November 4, 2025 • 24 mins
Coming up on the Power Rankings Podcast, Mike Yam and Eric Edholm deliver the latest power rankings leading into NFL Week 10!
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm not just saying this for show purposes.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I mean this.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
This is one of my favorite shows of the year
to do. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. It is presented
by Energizer. We got the trade deadline, we got some
trades to talk about, and of course, my professor Eric
at home, he's got a new number one and a
free fall for one team that was sitting in the
top four of the rankings a week ago. That's now
no longer inside the top eight teams. And with that,
(00:37):
let's get right to the numbers one through eight.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Here are your teams.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yes, Seattle sit at the top. They move five spots,
as do the Rams sitting at number two. By the way,
Seahawks active. We'll get to that in just a moment.
The Colts also an active team at the treadline. More
details on that in just a moment. They drop a spot.
They sit at seven and two, the Bills also moving
up five spots at four, the Eagles at five, the
Chiefs at six, the Detroit Lions falling six spots. They
(01:04):
fit in the seventh position, and sending idle from last
week at eight.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
It's time for power moves, and it's presented by Energizer.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
This is a significant move.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I think there was a part of you that thought,
let's put Seattle on this top spot, but they needed
to show some things.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
They did that and they were active. Rashid Shahi. They
acquire him from New Orleans Saints for a fourth and
fifth round pick.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To me, the offense looked absolutely spectacular on Sunday Night Football.
A piece like this Eric like, I'm almost thinking like
they got some staying power in this top spot.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Absolutely. I will say I will preface this entire thing
by saying, look, it's it's kind of power rankings roulette.
At this point, we've had multiple teams in the top spot.
I'm prepared for the Seahawks to fall at some point.
But when you add another deep threat, you know they've
been running guys like Kobe White out there and Jake
Bobo in the past. Now they have a guy who's
a little bit more established, and when Cooper Cup comes back,
(02:00):
they're gonna have four legitimate receivers, plus those tight ends
and that run game to aid Sam Darnold out, so
I'm really excited to see what this addition will be.
There were multiple teams that seem to be in on Shaheed.
He offers a very specific field stretching skill that is
something that I wouldn't say that Seattle was missing. Obviously,
Jackson Smith and Jigbas can do a lot of damage.
But another dimension to this group that I think is
(02:23):
a pass first offense and then they run you to
death once they get a lead. And that's a dangerous
combination when you have the defense and the pass rush
that they do. So yeah, look again, anyone could fill
this top spot in the next few weeks, but right
now Seattle's looking pretty darn good.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
You know what's interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I always think about Seattle last couple of years as
a run first team, and then if you pay closer
attention to what's been transpiring over the last couple weeks,
and it was on full display on Sunday night. I mean,
there were moments in that first half where they started
to extend that lead. Eric I'm thinking to myself, they're
not going to take this to the air, And not
only did they take it to the air, like they're
scoring in bunches very very quickly. I got to imagine
(03:00):
this combination with Shahied now in an offense that's already
been rolling with that defense. Can I make an argument
they are one of the most balanced teams in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Absolutely. They have four games on offense with thirty one
or more points and they have all every single game
except one where they've allowed twenty or fewer. So you
know that element right there, the disparity that puts you away,
A quality that you know, the great Ravens teams had
when Mike McDonald was there, the Bills have had, the
Chiefs have had, other elite teams in the past several years.
(03:30):
They seem to have that quality right now. Still kind
of wishing they had that Bucks win. But look, I
mean I just look at the recent body work and
pretty darn impressive.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah. Look, I was pulling into the parking lot today
and all these news of trades were hitting my inbox.
The one to me that was starting to stand out
where I literally said, WHOA was what the Colts were
able to do they right now, they do have a
pretty good season. I know that they're coming off of
a loss. They sit three in the Power rankings Sauce Gardner.
(03:58):
So that's a splash move. Two first round picks made
me do a double take here when I was looking
at my inbox.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Here. How much better does Sauce Gardner make the Colts.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Well, they clearly believe he's going to make an impact
because nobody loves their draft picks more than Chris Baller, right,
he has treasured those picks in the pass hasn't been
a deadline dealer. I think Nahim Hines was maybe the
biggest name he's traded at the deadline. So to get
one of the premier corners in this league, even if
he comes with flaws. He's had one interception over the
last three seasons, none this year. You know, you have
(04:28):
to be a little bit scheme specific too, but boy,
I would say a defensive back with something they really needed. Now.
Pass rush has been pretty good. You know, they've been
getting after teams for the most part Sunday. The issue
against the Steelers on the offensive side of the ball.
That side has been more good than bad. Certainly this
season they've been one of the best offense in the league.
But if Sauce fits in and he ends up being
(04:50):
somewhat of a ball hawk, or at least getting his
hands on some of these passes and affecting the way
teams throw at the Colts. It might end up being terrific.
A couple weeks ago I campaign for Baller to make
the big move, but there was ever a year to
do it. This was it that price. We'll find out
later if it's worth it. You know, the question would
be are the Jets going to get a player equal
or better than Sauce with the picks they get Yet
(05:11):
to be determined. But for the Colts, they clearly see
this as a season where they can compete for a
Super Bowl title. Otherwise I don't think you'd make this
kind of move.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Totally agree there, You know, a couple of seasons ago,
I'm thinking of myself, look at these foundational pieces for
Gang Green, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We saw those moments in Hard Knocks with those two guys.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, iron sharpens iron was I think the phraser
Robert Sala had used there to me pretty significant. One
other note here on the Cults, I know they're coming
off that loss against the Steelers. We talked in pregame
on Sunday, like Hey, we're worried about this team's defense.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
They showed up in a big way with those six turnovers.
Was that a blip on.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
The radar what we saw from Indianapolis or costs for concern?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Well, you know, in the two losses, the one to
the Rams and then this one on Sunday, they had
nine turnovers. They only had one in the seven victories.
