September 16, 2025 • 23 mins
Find out how far the Kansas City Chiefs dropped and who is now ranked as the NFL's worst ranked team.
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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):
Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
Along with Eric at home, I cam with you. For
a complete list of all thirty two teams and analysis
on your team, all you have to do is check
out NFL dot com. But Eric, it was an awesome
doubleheader of Monday night football and I get home after
the postgame show and I'm already thinking about our Power
Ranking show. So were you though, because you were working late.
(00:29):
I saw some emails come in very late. It feels
like with the doubleheader, it keeps your job a little
bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah, I was thinking about it.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
You know, Thursday's Packers Commanders game feels like it was
about a month ago. You know, this week in particular,
just felt really long. Let's say it that way, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Let's get right to the rankings. And some of these
top teams in the NFL. You're not seeing dramatic changes
at the top here one through four remaining the same.
It's the Eagles, the Bills, the Ravens at three, the
Packers at four. There's a voice change there. Trust me.
We will get to that reason in just a moment
here Tampa Bay an impressive form. This is another two
(01:05):
and oh. Start, they move up a spot, the Lions
bounce back. They're in that sixth position, the Rams at seven,
and then the Commanders at eight. All right, from an
Eagles perspective, take me through this, because there's like a
real physicality in this game. And you can make an argument,
you know, Travis Kelsey doesn't drop that football headed into
the end zone, maybe we're talking about a different result.
(01:26):
Was there any consideration dropping this Eagles team down? And
you just said, hey, super Bowl champs two and oh,
keep winning. I'm gonna keep you there.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah. I think that was kind of the in the
back of my mind the whole time, like are we
really going to punish them for going into Arrowhead? Clearly
a big revenge game for the Chiefs coming off the loss,
coming off the Super Bowl loss. The Eagles just made
a few more plays than the Chiefs in virtually every
phase of the game. And that really was the difference
right there. And look, they may end up looking a
lot like the twenty twenty four Chiefs right in that
(01:56):
they win these close games. They're not overly impressive. The
record is going to be strong. But I think coming
off the Super Bowl win and every sort of bit
good will they've built up to this point, they still
are the team to beat. So I get the sentiment
for maybe sliding them down a spot or two more
dangerous teams out there, But for me, until they start failing,
I'm not going to really drop them down two precipitously
(02:18):
and right now they stay at the top.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know. And it's tough too, because in Week one
it's a closer win that I think people had anticipated
against Dallas Cowboys team. Another close win here to your point,
and let's be real, they got the Los Angeles Rams
in this next game. The Rams are also a really
good team. I wouldn't be surprised if A they win,
but B it's another close victory. I don't know, you know,
based off of these opponents, especially from an LA perspective,
with that defense, I don't know if you're gonna be
(02:41):
able to blow those dudes out. Well, Eric, let's take
a closer look at the odds to win the AFC,
and kind of interesting here that at least on paper,
the Ravens are still the favorite despite having that loss
against the Buffalo Bills in Week number one, Bills right
behind them, and then the Chiefs and the Chargers round
out that top four. But this is the Ravens team
that I think we all anticipated seeing in week number
(03:03):
two and certainly huge game on Monday Night. But they
looked legit.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
No doubt. Yeah, and we saw that for fifty of
the sixty minutes in blow two. They clearly looked like
the better team until the Bills flipped the script. So
you know, look, you could argue, hey, it was twenty
to ten in the fourth quarter, the Browns still had
a chance, But at no point when I was watching
that did I feel like they actually had a chance. So,
you know, it's it's Lamar. We know about his superpowers.
(03:27):
He can change a game. Obviously, Derrick Henry hate to
see another fumble. He did recover it though, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Sure he'll still get his regular load.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
But they have so many different weapons defensively, they can
make plays, you know, special teams. Tower Loop's been good
so far. You know, no problems there like we had
last year. So you know, I think they're ironing out
these little issues that kind of plagued them at times
last year. And you know, for all the disappointing losses
they've had over the years, they bounced back exceptionally. Well,
that's also the hallmark of a very good team. They
(03:57):
did that on Sunday. There was no doubt who the
better team was even before the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We'll talk lines in just a moment here, but they
get them on night. How significant is this Week three
game for the perception of both of these.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Teams, Yeah, no doubt, especially with the Lions, you know,
coming out and coming flat in Week one. You know,
the Ravens letting a fifteen point lead to go in
the fourth quarter, even if it was on the road
at Buffalo. You know, these are the kinds of games that, yes,
we've seen better efforts in Week two from both teams,
but head to head, especially with the Lions getting blown
out in Baltimore a few years ago, this one's going.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
To tell us a lot. I suspect, you know, I
got home last night. I got to do the postgame
show on Monday night, so I think we got off
air like two am Eastern time. I get home, I unwind,
and I go, hey, like, I want to know what
I'm doing tomorrow, and I'm thinking about your power rankings
kind of going through some of these emails that have
been going back and forth here, and I notice the
Green Bay Packers in that fourth spot, and I say
(04:49):
to myself, well, I think there's an argument that they
are the number one team in the NFL. The head
to head here with the Baltimore Ravens. They got that
and just throttled a really good, at least in my mind,
team in the Washington Commanders. Maybe that's overstating things, but
they looks really, really good. How much did you, in
your mind go back and forth. I'm not saying number one,
(05:10):
but at least have them in front of the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Yeah, there was, you know, to me, four teams that
belonged at the top, and you could argue they deserve
to be in any order, and that's fine. You know,
maybe some people put the Bucks or another team in there,
but I think it's really four right now. And look,
based on what we've seen so far, granted, two home games,
and the Green Bay Packers look spectacular, especially defensively when
Jordan Love and that offense get going. And obviously Jane
(05:35):
Reid's injury is a concern, and you know they're still
trying to figure out who their true go to guys.
