September 23, 2025 • 23 mins
On the latest episode of Power Rankings, Mike Yam and Eric Edholm run through Eric's latest rankings of NFL teams!
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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
on Mike Aam along with the man who does all
the heavy lifting, Eric at Home his rankings one through
thirty two, which you can catch on NFL dot com
and Eric, you know, before we even get to the
top teams right now, in the NFL Special Teams, some
people will say, hey, like, how big of a deal
is it? Based off of what we saw this past weekend,
it is a huge deal.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, you mess up on special teams, you throw away
the game. That's what it probably should mean, right, And
we saw these these field goals there were blocked, four
of them to run back for touchdowns, blocked extra point.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
The Seattle Seahawks built a thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Six halftime lead with about the same number of yards
and zero turnovers along with the Saints. So don't tell
me special teams doesn't have an impact.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I'm with you, you know, I was eager. I'm walking off
the set Monday Night Football, our postgame show on NFL Network,
and that's when I get the preview of what is
going to hit NFL Dot com and I said, Hey,
I wonder where some of these teams are going to land,
especially some of the best teams in the NFL. Off
Eagles was one of those squads, and I noticed in
your column, Hey, you thought about it, but you still
keep them number one despite being down nineteen points in
(01:13):
that third quarter. They obviously hold on to win the Bills.
At number two, the Detroit Lions. They move up three spots.
I cannot wait to talk about that team with you
in just a few moments. Finally, some love to the
Chargers moving up five spots. This might be the best
ranking they've ever had on Power Rankings. In that fourth position,
the Bucks at five, the Packers take a deep breath.
At six, the Baltimore Ravens will discuss them. I don't
(01:35):
know what to make of that squad and the Commanders
with Marcus Mariota holding on tight to that eighth position.
All right, how do you in your mind come to
terms with keeping the number one team, the Philadelphia Eagles
in that top spot, knowing they needed a whole lot
of help from their offense and exposed to place which
we hadn't really seen so far this season to get
this done.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, I mean, Jalen Hurts center after the game, We've
played so many different styles. He almost seemed kind of
astounded that they actually did sort of pull this comeback
off against the quality team, right, a team that almost
beat them in the playoffs last year.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But I thought about it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I thought about moving Buffalo up, but thought they were
a little bit underwhelming on Thursday, and with the status
quo just sort of being the cleanest way to do it,
I kept the Eagles on top. Look, I could have
made a case for the Lions probably too, but the
way Philly has done this consistently now for over the
course of a year, and yes, I'm sort of still
counting a little bit of last year too, because the
(02:28):
leadership and the talent core is the same from a
Super Bowl team that to me just as are There's
so many resume builders that they have already. They built
up so much sort of trust and goodwill that I
don't want to say you expect Sunday to happen with
all the craziness that occurred, but you believe that they're
going to have a chance, just like I thought the
Ravens were going to have a chance to go win
(02:49):
that game. But didn't, but the Eagles pulled it off.
And so to me, that's that's number one type quality
right there.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, this is now two games in a row for
the Rams against the Eagles where they're going to be
kicking themselves knowing they had an opportunity to try to
close things out. They don't. We'll show you exactly where
the Rams are. Well, Eric, let's move on and take
a look at one of the biggest movers this week,
and it's gotta be the Lions. Based off of the
statement type win, I can't imagine getting a more important
(03:17):
win if you are Dan Campbell than on the road
against the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, they pretty much out Ravens the Ravens, right. I
know it's hard to say, but still thirty eight rushes,
two hundred and twenty four yards, four touchdowns on the ground.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I mean, who does that in Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
The other team certainly does not do it on a
regular basis, even against the beat up Ravens defense. Down
a couple starters, I mean, containing Lamar, sacking him seven times.
Six different Lions got in on those sacks, you know,
and Mike, I really thought the difference in this game was,
you know, We could say execution if you want to
use a coaching term, but let's boil it down tackling.
(03:52):
Tackling was maybe the Ravens' biggest problem of Monday Night,
and I think it was the Lion's biggest strength. They
look like the more prepared team, the tougher team, and
the smarter team Monday Night. And for me, the questions
about you know, Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn replacing those guys,
I think it's time to end that narrative. I think
Kelvin Sheppard did an amazing job Monday Night. John Morton
(04:12):
has called two straight great games. These guys I think
have earned their stripes and I want to put that
whole discussion a bed, because the lines are back, baby,
they are in.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
A meaningful way. I'm glad to bring up the coordinators.
There's we saw that in full display and I get it.
Week one was week one, But how they've ever spotted
over the last two weeks, I think is really telling it.
I think it speaks to the point that you're making.
I'll also say this, we know that Dan Campbell is
an aggressive minded coach. These the fourth down calls we
saw late in that game, fourth and two at midfield
and then you know, obviously it was a beautiful pass
(04:41):
from Jaredoff to Amen Ross Saint Brown and then Montgomery
runs it into the end zone on that next play.
But just before halftime, I think they got the ball
back with like twenty four seconds to go. It was
tied at fourteen, you know, Eric, and they're trying to
move the ball, and I'm thinking of myself like, yep,
just take the knee and just head into halftime. Now.