So you know, were those two games out of character
or is that the kind of performance that tends to
snowball when you have that first turnover, you know, that
strips back from what I think turn the game. The
Colts were kind of controlling the first twenty minutes or so,
(06:09):
and then all of a sudden that just sort of
steamrolled and Jones fell apart. So looked more like the
Giants version of Jones that imploded at times than the
Colts version, which has been pretty darn good. So hard
to say if it's in character or not. But now
we have two performances where you know, Jones has turned
the ball over and both of them just happened to
be losses. So we'll see what ends up happening. But
(06:30):
we know this Colts offense, for the most part, can
do work Sunday may have been a blip on the radar, though.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yeah, look, this Colts team gets an opportunity to sort
of reset.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Not here in the United States.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You think about these international games, the Colts taking center
stage here heading to Berlin this week in a historic
early morning showdown with the Falcons. Sunday Morning Football you
don't want to miss at nine thirty am Eastern only
on NFL Network and streaming with NFL Plus. Subscription required
For NFL Plus, you can visit plus dot NFL dot
com for terms time for Team of the Week and
(07:04):
it is presented by Truest. A lot of eyeballs this
past weekend on what the Bills were going to do
against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they delivered. They looked
like the better football team, to the point where at
the end of the game, I'm like, how are the
Chiefs still having an opportunity to make this thing really interesting?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Late?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
How significant a win was this from a Buffalo perspective,
because the naysayers will tell you, like, not a big deal,
it's the regular season less wait till January.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Yeah, I mean, it's easy to blow it off given
that we've seen the regular season success of the Bills
against the Chiefs completely reversed in the playoffs, so I
think a lot of people are going to naturally associate
with that. But this is also a get right game
for the Bills. I know last week they dominated the Panthers,
a pretty good football team, but still I think it's
important for them to play well against the heavyweights and
(07:52):
show they can flex their offensive muscles. Running for one
hundred yards James Cook. Chiefs had an allowed one in
thirty five games counting the playoffs, So that's a big development.
The tight end Stauston Knox, Jackson Hawes, you know, Dalton King,
we're big producers in this game. They still might lack
that big play threat, but they can threaten the immediate
part of the field. And so that along with what
(08:12):
I thought was the best defensive showing considering the opponent,
Considering the time and place of the Bills season so far.
I mean, you know, Cole Bishop's been under fire. He
had a great game. Joey Bosa had a big sack
to start the fourth quarter. You know Maxwell harriston his
second NFL game, he makes a critical interception and a
knockdown at the end. So look, can they survive not
(08:34):
having at Oliver and Michael Hoyt. Those are two big injuries.
I don't know the answer, but what we saw was
a team capable of winning the Super Bowl on their
best day in the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah, I'm with you there.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
And this is a Kansas City Chiefs team that I
think a lot of people started to say, including myself,
and we talked about this on Power Rankings, a team
that was trending in the right direction and looked like
they had an opportunity, yeah, to stay claimed, maybe even
for the number one spot. I would have been curious
to see where you would have slotted case had they
beaten the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which clearly didn't happen. Meanwhile,
Detroit Lions, oh boy, dropping six spots here. I didn't
(09:09):
have this one on my Bengo card. If I'm being
totally honest. You match up against J. J. McCarthy, who's
got limited experience, even though we've been talking about him
for two years now. He finally gets healthy, he's out
on the football field, They go and they win this game.
Is this just like one of those years for Detroit
where the build up in our mind because it's been
going like this, this rocket ship that it's these losses
(09:30):
happen to good teams, Like, can I just story it
that way or should I be legitimately concerned?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah? I think do happen? Right? It's a divisional opponent.
Obviously one of the best receivers in football, justin Jefferson,
you know, is no slouch, and McCarthy was the first
round or for a reason, but we hadn't seen him
play great football yet. He had some things going. You know.
One of the things that's really worked well for Detroit
is getting the run game going early and then throwing
off of that. Opponents have picked up on that, and
(09:57):
that's where you see teams really trying to attack Jamiir
Gibbs Montgomery. Don't let those guys get going early. That
was the defensive game plan. A lot of pressure on
Jared Goff. He took hits, and then defensively some misplays
like this, just not being able to contain and keep
an agile quarterback in the pocket. So, you know, I
see some defensive issues, but I also see some offensive ones.
(10:18):
Just the protection of GoF alone is a big, big
concern right now. And yeah, they can still hit the
big place to Jamison Williams. But they're better when they're
running more consistently and getting those short and medium games,
so they're not finding themselves in the third and long
and having to throw the ball vertically every single time.
So there's been a little bit of a pushback from
(10:38):
teams and trying in terms of disrupting their offensive formula.
And look, I know we talk a lot about the
Detroit defense, but the interior of that Detroit offensive line
really worries me a little bit. And I wonder if
they're not trying to upgrade their football team down the
stretch if they can't.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know, we've gone through and we showed everyone the
top eight teams. You and I did the show last year.
You've been doing these power rankings for a minute here.
I don't remember it being like this last season, where
every week there's a real shuffle of teams, not only
from what we saw in the preseason, but like week
to week we got multiple number one teams, we got
some other teams that were sitting at the top and
all of a sudden dropping it is. It's creating some
(11:15):
drama on the show. And by the way, here for
it speaking of at least my team. That was the
preseason number one in my head, and it was not
looking good for a while. That's the Baltimore Ravens feels
like it might be going in the right direction. Where
does Eric have them in his rankings? The answers coming
up next?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Oh my goodness, he's done with a canker Baker makefield
night went on.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
The absolute too of his efforts.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
He's touchdown, Holy smoked.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
They cannot bring him down.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
You look at this one.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Oh my goodness. Halfway point of the season.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
We're already thinking about these mid season awards and who
could reign supreme.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
By the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I think generally speaking, Eric, your awards track with most people,
with Jonathan Taylor, Miles, Garrett Jackson, Dart of course for
offensive hookie years, says the Giants fan on the show,
shanees Hike, and also coaching the year. That makes sense.
Matthew Stafford, I kind of paused for just a moment.
