NFL 2025: Week 8 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "2025 is only ten weeks away" Sixto

32.) Carolina Panthers  =  1-6  (110-243)

31.) New England Patriots  =  1-6  (99-175)

30.) Cleveland Browns  =  1-6  (109-162)
29.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  2-5  (124-183)

28.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-5  (106-144)

27.) New York Giants  =  2-5  (99-149)

I'm of the opinion the high end of the NFL is better than many years, even if there's no out and out dominant team yet. Well, conversely, the bottom of the NFL is as bad as it has ever been in some sense. These bottom six are just dreadful. The Panthers have hit a new rock bottom, to the point where I'm really wondering if they go back to Bryce Young at some point. The Patriots had that Week 1 win and all the "breath of fresh air" at head coach, but they're learning that maybe firing the best coach ever will not lead to a bouncehabck. The Raiders need to start scouting QBs yesterday - granted it seems like they've definitely embraced the tank. The Titans and Giants similarly so are having lost seasons, though in both cases you can say that is somewhat to plan.

Tier II - The "2024 week one was only six weeks ago" Trio

26.) Los Angeles Rams  =  2-4  (114-154)

25.) Miami Dolphins  =  2-4  (70-129)
24.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-5  (177-180)

While those first six are hopeless, these three are hopeless, but started the season with some promise. The Rams back when tehy were somewhat healthy seemed like a fringe playoff contender. Kupp coming back may help turn things around but to me it's a case of just too many injuries, and not enough growth yet from the young defensive players. The Dolphins appear to be getting Tua back soon but I can't in good faith trust that will last at this point. For the Saints, that 2-0 dominant starts seems a long time ago. Derek Carr in theory should be abck in a couple weeks. The NFC South hasn't fully run away from them yet, but Carr's absence has exposed a ton of other problems. Losing the top two receivers doesn't help either.

Tier III - The "This wasn't supposed to happen...." Duo

23.) New York Jets  =  2-5  (128-145)
22.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  2-5  (145-194)

Both the Jets and Jaguars came in with hopes that their QB would lift them, but have quickly found out there's a lot more flaws to paper over. The Jets took the first easy route by making the HC change, but that seemingly has resulted in what many thought was the real downside: the degradation of the defense. The OL also remains a mess. Similarly so with the Jags, where Lawrence hasn't had much time. He's also just not playing all that well under Pederson's scheme. The defense finally played better against the corpse of the Patriots offense. I don't think that was anything other than them beating a worse team.

Tier IV - The "Stumbling, Bumbling" Duo

21.) Indianapolis Colts  =  4-3  (155-149)
20.) Arizona Cardinals  =  3-4  (150-178)

Neither of these teams is good - even with teh Colts doing their annual routine of somehow staying near .500 that they've done since 2022 when it all went to shit (the Matt Ryan year...). The interesting contrast hear is the Colts have been decent in spite of their scattershot QB so far, while the Cardinals have been elevated by Kyler's play leveling up a scattershot team. The other link I guess is that both feature the ex-coordinators of the 2022 Eagles team. I don't expect either to seriously threaten for a wild card, especially with the Colts about to enter a real schedule up ahead.

Tier V - The "Ships Passing in the Night" Trio

19.) Dallas Cowboys  =  3-3  (126-168)

18.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  3-4  (178-166)

17.) Denver Broncos  =  4-3  (145-105)

The Cowboys and Bengals had a lot of expectations coming into the year. The Broncos had little to none. I would say not one of these teams is playing above average at this point, but I definitely sense a ships passing in the night here. The Broncos defense, pass rush specifically, has been so good so far. Bo Nix hasn't, but that defense is good enough to linger around the wild card hunt. For the Bengals - they've done their job going 3-1 the last four games, but not really looking good when getting there. The offense still can't really protect. The defense played fine against some awful offenses but no real way to know if that lasts against better ones (starting this week...). For the Cowboys, they are one of the worst 3-3 teams I've ever seen. Let's hope the bye stabilized things, particularly the defense doing anything productive off of Mike Zimmer's scheme.

Tier VI - The "Good Record but still wanting more" Quinto

16.) Chicago Bears  =  4-2  (148-101)
15.) Atlanta Falcons  =  4-3  (163-169)

14.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  3-3  (106-83)
13.) Houston Texans  =  5-2  (165-159)

12.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  4-2  (134-115)

The Bears by stats are quite strong. This might be just a concern of them really having beat up on minnows these past few weeks. Things change soon with a fun matchup on a team to come. If they can continue to block for Caleb Williams they could be having a special season. The Falcons defense really let them down against the Seahawks. The offense had some flukes go against them, but at least kept things competitive. Cousins still doesn't look great but I do like how the offense is using their skill position players - novel concept, I know. The Chargers defense is still excellent, and for now healthy. That game, though, laid bare the problem with their "rebuild and focus on the run for the year" approach. Herbert was great but throwing to no one. Just not really sustainable. With the Texans, they are by far the least impressive two-loss team in teh NFL. Granted, they've banked those wins, should have Nico Collins back soon and the defense has really impressed. For the Eagles, they are a better but as frustrating version of last year's team. That was a beatdown but you would like to see the passing offense get more consistent traction aside from the odd bomb to AJ Brown. 

