NFL Power Rankings Week 11: The More Things Change, The More Things Stay The Same

Ten weeks are down, and while the rankings are changing for some teams, others find themselves where they’ve been much of the year.

It seems as if some teams are very different from the units that we saw early in the season. But, some teams are exactly who we thought they were. Both kinds of teams are featured in this week’s power rankings.

28. Atlanta Falcons (4-6)

Last Week: 25-23 (L) @ Arizona
This Week: Bye

Yes, there are a handful of teams with worse records than the Falcons that aren’t in the bottom five, but they’re playing so poorly they have to be included at the bottom. The team has lost three straight winnable games against the Titans, Vikings, and Cardinals after a 4-3 start. And, it starts and ends with head coach Arthur Smith. He has an offensive background, yet he hasn’t found a way to use their last three top draft picks, TE Kyle Pitts, WR Drake London, and RB Bijan Robinson, effectively at all. Watching the Falcons offense is a complete slog of a lack of creativity, poor play calling, and a poor use of his studs. Until that changes, this team stinks.

29. Arizona Cardinals (2-8)

Last Week: 25-23 (W) vs. Falcons
This Week: @ Texans

The common wisdom this season has been that the Arizona Cardinals would look to move on from quarterback Kyler Murray and use one of their two first round picks (they own the Texans’ first-rounder as well), on a franchise quarterback. But, Murray returned from the ACL injury he suffered last year on Sunday and looked like a difference maker. The stat line of 19/32 for 249 yds and 1 INT won’t jump off the page. But, he was moving really well, and made a ton of plays for an offense that doesn’t have a lot of weapons. If he continues to play well as the Cardinals play out their season, they may decide to build around Murray, instead.

30. New England Patriots (2-8)

Last Week: 10-6 (L) vs. Colts (Game played in Germany)
This Week: Bye

It seems like a foregone conclusion that legendary head coach Bill Belichick won’t be back next season, and rumors are flying that he may not keep his job through the regular season. I don’t think they will fire him in-season, but this is a really bad football team. And, after another benching, the Mac Jones experiment in New England has to be over. This might be the most quarterback-needy team in the league this offseason, all things considered.

31. Carolina Panthers (1-8)

Last Week: 16-13 (L) @ Bears
This Week: vs. Cowboys

Rookie quarterback Bryce Young had been making progress in recent weeks, and even defeated his rookie counterpart that has significantly outplayed him this season in CJ Stroud. But, Thursday night’s loss to the Bears was a big step backwards. Young was entirely ineffective, throwing for just 185 yards on 38 attempts. Bears Undrafted Division II free agent Tyson Bagent looked just as good as Young did, and that’s concerning when you consider the Panthers sold the farm to acquire Young. Head coach Frank Reich could be one-and-done, and owner David Tepper is quickly losing goodwill with the fans. Not a good situation.

32. New York Giants (2-8)

Last Week: 49-17 (L) @ Cowboys
This Week: @ Commanders

The New York Giants have been terrible all season long, but Sunday was a new-low. Due to injuries, they’re starting a rookie quarterback in Tommy DeVito that has no business even being a rostered NFL quarterback. That’s going to obviously make a bad Giants offense even worse. But, what was most concerning is the way the defense flat-out quit in this game. Dallas racked up 640 yards of total offense, and the Giants got out-gained by 468 yards, the largest margin in an NFL game in over four decades. This is the worst team in the league, and I don’t think it’s close.

5. Dallas Cowboys (6-3)

Last Week: 49-17 (W) vs. Giants
This Week: @ Panthers

The Cowboys have been on the edge of getting into the top five a few times this year, but they finally crack it for the first time following week 10. After getting demolished by the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 5, the Cowboys have won three of four, with their only loss being on the road against Philly in a game the Cowboys fell one yard short of winning. Dak Prescott is heating up, and he’s playing some of the best football of his career. That’s led to huge games by Ceedee Lamb, and other targets in Michael Gallup and Brandin Cooks got involved in a big way in the romp against the Giants. If Prescott continues to play well, that offense combined with an elite pass rush could have the Cowboys playing in their first NFC Championship Game, or more, in nearly 30 years.

4. Detroit Lions (7-2)

Last Week: 41-38 (W) @ Chargers
This Week: vs. Bears

The Lions, yes, the Lions, are one of the most fun teams in football. That was on display in their incredible, back-and-forth, shootout win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. And, it’s about time people start talking about Jared Goff in the MVP race. Goff was 23/33 for 333 yards and 2 TD, and seven different receivers caught multiple passes. We finally got to see the one-two punch in the backfield of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs that people thought they were getting heading into the season used effectively. And, it was a big success, as the pair had over 200 total yards of offense and dominated the game. Even on a day when the Detroit defense took a step back, they found a way to win. That’s what good football teams do.

3. San Francisco 49ers (6-3)

Last Week: 34-3 (W) @ Jaguars
This Week: vs. Buccaneers

The 49ers were on the top of this list for much of the early portion of the season, before a three-game losing streak heading into the bye derailed things. It’s safe to say that is well in the past after they came off the bye and decimated the red-hot Jaguars on the road. Once again, when this 49ers offense is healthy, as it was on Sunday, there’s not a better unit in the league. Brock Purdy returned to playing the excellent football he played to start the season, Christian McCaffrey dominated despite not scoring a touchdown for the first time in ar regular season game in a calendar year, and George broke out. Newly-acquired Chase Young flashed in pass-rushing reps, and they’re bona fide Super Bowl contenders once again.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (7-2)

Last Week: Travis Kelce went to Argentina
This Week: vs Eagles

The Kansas City Chiefs did not play in week 10. Yet, there was no team tweeted about more across the world than the Chiefs, as clips of Travis Kelce and girlfriend Taylor Swift in Argentina for her Eras Tour stop broke the internet. In the meantime, I’m sure the coaching staff spent the bye week trying to unlock passing targets for Patrick Mahomes other than Travis Kelce. With the Kansas City defense playing better than it ever has in the Mahomes-Reid era, it seems like their Super Bowl hopes come down to finding ways to get the wide receivers involved more.

If you are tired of the Swift-Kelce mania, I have bad news. With the Chiefs taking on Jason Kelce and the Eagles, who were Swift’s childhood team, on Monday Night Football in the biggest NFL regular season game of the year so far, the hype may be bigger than ever. The football game is pretty important, too.

1. Philadelphia Eagles (8-1)

Last Week: Bye (No one went to Argentina)
This Week: @ Chiefs

The Birds are the only one-loss team in the NFL, and they’ve done this despite suffering a plethora of injuries through the first half of the season. The hope is that the team got healthier, especially in the secondary, during the bye week. Newly-acquired safety Kevin Byard played well in his debut against Dallas two weeks ago, and should be much more comfortable with the defensive scheme following the bye week. Jalen Hurts was starting to heat up before the bye, and the hope is that he will continue to play at an MVP-level after a turnover-plagued start to the season.