Matthew Golden's still kind of building up chemistry with him,
but Loves had some spectacular throws.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Look at Tucker Craft right there, maybe the best tight.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
End in the league, or one of them. Anyway, he's
been spectacular. Romeo Doves has contributed. So I think when
they find a little bit more rhythm and they get
Josh Jacobs going and they get their offensive line healthy,
you look at the complete picture, then you can say
to yourself, all right, do they stack ahead of the Ravens,
the Bills, you know, the Chiefs, the Eagles, all those
(06:08):
teams that are traditionally near the top.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, And I misspoke there, and I know I use
the term throttled by the way. I mean what that
defense did and how it looked against Jayden Daniels in company.
I mean that to me is one of the more
impressive things. And you get that Week one against the Lions,
so once again I get where we're at right now
with the Packers and sort of like how we're supposed
to understand, like where this team truly does slop, But
(06:32):
it is an impressive performance. On the lesson, I think
you can make the case, Green Bay should be the
number one team. Look, we're splitting Harris here, but the
Tampa Bay Bucks got some injury concerns. They get to
win on Monday night, it's another two and oh start Baker.
It feels like they're never out of these games with
Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
He's incredible, isn'ty.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
This is the guy that Cleveland Browns gave up on, right,
This is the guy the Carolina Panthers moved on from
the You know, I understand the Rams situation.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
They had him briefly there. But you know, this is
Tampa Bay's game.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
One of the best reclamation projects if you will ever
and you know those legs come out. That's scrambling, swashbuckling Baker.
That's the guy we love to see third and ten,
fourth and ten, those long yard yard situations. He's not
afraid to pull up and look at Bucky Irving too.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Boy.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, I said last night on X, I said, I
wished I loved him more coming out of the draft.
I liked him, I didn't love him, and he's really
turned into a great player. Rashad White finishes it off.
You know at Buka. You know, obviously the Mike Evans
is the Hall of Fame receiver. They've got some weapons.
But to your point, you lose Luke Geticky, You're right tackle,
you know, I mean Charlie Heck got harassed a little
(07:36):
bit during the game. He was under fire. You know,
you lose Colijah Cansey for the season. Now we know
on defense. I mean, those are two big losses, but
two dramatic victories in two weeks and the you know,
comeback fashion in both times and on the road. I mean,
this is they're close. But this this is why I
like the Bucks to be a super Bowl contender in
the preseason because of Baker and they're just their grittiness.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, I think there's some real concerns right now regarding Houston.
I think you can make the same case tough schedule
lose to the Rams that they did. I didn't think
they were going to go oh two with a week
two loss against Tampa Bay at home. I thought that
that was enough to give them an opportunity to win
this game. And once again, they had their opportunities late,
they just weren't able to close. The Lions are a
(08:19):
team that looked like the Lions team that we had
anticipated seeing at the start of the season. Do we
just say, hey, all is right in the world in
Detroit just based off of what we saw on Week two.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I don't know if all is right, but for one
week it certainly is. It answered a lot of questions
that were raised in Green Bay. Does this team still
have the explosiveness? Does this team have that purpose on offense?
And it wasn't their Week one. It certainly was against Chicago.
You know, they was still a little early charge. You
knew Ben and the Bears were going to be fired
up early. They ran out of gas and the Lions
(08:50):
just absolutely stepped on their next So you know, it's
that killer instinct that made them so dangerous last year,
and I think.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
It's still there.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Right. We still see Jared Goff operating with precision. Isaac
Tislaw has joined the mix now and makes terrific catches,
say Brown tie for the league lead and touchdown grabs.
So that kind of fire and that kind of enthusiasm
was sorely missing in the first game.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
It felt like a return to normalcy.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
In this one. And then again, we'll see if they
can sort of perform this this well against the top
tier teams. I mean, right, now, we only have a
small sample size, but I feel a lot better after
watching that game tape.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Look, and we go back and I made reference
to it when we talked about the Ravens Monday Night Football.
To me, this will dictate, you know, in a lot
of ways, how we perceive both the Lions and the
Ravens over the next few weeks. I think all of
us seem to think that these are two of the
premier teams in the NFL. We'll see what the head
to head will go and tell us the Commanders. There's
some concern right now about Jayden Daniels with a knee injury.
(09:50):
How do you navigate this if you're Dan Quinn?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Yeah, because I don't necessarily even if this is only
a one week injury, Let's say he misses one game,
it's not as if the concern suddenly has gone away. Still,
he's obviously playing through pain on some level. But there's
the fact that the protect't around him has not been great.
And Jaden obviously took sacks last year. We talked about
it then, but he was able to find escape patches.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
He was able to get out of trouble.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
You didn't see him come up limping the way he
did like that on Thursday night. So the fact that
he's getting more painful hits more frequent, especially after they
went out and got two more offensive tackles in the offseason.
Thought that was an upgrade so far necessarily hasn't been.
I know, maybe a slight upgrade, but still, I mean,
the results overall have been fairly pedestrian, I would say,
(10:37):
so no big immediate concern, even with the misgame potential.
I still think they're going to be fine. But this
only intensifies and amplifies the need to build a wall
around this guy and make sure the play calling reflects that,
and make sure he's got free looks to guys like
Terry mcclaurin who's gotten off to a slow start as well.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
This game against the Raiders is supremely important. If Jaden
Daniels doesn't play, they still need a w here. When
you consider on the road against Atlanta, on the road
against the Chargers are those next two games that are looming,
so those are tougher matchups. And I say what you
want about the Falcons, I think you can make the
case man one of the more improved teams in the NFL.
And maybe that division ends up giving us two teams
(11:18):
in the postseason. I mean Michael Penison, we'll talk about
him coming up here on power rankings. I thought penis
look good and this is not the same defense we've
seen in the atl over the last few seasons. Just
getting started here though. On power rankings, Teams nine through
sixteen don't look now outside of the top nine. The
Kansas City Chiefs. How far do they fall? The answer
is coming up next back here on power rankings along
(11:39):
with Eric at home, I am with you, and these
are Eric's teams nine through sixteen. The Chargers another win
for Monday night football. They move up four spots, cracking
the top ten. The Denver Broncos drop a spot. Sort
of interesting to see them in that tenth position considering
how they lost to the Colts, who will talk about
in just a moment, Kansas City zero to two outside
of the top ten. This might be history making in
(12:01):
the world of NFL power rankings. The Colts a huge
mover twelve. The San Francisco forty nine ers at thirteen.