Sell me on the Rams quarterback being your MVP.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Well, you know, there may be some sentiment to go
away from the usual suspects. You know, obviously Lamar Jackson
has been injured. Mahomes and Allen have had their ups
and downs, mostly good but some bad. And I just thought,
let's reward the guy who Look, maybe this is his
final season and he's got a twenty one to two
td'd interception ratio right now, that's not bad. When you
have a first place team or a team very very
(12:52):
close to the top of the rankings, there, you're gonna
get some attention. They have a tough schedule down the stretch,
no doubt, but with the Kua and Adams and those
tight ends and all the weapons and Sean McVay at
his disposal, I think he's got a great chance to
have one of his best statistical seasons ever. So, you know,
was he a little bit of a longer shot maybe,
but you know, I think he's right in the mix
at this point.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Yeah. I like to pick just from this sense too.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
You think about this division probably the best in the NFL.
I think at least I would make that argument. So
I like where your head's at. You don't have to
go chalk all the time. Let's get to the rest
of your rankings. Eric Teams nine through sixteen. The Broncos,
My god, they are a really good football team sitting
at nine.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I think by the end of the season we're talking
about them. It's the top five squad.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The Green Bay Packers at ten, and the Patriots at eleven.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
San Francisco moves up a spot to twelve.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
The Steelers, to get a nice win against the Colts,
only move up one spot though, sitting at thirteen.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's the Chargers at fourteen.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The Jags, who just got Jakobe Myers ahead of this
trade deadline, from the Raiders at fifteen, and it is
the Baltimore Ravens, who we'll talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
In just a moment at sixteen.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
The Packers biggest drop, well tied for the biggest drop
that we've seen in this rankings. They move four spots.
Excuse me, dropped six spots. Yeah, I could do the
math carry the one. They dropped six spots here. I'm
actually worried about this team, and hear me out here.
I think they're really good, but it's I feel like
they're sometimes playing sometimes down to the competition. They have
(14:16):
these moments in games where like this is not supposed
to happen to this team.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
What am I missing here?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, it seems like they kind of toy around with
teams a little bit, and then they've been able to
take over some games late, but not every single time.
And to me, that lost Sunday in which they had
so many empty drives and had trouble at time stopping
Rico Daddle. In the Panthers offense not very not terribly,
but still just enough to worry you. Lack of a
consistent run game. It's been decent in spots, but really
(14:44):
not all that great. That and the loss of Tucker
Kraft you see him going down right there, major injury
this season. Really had been their most efficient, most dangerous
pass catcher. I know Christian Watson's back, I know they
have high hopes for Matthew Golden, but he adds a
different dimension of this offense and he bails them out
of a lot of tough spots. So that one really
really worries me. And you can't have Jordan Love throwing
(15:06):
up interceptions to the other team. And also a questionable
decision by Matt Laflorida go for it on fourth and
eight from the thirteen with eleven minutes left. Down a touchdown,
you know they lose by a field goal. He didn't
kick the field goal. So that all adds up to
an upset and like you said, bad game and bad
result because of the Tucker Craft injury that you know,
may change their season dramatically.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, I do like Luke musk Ray, by the way,
who's on this roster at the tight end spot. I'm
not saying that he can completely fill that void of
Tucker Craft. Our colleague Steve Whitch says he's the best
tight ends in the NFL. So that's obviously a huge loss.
You know, they got a ginormous game Monday Night football.
They will face the Philadelphia Eagles. Something tells me maybe
they just the way the season's gone on.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Philly is a really good team.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Maybe they just play up to him and try to
make a mark here on Monday Night the forty nine ers,
they will move up one spot in the rankings.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
They sit twelve here. You know what's kind of crazy
to me.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I've been back and forth and mostly off the mac Jones, like, hey,
this is Brock's job. He's generally speaking, done a pretty
nice job here. Christian McCaffrey's accomplished. Like I still think
we're talking, you know, I haa Jonathan Taylor Offensive Player
of the Year.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I think by the end of the season seem he's
going to be in that mix too.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Yeah. I mean, McCaffrey's been absolutely terrific and you know
you've seen his his game really kind of helped fuel
this offense. But the mac Jones discussion is interesting. You
heard Kyle Shanahan say the other day he didn't think
brock Perty's tow would get any better throughout the course
of the season. Well, I guess the question is, you know,
why hasn't he started? Do they like mac Jones better?
(16:35):
I mean things have kind of run pretty efficiently, and
I'm not saying Jones is definitely the better quarterback, but
we know how Kyle's been in the past. You know,
he has he gets somebody else in there, likes what
he sees and ends up kind of changing course a
little bit. So we'll see big picture, we don't know
the answer, but right now, there's still a tough team.
Last week you heard Kyle kind of complain about his
team getting kicked around a little. This week they did
(16:57):
the kicking. They were more efficient and more i would
say dominant in the trenches. You saw them run the
football against the Giants defense trouble stopping it lately, So
you know, once they start getting some of these guys back,
maybe they're even more prolific, even though we don't really
have a lot of clarity on the injury front with them,
and they keep suffering big ones like Mike Keil Williams
out for the year, So I'm bivolent about him. I
(17:18):
love their their their potential, and their schedules very friendly,
but still kind of holding back just a little bit
on them.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
You know what worries me here if brock Perty, let's say,
maybe he doesn't play this week obviously against the Rams.
What my understanding is like the turf till obviously is
very painful, and if it gets worse, there's the potential
for surgery.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So they're being really cautious with him.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah, but at what point, like in the season, if
he comes back, like there's a Russ factor that's evolved,
you know, like they're staying afloat here and Max playing well.
Chris McCaffrey got like about I think just a smidge
over fifty percent. It was part of basically fifty percent
of their offense against the Giants.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I just kind of keep that in mind. I think
that's going to be.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
One of the more interesting storylines that we'll be tracking
here on power rankings.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
The Steelers at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I do want to focus attention here because there is
real concern about this team's defense, allocating more cash than
any other team to that unit in the NFL, and
they have really underachieved.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
They come up huge against the Colts.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Do we say, you know what, let's pump the brakes
on the talk about the Ravens, which we will talk
about in just a moment here, this is still the
Steelers division to win here.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Well, they saw the Ravens win Thursday, they knew how
important this game was. A dangerous, high flying Colts offense
comes into town, and they really did hold him in check.