Tier VII - The "Turn Injuries Off, Please" Trio

11.) Washington Commanders  =  5-2  (218-152)

10.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  4-3  (209-182)

9.) San Francisco 49ers  =  3-4  (180-158)

Really hope the Jayden Daniels injury is just for a couple weeks and not something that lingers for longer That team is so fun. I don't know what it is about early Kliff with a QB (see the 2021 Cardinals with Kyler) but he had even the Mariota verson humming. For the Bucs, it is just so depressing to see their WR injuries. Everything up through the Evans injury showed a team that could compete with the best. Then Evans goes down, Godwin goes down, and this team looks suddenly fallow. The Ravens will do that type of performacne to a lot of teams, but that was a depressing end to what had been one of the better stories of the season. As far as the 49ers go, the Aiyuk news is horrible, but there seems to be a light at the end of the CMC rehab. Just in time. That offense is not sustainable at the moment with the lack of weapons and iffy line play. Fix one of the two and they can corral down the Seahawks - especially given they already have the head to head lead winning in Seattle.

Tier VIII - The "Russell Wilson Reunion" Duo

8.) Seattle Seahawks  =  4-3  (180-164) 

7.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  5-2  (161-101)

The Seahawks took a few weeks off, but we saw the good Geno and weapons for once. What I really liked was how they used Walker in the passing game - helps when you have Geno arcing perfect wheel routes for TDs and the like. Defense still needs help. For the Steelers, it will be interesting to see if that offense was a one week boost with Russell Wilson, but man if they can get anything out of that offense near say mid-20 points, this is a dangerous team given how good that defense has been.

Tier IX - The "Great NFC North Race!.... Huh, What's That!?" Duo

6.) Green Bay Packers  =  5-2  (186-143)
5.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-1  (168-107)

The NFC North is just really good man. For the Packers, the defense is getting better game by game. Jeff Halfley really seems to have a great sense of calling blitzes. It helps when your opponent just decides to not block, but still it is impressive. Jordan Love has to stop being so cavalier with the ball sometimes. That's somewhat true of the Vikings also, That team is quite talented and schemed up, but a little too much playing on tilt for my liking in that game. In the end though, this is a really good team.

Tier X - The "If there's a fair God, it is one of their years" Duo

4.) Buffalo Bills  =  5-2  (199-136)
3.) Baltimore Ravens  =  5-2  (218-180)

For both of these two teams, they fell behind 10-0 and then dominated. The big difference at the end is the Bucs at home were good in garbage time while the Mason Rudolph experience couldn't do anything. For the Bills, the Cooper trade seems to be already paying dividends, but more than that their running game has stayed consistent. For the Ravens, I do have concerns on the defense. The pass rush needs to get better. Picking nits to be fair, but that defense has to be better against better competition. The turnovers help, but that was a lot more bad Baker than anything great from the Ravens.

Tier XI - The "Just lose a game Chiefs so I can flip the order" Duo

2.) Detroit Lions  =  5-1  (182-120)
1.) Kansa City Chiefs  =  6-0  (146-103)

The Lions are to me the league's best team, especially as they get more creative with their blitzes to make up for losing Hutchinson. I still think they should go out and trade for an edge to replace him for this year, but right now that offense is just unstoppable. Of course, if there's a defense that could stop them, maybe it is the Cheifs. The weirdest thing about people getting mad or questioning this Chiefs team is that you know who they remind me of: the 2003-2004 Patriots -a  team that did just enough on offense to score 20-30 points a game with a defense they knew would almost always give up less than that. Of course, that recipe won back to back Super Bowls and people extolling Tom Brady. Somehow Mahomes doing a 2003-2004 Brady impression draws ire....Real talk, the Chiefs offesne probably isn't sustainable at this level, but they've also had some awful turnover luck that belies a team that has actually moved the ball consistently for 2-3 straight games now.

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

Byes: None - no idea why randomly we get a week midseason with all teams playing....

16.) New York Giants (2-5)  @  Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)  (MNF - ESPN)

15.) Arizona Cardinals (2-4)  @  Miami Dolphins (2-4)  (1:00 - FOX)

14.) New Orleans Saints (2-5)  @  Los Angeles Chargers (3-3)  (4:05 - FOX)

13.) Carolina Panthers (1-6)  @  Denver Broncos (4-3)  (4:25 - CBS)

12.) Kansas City Chiefs (6-0)  @  Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)  (4:25 - CBS)

11.) Tennessee Titans (1-6)  @  Detroit Lions (5-1)  (1:00 - FOX)

10.) Baltimore Ravens (5-2)  @  Cleveland Browns (1-6)  (1:00 - CBS)
9.) Minnesota Vikings (5-1)  @  Los Angeles Rams (2-4)  (TNF - Prime)

8.) Green Bay Packers (5-2)  @  Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5)  (1:00 - FOX)

7.) New York Jets (2-5)  @  New England Patriots (1-6)  (1:00 - CBS)
6.) Dallas Cowboys (3-3)  @  San Francisco 49ers (3-4)  (SNF - NBC)
5.) Buffalo Bills (5-2)  @  Seattle Seahawks (4-3)  (4:05 - FOX)

4.) Atlanta Falcons (4-3)  @  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3)  (1:00 - FOX)

3.) Indianapolis Colts (4-3)  @  Houston Texans (5-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
2.) Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)  @  Cincinnati Bengals (3-4)  (1:00 - CBS)
1.) Chciago Bears (4-2)  @  Washington Commanders (5-2)  (4:25 - CBS)