The Seahawks move up five spots to fourteen. Atlanta also
moving up five spots into that fifteenth position, and despite
a win, the Cincinnati Bengals are two to zero, falling
four spots to round out that top sixteen. You haven't
had Kansas City outside the top ten since you've been
(12:22):
doing these power rankings. What's the level of concern right
now for Patrick Mahomes and this team and offense that
looks a little out of sync.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, obviously the hope is that Xavier Worthy gets back
and in four games or you know they're gonna have
Rashe Rice as well. But what's the record going to be, right?
I mean, that's the biggest thing. Obviously we've seen some
teams climb out of big holes. The Rams are a
great example, but you know, seeing them slug their way
down the field and really try to grind out games
and have Mahomes rely on his legs. You know, that's
(12:54):
why these kinds of mistakes. The interception off Kelsey's hands,
you know, that's a play he and Mahomes have made
a thousand times.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
You assume that it's going to work.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
It didn't on this play, and then it being a
hug huge difference in the game. They did make a
few connections late, but they missed a.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Few as well.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
It took a lot of effort just to get to
where they got, and the question is can they survive
until they have that full complement of playmakers. The defense,
to their credit, was much better in week two. That
unit still gives me hope, but you know, it's these
tough games keep coming. I know they have the Giants
O in two next week, but still beyond that, there's
some real challenging games that they've got to figure out
(13:30):
a formula here. Can they run the football? Do they
have other options on offense? That's the big question right now.
It just seem to be lacking some pizazz and some
energy on that side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Patrick mahomes back to back weeks leaving this team in
rushing yards. That's not a recipe at least in my
mind for success. I don't want my quarterback to be
in that position, especially when it's won five well, Eric,
speaking of records, I know we just touched on the
Chiefs here, but the Indianapolis Colts, I don't know if
I've ever seen a move quite this big, moving up
twelve spots on your rankings, a huge win against the
(14:01):
Denver Broncos. But I'm starting to buy this. This Danny
Dimes situation. I mean, this dude is playing mistake free
football and they're figuring out ways to get it done.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, they could.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I mean, when your punter has not attempted to punt
through two games, Rigoberto Sanchez has the best job in
the NFL two point five million to sit on the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
That's because they have this offense.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
They have the ability to move the ball in myriad ways,
right Jonathan Taylor the old standby, get him involved as
a receiver, kind of open up some avenues for him
that way.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You've got Tyler Warren, the rookie, stepping right in and
making a difference.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Obviously, they've got an offensive line that they have put
a lot of investments in. This is the great surrounding
cast that Daniel Jones has. Downs can make plays. Pittman
doesn't even have to have a big game anymore like
he used to. And that's the beautiful thing here. I
think it's helped take some pressure off Daniel Jones because
they have five or six playmakers, because they have a
fortified line in front of them. And Shane Styking was
(14:55):
brought in to be the offensive guru. His play calling
has been terrific, his design of this group, accurate field
goal kicking. I mean, this is all you want from
your team, and you know they need a little help.
But this is still a big victory for them against
Denver and dramatic to say the least, and they're deserving
of the respect. That they do it against Tennessee next week.
(15:16):
You know, that'll obviously prove a little bit more that
they're for real.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Hey, real quick. Anthony Richardson the last we've seen him,
barring obviously injury, I think so.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
I mean, look, that discussion has been tabled, put on
the side. No one's really talking about it right now,
but it is interesting, right how far can Jones take him?
That's the big question we still have remaining. He's been
great so far.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, he has been the Atlanta Falcons. They move up
two spots right now. Week one, week two, get a win.
We'll take that in a big spat on Sunday night football.
Pennix man, I'd pay to go and we'll just watch
him throw. It is such a pretty release. But I
think the bigger issue, and I shouldn't say issue, the
bigger notable aspect of their game is the defense looks
like it's thriving right now.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Yeah, outside of that late breakdown against Tampa Bay, I mean,
they've been terrific this season. You really got to look
at the four rookies. They drafted a two on the
on the edges and two in the secondary, and they've
been terrific. Jalen Walker, James Pierce Junior contributing to the
rush up front, big part of that six SAC unit.
On Sunday night, Xavier Woods made a play late in
the game. Billy Bowman was all over the place, So
(16:18):
you know, they've already added to a secondary that has
Jesse Base one of the best safeties in football. And
you know, we kept waiting for this pass rush to
finally develop. It feels like it's been about a decade.
But you put that in with a strong ground game
and Pennix making throws that weren't made last year when
Kirk Cousins was quarterback, and boy, I mean I'm looking
at him at fifteen and wondering if I've made have
(16:39):
him a little low, so you know, just to excuse
me eighteen. So you know, it just they're they're in
that mix of could go down, could go up, but
the early returns have been very good.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, they have been. You know, I'm looking out a
Cincinnati Bengals team as well, because this is like sort
of the significant news. And I know we started power
rankings and there's a slew of quarterback injuries, and you
can look at JJ McCarthy. You can obviously point to
Jada Daniels. We talked about that as well. But Joe
Burrow gonna be gone now for three months? Is this
a situation from a Bengals perspective where you can't navigate this?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
I will say this is clearly an all in season.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You saw from the Trey Hendrickson negotiations signing him to
a one year deal, they're basically saying super Bowl or bust.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
They made the receiver contracts work along with Burrow's deal.
Everything was poured into this season and now the quarterback
is gone. On the positive side, Jake Browning did some
really good things two years ago and Burrow got hurt.
They were five and five when he took over, and
they were eight and six at one point with the
chance to get in the playoffs. He had a couple
of games that got away from him. Wasn't all pretty,
(17:41):
but and even Sunday. Look, three interceptions. Two of them
were not good. I mean, I think one of them
you credit the defensive player. The other two are just
bad throws. He's got to clean it up. He did
lead the comeback. You give him a ton of credit
against the pretty good Jags team, I think, But I
don't know. It's completely mailed in at this point. But
the vibes have to be incredibly low. After yet another injury.