You know, early on kind of took a little time
to get their feet underneath them, but who else TJ
Watt after a disappointing season, came through with a big turnover,
and you saw the same kind of production we've seen
recently from the offense, which has been good, not great,
(18:42):
but good. And so I think it was really that,
like you said, the defensive footprint they put on this
game after some bad outings, some outings in which really
made me question the credentials of this team on that
side of the ball, despite all the money and all
the salaries they have on some really good football players,
they looked more cohesive. The rush was there. You know.
They got some contributions like Peyton Willis and Jack Sawyer.
(19:06):
Those are important too, and the stars stepped up as well.
So a big performance, but still only one game. You
still want to see a little bit a bigger body
of work.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I want to stick with this division right now, time
for future champions and it is presented by FanDuel. Let's
stick a closer look at the odds to win this
AFC North's division.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You got the.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Ravens right now, Yes, the Ravens who are the favorite
according to FanDuel at minus one forty plus one forty,
it's the Steelers, the Bengals sitting at plus seventeen hundred
and at plus six thousand, the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
This is a Ravens team.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
There are all of a sudden, they're three and five,
starting to get healthy. Can I make the claim that
they're going to win this division because I did it
two weeks ago. I still think they got a great
opportunity here and now there's signs of life of this
team's offense, and they're getting healthier on the defensive side too.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
That went over Chicago with the backup quarterback was so important, right,
If they don't get that, they're one and six, they're
in big trouble, I think. But to get that and
then to come back Thursday with Lamar's return, try return
looking good, especially in the second half, to me, that
just completely changes the trajectory of the season. So, you know,
so important to see Lamar being able to move around
(20:14):
make plays. B Lamar be the same guy we've gotten
to know over the last eight years. But still, you know,
the defense has really made strides too, if you can
imagine them making continue to make incremental improvements on that side.
Special teams have been a net positive this year after
a couple of shaky seasons on that side of the ball.
So the formal is there.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
We knew it.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
They were a favorite to start the season for a reason.
Things didn't go according to plan. But that play may
be re emerging now in a different form. And yeah again,
I mean I like the Steelers. I think they've played
really good football for the most part this year. But
the Ravens are dangerous and I just think they can
hit a different volume notch than what Pittsburgh has shown
to this point. I'm not saying they're guaranteed, but like you,
(20:53):
I'm kind of training in that direction.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I'm looking at some of these percentages here and
an opportunity to make the postseason when you're sitting, you know,
at two and six not favorable in fact, just one
point four percent of those teams that have gotten there.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Once again, that was.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
A critical win that they scored the other week against Chicago.
Now they got an opportunity to make this surge and
they still have games remitting, obviously against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
who we just talked about.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
This is a Vikings team that we do need to discuss.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Because JJ McCarthy is out on the football field getting
one of the best wins of the weekend. I know
we talked about some of the concerns we have against
the Lions. Let's go positive here on the Vikings. Where
do they sit on the power rankings? The answer to
that is covered up next. Hey back here on power rankings,
(21:44):
it's team seventeen through twenty four, the Chicago Bears, Sydney
neutral at seventeen, the Houston Texans, they fall a couple
spots to eighteen Carolina.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
We're gonna love them up in just a moment here.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
The Vikings also moving up three spots to twenty The Falcons,
who will see in Berlin against the Colts at twenty one.
The Arizona Cardinals. How about Kobe Prisett. I actually think
there's a conversation about who should be playing quarterback moving forward?
The Dallas Cowboys at twenty three and the Commanders. No
Jaden Daniels that dissipated elbow falling six spots. That is
not good to twenty four The Panthers. Can we just
(22:17):
sit back and just go you know what, this team
deserves credit because when they start fighting and you know
they're winning some close games, they're losing some close games,
they're like, all right, Like it's just the Panthers. This
is significant. Like you could look at what they did
against the Packers Eric and in my mind say this
is the turning point of like maybe even this franchise
moiling forward.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Yeah. I think this has been a fascinating season. We've
really seen Dave Kanaalis show his ability as a head coach.
They've suffered a couple of big losses, Bills and Patriots
took care of him. They've also inflicted some big wins too,
with the thirty nothing shut out over the Falcons. It's
been hard to figure out what this team is, but
game to game, week to week, they come up with
a game plan that you know is usually the right
(22:58):
plan of attack, and it certainly was Sunday, featuring the game,
the ground game against the Packers, slowing down that pass
rush and making life easier for Bryce Young. So five
and four good for them. I mean, look, this thing
a year ago looked at this point looked very far
from a turnaround. So they're getting closer with each game.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Rico Daddle, let's flex man.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
I mean, this dude has been oh absolute monster, especially
for fantasy owners as well. The Vikings. They move up
three spots here did JJ McCarthy. I'm gonna maybe this
is overstating it. Is this too dramatic? He saved their season?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
He certainly it was a big game for him, right, Mike.
I mean the fact that he had missed more time
than expected, had been out with injury, had to come
back with or pass protection that a lot of people,
including myself, were wondering, is it a good idea to
bring him back, right, I mean, trusting your protection. But
he did great work outside the pocket, getting away from
the rush, throwing on the run, back against his body,
(23:50):
making plays. It wasn't perfect. They didn't trust him to
throw the ball all the time, but to me, Kevin
O'Connell asking him to make that late third down throw
to jail and Naylor was very important too. I trust
my quarterback, That's what that play call said to me.
And he made some big throws and the defense, Brian
Flores I thought, had a big game too when their
unit was questioned. So huge game for the Vikings. Absolutely
(24:11):
put them back on the right track, even if they
got a lot of work to do.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The rest of the rankings twenty five through thirty two,
Cincinnati sending me at twenty five.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
They just traded Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys. Keep
that in mind.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
The Giants at twenty six, the Raiders at twenty seven,
Jakobe Myers on his way to Jacksonville, the Cleveland Browns
at twenty eighth, the Miami Dolphins at twenty nine, the
Jets trading away Sauce Gardener.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
We talked about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Earlier at thirty, and then rounding it out the Saints
and the Titans.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Eric, you're the best.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I know.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
It's been busy for you.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
For complete update on all the trades, just check out
NFL dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm not just saying this for show purposes.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I mean this.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
This is one of my favorite shows of the year
to do. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. It is presented
by Energizer. We got the trade deadline, we got some
trades to talk about, and of course, my professor Eric
at home, he's got a new number one and a
free fall for one team that was sitting in the
top four of the rankings a week ago. That's now
no longer inside the top eight teams. And with that,
(00:37):
let's get right to the numbers one through eight.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Here are your teams.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yes, Seattle sit at the top. They move five spots,
as do the Rams sitting at number two. By the way,
Seahawks active. We'll get to that in just a moment.
