I stopped writing NFL Power Rankings a couple of seasons ago ’cause nobody was reading ’em. You know – every sports media website in the world has some form of these power rankings up, so there’s a lot of competition, and the little guys like us lose out in those scenarios. It makes it somewhat pointless to do stuff like this, but whatever happened with Google’s core web vitals update back in May seems to have kicked our traffic into another gear. I guess they like us? Anyway, it made me think that maybe it was worth giving these bad boys another try. So, like I said before I stopped writing these, my NFL Power Rankings are based solely on what has happened on the field so far. I’m not taking preseason expectations or projections into consideration. These rankings are based strictly on what I’ve seen so far this season. Let’s get to it.
NFL POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 9, 2021
1. Arizona Cardinals (8-1) – No Kyler Murray, no problem for the Arizona Cardinals, who made short work of the 49ers in a big time rebound win. I still look at this team and think it is the most complete team in the league right now. They host the struggling Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
2. Green Bay Packers (7-2) – Okay, yeah – maybe this is more of a projection than a reaction to Week 9. It wasn’t pretty as the Packers couldn’t get anything going with Jordan Love on Sunday. But, that’s just a testament to the importance of Aaron Rodgers to this team. With him back and healthy, “immunized” or not, this is still one of the best teams in the NFL. He could be back on Sunday as the Packers host the Seahawks.
3. Tennessee Titans (7-2) – It’s funny how the narrative seems to be that teams keep having “uncharacteristic” performances in “letdown” games against the Titans. How long before we just acknowledge that the Titans are a damn good football team? They’ve won five in a row now with a defense that is really bowing up. Jeffery Simmons absolutely took over against the Rams on Sunday night. Kevin Byard is the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Month. Time to give them the respect they deserve. They host the Saints on Sunday.
4. Los Angeles Rams (7-2) – The Rams cruised to 7-1, but got punched in the mouth by a feisty Titans squad that was ready for them. There’s still way too much talent, and this is still way too good of a coach for them to fall too far. As cliché as it sounds, they’ll be back. They get the 49ers on Monday Night Football.
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) – The Bucs were on a bye this week, and needed it to get right after losing to the Saints. They return to action, and should get to 7-2, against the Washington Football Team on Sunday.
6. Baltimore Ravens (6-2) – It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty. But,
7. Dallas Cowboys (6-2) – What a weird and inexplicable loss on Sunday. Dak Prescott looked a little rusty returning to action, and maybe this team slept on that Broncos defense. I don’t know. But, shit happens from time to time, and this team should rebound. They’ve got a surprisingly interesting match-up with the surging Falcons on Sunday.
8. Buffalo Bills (5-3) – How do you explain that one? Sunday was full of surprises, but I don’t know that any were bigger than the Bills scoring six points and losing to the Jags. Josh Allen terrorized Josh Allen…what? And, the Bills couldn’t get anything going in the run game. This was a bad loss. If not for losses by the other AFC teams lumped in and around five wins, Buffalo might’ve fallen out of the top 10 with this one. They look to get right against the Jets in New York on Sunday.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) – In addition to the Titans, the Chargers benefitted greatly from all the turmoil in the AFC on Sunday. After handling their business against the Eagles, the Chargers moved up to the #3 seed in the AFC and sit atop the AFC West for the moment. They host the Vikings on Sunday.
10. New Orleans Saints (5-3) – Loss to the upstart Falcons aside, this is still a good football team capable of punching anyone in the mouth as evidenced by that win over the Bucs. The Saints have a massive contest against the Titans in Nashville on deck for Sunday.
IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY…
AFC
- (1) Tennessee Titans (BYE)
- (7) New England Patriots @ (2) Baltimore Ravens
- (6) Pittsburgh Steelers @ (3) Los Angeles Chargers
- (5) Las Vegas Raiders @ (4) Buffalo Bills
NFC
- (1) Arizona Cardinals (BYE)
- (7) Atlanta Falcons @ (2) Green Bay Packers
- (6) New Orleans Saints @ (3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- (5) Los Angeles Rams @ (4) Dallas Cowboys
PREDICTIONS
- Top 5 NFL Draft order: 1. Lions, 2. Texans, 3. Football Team, 4. Jaguars, 5. Dolphins
- AFC Championship: Ravens @ Titans
- NFC Championship: Rams @ Packers
- Super Bowl: Titans vs. Rams
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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