Our Week 9 Top Ten NFL Power Rankings have the Philadelphia Eagles on top, the same spot they were at heading into Week 8. There’s no reason to drop the Eagles down: not only did they win in Week 8, they won on the road, and two other high-ranked teams suffered defeats. Those teams were the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Where the Eagles remain flying high, each of those two teams dropped in our Week 9 update as per below.
Top Ten NFL Power Rankings: Week 9 (presumptive)
At the time of writing (early Monday), Monday Night Football still had to be played. The Detroit Lions will be involved in that game. They are preparing to host the Las Vegas Raiders.
The result of that game could impact the Top Ten below, which will be adjusted accordingly. If the Lions win, then they probably won’t move up with a late Monday update. However, if they lose then it’s possible that they drop down to the ninth position. These are the rankings heading into Week 8’s MNF game.
- Philadelphia Eagles: 7-1 (beat Washington 38-31 in Week 8)
- Miami Dolphins: 6-2 (beat New England 31-17 in Week 8)
- Baltimore Ravens: 6-2 (beat Arizona 31-24 in Week 8)
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 6-2 (beat Pittsburgh 20-10 in Week 8)
- Detroit Lions: 5-2 (play MNF vs LV Raiders in Week 8)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 6-2 (lost to Denver 24-9 in Week 8)
- Dallas Cowboys: 5-2 (beat LAR 43-20 in Week 8)
- Cincinnati Bengals: 4-3 (beat San Francisco 31-17 in Week 8)
- Seattle Seahawks: 5-2 (beat Cleveland 24-20 in Week 8)
- San Francisco 49ers: 5-3 (lost to Cincinnati 31-17 in Week 8)
See all of the results from Week 8 in our predictions chart, which we convert to a results chart at the end of the week!
Our power rankings are “results-oriented”: the first consideration is, quite simply, the team’s record. However, records, while important, are just food for thought. We also consider spreads and home-and-away performances (ie. it’s harder to win on the road). The best result that can be achieved is beating the top team in our power rankings in a game that the top team hosts and posting a huge spread. Along those lines, the worst thing that can happen is losing to the worst team in the NFL in a home game by a huge spread. There are nearly limitless in-between scenarios.
KC: Can’t Lose to Denver and Stay High Ranked
But it was along these lines that we dropped the Kansas Chiefs down from the second spot. The Chiefs lost, which will almost always drop you down if you are near the top, but they also lost to Denver. While the Broncos did host the game, if you lose by 15 points to a 2-5 team that was thinking of trade-deadling selling then it hurts your power rankings a lot. The Chiefs record of 6-2 still looms large but KC has something to prove in order to climb back up.
Meanwhile, we also dropped the San Francisco 49ers down to No. 10. They were No. 1 not too long ago but have suffered three straight losses. This week, the 49ers lost at home by 14 points. There was no way they could be kept high in our power rankings, even with some impressive wins from earlier in the season.
Dropping Out and On the Bubble
The Cleveland Browns dropped out of our power rankings for the time being. While a 4-3 record following a loss to Seattle isn’t the worst result, Cleveland would be our No. 12 team if we went that far. Our No. 11 team would be the 5-3 Buffalo Bills, a team that beat the Bucs back on Thursday night football.
Looking Ahead to NFL Week 9
There are some good games coming up in NFL Week 9. The Miami Dolphins are on the road at KC, a game that could shake up our power rankings. Also, the Seattle Seahawks will be looking for a win in Baltimore. The Dallas Cowboys will be in Philadelphia trying to stop the Brotherly Shove. Lastly, Buffalo will be in Cincinnati in an important game on Sunday night. The loser of this last game might find themselves in a real battle to make the playoffs this season.