(18:01):
You just hope that Joe Burrow is not the next
Andrew Luck or Burt Jones or one of these quarterbacks.
We look back and say what might have been? You
pray that that he can get back onto the field.
But every year it seems like we're talking about a
new injury with him.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I mean, it's such a it's a massive buzzkill
because in terms of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL,
he's on that list. He's one of the best quarterbacks
on the entire planet. Having some issues staying healthy, do
you think they pick up the phone, Eric, like, is
there a trade looming just to add a little bit
of depth and tie that room.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
I think if they see poor results early, like the
first game or two, and things are not working. You're
not seeing Browning using his legs. You're seeing him misfire
and some of those deeper balls like on Sunday. There
could be some internal discussions, right, do we have somebody
in house to can challenge them? If not, how do
we address this?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Is there still a chance?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
They also have to have a pretty good record starting
two to zero helps Yeah, obviously hasn't been terribly impressive overall.
I mean, there's still some big questions with this team.
But if they get to the point where there are
two or three games over five hundred at mid season,
yet the quarterbackings held him back, I suppose they could
right now, now I would guess no, But given the
all in nature of the season, why not.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Jake Browning one of the better quarterbacks backup quarterbacks in
the NFL, and that is a really important job. The
more the seasons go by, the more you realize you
got to have depth in that room because of the
amount of injuries that happen in that position. And we're
just heading into week number three at this point. The
Dallas Cowboys know about that based off of last season.
The good news for them is they continue to stack wins.
(19:30):
Where did they deserve to sit on the Power rankings
and the Steelers defense a little concerned? Is Eric? The
answer to that's coming up next back here on Power
Rankings presented by energizer Mike Amman Eric at Home with You,
Eric's team seventeen through twenty four. I think there's some
real concern right now in Houston with this zero to
two start. They drop three spots to seventeen. At eighteen,
the Arizona Cardinals still undefeated at two and z though
(19:54):
I don't know, maybe we should be moving those up.
Those Cardinals up at nineteen, the Minnesota Vikings JJ McCarthy
banged up. Carson Wentz. We get to see him. The
Steelers will talk about them in just a moment. At
twenty the Dallas Cowboy. At twenty one, the Chicago Bears.
What in the world is happening to this football team?
At twenty three it's the Jags, And at twenty four
it's the Vegas Raiders who lose on Monday night football
(20:15):
All right, level of concerned. Week one, get a win,
Aaron Rodgers chugging from the fountain of youth. Week two,
coming back down to earth a little bit, and a
defense that all of a sudden, Eric doesn't look like
a Steelers defense.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thirty points allowed two straight games. He only did that
twice all last season. That's really got me worried. I mean,
Mike Tomlin was talking in the preseason like this could
be a historic unit, and that was part of the
thinking of bringing Air at Rodgers. We don't need him
to be special, We just need him to be air
and everything will work around him. So far that hasn't
been the case. They're having trouble getting the ball consistently
to DK. You know, Rogers used to never throw red
(20:47):
zone picks. This one right here was pretty damaging but
huge special teams miss Q two with Caleb Johnson not
recovering there, not catching the kickoff, and it was a
three phase loss for him at home, you know, a
convincing loss. I mean, even though they had that chances
to win. So yeah, I'm concerned with all of a sudden,
with all three units, but especially that defense, which was
sort of the bedrock of this team.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah, because at the end of the day, we said, hey,
if Rogers isn't even a superhuman out there, and if
he's just average, this defense could be good enough. Just
get consistent play and we're talking about this team maybe
making a run in the postseason. Look they are on
the road. They get New England in this next matchup.
The rest of the rankings, we start a team twenty
five and it is those New England Patriots, the Titans.
(21:29):
I know they're owing too, but man cam Ward's been
flashing here. The Giants at twenty seven will get to them.
They move up to spots the Jets right now. Justin
field concussion protocol, we got Gangreen at twenty eight, twenty nine,
it's the Panthers, the Saints at thirty, the Cleveland Browns
at thirty one, and we have a new team at
the bottom and that is the Miami Dolphins. Okay, can
(21:50):
I can I just throw like one thing out your
way on the Giants? Yes, okay. Week one disappointing for
a lot of reasons. Offensively, can't get anything going. People
talk about Jackson dart Hey calling out just an offensive line.
Andrew time, I'm just going to play in that game,
and I said, hey, let's see if this team gets healthy.
In week number two, they weren't healthy, and yet Russ
was cooking. I am going to take soul blame on
(22:13):
this loss because three different times at the end of
this game, eric I said they're going to win, and
they didn't. I was disappointed with Russ in that Piccoli,
but I go, hey, dude, three for four to fifty,
he's a reason why we're in it. There are signs
of life right now for this Giants team, and I'm
glad you showed some respect to the GM and he
moved them up.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Yes, some of this is reshuffling the deck chairs right
at the bottom. Teams move up and down and sometimes
get the bump, but I did see some life here.
I am worried about the next two games, Chiefs and Chargers.
That's going to be a huge challenge. And this may
be one mic there where they look back on and say,
we had it, We.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Could have won.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
This is the kind of game you have to win
if you want to save jobs.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And try to get back into contention after years of
being out of it.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And they had those opportunities. We saw those explosive plays,
and you're right. We saw the schedule before the year started.
We said this is toughest schedule in the NFL. And
when you're right there and you have that opportunity, you
have to deliver charges and saints those next opponent, and
it's our Chiefs chargers, and then saying, so maybe we're
talking about a win. At some point in a couple
of weeks against New Orleans, I made reference to the
(23:12):
Miami Dolphins new team at the bottom. You didn't love
what you saw offensively from.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Them, didn't.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
I mean, the offensive improvement is great, But Mike, if
you have players only meetings in week one ahead of
the loss, you know, and then another loss after it,
things aren't going well. I don't think another player's owners
owners meet players the only meeting is going to help.