I know they didn't get the points on the field goal,
but in my mind that was telling, Like I think
(05:01):
that sent a message to Baltimore, like, dude, like where
it's all gased the rest of the way, Like, just
be prepared for it.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
No doubt about it. I mean, that's the mentality they forged,
right it was. It was kind of a cute thing
at first. Now it's become their identity, it's become who
they are. It instills fear in other teams. They know, hey,
the lines are probably going for it next time, so
we've got to be extra aggressive. And you know, it
kind of makes it their style of game in some ways,
and you know, help them win a big one.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Less on Monday Night.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, Sunday, as I'm watching the games, I'm like,
Where's Eric going to put the Chargers Because this is
a team that all of a sudden just continues to
figure it out. First time they're three in osince two
thousand and two. You go back and google it. Drew
Brees was their quarterback. Is Justin Herbert going to be
in this MVP conversation by season's end?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I mean, one of the things that I worried most
about heading into the season was pass protection, especially Ray
Shawn Slater going down shuffling parts up front. Beckton had
some some weird ailments there for a minute, but he
is processing so quickly now and getting rid of the
ball faster, delivering it still with incredible accuracy. Mike, I
think his touchdown throw to Keenan Allen there at the
(06:06):
end was one of the better throws you'll see in
the NFL. Off balance, drifting to his left, putting it
on the money. Just a fantastic play right there. It's
fair to ask about the run game, right they move
up this big move this week. Naja Harris goes down
a lot of pressure in Amari and Hampton, the rookie Look,
he had to fumble in the fourth quarter last yay
or two get you know, week two, So I don't
(06:27):
want to just say this kid's gonna take over.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Everything's gonna be gravy.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Maybe they do need a little veteran help to kind
of buoy the situation there. But the way Herbert's playing
those passing game weapons, the confidence he has, and I
think the confidence Jim Harbaugh has in him is really
showing itself.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Look at number five, and I think it's important to
note here because we got to give those Chargers team
some love. They've had some dramatic wins, but no one's
had more dramatic victories than the Tampa Bay Bucks. Our producer,
hye them says, Oh, they're born hithen Like, what are
you watching, dude? Like this is this is dramatic with
Baker just making some moves. But you finally, I think
you're on board with this team. And not to say
that you weren't before, but I think this is showing hey, like,
(07:06):
this is a team that we wouldn't be surprised as
they're in a conference championship game.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, how are they going to navigate a really tough schedule?
And also some injuries, right, we know about some of
the pre existing ones, and then Mike Evans goes down,
He's gonna probably be out for a spell here already
have some injuries at receiver, O line, D line. I mean,
those are some important positions, So I do worry about that.
And to be fair, they never should have blown that
lead in the first place. But you know, the defense
(07:31):
giving up two long drives in the fourth quarter is
a concern. Special teams breakdown something they got to work on.
But Baker Mayfield, we know he's got it in him.
He's got that guts, you know, the guts to get
through there. I think that shows a lot about the
character of this team, and I think Todd Bowle has
done a really good job overall this year. But again,
that scheduled Eagles at Seattle forty nine ers. I think
(07:53):
they got the Lions in Detroit right after that, So
that next four pack of games is going to be
a gauntlet for them. They're going to have to find
their way through it.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, and look, we'll see where the Jets land on
your rankings. But the fact that they were in this
game and showed some signs of life to me is
definitely a positive. The Will McDonald though play at the
end of that game that had Aaron Glenn dancing. I
just encourage people, if you haven't seen it before, want
to take a look, just pull it up on YouTube
or wherever you get your highlights, or on NFL dot com.
(08:23):
This is a defensive end who looked like a corner.
I mean, the athletic ability to hurt the guy I
mean is it really was a spectacular moment on the field.
Eric I get to do game day preview on Sunday mornings.
I made a statement about the Green Bay Packers and
Boyle boy Do I regret saying that I thought that
they would efforts to get to the super Bowl because
(08:44):
they go against and I get it, number one total
defense in the NFL Cleveland. They humbled those dudes.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
They did, and they beat him in the trenches.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
I mean, there was a severe mismatch between the Browns
defensive front and what the Packers were putting up with
their blockers. Obviously, two guys get hurt, Aaron Banks, you know,
and Zach Tom having trouble staying healthy.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
That's been a big problem last couple of games.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
We've seen some pressures get through now they've been able
to manage it prior to that Cleveland game, and look,
even at ten zero, with what three minutes to go,
you feel still pretty good about their ability to.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Finish it off.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But you know, Love sacked five times, he had a
horrible pick in the fourth quarter. You know, just does
those offensive questions kind of leave the door open? Are
they truly in that elite group?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
You know?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I kind of hedged a little bit and brought them
back to earth. They looked phenomenal Week one, great week two.
Week three did sort of answer ask some questions about them.
But if they can get that old line figured out,
get some of their receivers healthy, I'll feel a lot
better about it. But Sunday was a nice wake up
call for them. I think they understand now they can't
play with fire very often.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, and by the way, from a Cleveland perspective, because
I think that team deserves its flowers, we spent we've
done too much of a disservice. And I say we,
I mean that like the media in general spending so
much time talking about this team and what's going on
at that quarterback position and in that quarterback room. In
the off season, the reality is all we should have
talked about is how great this defense is because those
dudes are absolute juggernauts out on the football field. One
(10:09):
team that I thought was going to be a juggernaut
this year to the Baltimore Ravens. I don't know where
to go on this one, because for like a year
and a half, every time we do game picks, I
don't think I've ever not picked the Baltimore Ravens. I
think the best roster in the NFL. Let's start with
Derek Henry. It's three consecutive games, it's a fumble, He's
lost two of them. Is there an issue going on
(10:29):
right now?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You know, a couple of years ago in Tennessee, late
in the twenty two season, they had a terrific record,
We're steamrolling to the playoffs, and then out of nowhere,
Derrick Henry I think, fumbled like five times in a
five game span and the Titans started losing games. It
became kind of an epidemic. Now, he fixed it the
next year, but that was also his final year in Tennessee.
And I'm just saying we've seen in the past where
(10:52):
you know, he fumbles once, he fumbles twice all of
a sudden, it sort of.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Becomes a little mini epidemic.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
There hasn't been the case for most of his career,
but there was that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
One recent stretch. The scares you.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He had three all of last season, now three in
three games. So yeah, that and I would say the
Ravens defense right now, no Madabique, no van neyt jyr Alexander.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Was a healthy scratch.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
They're mixing some things up, but still they've got to
find solutions, and especially when they face the elite offenses
in the NFL, like the Bills, like the Lions, et cetera.
That's the kind of team that they've had the biggest
trouble stopping. Like I mentioned earlier with Detroit, the tackling
on the Ravens was a huge, huge problem last Monday Night,
and they got to get it fixed.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
This is a one and two football team going to
Kansas City, a Chiefs team that also needs needs a win.
