But winning is winning.
The Chargers are relevant. That’s about it. The Commanders continue to prove the best thing that happened to them was Wentz going down. They’re playing inspired football with Heinicke behind center. And they’re about to get Chase Young back. Watch out for them. Good win by the Packers to steady the ship. I don’t think they fixed all of their problems, but it was a solid win to regain them relevancy. Bad loss for the Bears, but Justin Fields is electric. That alone keeps them relevant. And out of the bye, the Patriots find themselves as a playoff team (if the season ended today). I still think they stink, but their record says otherwise.
Watch out for these Lions who all of a sudden have won back to back games, bringing their record closer to their talent level. A win this week would really make things interesting for them. Colt McCoy got his seemingly annual win for the Cardinals, but don’t be fooled, they still stink. So do the Broncos. This team has one of the best defenses in the league, but my god, they can not score points. Losses by the Jaguars and Falcons keep them in this tier. And a win by the Colts and new head coach Jeff Saturday bumps them into this tier. Somehow this Colts team sits at 4–5–1 and, with a couple more wins, could get them back in the hunt. That’s wild.
The Rams are toast. They already were, but the Cooper Kupp injury confirmed it. They may wind up with a top 5 pick, that they don’t even have. Nice win by the Steelers over the Saints. I could see TJ Watt’s return propelling this Pittsburgh team out of this bottom tier. I can’t really see the Saints moving up much. The Browns could certainly move out of this tier when Deshaun Watson is activated in a couple weeks, but the season is long over. Nice bounceback win by the Panthers, who have actually played really well since the CMC trade. The 2022 Raiders are arguably the most disappointing team in recent memory, based on many’s preseason expectations of them and where they are. And the Texans are just talentless.