And maybe it's a little rage bait for Dolphins fans,
but look, they have not played well so far.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Sorry, that is a massive problem. I think some of
those guys might be thinking about vacation after the season
if you're having those players only meetings, So appreciate you
watching Power Rankings.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
Along with Eric at home, I cam with you. For
a complete list of all thirty two teams and analysis
on your team, all you have to do is check
out NFL dot com. But Eric, it was an awesome
doubleheader of Monday night football and I get home after
the postgame show and I'm already thinking about our Power
Ranking show. So were you though, because you were working late.
(00:29):
I saw some emails come in very late. It feels
like with the doubleheader, it keeps your job a little
bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah, I was thinking about it.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
You know, Thursday's Packers Commanders game feels like it was
about a month ago. You know, this week in particular,
just felt really long. Let's say it that way, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Let's get right to the rankings. And some of these
top teams in the NFL. You're not seeing dramatic changes
at the top here one through four remaining the same.
It's the Eagles, the Bills, the Ravens at three, the
Packers at four. There's a voice change there. Trust me.
We will get to that reason in just a moment
here Tampa Bay an impressive form. This is another two
(01:05):
and oh. Start, they move up a spot, the Lions
bounce back. They're in that sixth position, the Rams at seven,
and then the Commanders at eight. All right, from an
Eagles perspective, take me through this, because there's like a
real physicality in this game. And you can make an argument,
you know, Travis Kelsey doesn't drop that football headed into
the end zone, maybe we're talking about a different result.
(01:26):
Was there any consideration dropping this Eagles team down? And
you just said, hey, super Bowl champs two and oh,
keep winning. I'm gonna keep you there.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah. I think that was kind of the in the
back of my mind the whole time, like are we
really going to punish them for going into Arrowhead? Clearly
a big revenge game for the Chiefs coming off the loss,
coming off the Super Bowl loss. The Eagles just made
a few more plays than the Chiefs in virtually every
phase of the game. And that really was the difference
right there. And look, they may end up looking a
lot like the twenty twenty four Chiefs right in that
(01:56):
they win these close games. They're not overly impressive. The
record is going to be strong. But I think coming
off the Super Bowl win and every sort of bit
good will they've built up to this point, they still
are the team to beat. So I get the sentiment
for maybe sliding them down a spot or two more
dangerous teams out there, But for me, until they start failing,
I'm not going to really drop them down two precipitously
(02:18):
and right now they stay at the top.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know. And it's tough too, because in Week one
it's a closer win that I think people had anticipated
against Dallas Cowboys team. Another close win here to your point,
and let's be real, they got the Los Angeles Rams
in this next game. The Rams are also a really
good team. I wouldn't be surprised if A they win,
but B it's another close victory. I don't know, you know,
based off of these opponents, especially from an LA perspective,
with that defense, I don't know if you're gonna be
(02:41):
able to blow those dudes out. Well, Eric, let's take
a closer look at the odds to win the AFC,
and kind of interesting here that at least on paper,
the Ravens are still the favorite despite having that loss
against the Buffalo Bills in Week number one, Bills right
behind them, and then the Chiefs and the Chargers round
out that top four. But this is the Ravens team
that I think we all anticipated seeing in week number
(03:03):
two and certainly huge game on Monday Night. But they
looked legit.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
No doubt. Yeah, and we saw that for fifty of
the sixty minutes in blow two. They clearly looked like
the better team until the Bills flipped the script. So
you know, look, you could argue, hey, it was twenty
to ten in the fourth quarter, the Browns still had
a chance, But at no point when I was watching
that did I feel like they actually had a chance. So,
you know, it's it's Lamar. We know about his superpowers.
(03:27):
He can change a game. Obviously, Derrick Henry hate to
see another fumble. He did recover it though, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Sure he'll still get his regular load.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
But they have so many different weapons defensively, they can
make plays, you know, special teams. Tower Loop's been good
so far. You know, no problems there like we had
last year. So you know, I think they're ironing out
these little issues that kind of plagued them at times
last year. And you know, for all the disappointing losses
they've had over the years, they bounced back exceptionally. Well,
that's also the hallmark of a very good team. They
(03:57):
did that on Sunday. There was no doubt who the
better team was even before the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
We'll talk lines in just a moment here, but they
get them on night. How significant is this Week three
game for the perception of both of these.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Teams, Yeah, no doubt, especially with the Lions, you know,
coming out and coming flat in Week one. You know,
the Ravens letting a fifteen point lead to go in
the fourth quarter, even if it was on the road
at Buffalo. You know, these are the kinds of games that, yes,
we've seen better efforts in Week two from both teams,
but head to head, especially with the Lions getting blown
out in Baltimore a few years ago, this one's going.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
To tell us a lot. I suspect, you know, I
got home last night. I got to do the postgame
show on Monday night, so I think we got off
air like two am Eastern time. I get home, I unwind,
and I go, hey, like, I want to know what
I'm doing tomorrow, and I'm thinking about your power rankings
kind of going through some of these emails that have
been going back and forth here, and I notice the
Green Bay Packers in that fourth spot, and I say
(04:49):
to myself, well, I think there's an argument that they
are the number one team in the NFL. The head
to head here with the Baltimore Ravens. They got that
and just throttled a really good, at least in my mind,
team in the Washington Commanders. Maybe that's overstating things, but
they looks really, really good. How much did you, in
your mind go back and forth. I'm not saying number one,
(05:10):
but at least have them in front of the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Yeah, there was, you know, to me, four teams that
belonged at the top, and you could argue they deserve
to be in any order, and that's fine. You know,
maybe some people put the Bucks or another team in there,
but I think it's really four right now. And look,
based on what we've seen so far, granted, two home games,
and the Green Bay Packers look spectacular, especially defensively when
Jordan Love and that offense get going. And obviously Jane
(05:35):
Reid's injury is a concern, and you know they're still
trying to figure out who their true go to guys.
Matthew Golden's still kind of building up chemistry with him,
but Loves had some spectacular throws.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Look at Tucker Craft right there, maybe the best tight.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
End in the league, or one of them. Anyway, he's
been spectacular. Romeo Doves has contributed. So I think when
they find a little bit more rhythm and they get
Josh Jacobs going and they get their offensive line healthy,
you look at the complete picture, then you can say
to yourself, all right, do they stack ahead of the Ravens,
the Bills, you know, the Chiefs, the Eagles, all those
(06:08):
teams that are traditionally near the top.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, And I misspoke there, and I know I use
the term throttled by the way. I mean what that
defense did and how it looked against Jayden Daniels in company.