At what point do we just say, hey, like, maybe
we're just wrong about the Ravens. I'm not ready to
go there, but I think some people might look at
this record and look at the results at home against
the Lions and just say like, hey, are they just
not who we thought they were.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
They've had some curious losses in early seasons, you know,
I mean last year. You know, they lost at home
to the Raiders a couple of years ago with Gardner Minshew,
I think at quarterbacks. So you know, obviously they've had
some performances that are less than super Bowl caliber in September,
maybe even October as well. That lost to Pittsburgh last year,
(12:13):
probably stuck in their crop quite a bit. But you know,
they tend to get better as the season goes on.
That's the best thing they have going for him. I
know they'll get healthier defensively, but can they find solutions
on that side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
And also protect their quarterback.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Look, I know that the Lions did a terrific job
attacking Jackson, but you don't win a Super Bowl without Lamar,
and you got to take care of him.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
First.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Seven sacks Todd for the most that Lamar has suffered
as a game. I can't even imagine Lamar getting sacks
seven times another time. I witnessed it last night and
I'm thinking to myself, this is just crazy town, but
it's facts. This is what we saw on Monday night. Still,
the come We just went through the first eight teams,
eight more to go. We touched on the Eagles. Where
does that leave the Rams and don't look now, Giants
(12:54):
fans Daniel Jones and the Colts undefeated? Where do they
sit on the rankings? That's coming up next back here
on Power Rankings along with Eric at home, I can
I'm with you. Eric's teams nine through sixteen. We'll talk
about the Colts who check in at number nine in
just a moment, and the Rams at ten. Kansas City
Chiefs staying even with that win on Sunday Night football
(13:15):
against the Giants. There are at eleven the Niners figuring
out ways with the depleted roster to get some victories,
also three to zero at the twelfth position. At thirteen,
it's the Seahawks who move up one spot. The Broncos
trying to figure things out. They've had some late game
situations where they've lost. Basically at the buzzer, they moved
down four spots at fourteen, the Vikings move up four
(13:35):
spots to fifteen, and the Steelers with the win against
the Patriots, also moving up four spots to sixteen. Let's
take a closer look at the AFC South odds to
win the division no surprise with an undefeated record. The
favorite right now the Indianapolis Colts. The team on the
back end of this that needs some help plus four
four thousand, five hundred that is the Tennessee Titans, So
(13:56):
probably gonna need a little help to get there.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Eric, Yeah, I mean he hasn't been touched and when
there's been pressure, he's been able to escape with his legs.
I mean, they have zero turnovers on the season, they
have one punt, and they have two sacks allowed on Jones.
So look, I mean he's done a great job of
navigating the pocket, averaging career highs and completion percentage and
yards per attempt. So I mean that tells you they're
getting the ball vertical and they're getting yards after the catch.
(14:20):
But you also have Jonathan Taylor. I mean, I think
both guys could make a case for being top ten
MVP candidates at this point.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
They've both been terrific.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And on top of that, you still have guys like
Michael Pittman, Tyler Warren, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs. You know,
those first three guys are all averaging fifty seven sixty
yards a game.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Receiving.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
So the diversity of this offense, it's really tough to contain.
You take out one guy, we've got three other guys
we can go to. So that and the defense doing
a very good job for the most part, has spelled
out three and zero. We'll find out a lot about
him against the Rams. But boy, I like their chances
a lot more than I thought I would a couple
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, I like that you bring up the Rams because, look,
I get why you have them where they are coming
off this loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. It makes sense
just based off of wins and losses for the teams
of them. They're still a dangerous team. They were still
up nineteen points against the raining super Bowl champs in
the second half on the road. How do I get
out of my mind some ugly issues and special teams
(15:15):
with some blackfield goals?
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yeah, that happens, right, I Mean a team looks dominant
three quarters, things fall apart.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
The fresh memories in our mind are.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All the mistakes that happened late, and it's hard not
to look back at those those special teams errors, and
they clearly cost them the game. Hard not to look
back at that secondary and say we've kind of known
about it for a while. This is an issue. We've
got to clean this up as well. You know, theoretically,
the offense did almost everything right right. I mean, they
got two plus first downs on every single drive in
the fourth quarter, got them into field goal range a
(15:44):
couple of times. But you know, just consistently getting the
ball to their playmakers. Sometimes you can, you can get
to Matthew Stafford, sometimes you can, you can contain Pukinaku
and DeVante Adams. That might be an issue at some
point if they're not running the football. But this, like
you said, dangerous football team. They've got to fix those things.
They've had team's airs in the past. It's something that's
(16:06):
plagued them at times throughout the Sean McVay era.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Well, inside this division you have a San Francisco forty
nine Ers team that you moved up one spot. They
sit twelfth right now in the rankings. I don't know
how many teams, and look, to be fair, they weren't
able to navigate injuries in the last couple of seas,
especially last year. This year they have been able to
No rock Perdy mac Jones comes in. They're winning some games.
Nick Boson now done for the year. He's got the
torn ACL. George Kittle's been dinged up as well. I
(16:31):
actually think what Kyle Shanahan is doing is pretty damn impressive.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I mean, look, you can look at the ugly factor
and say these weren't pretty wins, but you have to
consider all the factors you just mentioned.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
For once again, the injuries are striking this team. So far,
they have a drop one.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
The defense has kept the opponents off the scoreboard for
the most part. They've made important clutch plays in the
fourth quarter in their games, so you know, you got
to give them a lot of credit for the execution.
Even with Mac having some missteps and not having a
perfect game. I think it's another measuring stick game against
the Jaguars. Both teams have some some questions, but also
a winning record and some positives.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
That outweigh those negatives.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
So the Bosa injury clearly hurts puts a lot of
pressure on Mike hil Williams. He's been very good, but
that's a big ass for a rookie to fill those shoes.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and look, it's never easy. I mean, I think
from a fan's perspective, you sit there and you say, hey, guys,
get cut and it's business. But there's the personal side
of this. I don't think it was easy for John
Lynch and coyleege Shanahan to go and cut a kicker
they took in the third round in Jake Moody. But
it pays dividends because Steady Pinero buries a game winning
field goals. So at least they could take some solace
in that the Seahawks are right behind the Niners. They're
(17:39):
thirteenth defense looks real. I know you wrote about this
on NFL dot Com. How much are you legitimately buying
the Seahawks in this division?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah, they're one of the teams Mike that I think
I've had to kind of recalibrate my expectations on or
reset my thinking on a little bit, because I wasn't
sure what the identity of the offense was going to be.