The Colts also an active team at the treadline. More
details on that in just a moment. They drop a spot.
They sit at seven and two, the Bills also moving
up five spots at four, the Eagles at five, the
Chiefs at six, the Detroit Lions falling six spots. They
(01:04):
fit in the seventh position, and sending idle from last
week at eight.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
It's time for power moves, and it's presented by Energizer.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
This is a significant move.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I think there was a part of you that thought,
let's put Seattle on this top spot, but they needed
to show some things.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
They did that and they were active. Rashid Shahi. They
acquire him from New Orleans Saints for a fourth and
fifth round pick.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To me, the offense looked absolutely spectacular on Sunday Night Football.
A piece like this Eric like, I'm almost thinking like
they got some staying power in this top spot.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Absolutely. I will say I will preface this entire thing
by saying, look, it's it's kind of power rankings roulette.
At this point, we've had multiple teams in the top spot.
I'm prepared for the Seahawks to fall at some point.
But when you add another deep threat, you know they've
been running guys like Kobe White out there and Jake
Bobo in the past. Now they have a guy who's
a little bit more established, and when Cooper Cup comes back,
(02:00):
they're gonna have four legitimate receivers, plus those tight ends
and that run game to aid Sam Darnold out, so
I'm really excited to see what this addition will be.
There were multiple teams that seem to be in on Shaheed.
He offers a very specific field stretching skill that is
something that I wouldn't say that Seattle was missing. Obviously,
Jackson Smith and Jigbas can do a lot of damage.
But another dimension to this group that I think is
(02:23):
a pass first offense and then they run you to
death once they get a lead. And that's a dangerous
combination when you have the defense and the pass rush
that they do. So yeah, look again, anyone could fill
this top spot in the next few weeks, but right
now Seattle's looking pretty darn good.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
You know what's interesting.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I always think about Seattle last couple of years as
a run first team, and then if you pay closer
attention to what's been transpiring over the last couple weeks,
and it was on full display on Sunday night. I mean,
there were moments in that first half where they started
to extend that lead. Eric I'm thinking to myself, they're
not going to take this to the air, And not
only did they take it to the air, like they're
scoring in bunches very very quickly. I got to imagine
(03:00):
this combination with Shahied now in an offense that's already
been rolling with that defense. Can I make an argument
they are one of the most balanced teams in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Absolutely. They have four games on offense with thirty one
or more points and they have all every single game
except one where they've allowed twenty or fewer. So you
know that element right there, the disparity that puts you away,
A quality that you know, the great Ravens teams had
when Mike McDonald was there, the Bills have had, the
Chiefs have had, other elite teams in the past several years.
(03:30):
They seem to have that quality right now. Still kind
of wishing they had that Bucks win. But look, I
mean I just look at the recent body work and
pretty darn impressive.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah. Look, I was pulling into the parking lot today
and all these news of trades were hitting my inbox.
The one to me that was starting to stand out
where I literally said, WHOA was what the Colts were
able to do they right now, they do have a
pretty good season. I know that they're coming off of
a loss. They sit three in the Power rankings Sauce Gardner.
(03:58):
So that's a splash move. Two first round picks made
me do a double take here when I was looking
at my inbox.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Here. How much better does Sauce Gardner make the Colts.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Well, they clearly believe he's going to make an impact
because nobody loves their draft picks more than Chris Baller, right,
he has treasured those picks in the pass hasn't been
a deadline dealer. I think Nahim Hines was maybe the
biggest name he's traded at the deadline. So to get
one of the premier corners in this league, even if
he comes with flaws. He's had one interception over the
last three seasons, none this year. You know, you have
(04:28):
to be a little bit scheme specific too, but boy,
I would say a defensive back with something they really needed. Now.
Pass rush has been pretty good. You know, they've been
getting after teams for the most part Sunday. The issue
against the Steelers on the offensive side of the ball.
That side has been more good than bad. Certainly this
season they've been one of the best offense in the league.
But if Sauce fits in and he ends up being
(04:50):
somewhat of a ball hawk, or at least getting his
hands on some of these passes and affecting the way
teams throw at the Colts. It might end up being terrific.
A couple weeks ago I campaign for Baller to make
the big move, but there was ever a year to
do it. This was it that price. We'll find out
later if it's worth it. You know, the question would
be are the Jets going to get a player equal
or better than Sauce with the picks they get Yet
(05:11):
to be determined. But for the Colts, they clearly see
this as a season where they can compete for a
Super Bowl title. Otherwise I don't think you'd make this
kind of move.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Totally agree there, You know, a couple of seasons ago,
I'm thinking of myself, look at these foundational pieces for
Gang Green, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We saw those moments in Hard Knocks with those two guys.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, iron sharpens iron was I think the phraser
Robert Sala had used there to me pretty significant. One
other note here on the Cults, I know they're coming
off that loss against the Steelers. We talked in pregame
on Sunday, like Hey, we're worried about this team's defense.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
They showed up in a big way with those six turnovers.
Was that a blip on.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
The radar what we saw from Indianapolis or costs for concern?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Well, you know, in the two losses, the one to
the Rams and then this one on Sunday, they had
nine turnovers. They only had one in the seven victories.