I mean that to me is one of the more
impressive things. And you get that Week one against the Lions,
so once again I get where we're at right now
with the Packers and sort of like how we're supposed
to understand, like where this team truly does slop, But
(06:32):
it is an impressive performance. On the lesson, I think
you can make the case, Green Bay should be the
number one team. Look, we're splitting Harris here, but the
Tampa Bay Bucks got some injury concerns. They get to
win on Monday night, it's another two and oh start Baker.
It feels like they're never out of these games with
Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
He's incredible, isn'ty.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
This is the guy that Cleveland Browns gave up on, right,
This is the guy the Carolina Panthers moved on from
the You know, I understand the Rams situation.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
They had him briefly there. But you know, this is
Tampa Bay's game.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
One of the best reclamation projects if you will ever
and you know those legs come out. That's scrambling, swashbuckling Baker.
That's the guy we love to see third and ten,
fourth and ten, those long yard yard situations. He's not
afraid to pull up and look at Bucky Irving too.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Boy.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, I said last night on X, I said, I
wished I loved him more coming out of the draft.
I liked him, I didn't love him, and he's really
turned into a great player. Rashad White finishes it off.
You know at Buka. You know, obviously the Mike Evans
is the Hall of Fame receiver. They've got some weapons.
But to your point, you lose Luke Geticky, You're right tackle,
you know, I mean Charlie Heck got harassed a little
(07:36):
bit during the game. He was under fire. You know,
you lose Colijah Cansey for the season. Now we know
on defense. I mean, those are two big losses, but
two dramatic victories in two weeks and the you know,
comeback fashion in both times and on the road. I mean,
this is they're close. But this this is why I
like the Bucks to be a super Bowl contender in
the preseason because of Baker and they're just their grittiness.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, I think there's some real concerns right now regarding Houston.
I think you can make the same case tough schedule
lose to the Rams that they did. I didn't think
they were going to go oh two with a week
two loss against Tampa Bay at home. I thought that
that was enough to give them an opportunity to win
this game. And once again, they had their opportunities late,
they just weren't able to close. The Lions are a
(08:19):
team that looked like the Lions team that we had
anticipated seeing at the start of the season. Do we
just say, hey, all is right in the world in
Detroit just based off of what we saw on Week two.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I don't know if all is right, but for one
week it certainly is. It answered a lot of questions
that were raised in Green Bay. Does this team still
have the explosiveness? Does this team have that purpose on offense?
And it wasn't their Week one. It certainly was against Chicago.
You know, they was still a little early charge. You
knew Ben and the Bears were going to be fired
up early. They ran out of gas and the Lions
(08:50):
just absolutely stepped on their next So you know, it's
that killer instinct that made them so dangerous last year,
and I think.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
It's still there.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Right. We still see Jared Goff operating with precision. Isaac
Tislaw has joined the mix now and makes terrific catches,
say Brown tie for the league lead and touchdown grabs.
So that kind of fire and that kind of enthusiasm
was sorely missing in the first game.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
It felt like a return to normalcy.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
In this one. And then again, we'll see if they
can sort of perform this this well against the top
tier teams. I mean, right, now, we only have a
small sample size, but I feel a lot better after
watching that game tape.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Look, and we go back and I made reference
to it when we talked about the Ravens Monday Night Football.
To me, this will dictate, you know, in a lot
of ways, how we perceive both the Lions and the
Ravens over the next few weeks. I think all of
us seem to think that these are two of the
premier teams in the NFL. We'll see what the head
to head will go and tell us the Commanders. There's
some concern right now about Jayden Daniels with a knee injury.
(09:50):
How do you navigate this if you're Dan Quinn?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Yeah, because I don't necessarily even if this is only
a one week injury, Let's say he misses one game,
it's not as if the concern suddenly has gone away. Still,
he's obviously playing through pain on some level. But there's
the fact that the protect't around him has not been great.
And Jaden obviously took sacks last year. We talked about
it then, but he was able to find escape patches.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
He was able to get out of trouble.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
You didn't see him come up limping the way he
did like that on Thursday night. So the fact that
he's getting more painful hits more frequent, especially after they
went out and got two more offensive tackles in the offseason.
Thought that was an upgrade so far necessarily hasn't been.
I know, maybe a slight upgrade, but still, I mean,
the results overall have been fairly pedestrian, I would say,
(10:37):
so no big immediate concern, even with the misgame potential.
I still think they're going to be fine. But this
only intensifies and amplifies the need to build a wall
around this guy and make sure the play calling reflects that,
and make sure he's got free looks to guys like
Terry mcclaurin who's gotten off to a slow start as well.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
This game against the Raiders is supremely important. If Jaden
Daniels doesn't play, they still need a w here. When
you consider on the road against Atlanta, on the road
against the Chargers are those next two games that are looming,
so those are tougher matchups. And I say what you
want about the Falcons, I think you can make the
case man one of the more improved teams in the NFL.
And maybe that division ends up giving us two teams
(11:18):
in the postseason. I mean Michael Penison, we'll talk about
him coming up here on power rankings. I thought penis
look good and this is not the same defense we've
seen in the atl over the last few seasons. Just
getting started here though. On power rankings, Teams nine through
sixteen don't look now outside of the top nine. The
Kansas City Chiefs. How far do they fall? The answer
is coming up next back here on power rankings along
(11:39):
with Eric at home, I am with you, and these
are Eric's teams nine through sixteen. The Chargers another win
for Monday night football. They move up four spots, cracking
the top ten. The Denver Broncos drop a spot. Sort
of interesting to see them in that tenth position considering
how they lost to the Colts, who will talk about
in just a moment, Kansas City zero to two outside
of the top ten. This might be history making in
(12:01):
the world of NFL power rankings. The Colts a huge
mover twelve. The San Francisco forty nine ers at thirteen.