I wasn't sure if this defense was going to be
far enough along in the Mike McDonald era to play
the kind of ball that I thought he wanted to play.
But they're able to kind of mix some swashbuckling, you know,
(18:07):
daring throws from Sam Darnold that that two headed running
attack on offense. They've managed some issues on the old
line pretty well, I think for the most part. Defensively pressure,
you know, speed to the ball, still doing it without
some of their better players who have been injured too,
So you know, credit to him for kind of holding
things together. And look, I kind of mentioned earlier. I mean,
(18:28):
you know, the the yardage in that game between the
Saints and the Seahawks, you would have thought just looking
at the stats, no turnovers for both teams, roughly the
same yards.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
How is it thirty eight to six.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Seattle dominant special teams in that game? Was the difference
punt return, touchdown, the block returned as well? You know,
it's just a terrific all around showing and great field
position gives the offense so much better opportunities.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, I think Saints fans are like, really, this is
the week where we're going to get killed in special teams.
But once again, and we'll show you where the Saints
are a little bit later. We got a Bears team
by the way, that is horizon. We've got a Bengals
team that is falling, and I think it's safe to
say the Cowboys aren't a little bit of trouble for
sixteen teams down, the last sixteen still to go. That's
next on power rankings. I'll back here on power rankings,
(19:15):
Mike Aman, Eric at home with you as we look
at the rankings seventeen through twenty four. The Jags moving
up six spots. Here we go, Trevor Lawrence in company
to seventeen the Arizona Cardinal State. Even tough loss against
the Niners. The Bears. Nice to see Ben Johnson in
that locker room getting fired up with his guys. Win
number one for that team. They move up three spots
at twenty. It's the Bengals dropping four spots. That was
(19:36):
a tough going without Joe Burrow and it was Jake
Browning this week. Carolina Panthers moving up eight spots. Hello Atlanta,
Oh my lord. Speaking of the Falcons, they're at twenty two.
At twenty three, I didn't think I'd see this this year,
but the Houston Texans dropping six spots into that position
in the Dallas Cowboys also dropping three spots. They sit
at twenty four. All right, Eric, I want to do
a little rapid fire. I'm gonna throw some teams your way,
(19:58):
just kind of what stands out about them, And we'll
start with the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams looking like
college Caleb out there and really some special moments for
that offense.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
And Ben Johnson looked like in the play caller and
play designer he was last year. I mean, getting Luther
Burton involved, getting Colston Lovelin involved early, you know, and
having better protection too. I know this Dallas defense has
plenty of problems, but I thought the creativity of the
game plan, the you know, the number of things they
threw at Dallas, it was a lot to stop. And
you get Caleb going early, and you hit these shot
(20:29):
plays like this one to Burdon way.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Down the field.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
That's going to give a little energy to the crowd,
to the offense as well, and the defense picked up
the slack and I thought played pretty well. So they
do it against the Raiders. I'll be a believer right now.
I'm in kind of hold, wait and see mode.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Okay, I'm still trying to figure out if I can
believe in the Cincinnati Bengals without Joe Burrow.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
No, I mean, look, we saw what Browning did a
couple of years ago with this offense, in some ways,
he played about the same level, maybe ninety five percent
of the level Burrow did. That was not the case Sunday,
and it certainly wasn't the case even with the comeback,
or excuse me, even with his first effort last week.
He's got five interceptions now on fewer than sixty passes.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
So this is the concern.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Look, they could have had seven turnovers, and they had
two of them run back for touchdowns. Two of them
they recovered their own fumbles. But boy, you just can't
play that sloppy football with a backup quarterback and a
defense that already has questions. Too many things going on
right now, even with the winning record.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, Minnesota juggernauts on the defensive side. Meanwhile, the Panthers,
we gotta love up this team. Man, you gotta be
kidding me. I didn't think we'd see a performance like
this maybe for a couple of seasons, if I'm being
honest with you.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Throttled Atlanta, Yeah, I mean the pick six obviously kind
of helped. And you know, I thought the defense did
a really good job on Michael Pennix. You know, Bryce,
you owng was fine. The offense was just no cablieve
it or not. But you know, you look back to
really halftime in that Arizona game. The last six quarters,
including this this beatdown of Atlanta, Panthers have played some
good ball. They haven't allowed a single point I think
(21:53):
in their last ten or twelve possessions. So it's been
really impressive to see how they've come together. A lot
of questions about that no name defense, but they stepped
up in a huge way last week.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, and I think this is like a little bit
of a reset from a Falcons perspective. My god, I
didn't think that would happen. I was just loving them
up last week on this show. The Texans WTF Like
most described the way the season has played out.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah, three close losses, three good teams, obviously, but still,
you know, the offseason, I look back, they fired the
oc they fired the O line coach and said, Okay,
that's it. We're going to fix this thing. Bringing a
couple new.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Coaches will be all good. It hasn't happened so far.
Got to improve the protection.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Stroud's got to be a little stronger in the pocket
and make better throws. And you know, the receivers have
to be more reliable too, the run games of questions,
So they have multiple issues on offense right now.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
That's plaguing them.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
But even with that record and even how these games
have gone, I still think they have a chance to
climb themselves back in, especially if the Colts can't keep
up their winning streak.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Look, this is a Texans team still looking for win
number one. They sit twenty three on the power rankings,
which has me thinking about some other teams that are
behind them. The Cleveland Browns. You actually move them up
six spots with that win. They're at twenty five, the
Raiders at twenty six, the Patriots trying to figure things
out at twenty seven, Gangreen, the Titans, twenty nine, the
Giants at thirty thirty one is the Dolphins, and thirty
(23:09):
two the Saints. Jackson Dart, by the way, getting the
start for the New York Giants this week against the Chargers.
Tough sled in here against an LA team Eric that
obviously has got some umph at this point. So something
tells me if that offense gets going, I'm gonna be
on you Sunday night. Like, let's try to try to
slot this team and move them up in those power Rankings.
