Had to push this week’s edition of the power rankings back a day because of some breaking news around these parts, but I feel pretty confident in saying that we might have gotten it right this week … for once. Until there are eight more upsets this weekend and everything gets turned upside down again. Anyway, here’s our big board for this week.
1. Eagles (7-1 — last week, No. 1): Philly holds serve with an uneventful blowout of the Niners. And another great baseball-themed touchdown celebration. This week: vs. Broncos.
2. Chiefs (6-2 — last week, No. 2): Chiefs hold serve with a nice win at home over the Broncos. Good performance out of young kicker Harrison “Buttkicker” Butker with five field goals in the victory. This week: at Cowboys.
3. Patriots (6-2 — last week, No. 3): Still doesn’t quite feel like a top three team — you might be able to make an argument to stick them at No. 5 — but they responded with another close win Sunday. No team has been better at one-score games this year. This week: Bye.
4. Steelers (6-2 — last week, No. 4): The Patriots don’t have near the same amount of drama, but Pittsburgh and New England appear to be traveling on parallel tracks, right down to the looming bye week and what should be a very important matchup between the two at Heinz Field in December. This week: Bye.
5. Rams (5-2 — last week, No. 5): The Rams only need to go 3-6 to finish with a .500 mark for the first time since 2006. Remember when Jeff Fisher was so discombobulated he couldn’t find his challenge flag? This week: at Giants.
6. Seahawks (5-2 — last week, No. 6): That Seattle-Houston contest was the best game of the year. Russell Wilson had 450-plus passing yards and four touchdowns, the first time a Seattle QB ever pulled that off. This week: vs. Redskins.
7. Texans (3-4 — last week, No. 7): Richard Sherman told Deshaun Watson after the game he “played the best game any quarterback has ever played against us, and we’ve played all the legends.” This week: vs. Colts.
8. Falcons (4-3 — last week, No. 8): I’m going to start a Twitter feed called “Has Steve Sarkisian been fired yet?” This week: at Panthers.
9. Vikings (6-2, last week, No. 9): Between injury and some curious personnel moves on other rosters, the pathway has been cleared for Minnesota to win the NFC North. This week: Bye.
10. Packers (4-3 — last week, No. 10): Sad to see that our pal Martellus Bennett said this is probably going to be his last season. That’s too bad — the league is more fun when guys like him are involved. This week: vs. Lions.
11. Bills (5-2 — last week, No. 11): With each passing week, I am becoming irrationally excited for the Dec. 3 game in Buffalo between the Bills and Patriots. This week: at New York Jets.
12. Cowboys (4-3 — last week, No. 13): This whole back-and-forth with Zeke Elliott and his on-again, off-again suspension is going to be the sort of sideshow circus that’s going to ultimately push Dallas out of the playoff picture. That, and the fact that the Cowboys’ next three games are against teams over .500. This week: vs. Chiefs.
13. Saints (5-2 — last week, No. 18): Love the way New Orleans has responded after that 0-2 start. The Saints can continue to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division over the next couple games. This week: vs. Bucs.
14. Panthers (5-3 — last week, No. 14): Still not sure what to think of the Panthers, but with Atlanta struggling to rid themselves of that post-Super Bowl stink, the door is still open for them to make a move. This week: vs. Falcons.
15. Raiders (3-5 — last week, No. 12): Too much inconsistency here. There’s still time to turn things around and jump back into the divisional race, but the margin for error is growing slimmer with each loss. This week: at Dolphins.
16. Lions (3-4 — last week, No. 15): Three straight losses have Detroit trending in the wrong direction. This week: at Packers.
17. Broncos (3-4 — last week, No. 11): One of the most ineffective offenses in the league needs to get things figured out. Will a quarterback change remedy things? This week: at Eagles.
18. Titans (4-3 — last week, No. 19): Tennessee comes off the bye with a chance to extend a two-game win streak and make a statement in the rapidly developing AFC South race. This week: vs. Ravens.
19. Jaguars (4-3 — last week, No. 20): Jacksonville, Tennessee and Houston could all team up to make the AFC South the most competitive division down the stretch. Looking forward to seeing what Marcel Dareus is capable of doing in that lineup. This week: vs. Bengals.
20. Dolphins (4-3 — last week, No. 17): Adam Gase got the attention of his locker room on Tuesday with the trade of Jay Ajayi. These sorts of things usually send a team in one of two directions. We’ll see what happens. This week: vs. Raiders.
21. Ravens (4-4 — last week, No. 26): Baltimore is the only team has a 20-point win, a 40-point win and a 37-point loss on its resume. I’m done trying to figure them out. This week: at Titans.
22. Redskins (3-4 — last week, No. 21): Three losses of nine points or more in their last four games have Washington on the skids. This week: at Seahawks.
23. Bears (3-5 — last week, No. 22): Three wins in its first eight games is probably better than some expected from this team. Will see if there’s something to them being a divisional contender the next two weeks with home games against Green Bay and Detroit. This week: Bye.
24. Chargers (3-5 — last week, No. 24): A lot of scrap from that Los Angeles team last weekend at Gillette — plenty of good young talent on both sides of the ball. And Philip Rivers is still a compelling figure capable of slinging it when needed. This week: Bye.
25. Bucs (2-5 — last week, No. 23): Tampa hasn’t won a game since its last-minute loss to the Patriots last month. This week: at Saints.
26. Cardinals (3-4 — last week, No. 25): Sorry, Pats fans. That wasn’t Larry Fitzgerald at Logan Airport on Tuesday.
Fitz is here.
For all those asking. pic.twitter.com/Npieb5Puj9
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) October 31, 2017