The Seahawks move up five spots to fourteen. Atlanta also
moving up five spots into that fifteenth position, and despite
a win, the Cincinnati Bengals are two to zero, falling
four spots to round out that top sixteen. You haven't
had Kansas City outside the top ten since you've been
(12:22):
doing these power rankings. What's the level of concern right
now for Patrick Mahomes and this team and offense that
looks a little out of sync.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, obviously the hope is that Xavier Worthy gets back
and in four games or you know they're gonna have
Rashe Rice as well. But what's the record going to be, right?
I mean, that's the biggest thing. Obviously we've seen some
teams climb out of big holes. The Rams are a
great example, but you know, seeing them slug their way
down the field and really try to grind out games
and have Mahomes rely on his legs. You know, that's
(12:54):
why these kinds of mistakes. The interception off Kelsey's hands,
you know, that's a play he and Mahomes have made
a thousand times.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
You assume that it's going to work.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
It didn't on this play, and then it being a
hug huge difference in the game. They did make a
few connections late, but they missed a.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Few as well.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
It took a lot of effort just to get to
where they got, and the question is can they survive
until they have that full complement of playmakers. The defense,
to their credit, was much better in week two. That
unit still gives me hope, but you know, it's these
tough games keep coming. I know they have the Giants
O in two next week, but still beyond that, there's
some real challenging games that they've got to figure out
(13:30):
a formula here. Can they run the football? Do they
have other options on offense? That's the big question right now.
It just seem to be lacking some pizazz and some
energy on that side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Patrick mahomes back to back weeks leaving this team in
rushing yards. That's not a recipe at least in my
mind for success. I don't want my quarterback to be
in that position, especially when it's won five well, Eric,
speaking of records, I know we just touched on the
Chiefs here, but the Indianapolis Colts, I don't know if
I've ever seen a move quite this big, moving up
twelve spots on your rankings, a huge win against the
(14:01):
Denver Broncos. But I'm starting to buy this. This Danny
Dimes situation. I mean, this dude is playing mistake free
football and they're figuring out ways to get it done.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yeah, they could.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
I mean, when your punter has not attempted to punt
through two games, Rigoberto Sanchez has the best job in
the NFL two point five million to sit on the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
That's because they have this offense.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
They have the ability to move the ball in myriad ways,
right Jonathan Taylor the old standby, get him involved as
a receiver, kind of open up some avenues for him
that way.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You've got Tyler Warren, the rookie, stepping right in and
making a difference.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Obviously, they've got an offensive line that they have put
a lot of investments in. This is the great surrounding
cast that Daniel Jones has. Downs can make plays. Pittman
doesn't even have to have a big game anymore like
he used to. And that's the beautiful thing here. I
think it's helped take some pressure off Daniel Jones because
they have five or six playmakers, because they have a
fortified line in front of them. And Shane Styking was
(14:55):
brought in to be the offensive guru. His play calling
has been terrific, his design of this group, accurate field
goal kicking. I mean, this is all you want from
your team, and you know they need a little help.
But this is still a big victory for them against
Denver and dramatic to say the least, and they're deserving
of the respect. That they do it against Tennessee next week.
(15:16):
You know, that'll obviously prove a little bit more that
they're for real.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Hey, real quick. Anthony Richardson the last we've seen him,
barring obviously injury, I think so.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
I mean, look, that discussion has been tabled, put on
the side. No one's really talking about it right now,
but it is interesting, right how far can Jones take him?
That's the big question we still have remaining. He's been
great so far.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, he has been the Atlanta Falcons. They move up
two spots right now. Week one, week two, get a win.
We'll take that in a big spat on Sunday night football.
Pennix man, I'd pay to go and we'll just watch
him throw. It is such a pretty release. But I
think the bigger issue, and I shouldn't say issue, the
bigger notable aspect of their game is the defense looks
like it's thriving right now.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Yeah, outside of that late breakdown against Tampa Bay, I mean,
they've been terrific this season. You really got to look
at the four rookies. They drafted a two on the
on the edges and two in the secondary, and they've
been terrific. Jalen Walker, James Pierce Junior contributing to the
rush up front, big part of that six SAC unit.
On Sunday night, Xavier Woods made a play late in
the game. Billy Bowman was all over the place, So
(16:18):
you know, they've already added to a secondary that has
Jesse Base one of the best safeties in football. And
you know, we kept waiting for this pass rush to
finally develop. It feels like it's been about a decade.
But you put that in with a strong ground game
and Pennix making throws that weren't made last year when
Kirk Cousins was quarterback, and boy, I mean I'm looking
at him at fifteen and wondering if I've made have
(16:39):
him a little low, so you know, just to excuse
me eighteen. So you know, it just they're they're in
that mix of could go down, could go up, but
the early returns have been very good.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, they have been. You know, I'm looking out a
Cincinnati Bengals team as well, because this is like sort
of the significant news. And I know we started power
rankings and there's a slew of quarterback injuries, and you
can look at JJ McCarthy. You can obviously point to
Jada Daniels. We talked about that as well. But Joe
Burrow gonna be gone now for three months? Is this
a situation from a Bengals perspective where you can't navigate this?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
I will say this is clearly an all in season.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You saw from the Trey Hendrickson negotiations signing him to
a one year deal, they're basically saying super Bowl or bust.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Right.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
They made the receiver contracts work along with Burrow's deal.
Everything was poured into this season and now the quarterback
is gone. On the positive side, Jake Browning did some
really good things two years ago and Burrow got hurt.
They were five and five when he took over, and
they were eight and six at one point with the
chance to get in the playoffs. He had a couple
of games that got away from him. Wasn't all pretty,
(17:41):
but and even Sunday. Look, three interceptions. Two of them
were not good. I mean, I think one of them
you credit the defensive player. The other two are just
bad throws. He's got to clean it up. He did
lead the comeback. You give him a ton of credit
against the pretty good Jags team, I think, But I
don't know. It's completely mailed in at this point. But
the vibes have to be incredibly low. After yet another injury.
