NFL Week 9 power rankings: Browns, Bills, Chiefs, Commanders rise as Vikings, Jets drop

The Carolina Panthers are the worst team in the NFL. We’ll first acknowledge that Bryce Young has thrust himself into ‘draft bust’ territory, but the Panthers organization throwing him into the fire against one of the league’s best defenses highlights how they’ve always set him up to fail. It’s simply going to take years before the Panthers are relevant again and if they get the No. 1 pick, the only smart thing to do is trade it because this team needs a lot of help.

Related: Rumors suggest Panthers may trade Diontae Johnson

The Tennessee Titans waved the white flag on the 2024 NFL season before Week 8 by trading linebacker Ernest Jones and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Sure enough, that’s what the team played like on Sunday. If there’s any good news for Tennessee, it’s that they have more veterans who will generate trade interest and bring more draft picks in return. After two months of seeing this roster, it’s clear every single one of those picks is necessary.

Related: See where the Titans land in the 2025 NFL Draft order

Doug Pederson said it best a few weeks ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars need a culture change. The irony in the head coach’s comments, of course, is that he is one of Jacksonville’s biggest problems. With that said, while Lawrence was strong in the fourth quarter, his lost fumble that set up a Green Bay Packers’ touchdown proved costly. It’s also worth noting that Jacksonville lost to another backup quarterback.

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The New England Patriots win the strangest games. Nearly two months after a stunning victory in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, New England pulled off another surprise. Weeks removed from an ugly 24-3 loss to the New York Jets, the Patriots’ chances seemed awful and even more so after Drake Maye (concussion) left the game. Then, Jacoby Brissett came off the bench and did just enough enough to win it with 22 seconds left. This game might say a lot more about the Jets than it does the Patriots, but a win is a win and Jerod Mayo needed it.

The New York Jets’ season is over. Aaron Rodgers is right, the franchise needs to ‘make peace‘ with darkness because this is a very bad football team. Considering the Jets couldn’t beat the Denver Broncos or New England Patriots, we don’t see any reason why the results against the Houston Texans or Arizona Cardinals (Nov. 10) will be any different. The Jets are cursed and that curse probably won’t be broken until ‘ambassador’ Woody Johnson is gone.

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Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis made it emphatically clear this week that a Maxx Crosby trade isn’t happening. Maybe it should? Las Vegas doesn’t have a quarterback, running back, offensive line or dependable wide receivers. There are also issues in the secondary. A few picks in the 2025 NFL Draft won’t fix that, but trading Crosby would yield a haul of premium draft capital that could lead to a promising future. Then again, considering the Raiders’ draft history and the fact that Tom Telesco is the general manager, maybe Davis is right.

Related: Latest update from Raiders’ owner on Maxx Crosby

The 2-0 start for the New Orleans Saints feels like it happened a decade ago. While Dennis Allen’s defense actually showed some effort in the Week 8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, it didn’t matter because New Orleans didn’t have a functional offense. Maybe, just maybe, this season will finally force the Saints front office to realize this roster and coaching staff needs an overhaul. Then again, nothing in this franchise’s history suggests the long-term outlook is even being considered.

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The New York Giants are simply a bad football team and that’s fine as everyone’s known it for a year. What matters is that rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. is emerging as a core piece of this Giants’ offense moving forward and if Theo Johnson can come along, that gives New York three building blocks offensively. The Giants defense is fine, but some of the early breakouts from this draft class offensively provide hope for the future.

The Indianapolis Colts aren’t prioritizing winning or playoff contention this season. There’s no way you can watch the coaching staff continue to stick by Anthony Richardson as the starter and think any differently. Richardson completed a season-low 31.3 percent of his 32 pass attempts on Sunday, somehow lowering his league-worst 48.5 percent completion rate entering Week 8. It’s fine if Indianapolis wants to use this year as a “development season” for Richardson, but that should be made pretty clear to the fans who are paying to see this team.

The bizarro Miami Dolphins. Entering Week the, Miami had one of the best pass defenses in the NFL but only 2 wins to show for it because Tua Tagovailoa was out. Well, the Dolphins quarterback returned on Sunday and this offense looked good (5.9 yards per play, 73.3% third-down conversion rate). Yet, Miami lost 28-27 because its defense allowed 21 second-half points and Kyler Murray’s first 300-yeard game. At 2-5, you can start putting the nails in the Dolphins’ coffin.

