Week Eight Power Rankings

Week Eight was incredibly exciting to be a RedZone subscriber. Scott Hanson was in his bag with the touchdowns and wild goose chases consecutive to the strip sacks and punt-return TDs.  

We are into the middle part of the season, which is bittersweet. We are that much closer to the playoffs, but also that much close to it all being over. Here is where we stand:

Out of Rankings: Minnesota Vikings

Honorable Mentions: Denver Broncos & Los Angeles Rams

10. Washington Commanders & Chicago Bears (Previous ranking: 10 & 9)

Let’s call it “The Hail Mary Exception”. Yes, I know this looks like a copout, but Noah Brown cherry-picking a touchdown on the final play doesn’t change my opinion on either one of these teams that much. Washington jumped out to a lead with Jayden Daniels’ leading the consistency, but Caleb Williams and the Bears stormed back and took the lead with less than 30 seconds on the clock and an offensive lineman’s fumble putting the comeback in danger. I have been accused of keeping the Chicago Bears as a darling, but it’s hard not to feel bad for them (except Tyrique Stevenson) after losing the way they did. Now, let's stop acting like there is a perfect science to a Hail Mary.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (Previous ranking: NR)

Once upon a time, I predicted that Nick Sirianni would be the first coach fired this season. Robert Saleh proved me wrong, but Sirianni and the Eagles are as well. Don't look now, but the Eagles are just a half game back from the Commanders in the NFC East. Saquon Barkley has added consistency in this offense, something they lacked in 2023. With Barkley as the City of Brotherly Love's security blanket, Jalen Hurts was freed up to torture an unforgivable Cincy defense. The Eagles' job for the rest of the season is to keep riding Saquon and ignore Nick (when necessary).

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (Previous ranking: NR)

The Pittsburgh Steelers know how to bore even the staunchest of football fans. The most exciting part of Monday night was the punt return, which was entertaining, but it came in the third quarter vs. the Giants. They have five wins, though, which is decently impressive in a seven-game season. The Steelers’ dull success is all about placement. With the Ravens losing to the Browns, Pittsburgh has kept pace for the division title. Najee Harris is finally living up to expectations and has helped the switch to Russell Wilson. With the rest of the AFC beating up on each other, the Steelers can put themselves in great playoff positioning if this holds.

7. San Francisco 49ers (Previous ranking: 7)

The 49ers are not as good as they were last year. Right now, they are better than the Dallas Cowboys and that’s only because they played and SanFran won. They don’t have as much juice as they did a season ago, and that’s obviously because of the injuries. San Francisco has flat out dominated the matchup against the fully healthy Cowboys over the last few years, regular season and playoffs. Sunday night looked closer because of a “garbage time” touchdown, but it was scored with around two minutes to go. Dallas got the ball back and couldn’t score, but San Francisco has squandered nearly every fourth quarter lead this year and it was that close on Sunday.

6. Houston Texans (Previous ranking: 8)

The Texans were beneficiaries of the Anthony Richardson roller coaster. Sometimes, Richardson launches a missile from the weapon of mass destruction attached to his right shoulder. Other times, the pigskin skates across the dirt. And even occasionally, he’s out hurt for longer than the Colts can afford for Joe Flacco not to impress football nerds. Houston sleepwalks through their division which isn’t something they can do at will quite yet, especially when they get into tougher situations against teams outside the South.

5. Baltimore Ravens (Previous ranking: 3)

The Ravens started the week as double-digit favorites over the Cleveland Browns, which should be a strict no-no for all AFC North matchups. There should be a study done into teams that fire their coach or lose their quarterback for the year and their inevitably improved performance the next week (it’s honestly odd). The Ravens’ hot streak and the Browns’ experience of that phenomena crossed this week. That doesn’t inherently make Baltimore a worse team, but it does concentrate their issues. Their defense is a problem. The Mike MacDonald departure has clearly hurt this team and Zach Orr must figure it out soon especially because of how elite their quarterback is playing.

4. Green Bay Packers (Previous ranking: 6)

The Packers will be every “over” bettor’s favorite team. So far, they have blown teams out or bring the fight all the way down to the end with a 27-27 score like they did with Jacksonville. Green Bay is ascending at the perfect time with the close win as Minnesota falls in the midseason. Jordan Love’s on-and-off injuries will be the cornerstone of the success for this team. The defense under Jeff Hafley has improved with better performances at all levels and Matt Lafleur has cemented himself as one of the top coaches in the NFC, but their quarterback’s overall consistency remains the lynch pin in Title Town.

3. Buffalo Bills (Previous ranking: 4)

Josh Allen throwing his first interception of the season generally occurs milliseconds into the first game, but the good news about 2024 is that it came in the eighth game. The emergence of James Cook in Buffalo’s backfield has changed the identity of what they are doing with Joe Brady as offensive coordinator. The defense had a tough task with Geno Smith and the capabilities of that particular offense, but stood tall when the opportunity presented itself. Buffalo will probably dominate the typically dysfunctional AFC East with their true test waiting in January.

2. Detroit Lions (Previous ranking: 2)

Carrington Harrison, Kansas City radio host, tweeted that the NFC goes through Detroit after the Lions took a lead over the Tennessee Titans in the third quarter. That would seem a bit preemptive unless you counted the fact that the Lions went up 41-14 and would take a 52-14 win in a matter of 15 football minutes. The Lions’ rushing attack has taken its video game nickname of Sonic and Knuckles to heart. Ben Johnson’s delay on accepting a head coaching job once seemed like he was missing his window instead he’s continued to widen it. The Detroit physicality wears on teams via the curse of Jared Goff (or Penei Sewell and company).

1. Kansas City Chiefs (Previous ranking: 1)

The Chiefs’ setting atop the Power Rankings was never in danger even from the outset. Whether it’s the lore of the red and yellow flag being buried under Allegiant Stadium or the revenge in their hearts from the Christmas Day loss last year, the Chiefs were heavy favorites for a reason. Despite another peculiar Patrick pick, the Chiefs defense held strong with every odd stacked against them. Per last week’s article, the hard part is behind the Chiefs and plenty of games can and will turn out the same way they did against the Raiders.

Biggest Movers: Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans (rose 2 spots) & Baltimore Ravens (fell 2 spots)

New Appearances: Pittsburgh Steelers