(23:30):
Thanks everyone for watching.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
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):
Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings
on Mike Aam along with the man who does all
the heavy lifting, Eric at Home his rankings one through
thirty two, which you can catch on NFL dot com
and Eric, you know, before we even get to the
top teams right now, in the NFL Special Teams, some
people will say, hey, like, how big of a deal
is it? Based off of what we saw this past weekend,
it is a huge deal.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, you mess up on special teams, you throw away
the game. That's what it probably should mean, right, And
we saw these these field goals there were blocked, four
of them to run back for touchdowns, blocked extra point.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
The Seattle Seahawks built a thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Six halftime lead with about the same number of yards
and zero turnovers along with the Saints. So don't tell
me special teams doesn't have an impact.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I'm with you, you know, I was eager. I'm walking off
the set Monday Night Football, our postgame show on NFL Network,
and that's when I get the preview of what is
going to hit NFL Dot com and I said, Hey,
I wonder where some of these teams are going to land,
especially some of the best teams in the NFL. Off
Eagles was one of those squads, and I noticed in
your column, Hey, you thought about it, but you still
keep them number one despite being down nineteen points in
(01:13):
that third quarter. They obviously hold on to win the Bills.
At number two, the Detroit Lions. They move up three spots.
I cannot wait to talk about that team with you
in just a few moments. Finally, some love to the
Chargers moving up five spots. This might be the best
ranking they've ever had on Power Rankings. In that fourth position,
the Bucks at five, the Packers take a deep breath.
At six, the Baltimore Ravens will discuss them. I don't
(01:35):
know what to make of that squad and the Commanders
with Marcus Mariota holding on tight to that eighth position.
All right, how do you in your mind come to
terms with keeping the number one team, the Philadelphia Eagles
in that top spot, knowing they needed a whole lot
of help from their offense and exposed to place which
we hadn't really seen so far this season to get
this done.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, I mean, Jalen Hurts center after the game, We've
played so many different styles. He almost seemed kind of
astounded that they actually did sort of pull this comeback
off against the quality team, right, a team that almost
beat them in the playoffs last year.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But I thought about it.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I thought about moving Buffalo up, but thought they were
a little bit underwhelming on Thursday, and with the status
quo just sort of being the cleanest way to do it,
I kept the Eagles on top. Look, I could have
made a case for the Lions probably too, but the
way Philly has done this consistently now for over the
course of a year, and yes, I'm sort of still
counting a little bit of last year too, because the
(02:28):
leadership and the talent core is the same from a
Super Bowl team that to me just as are There's
so many resume builders that they have already. They built
up so much sort of trust and goodwill that I
don't want to say you expect Sunday to happen with
all the craziness that occurred, but you believe that they're
going to have a chance, just like I thought the
Ravens were going to have a chance to go win
(02:49):
that game. But didn't, but the Eagles pulled it off.
And so to me, that's that's number one type quality
right there.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, this is now two games in a row for
the Rams against the Eagles where they're going to be
kicking themselves knowing they had an opportunity to try to
close things out. They don't. We'll show you exactly where
the Rams are. Well, Eric, let's move on and take
a look at one of the biggest movers this week,
and it's gotta be the Lions. Based off of the
statement type win, I can't imagine getting a more important
(03:17):
win if you are Dan Campbell than on the road
against the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, they pretty much out Ravens the Ravens, right. I
know it's hard to say, but still thirty eight rushes,
two hundred and twenty four yards, four touchdowns on the ground.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
I mean, who does that in Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
The other team certainly does not do it on a
regular basis, even against the beat up Ravens defense. Down
a couple starters, I mean, containing Lamar, sacking him seven times.
Six different Lions got in on those sacks, you know,
and Mike, I really thought the difference in this game was,
you know, We could say execution if you want to
use a coaching term, but let's boil it down tackling.
(03:52):
Tackling was maybe the Ravens' biggest problem of Monday Night,
and I think it was the Lion's biggest strength. They
look like the more prepared team, the tougher team, and
the smarter team Monday Night. And for me, the questions
about you know, Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn replacing those guys,
I think it's time to end that narrative. I think
Kelvin Sheppard did an amazing job Monday Night. John Morton
(04:12):
has called two straight great games. These guys I think
have earned their stripes and I want to put that
whole discussion a bed, because the lines are back, baby,
they are in.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
A meaningful way. I'm glad to bring up the coordinators.
There's we saw that in full display and I get it.
Week one was week one, But how they've ever spotted
over the last two weeks, I think is really telling it.
I think it speaks to the point that you're making.
I'll also say this, we know that Dan Campbell is
an aggressive minded coach. These the fourth down calls we
saw late in that game, fourth and two at midfield
and then you know, obviously it was a beautiful pass
(04:41):
from Jaredoff to Amen Ross Saint Brown and then Montgomery
runs it into the end zone on that next play.
But just before halftime, I think they got the ball
back with like twenty four seconds to go. It was
tied at fourteen, you know, Eric, and they're trying to
move the ball, and I'm thinking of myself like, yep,
just take the knee and just head into halftime. Now.