Any Given Sunday. Facing one of the best NFL teams right now, the Cleveland Browns offense scored 20 points for the first time this season. Jameis Winston was exceptional in this one, accounting for 3 touchdowns with 334 yards and a 115.3 QB rating. He also led the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. We’re not saying the Browns are back, but competency at quarterback makes this team competitive.

Just a waste of an all-in season and an MVP-caliber quarterback. The Cincinnati Bengals are 3-5 with matchups remaining at Baltimore, versus Pittsburgh, at Dallas and at Pittsburgh. This was supposed to be the year, Tee Higgins’ last in Cincinnati and potentially the last for Trey Hendrickson. All wasted and it might be time for more national criticism of Bengals coach Zac Taylor.

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That should be all she wrote for the Dallas Cowboys. Once again Dak Prescott put up an admirable effort in garbage time to nearly pull off the comeback, then Dallas imploded all over again. Dallas has always had the same problems in recent years and they’ve just never been fixed. Coming off another loss on the national stage, it’s probably becoming evident to Jerry Jones that he’ll never see the Cowboys win a Super Bowl again.

Related: Latest on Dallas Cowboys trade deadline plans

Similar to the Minnesota Vikings, this sizable drop in the NFL Week 9 power rankings has a lot more to do with injuries than Sunday’s loss. Baker Mayfield certainly deserves credit for this 330-yard and 3-touchdown performance, but he has to force more things without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. That comes with consequences. From 4-2 to 4-4, Tampa Bay now has to face the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in consecutive weeks.

Look at what happens when the Arizona Cardinals get Marvin Harrison Jr. involved. In a critical Week 8 matchup, Kyler Murray went on the road and delivered one of his best performances of the season. Arizona’s face of the franchise recorded his first 300-yard game of the season, which proved crucial as Arizona turned a 20-10 deficit in the third quarter into a walk-off win thanks to Chad Ryland’s field goal. Arizona is at .500 on the year and while there’s too much inconsistency to bet on them making the playoffs, this team has some very bright moments that bode well for the future.

Bo Nix took full advantage of the worst team in the NFL on Sunday. The Denver Broncos rookie quarterback accounted for 4 total touchdowns, delivering his best passing performance as a pro. Of course, Denver’s defense also dominated after allowing an early touchdown drive in the first quarter. Few likely could’ve seen this 5-3 record coming from the Broncos, but it’s legitimate. We’re skeptical of how they will fare in the weeks to come (at avens, at Chiefs, vs Falcons), but they’ve already surprised us before.

The Los Angeles Rams are just a different team with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp out there. Keep in mind, this is the same team that took the Detroit Lions to overtime in Week 1 despite missing multiple starters on the offensive line and defense. Los Angeles looked like the better team against the Minnesota Vikings. Now at 3-4 on a two-game win streak, there are some winnable games on the Rams schedule in early November against the Seahawks, Dolphins and Patriots.

Related: Love Los Angeles Sports? Check Out LAFB Network

It should speak volumes about the u-and-down play around the league this season that the Seattle Seahawks only dropped a single spot in the NFL Week 9 power rankings. Without DK Metcalf, the Seahawks had their doors blown off at home, with Geno Smith playing poorly and Seattle’s defense faring even worse. Expectations for the Seahawks in 2024 were pretty realistic and at 4-4, they are playing right around where most expected them to be.

Facing a Buccaneers team missing both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, the Atlanta Falcons held a 31-17 lead with under 14 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Then, the wheels came off a bit. Atlanta did manage to survive thanks in large part to an outstanding performance from Kirk Cousins – 276 yards, 4-0 TD-INT, 145.9 QB rating – but this is a 5-3 team that truly feels like it could lose on any given week. With that said, what matters right now is the 3-0 record against the NFC South.

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It wasn’t a convincing win nor a clean performance, but beggars can’t be choosers. This was a must-win game for the San Francisco 49ers, they needed some momentum and at the very least a .500 record going into the Week 9 bye. When the 49ers return to the field in Week 10, Christian McCaffrey could return and that would be monumental for this offense.

The Justin Herbert-Ladd McConkey pairing looked great on Sunday, which came at a great time because this Los Angeles Chargers run game has vanished. The Chargers did take advantage of a bad opponent in Week 8, but they handled them with relative ease. Of course, Herbert and Harbaugh know all too well that prolonged issues on third downs will cause significant problems against much better competition in the weeks ahead.

Sometimes, you’re just cursed. In 99 of 100 games, that Jayden Daniels’ hail mary gets deflected down and the Chicago Bears get a signature win. Instead, the unthinkable happened and the Bears are now forced to recover from a heartbreaking loss. The difference between 5-2 and 4-3 is significant, especially with a second-half Bears schedule that includes four games against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.