So you know, were those two games out of character
or is that the kind of performance that tends to
snowball when you have that first turnover, you know, that
strips back from what I think turn the game. The
Colts were kind of controlling the first twenty minutes or so,
(06:09):
and then all of a sudden that just sort of
steamrolled and Jones fell apart. So looked more like the
Giants version of Jones that imploded at times than the
Colts version, which has been pretty darn good. So hard
to say if it's in character or not. But now
we have two performances where you know, Jones has turned
the ball over and both of them just happened to
be losses. So we'll see what ends up happening. But
(06:30):
we know this Colts offense, for the most part, can
do work Sunday may have been a blip on the radar, though.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yeah, look, this Colts team gets an opportunity to sort
of reset.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Not here in the United States.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
You think about these international games, the Colts taking center
stage here heading to Berlin this week in a historic
early morning showdown with the Falcons. Sunday Morning Football you
don't want to miss at nine thirty am Eastern only
on NFL Network and streaming with NFL Plus. Subscription required
For NFL Plus, you can visit plus dot NFL dot
com for terms time for Team of the Week and
(07:04):
it is presented by Truest. A lot of eyeballs this
past weekend on what the Bills were going to do
against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they delivered. They looked
like the better football team, to the point where at
the end of the game, I'm like, how are the
Chiefs still having an opportunity to make this thing really interesting?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Late?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
How significant a win was this from a Buffalo perspective,
because the naysayers will tell you, like, not a big deal,
it's the regular season less wait till January.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Yeah, I mean, it's easy to blow it off given
that we've seen the regular season success of the Bills
against the Chiefs completely reversed in the playoffs, so I
think a lot of people are going to naturally associate
with that. But this is also a get right game
for the Bills. I know last week they dominated the Panthers,
a pretty good football team, but still I think it's
important for them to play well against the heavyweights and
(07:52):
show they can flex their offensive muscles. Running for one
hundred yards James Cook. Chiefs had an allowed one in
thirty five games counting the playoffs, So that's a big development.
The tight end Stauston Knox, Jackson Hawes, you know, Dalton King,
we're big producers in this game. They still might lack
that big play threat, but they can threaten the immediate
part of the field. And so that along with what
(08:12):
I thought was the best defensive showing considering the opponent,
Considering the time and place of the Bills season so far.
I mean, you know, Cole Bishop's been under fire. He
had a great game. Joey Bosa had a big sack
to start the fourth quarter. You know Maxwell harriston his
second NFL game, he makes a critical interception and a
knockdown at the end. So look, can they survive not
(08:34):
having at Oliver and Michael Hoyt. Those are two big injuries.
I don't know the answer, but what we saw was
a team capable of winning the Super Bowl on their
best day in the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah, I'm with you there.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
And this is a Kansas City Chiefs team that I
think a lot of people started to say, including myself,
and we talked about this on Power Rankings, a team
that was trending in the right direction and looked like
they had an opportunity, yeah, to stay claimed, maybe even
for the number one spot. I would have been curious
to see where you would have slotted case had they
beaten the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which clearly didn't happen. Meanwhile,
Detroit Lions, oh boy, dropping six spots here. I didn't
(09:09):
have this one on my Bengo card. If I'm being
totally honest. You match up against J. J. McCarthy, who's
got limited experience, even though we've been talking about him
for two years now. He finally gets healthy, he's out
on the football field, They go and they win this game.
Is this just like one of those years for Detroit
where the build up in our mind because it's been
going like this, this rocket ship that it's these losses
(09:30):
happen to good teams, Like, can I just story it
that way or should I be legitimately concerned?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah? I think do happen? Right? It's a divisional opponent.
Obviously one of the best receivers in football, justin Jefferson,
you know, is no slouch, and McCarthy was the first
round or for a reason, but we hadn't seen him
play great football yet. He had some things going. You know.
One of the things that's really worked well for Detroit
is getting the run game going early and then throwing
off of that. Opponents have picked up on that, and
(09:57):
that's where you see teams really trying to attack Jamiir
Gibbs Montgomery. Don't let those guys get going early. That
was the defensive game plan. A lot of pressure on
Jared Goff. He took hits, and then defensively some misplays
like this, just not being able to contain and keep
an agile quarterback in the pocket. So, you know, I
see some defensive issues, but I also see some offensive ones.
(10:18):
Just the protection of GoF alone is a big, big
concern right now. And yeah, they can still hit the
big place to Jamison Williams. But they're better when they're
running more consistently and getting those short and medium games,
so they're not finding themselves in the third and long
and having to throw the ball vertically every single time.
So there's been a little bit of a pushback from
(10:38):
teams and trying in terms of disrupting their offensive formula.
And look, I know we talk a lot about the
Detroit defense, but the interior of that Detroit offensive line
really worries me a little bit. And I wonder if
they're not trying to upgrade their football team down the
stretch if they can't.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You know, we've gone through and we showed everyone the
top eight teams. You and I did the show last year.
You've been doing these power rankings for a minute here.
I don't remember it being like this last season, where
every week there's a real shuffle of teams, not only
from what we saw in the preseason, but like week
to week we got multiple number one teams, we got
some other teams that were sitting at the top and
all of a sudden dropping it is. It's creating some
(11:15):
drama on the show. And by the way, here for
it speaking of at least my team. That was the
preseason number one in my head, and it was not
looking good for a while. That's the Baltimore Ravens feels
like it might be going in the right direction. Where
does Eric have them in his rankings? The answers coming
up next?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Oh my goodness, he's done with a canker Baker makefield
night went on.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
The absolute too of his efforts.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
He's touchdown, Holy smoked.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
They cannot bring him down.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
You look at this one.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Oh my goodness. Halfway point of the season.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
We're already thinking about these mid season awards and who
could reign supreme.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
By the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I think generally speaking, Eric, your awards track with most people,
with Jonathan Taylor, Miles, Garrett Jackson, Dart of course for
offensive hookie years, says the Giants fan on the show,
shanees Hike, and also coaching the year. That makes sense.
Matthew Stafford, I kind of paused for just a moment.