(18:01):
You just hope that Joe Burrow is not the next
Andrew Luck or Burt Jones or one of these quarterbacks.
We look back and say what might have been? You
pray that that he can get back onto the field.
But every year it seems like we're talking about a
new injury with him.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I mean, it's such a it's a massive buzzkill
because in terms of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL,
he's on that list. He's one of the best quarterbacks
on the entire planet. Having some issues staying healthy, do
you think they pick up the phone, Eric, like, is
there a trade looming just to add a little bit
of depth and tie that room.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
I think if they see poor results early, like the
first game or two, and things are not working. You're
not seeing Browning using his legs. You're seeing him misfire
and some of those deeper balls like on Sunday. There
could be some internal discussions, right, do we have somebody
in house to can challenge them? If not, how do
we address this?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Is there still a chance?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
They also have to have a pretty good record starting
two to zero helps Yeah, obviously hasn't been terribly impressive overall.
I mean, there's still some big questions with this team.
But if they get to the point where there are
two or three games over five hundred at mid season,
yet the quarterbackings held him back, I suppose they could
right now, now I would guess no, But given the
all in nature of the season, why not.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Jake Browning one of the better quarterbacks backup quarterbacks in
the NFL, and that is a really important job. The
more the seasons go by, the more you realize you
got to have depth in that room because of the
amount of injuries that happen in that position. And we're
just heading into week number three at this point. The
Dallas Cowboys know about that based off of last season.
The good news for them is they continue to stack wins.
(19:30):
Where did they deserve to sit on the Power rankings
and the Steelers defense a little concerned? Is Eric? The
answer to that's coming up next back here on Power
Rankings presented by energizer Mike Amman Eric at Home with You,
Eric's team seventeen through twenty four. I think there's some
real concern right now in Houston with this zero to
two start. They drop three spots to seventeen. At eighteen,
the Arizona Cardinals still undefeated at two and z though
(19:54):
I don't know, maybe we should be moving those up.
Those Cardinals up at nineteen, the Minnesota Vikings JJ McCarthy
banged up. Carson Wentz. We get to see him. The
Steelers will talk about them in just a moment. At
twenty the Dallas Cowboy. At twenty one, the Chicago Bears.
What in the world is happening to this football team?
At twenty three it's the Jags, And at twenty four
it's the Vegas Raiders who lose on Monday night football
(20:15):
All right, level of concerned. Week one, get a win,
Aaron Rodgers chugging from the fountain of youth. Week two,
coming back down to earth a little bit, and a
defense that all of a sudden, Eric doesn't look like
a Steelers defense.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thirty points allowed two straight games. He only did that
twice all last season. That's really got me worried. I mean,
Mike Tomlin was talking in the preseason like this could
be a historic unit, and that was part of the
thinking of bringing Air at Rodgers. We don't need him
to be special, We just need him to be air
and everything will work around him. So far that hasn't
been the case. They're having trouble getting the ball consistently
to DK. You know, Rogers used to never throw red
(20:47):
zone picks. This one right here was pretty damaging but
huge special teams miss Q two with Caleb Johnson not
recovering there, not catching the kickoff, and it was a
three phase loss for him at home, you know, a
convincing loss. I mean, even though they had that chances
to win. So yeah, I'm concerned with all of a sudden,
with all three units, but especially that defense, which was
sort of the bedrock of this team.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Yeah, because at the end of the day, we said, hey,
if Rogers isn't even a superhuman out there, and if
he's just average, this defense could be good enough. Just
get consistent play and we're talking about this team maybe
making a run in the postseason. Look they are on
the road. They get New England in this next matchup.
The rest of the rankings, we start a team twenty
five and it is those New England Patriots, the Titans.
(21:29):
I know they're owing too, but man cam Ward's been
flashing here. The Giants at twenty seven will get to them.
They move up to spots the Jets right now. Justin
field concussion protocol, we got Gangreen at twenty eight, twenty nine,
it's the Panthers, the Saints at thirty, the Cleveland Browns
at thirty one, and we have a new team at
the bottom and that is the Miami Dolphins. Okay, can
(21:50):
I can I just throw like one thing out your
way on the Giants? Yes, okay. Week one disappointing for
a lot of reasons. Offensively, can't get anything going. People
talk about Jackson dart Hey calling out just an offensive line.
Andrew time, I'm just going to play in that game,
and I said, hey, let's see if this team gets healthy.
In week number two, they weren't healthy, and yet Russ
was cooking. I am going to take soul blame on
(22:13):
this loss because three different times at the end of
this game, eric I said they're going to win, and
they didn't. I was disappointed with Russ in that Piccoli,
but I go, hey, dude, three for four to fifty,
he's a reason why we're in it. There are signs
of life right now for this Giants team, and I'm
glad you showed some respect to the GM and he
moved them up.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Yes, some of this is reshuffling the deck chairs right
at the bottom. Teams move up and down and sometimes
get the bump, but I did see some life here.
I am worried about the next two games, Chiefs and Chargers.
That's going to be a huge challenge. And this may
be one mic there where they look back on and say,
we had it, We.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Could have won.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
This is the kind of game you have to win
if you want to save jobs.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And try to get back into contention after years of
being out of it.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And they had those opportunities. We saw those explosive plays,
and you're right. We saw the schedule before the year started.
We said this is toughest schedule in the NFL. And
when you're right there and you have that opportunity, you
have to deliver charges and saints those next opponent, and
it's our Chiefs chargers, and then saying, so maybe we're
talking about a win. At some point in a couple
of weeks against New Orleans, I made reference to the
(23:12):
Miami Dolphins new team at the bottom. You didn't love
what you saw offensively from.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Them, didn't.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
I mean, the offensive improvement is great, But Mike, if
you have players only meetings in week one ahead of
the loss, you know, and then another loss after it,
things aren't going well. I don't think another player's owners
owners meet players the only meeting is going to help.
And maybe it's a little rage bait for Dolphins fans,
but look, they have not played well so far.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Sorry, that is a massive problem. I think some of
those guys might be thinking about vacation after the season
if you're having those players only meetings, So appreciate you
watching Power Rankings.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
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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