I know they didn't get the points on the field goal,
but in my mind that was telling, Like I think
(05:01):
that sent a message to Baltimore, like, dude, like where
it's all gased the rest of the way, Like, just
be prepared for it.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
No doubt about it. I mean, that's the mentality they forged,
right it was. It was kind of a cute thing
at first. Now it's become their identity, it's become who
they are. It instills fear in other teams. They know, hey,
the lines are probably going for it next time, so
we've got to be extra aggressive. And you know, it
kind of makes it their style of game in some ways,
and you know, help them win a big one.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Less on Monday Night.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, Sunday, as I'm watching the games, I'm like,
Where's Eric going to put the Chargers Because this is
a team that all of a sudden just continues to
figure it out. First time they're three in osince two
thousand and two. You go back and google it. Drew
Brees was their quarterback. Is Justin Herbert going to be
in this MVP conversation by season's end?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I mean, one of the things that I worried most
about heading into the season was pass protection, especially Ray
Shawn Slater going down shuffling parts up front. Beckton had
some some weird ailments there for a minute, but he
is processing so quickly now and getting rid of the
ball faster, delivering it still with incredible accuracy. Mike, I
think his touchdown throw to Keenan Allen there at the
(06:06):
end was one of the better throws you'll see in
the NFL. Off balance, drifting to his left, putting it
on the money. Just a fantastic play right there. It's
fair to ask about the run game, right they move
up this big move this week. Naja Harris goes down
a lot of pressure in Amari and Hampton, the rookie Look,
he had to fumble in the fourth quarter last yay
or two get you know, week two, So I don't
(06:27):
want to just say this kid's gonna take over.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Everything's gonna be gravy.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Maybe they do need a little veteran help to kind
of buoy the situation there. But the way Herbert's playing
those passing game weapons, the confidence he has, and I
think the confidence Jim Harbaugh has in him is really
showing itself.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Look at number five, and I think it's important to
note here because we got to give those Chargers team
some love. They've had some dramatic wins, but no one's
had more dramatic victories than the Tampa Bay Bucks. Our producer,
hye them says, Oh, they're born hithen Like, what are
you watching, dude? Like this is this is dramatic with
Baker just making some moves. But you finally, I think
you're on board with this team. And not to say
that you weren't before, but I think this is showing hey, like,
(07:06):
this is a team that we wouldn't be surprised as
they're in a conference championship game.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, how are they going to navigate a really tough schedule?
And also some injuries, right, we know about some of
the pre existing ones, and then Mike Evans goes down,
He's gonna probably be out for a spell here already
have some injuries at receiver, O line, D line. I mean,
those are some important positions, So I do worry about that.
And to be fair, they never should have blown that
lead in the first place. But you know, the defense
(07:31):
giving up two long drives in the fourth quarter is
a concern. Special teams breakdown something they got to work on.
But Baker Mayfield, we know he's got it in him.
He's got that guts, you know, the guts to get
through there. I think that shows a lot about the
character of this team, and I think Todd Bowle has
done a really good job overall this year. But again,
that scheduled Eagles at Seattle forty nine ers. I think
(07:53):
they got the Lions in Detroit right after that, So
that next four pack of games is going to be
a gauntlet for them. They're going to have to find
their way through it.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, and look, we'll see where the Jets land on
your rankings. But the fact that they were in this
game and showed some signs of life to me is
definitely a positive. The Will McDonald though play at the
end of that game that had Aaron Glenn dancing. I
just encourage people, if you haven't seen it before, want
to take a look, just pull it up on YouTube
or wherever you get your highlights, or on NFL dot com.
(08:23):
This is a defensive end who looked like a corner.
I mean, the athletic ability to hurt the guy I
mean is it really was a spectacular moment on the field.
Eric I get to do game day preview on Sunday mornings.
I made a statement about the Green Bay Packers and
Boyle boy Do I regret saying that I thought that
they would efforts to get to the super Bowl because
(08:44):
they go against and I get it, number one total
defense in the NFL Cleveland. They humbled those dudes.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
They did, and they beat him in the trenches.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
I mean, there was a severe mismatch between the Browns
defensive front and what the Packers were putting up with
their blockers. Obviously, two guys get hurt, Aaron Banks, you know,
and Zach Tom having trouble staying healthy.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
That's been a big problem last couple of games.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
We've seen some pressures get through now they've been able
to manage it prior to that Cleveland game, and look,
even at ten zero, with what three minutes to go,
you feel still pretty good about their ability to.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Finish it off.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
But you know, Love sacked five times, he had a
horrible pick in the fourth quarter. You know, just does
those offensive questions kind of leave the door open? Are
they truly in that elite group?
Speaker 4 (09:27):
You know?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I kind of hedged a little bit and brought them
back to earth. They looked phenomenal Week one, great week two.
Week three did sort of answer ask some questions about them.
But if they can get that old line figured out,
get some of their receivers healthy, I'll feel a lot
better about it. But Sunday was a nice wake up
call for them. I think they understand now they can't
play with fire very often.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, and by the way, from a Cleveland perspective, because
I think that team deserves its flowers, we spent we've
done too much of a disservice. And I say we,
I mean that like the media in general spending so
much time talking about this team and what's going on
at that quarterback position and in that quarterback room. In
the off season, the reality is all we should have
talked about is how great this defense is because those
dudes are absolute juggernauts out on the football field. One
(10:09):
team that I thought was going to be a juggernaut
this year to the Baltimore Ravens. I don't know where
to go on this one, because for like a year
and a half, every time we do game picks, I
don't think I've ever not picked the Baltimore Ravens. I
think the best roster in the NFL. Let's start with
Derek Henry. It's three consecutive games, it's a fumble, He's
lost two of them. Is there an issue going on
(10:29):
right now?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You know, a couple of years ago in Tennessee, late
in the twenty two season, they had a terrific record,
We're steamrolling to the playoffs, and then out of nowhere,
Derrick Henry I think, fumbled like five times in a
five game span and the Titans started losing games. It
became kind of an epidemic. Now, he fixed it the
next year, but that was also his final year in Tennessee.
And I'm just saying we've seen in the past where
(10:52):
you know, he fumbles once, he fumbles twice all of
a sudden, it sort of.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Becomes a little mini epidemic.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
There hasn't been the case for most of his career,
but there was that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
One recent stretch. The scares you.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
He had three all of last season, now three in
three games. So yeah, that and I would say the
Ravens defense right now, no Madabique, no van neyt jyr Alexander.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Was a healthy scratch.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
They're mixing some things up, but still they've got to
find solutions, and especially when they face the elite offenses
in the NFL, like the Bills, like the Lions, et cetera.
That's the kind of team that they've had the biggest
trouble stopping. Like I mentioned earlier with Detroit, the tackling
on the Ravens was a huge, huge problem last Monday Night,
and they got to get it fixed.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
This is a one and two football team going to
Kansas City, a Chiefs team that also needs needs a win.