Sell me on the Rams quarterback being your MVP.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Well, you know, there may be some sentiment to go
away from the usual suspects. You know, obviously Lamar Jackson
has been injured. Mahomes and Allen have had their ups
and downs, mostly good but some bad. And I just thought,
let's reward the guy who Look, maybe this is his
final season and he's got a twenty one to two
td'd interception ratio right now, that's not bad. When you
have a first place team or a team very very
(12:52):
close to the top of the rankings, there, you're gonna
get some attention. They have a tough schedule down the stretch,
no doubt, but with the Kua and Adams and those
tight ends and all the weapons and Sean McVay at
his disposal, I think he's got a great chance to
have one of his best statistical seasons ever. So, you know,
was he a little bit of a longer shot maybe,
but you know, I think he's right in the mix
at this point.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Yeah. I like to pick just from this sense too.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
You think about this division probably the best in the NFL.
I think at least I would make that argument. So
I like where your head's at. You don't have to
go chalk all the time. Let's get to the rest
of your rankings. Eric Teams nine through sixteen. The Broncos,
My god, they are a really good football team sitting
at nine.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I think by the end of the season we're talking
about them. It's the top five squad.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The Green Bay Packers at ten, and the Patriots at eleven.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
San Francisco moves up a spot to twelve.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
The Steelers, to get a nice win against the Colts,
only move up one spot though, sitting at thirteen.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's the Chargers at fourteen.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
The Jags, who just got Jakobe Myers ahead of this
trade deadline, from the Raiders at fifteen, and it is
the Baltimore Ravens, who we'll talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
In just a moment at sixteen.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
The Packers biggest drop, well tied for the biggest drop
that we've seen in this rankings. They move four spots.
Excuse me, dropped six spots. Yeah, I could do the
math carry the one. They dropped six spots here. I'm
actually worried about this team, and hear me out here.
I think they're really good, but it's I feel like
they're sometimes playing sometimes down to the competition. They have
(14:16):
these moments in games where like this is not supposed
to happen to this team.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
What am I missing here?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, it seems like they kind of toy around with
teams a little bit, and then they've been able to
take over some games late, but not every single time.
And to me, that lost Sunday in which they had
so many empty drives and had trouble at time stopping
Rico Daddle. In the Panthers offense not very not terribly,
but still just enough to worry you. Lack of a
consistent run game. It's been decent in spots, but really
(14:44):
not all that great. That and the loss of Tucker
Kraft you see him going down right there, major injury
this season. Really had been their most efficient, most dangerous
pass catcher. I know Christian Watson's back, I know they
have high hopes for Matthew Golden, but he adds a
different dimension of this offense and he bails them out
of a lot of tough spots. So that one really
really worries me. And you can't have Jordan Love throwing
(15:06):
up interceptions to the other team. And also a questionable
decision by Matt Laflorida go for it on fourth and
eight from the thirteen with eleven minutes left. Down a touchdown,
you know they lose by a field goal. He didn't
kick the field goal. So that all adds up to
an upset and like you said, bad game and bad
result because of the Tucker Craft injury that you know,
may change their season dramatically.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, I do like Luke musk Ray, by the way,
who's on this roster at the tight end spot. I'm
not saying that he can completely fill that void of
Tucker Craft. Our colleague Steve Whitch says he's the best
tight ends in the NFL. So that's obviously a huge loss.
You know, they got a ginormous game Monday Night football.
They will face the Philadelphia Eagles. Something tells me maybe
they just the way the season's gone on.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Philly is a really good team.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Maybe they just play up to him and try to
make a mark here on Monday Night the forty nine ers,
they will move up one spot in the rankings.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
They sit twelve here. You know what's kind of crazy
to me.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I've been back and forth and mostly off the mac Jones, like, hey,
this is Brock's job. He's generally speaking, done a pretty
nice job here. Christian McCaffrey's accomplished. Like I still think
we're talking, you know, I haa Jonathan Taylor Offensive Player
of the Year.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
I think by the end of the season seem he's
going to be in that mix too.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Yeah. I mean, McCaffrey's been absolutely terrific and you know
you've seen his his game really kind of helped fuel
this offense. But the mac Jones discussion is interesting. You
heard Kyle Shanahan say the other day he didn't think
brock Perty's tow would get any better throughout the course
of the season. Well, I guess the question is, you know,
why hasn't he started? Do they like mac Jones better?
(16:35):
I mean things have kind of run pretty efficiently, and
I'm not saying Jones is definitely the better quarterback, but
we know how Kyle's been in the past. You know,
he has he gets somebody else in there, likes what
he sees and ends up kind of changing course a
little bit. So we'll see big picture, we don't know
the answer, but right now, there's still a tough team.
Last week you heard Kyle kind of complain about his
team getting kicked around a little. This week they did
(16:57):
the kicking. They were more efficient and more i would
say dominant in the trenches. You saw them run the
football against the Giants defense trouble stopping it lately, So
you know, once they start getting some of these guys back,
maybe they're even more prolific, even though we don't really
have a lot of clarity on the injury front with them,
and they keep suffering big ones like Mike Keil Williams
out for the year, So I'm bivolent about him. I
(17:18):
love their their their potential, and their schedules very friendly,
but still kind of holding back just a little bit
on them.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
You know what worries me here if brock Perty, let's say,
maybe he doesn't play this week obviously against the Rams.
What my understanding is like the turf till obviously is
very painful, and if it gets worse, there's the potential
for surgery.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So they're being really cautious with him.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Yeah, but at what point, like in the season, if
he comes back, like there's a Russ factor that's evolved,
you know, like they're staying afloat here and Max playing well.
Chris McCaffrey got like about I think just a smidge
over fifty percent. It was part of basically fifty percent
of their offense against the Giants.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I just kind of keep that in mind. I think
that's going to be.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
One of the more interesting storylines that we'll be tracking
here on power rankings.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
The Steelers at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I do want to focus attention here because there is
real concern about this team's defense, allocating more cash than
any other team to that unit in the NFL, and
they have really underachieved.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
They come up huge against the Colts.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Do we say, you know what, let's pump the brakes
on the talk about the Ravens, which we will talk
about in just a moment here, this is still the
Steelers division to win here.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Well, they saw the Ravens win Thursday, they knew how
important this game was. A dangerous, high flying Colts offense
comes into town, and they really did hold him in check.