Mike Tomlin continues to look like a genius for making the switch from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson. It also comes at a time of offensive cohesion, with Najee Harris ripping off multiple 100-yard games and Jaylen Warren proving to be an ideal complementary back. Plus, with George Pickens more involved, everyone is happy. That, all paired with a strong Steelers defense, makes Pittsburgh one of the 10 best NFL teams right now.

Dropping the Minnesota Vikings this many spots in our NFL Week 9 power rankings is more about the Christian Darrisaw injury than the loss. Yes, it’s alarming to see how Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford have picked Brian Flores’ defense apart, but regression was coming because of that subpar secondary. Losing Darrisaw, who is an All-Pro caliber left tackle, could make this a bottom-12 offensive line in pass protection. That’s dangerous territory given Sam Darnold’s issues with pressures and ‘ghosts’.

Related: Love Minnesota Sports? Check Out Minnesota Sports Fan

Even if you don’t buy into head coach Nick Sirianni, the Philadelphia Eagles are still one of the most talented teams in the NFL. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for 169 receiving yards and a touchdown, Saquon Barkley delivered 108 yards and Jalen Hurts delivered 4 total touchdowns. It’s also worth highlighting an Eagles defense that generated 2 takeaways and held Cincinnati to 10 points after the first quarter.

Related: See where the Eagles land in Sportsnaut’s NFL defense rankings

Jayden Daniels for MVP. Yes, plenty of good fortune on that hail mary led to the Washington Commanders victory. However, the Commanders drafted Daniels in large part because of his phenomenal deep ball and elite athleticism. Those two skills made the difference in that game-winning play. Lost in this win, the Commanders defense looked good. Both of those things together make this a dangerous football team moving forward.

Related: NFL analyst believes Commanders need this Super Bowl-winning cornerback

The old Baltimore Ravens made an appearance on Sunday, the version of the team that makes a baffling number of drops and mental mistakes. Week 8 also served as a reminder that this Ravens offensive line isn’t nearly as strong in pass protection as some believe, but neither of these is the big problem. It turns out, that Baltimore losing all of its top defensive minds this season couldn’t be masked by this team’s storied history. We certainly still view Baltimore as one of the best NFL teams but the front office needs to address this secondary or pass rush at the NFL trade deadline.

It wasn’t pretty for the Houston Texans on Sunday, but we also saw the Ravens lose to Cleveland and Green Bay narrowly escape with a win over the Jaguars. In short, the victory is all that matters. C.J. Stroud rebounded from a career-worst performance, but the glaring Achilles heel for this team right now is the offensive line. If the Texans draw a matchup against a team with a strong pass rush, Houston has a massive problem.

There was one box the Buffalo Bills needed to check before being catapulted up the NFL power rankings, beat a quality team. Mission accomplished. Josh Allen and Co. made it look easy on Sunday, decimating the Seahawks in Seattle. While Amari Cooper had a quiet day, his presence opened things up for Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman. That’s one of the reasons why a No. 1 receiver is so important. The Bills are definitive Super Bowl contenders and the defense could get even better as it gets healthier.

Malik Willis, the hero the Green Bay Packers didn’t know they would need this season but they are thankful to have. Acquired for a seventh-round pick before the regular season, Willis has now won three games for the Packers in the place of an injured Jordan Love. Now, it’s absolutely concerning to see the Packers’ defense take a step back and Love’s durability is going to be a lingering problem. With that said, it’s a four-game winning streak for Green Bay and they still look like one of the best NFL teams right now.

Also read: Latest injury updates on Jordan Love, Week 9 availability

It’s easy to see why many view the Kansas City Chiefs as the best team in the NFL, after all they’re undefeated. Winning is ultimately all that matters in the NFL, but Kansas City has also routinely escaped by the skin of its teeth against some bad teams. Injuries (Rashee Rice, Isiah Pacheco, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise Brown and Jaylen Watson) are the biggest problem right now. As for Patrick Mahomes, we’re still waiting for him to play like an MVP quarterback.

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The Detroit Lions are the best NFL team right now. Things got a little interesting early in the game with the Titans making it a 14-14 tie, but that’s all she wrote for Tennessee. Detroit answered with 38 unanswered points, in a team effort that featured a punt return touchdown and 4 total takeaways. Just complete domination by Detroit and exactly the game they needed before facing the Packers.