At what point do we just say, hey, like, maybe
we're just wrong about the Ravens. I'm not ready to
go there, but I think some people might look at
this record and look at the results at home against
the Lions and just say like, hey, are they just
not who we thought they were.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
They've had some curious losses in early seasons, you know,
I mean last year. You know, they lost at home
to the Raiders a couple of years ago with Gardner Minshew,
I think at quarterbacks. So you know, obviously they've had
some performances that are less than super Bowl caliber in September,
maybe even October as well. That lost to Pittsburgh last year,
(12:13):
probably stuck in their crop quite a bit. But you know,
they tend to get better as the season goes on.
That's the best thing they have going for him. I
know they'll get healthier defensively, but can they find solutions
on that side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
And also protect their quarterback.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Look, I know that the Lions did a terrific job
attacking Jackson, but you don't win a Super Bowl without Lamar,
and you got to take care of him.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
First.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Seven sacks Todd for the most that Lamar has suffered
as a game. I can't even imagine Lamar getting sacks
seven times another time. I witnessed it last night and
I'm thinking to myself, this is just crazy town, but
it's facts. This is what we saw on Monday night. Still,
the come We just went through the first eight teams,
eight more to go. We touched on the Eagles. Where
does that leave the Rams and don't look now, Giants
(12:54):
fans Daniel Jones and the Colts undefeated? Where do they
sit on the rankings? That's coming up next back here
on Power Rankings along with Eric at home, I can
I'm with you. Eric's teams nine through sixteen. We'll talk
about the Colts who check in at number nine in
just a moment, and the Rams at ten. Kansas City
Chiefs staying even with that win on Sunday Night football
(13:15):
against the Giants. There are at eleven the Niners figuring
out ways with the depleted roster to get some victories,
also three to zero at the twelfth position. At thirteen,
it's the Seahawks who move up one spot. The Broncos
trying to figure things out. They've had some late game
situations where they've lost. Basically at the buzzer, they moved
down four spots at fourteen, the Vikings move up four
(13:35):
spots to fifteen, and the Steelers with the win against
the Patriots, also moving up four spots to sixteen. Let's
take a closer look at the AFC South odds to
win the division no surprise with an undefeated record. The
favorite right now the Indianapolis Colts. The team on the
back end of this that needs some help plus four
four thousand, five hundred that is the Tennessee Titans, So
(13:56):
probably gonna need a little help to get there.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Eric, Yeah, I mean he hasn't been touched and when
there's been pressure, he's been able to escape with his legs.
I mean, they have zero turnovers on the season, they
have one punt, and they have two sacks allowed on Jones.
So look, I mean he's done a great job of
navigating the pocket, averaging career highs and completion percentage and
yards per attempt. So I mean that tells you they're
getting the ball vertical and they're getting yards after the catch.
(14:20):
But you also have Jonathan Taylor. I mean, I think
both guys could make a case for being top ten
MVP candidates at this point.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
They've both been terrific.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And on top of that, you still have guys like
Michael Pittman, Tyler Warren, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs. You know,
those first three guys are all averaging fifty seven sixty
yards a game.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Receiving.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
So the diversity of this offense, it's really tough to contain.
You take out one guy, we've got three other guys
we can go to. So that and the defense doing
a very good job for the most part, has spelled
out three and zero. We'll find out a lot about
him against the Rams. But boy, I like their chances
a lot more than I thought I would a couple
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, I like that you bring up the Rams because, look,
I get why you have them where they are coming
off this loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. It makes sense
just based off of wins and losses for the teams
of them. They're still a dangerous team. They were still
up nineteen points against the raining super Bowl champs in
the second half on the road. How do I get
out of my mind some ugly issues and special teams
(15:15):
with some blackfield goals?
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yeah, that happens, right, I Mean a team looks dominant
three quarters, things fall apart.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
The fresh memories in our mind are.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
All the mistakes that happened late, and it's hard not
to look back at those those special teams errors, and
they clearly cost them the game. Hard not to look
back at that secondary and say we've kind of known
about it for a while. This is an issue. We've
got to clean this up as well. You know, theoretically,
the offense did almost everything right right. I mean, they
got two plus first downs on every single drive in
the fourth quarter, got them into field goal range a
(15:44):
couple of times. But you know, just consistently getting the
ball to their playmakers. Sometimes you can, you can get
to Matthew Stafford, sometimes you can, you can contain Pukinaku
and DeVante Adams. That might be an issue at some
point if they're not running the football. But this, like
you said, dangerous football team. They've got to fix those things.
They've had team's airs in the past. It's something that's
(16:06):
plagued them at times throughout the Sean McVay era.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Well, inside this division you have a San Francisco forty
nine Ers team that you moved up one spot. They
sit twelfth right now in the rankings. I don't know
how many teams, and look, to be fair, they weren't
able to navigate injuries in the last couple of seas,
especially last year. This year they have been able to
No rock Perdy mac Jones comes in. They're winning some games.
Nick Boson now done for the year. He's got the
torn ACL. George Kittle's been dinged up as well. I
(16:31):
actually think what Kyle Shanahan is doing is pretty damn impressive.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I mean, look, you can look at the ugly factor
and say these weren't pretty wins, but you have to
consider all the factors you just mentioned.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
For once again, the injuries are striking this team. So far,
they have a drop one.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
The defense has kept the opponents off the scoreboard for
the most part. They've made important clutch plays in the
fourth quarter in their games, so you know, you got
to give them a lot of credit for the execution.
Even with Mac having some missteps and not having a
perfect game. I think it's another measuring stick game against
the Jaguars. Both teams have some some questions, but also
a winning record and some positives.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
That outweigh those negatives.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
So the Bosa injury clearly hurts puts a lot of
pressure on Mike hil Williams. He's been very good, but
that's a big ass for a rookie to fill those shoes.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yeah, and look, it's never easy. I mean, I think
from a fan's perspective, you sit there and you say, hey, guys,
get cut and it's business. But there's the personal side
of this. I don't think it was easy for John
Lynch and coyleege Shanahan to go and cut a kicker
they took in the third round in Jake Moody. But
it pays dividends because Steady Pinero buries a game winning
field goals. So at least they could take some solace
in that the Seahawks are right behind the Niners. They're
(17:39):
thirteenth defense looks real. I know you wrote about this
on NFL dot Com. How much are you legitimately buying
the Seahawks in this division?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah, they're one of the teams Mike that I think
I've had to kind of recalibrate my expectations on or
reset my thinking on a little bit, because I wasn't
sure what the identity of the offense was going to be.