You know, early on kind of took a little time
to get their feet underneath them, but who else TJ
Watt after a disappointing season, came through with a big turnover,
and you saw the same kind of production we've seen
recently from the offense, which has been good, not great,
(18:42):
but good. And so I think it was really that,
like you said, the defensive footprint they put on this
game after some bad outings, some outings in which really
made me question the credentials of this team on that
side of the ball, despite all the money and all
the salaries they have on some really good football players,
they looked more cohesive. The rush was there. You know.
They got some contributions like Peyton Willis and Jack Sawyer.
(19:06):
Those are important too, and the stars stepped up as well.
So a big performance, but still only one game. You
still want to see a little bit a bigger body
of work.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I want to stick with this division right now, time
for future champions and it is presented by FanDuel. Let's
stick a closer look at the odds to win this
AFC North's division.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You got the.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Ravens right now, Yes, the Ravens who are the favorite
according to FanDuel at minus one forty plus one forty,
it's the Steelers, the Bengals sitting at plus seventeen hundred
and at plus six thousand, the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
This is a Ravens team.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
There are all of a sudden, they're three and five,
starting to get healthy. Can I make the claim that
they're going to win this division because I did it
two weeks ago. I still think they got a great
opportunity here and now there's signs of life of this
team's offense, and they're getting healthier on the defensive side too.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
That went over Chicago with the backup quarterback was so important, right,
If they don't get that, they're one and six, they're
in big trouble, I think. But to get that and
then to come back Thursday with Lamar's return, try return
looking good, especially in the second half, to me, that
just completely changes the trajectory of the season. So, you know,
so important to see Lamar being able to move around
(20:14):
make plays. B Lamar be the same guy we've gotten
to know over the last eight years. But still, you know,
the defense has really made strides too, if you can
imagine them making continue to make incremental improvements on that side.
Special teams have been a net positive this year after
a couple of shaky seasons on that side of the ball.
So the formal is there.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
We knew it.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
They were a favorite to start the season for a reason.
Things didn't go according to plan. But that play may
be re emerging now in a different form. And yeah again,
I mean I like the Steelers. I think they've played
really good football for the most part this year. But
the Ravens are dangerous and I just think they can
hit a different volume notch than what Pittsburgh has shown
to this point. I'm not saying they're guaranteed, but like you,
(20:53):
I'm kind of training in that direction.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, I'm looking at some of these percentages here and
an opportunity to make the postseason when you're sitting, you know,
at two and six not favorable in fact, just one
point four percent of those teams that have gotten there.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Once again, that was.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
A critical win that they scored the other week against Chicago.
Now they got an opportunity to make this surge and
they still have games remitting, obviously against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
who we just talked about.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
This is a Vikings team that we do need to discuss.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Because JJ McCarthy is out on the football field getting
one of the best wins of the weekend. I know
we talked about some of the concerns we have against
the Lions. Let's go positive here on the Vikings. Where
do they sit on the power rankings? The answer to
that is covered up next. Hey back here on power rankings,
(21:44):
it's team seventeen through twenty four, the Chicago Bears, Sydney
neutral at seventeen, the Houston Texans, they fall a couple
spots to eighteen Carolina.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
We're gonna love them up in just a moment here.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
The Vikings also moving up three spots to twenty The Falcons,
who will see in Berlin against the Colts at twenty one.
The Arizona Cardinals. How about Kobe Prisett. I actually think
there's a conversation about who should be playing quarterback moving forward?
The Dallas Cowboys at twenty three and the Commanders. No
Jaden Daniels that dissipated elbow falling six spots. That is
not good to twenty four The Panthers. Can we just
(22:17):
sit back and just go you know what, this team
deserves credit because when they start fighting and you know
they're winning some close games, they're losing some close games,
they're like, all right, Like it's just the Panthers. This
is significant. Like you could look at what they did
against the Packers Eric and in my mind say this
is the turning point of like maybe even this franchise
moiling forward.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Yeah. I think this has been a fascinating season. We've
really seen Dave Kanaalis show his ability as a head coach.
They've suffered a couple of big losses, Bills and Patriots
took care of him. They've also inflicted some big wins too,
with the thirty nothing shut out over the Falcons. It's
been hard to figure out what this team is, but
game to game, week to week, they come up with
a game plan that you know is usually the right
(22:58):
plan of attack, and it certainly was Sunday, featuring the game,
the ground game against the Packers, slowing down that pass
rush and making life easier for Bryce Young. So five
and four good for them. I mean, look, this thing
a year ago looked at this point looked very far
from a turnaround. So they're getting closer with each game.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Rico Daddle, let's flex man.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
I mean, this dude has been oh absolute monster, especially
for fantasy owners as well. The Vikings. They move up
three spots here did JJ McCarthy. I'm gonna maybe this
is overstating it. Is this too dramatic? He saved their season?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
He certainly it was a big game for him, right, Mike.
I mean the fact that he had missed more time
than expected, had been out with injury, had to come
back with or pass protection that a lot of people,
including myself, were wondering, is it a good idea to
bring him back, right, I mean, trusting your protection. But
he did great work outside the pocket, getting away from
the rush, throwing on the run, back against his body,
(23:50):
making plays. It wasn't perfect. They didn't trust him to
throw the ball all the time, but to me, Kevin
O'Connell asking him to make that late third down throw
to jail and Naylor was very important too. I trust
my quarterback, That's what that play call said to me.
And he made some big throws and the defense, Brian
Flores I thought, had a big game too when their
unit was questioned. So huge game for the Vikings. Absolutely
(24:11):
put them back on the right track, even if they
got a lot of work to do.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
The rest of the rankings twenty five through thirty two,
Cincinnati sending me at twenty five.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
They just traded Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys. Keep
that in mind.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
The Giants at twenty six, the Raiders at twenty seven,
Jakobe Myers on his way to Jacksonville, the Cleveland Browns
at twenty eighth, the Miami Dolphins at twenty nine, the
Jets trading away Sauce Gardener.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
We talked about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Earlier at thirty, and then rounding it out the Saints
and the Titans.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Eric, you're the best.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I know.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
It's been busy for you.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
For complete update on all the trades, just check out
NFL dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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