I wasn't sure if this defense was going to be
far enough along in the Mike McDonald era to play
the kind of ball that I thought he wanted to play.
But they're able to kind of mix some swashbuckling, you know,
(18:07):
daring throws from Sam Darnold that that two headed running
attack on offense. They've managed some issues on the old
line pretty well, I think for the most part. Defensively pressure,
you know, speed to the ball, still doing it without
some of their better players who have been injured too,
So you know, credit to him for kind of holding
things together. And look, I kind of mentioned earlier. I mean,
(18:28):
you know, the the yardage in that game between the
Saints and the Seahawks, you would have thought just looking
at the stats, no turnovers for both teams, roughly the
same yards.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
How is it thirty eight to six.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Seattle dominant special teams in that game? Was the difference
punt return, touchdown, the block returned as well? You know,
it's just a terrific all around showing and great field
position gives the offense so much better opportunities.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, I think Saints fans are like, really, this is
the week where we're going to get killed in special teams.
But once again, and we'll show you where the Saints
are a little bit later. We got a Bears team
by the way, that is horizon. We've got a Bengals
team that is falling, and I think it's safe to
say the Cowboys aren't a little bit of trouble for
sixteen teams down, the last sixteen still to go. That's
next on power rankings. I'll back here on power rankings,
(19:15):
Mike Aman, Eric at home with you as we look
at the rankings seventeen through twenty four. The Jags moving
up six spots. Here we go, Trevor Lawrence in company
to seventeen the Arizona Cardinal State. Even tough loss against
the Niners. The Bears. Nice to see Ben Johnson in
that locker room getting fired up with his guys. Win
number one for that team. They move up three spots
at twenty. It's the Bengals dropping four spots. That was
(19:36):
a tough going without Joe Burrow and it was Jake
Browning this week. Carolina Panthers moving up eight spots. Hello Atlanta,
Oh my lord. Speaking of the Falcons, they're at twenty two.
At twenty three, I didn't think I'd see this this year,
but the Houston Texans dropping six spots into that position
in the Dallas Cowboys also dropping three spots. They sit
at twenty four. All right, Eric, I want to do
a little rapid fire. I'm gonna throw some teams your way,
(19:58):
just kind of what stands out about them, And we'll
start with the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams looking like
college Caleb out there and really some special moments for
that offense.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
And Ben Johnson looked like in the play caller and
play designer he was last year. I mean, getting Luther
Burton involved, getting Colston Lovelin involved early, you know, and
having better protection too. I know this Dallas defense has
plenty of problems, but I thought the creativity of the
game plan, the you know, the number of things they
threw at Dallas, it was a lot to stop. And
you get Caleb going early, and you hit these shot
(20:29):
plays like this one to Burdon way.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Down the field.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
That's going to give a little energy to the crowd,
to the offense as well, and the defense picked up
the slack and I thought played pretty well. So they
do it against the Raiders. I'll be a believer right now.
I'm in kind of hold, wait and see mode.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Okay, I'm still trying to figure out if I can
believe in the Cincinnati Bengals without Joe Burrow.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
No, I mean, look, we saw what Browning did a
couple of years ago with this offense, in some ways,
he played about the same level, maybe ninety five percent
of the level Burrow did. That was not the case Sunday,
and it certainly wasn't the case even with the comeback,
or excuse me, even with his first effort last week.
He's got five interceptions now on fewer than sixty passes.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
So this is the concern.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Look, they could have had seven turnovers, and they had
two of them run back for touchdowns. Two of them
they recovered their own fumbles. But boy, you just can't
play that sloppy football with a backup quarterback and a
defense that already has questions. Too many things going on
right now, even with the winning record.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, Minnesota juggernauts on the defensive side. Meanwhile, the Panthers,
we gotta love up this team. Man, you gotta be
kidding me. I didn't think we'd see a performance like
this maybe for a couple of seasons, if I'm being
honest with you.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Throttled Atlanta, Yeah, I mean the pick six obviously kind
of helped. And you know, I thought the defense did
a really good job on Michael Pennix. You know, Bryce,
you owng was fine. The offense was just no cablieve
it or not. But you know, you look back to
really halftime in that Arizona game. The last six quarters,
including this this beatdown of Atlanta, Panthers have played some
good ball. They haven't allowed a single point I think
(21:53):
in their last ten or twelve possessions. So it's been
really impressive to see how they've come together. A lot
of questions about that no name defense, but they stepped
up in a huge way last week.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, and I think this is like a little bit
of a reset from a Falcons perspective. My god, I
didn't think that would happen. I was just loving them
up last week on this show. The Texans WTF Like
most described the way the season has played out.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah, three close losses, three good teams, obviously, but still,
you know, the offseason, I look back, they fired the
oc they fired the O line coach and said, Okay,
that's it. We're going to fix this thing. Bringing a
couple new.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Coaches will be all good. It hasn't happened so far.
Got to improve the protection.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Stroud's got to be a little stronger in the pocket
and make better throws. And you know, the receivers have
to be more reliable too, the run games of questions,
So they have multiple issues on offense right now.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
That's plaguing them.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
But even with that record and even how these games
have gone, I still think they have a chance to
climb themselves back in, especially if the Colts can't keep
up their winning streak.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Look, this is a Texans team still looking for win
number one. They sit twenty three on the power rankings,
which has me thinking about some other teams that are
behind them. The Cleveland Browns. You actually move them up
six spots with that win. They're at twenty five, the
Raiders at twenty six, the Patriots trying to figure things
out at twenty seven, Gangreen, the Titans, twenty nine, the
Giants at thirty thirty one is the Dolphins, and thirty
(23:09):
two the Saints. Jackson Dart, by the way, getting the
start for the New York Giants this week against the Chargers.
Tough sled in here against an LA team Eric that
obviously has got some umph at this point. So something
tells me if that offense gets going, I'm gonna be
on you Sunday night. Like, let's try to try to
slot this team and move them up in those power Rankings.
(23:30):
Thanks everyone for watching.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
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