NFL Power Rankings, Week 11: Patriots storm into top 10 after impressive win; Packers, Steelers slip

I went on Seattle radio last week after debuting the Seahawks at No. 1. Those folks were more than happy to have me on to glaze the local team for 12-to-15 minutes, of course, but they also told me that my rankings were met with mild surprise by listeners. Hey, I get it! It's not as if the script has been very, um, linear this season. But following the Seahawks' thrashing of the Cardinals, even with some ugly stretches, I feel OK about elevating them into this perch. In a season where I've spotlighted multiple teams atop the list, this feels like stability. Sunday felt similar to the Week 7 win over the Texans in that it was far from a clean performance for four quarters, but it's hard to get too antsy over a 22-point victory where Seattle essentially spotted Arizona 14 makeup points with turnovers. All in all, a relatively strong defense of the top billing.

Matthew Stafford is building a legitimate case for MVP, and the Rams have helped boost his campaign with a new wrinkle: more tight ends! Their 13-personnel package, something Sean McVay barely used for most of his career, is all the rage now in L.A. The Rams have been rolling teams with this personnel grouping, stressing defenses to match their size and flexibility. It sounds like Davante Adams' late injury against the 49ers isn't too concerning, so that was another win within a win. Yes, the 49ers are beat to heck, but they'd already beaten the Rams in early October, so this was one McVay wanted badly. His team played about as clean a game as he could have hoped for: zero penalties, zero turnovers and zero missed kicks.

It was another stiff test for the Colts, who have fallen slightly back to Earth following the Steelers loss and the nail-biter win in Berlin. They racked up yards in both, but also left points on the board thanks to some mental mistakes, pass-protection breakdowns, penalties and turnovers. Still, they found a way to beat the Falcons on Sunday, with Jonathan Taylor once again forcing people to consider a non-quarterback for MVP. The league's leading rusher has been nothing short of tremendous. The defense is tough to judge fairly now, with trade acquisition Sauce Gardner still settling in and DeForest Buckner having just hit IR, but the entire operation needs to be cleaner prior to the big showdown against the Chiefs after this week's bye.

On Monday night, the Eagles won another gritty, ugly game -- they're back, baby. Style points don't apply to this team, which has figured out the formula for this type of victory, even if Nick Sirianni sure did his best to make things interesting late. Things were looking a little dicey when Lane Johnson limped off in the first half with injury, but Philly forged through with a few big drives spurred by just enough explosive plays to get over the finish line in Green Bay. The Eagles' defense looked championship-quality, and Saquon Barkley made a few tough runs and a great 41-yard catch-and-run to set up what would ultimately prove to be the game-winning TD. Others might have not enjoyed watching this 10-7 contest, but the Eagles seem to lap this stuff up. A big test awaits against the Lions.

Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling, and the Lions had arguably their most productive showing of the season on that side of the ball. Bully for them! Look, I realize why it created a little drama, essentially stripping first-year play-caller John Morton of his duties midseason, but it worked -- and that’s all that matters right now. Even against a Washington defense most teams have gashed this season, it was a thorough thrashing that saw the Lions score on every single offensive possession prior to running out the clock at game’s end. That it came against the team that vanquished Detroit in the playoffs last season added a little sweetener on top. Tougher challenges await, but the Lions gave a reminder that they can still go nuclear when they’re on.

Clearly, these Power Rankings have triggered Patriots fans, many of whom have let it be known that I've been too slow to get on the bandwagon. Following a shaky win over the Falcons at home, the Patriots stepped up in weight class on the road and earned one of their bigger victories of the season at Tampa, and I have no choice but to hop aboard now. Drake Maye made some big plays, per usual, but this team is about so much more than the QB. Rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson had his best game as a pro by far, and the defense made several clutch stops, none bigger than the fourth-down stuff in the final minutes. Mike Vrabel showed his coaching chops with some brilliant game management before the half, going from down 10-7 to leading 21-10 in the span of a few plays after getting the ball first in the third quarter. He's also coaching up a smart, hard-nosed team. 

Kansas City had a pretty quiet bye week, sitting out the trade deadline and hoping for some missing pieces to return in the weeks to come. The run game remains limited in some respects, but the Chiefs are more effective on the ground than you might think, and they still field one of the most dangerous passing outfits out there, even after the disappointing showing at Buffalo. I still think K.C. will win 10 or 11 games, even with a tough schedule ahead, and be a tough playoff out no matter what. The Chiefs should make a strong run to win the division, but do they need to sweep the three remaining games against the Broncos and Chargers in order to do so? They just might. I realize the Chiefs are higher here than some other power rankers have them, but it’s a mistake in my mind to overlook the back-to-back-to-back reigning AFC champs purely based on record.

I've been hearing it from Broncos fans who believe I have their team ranked too low, but Thursday's ugly win reaffirmed the feeling that slow-playing Denver a bit is the right call. This defense obviously is championship-quality when Patrick Surtain II is in the lineup, and it's still pretty darned good without him. The Broncos undoubtedly have their eyes on the 1984 Bears' single-season sack record of 72, needing 27 in the final seven games to break it. But expecting the D to cover for the offense most weeks when the lulls kick in just isn't a foolproof formula. Bo Nix and Co. have shown enough flashes all season to keep me interested and ready to bump up the Broncos when they show some sustained offensive success, especially early in games. And the penalties have to stop at some point, right?

What exactly should we do with the Bills? They followed up arguably their most important victory of the season with their biggest dud by a mile. This was a Dolphins team they've routinely batted around, and it wasn't even close -- Miami held the Bills off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter and never let them get going. Josh Allen played a poor game, but he rarely had open pass catchers to target, especially after Dalton Kincaid left with a hamstring injury. The passing game just isn't working the way it should be, begging questions of why Buffalo doesn't run more. Defensively, it was a major step back after the previous two weeks. There are enough games left on the schedule to right the ship, but the Patriots are threatening to run away with the AFC East.

At 6-3, with all three losses to playoff-caliber teams, it's no time for the Buccaneers to panic. It also helped that the two teams just below them in the NFC South race also lost Sunday, but the last thing the Bucs want to do is back into a division title. They know they have to play better to be true contenders. Tampa Bay started hot against New England with a strong opening TD drive ... and then went into an offensive lull. That was enough to open the door, with the Bucs D allowing plays of 72, 69, 55 and 54 yards, the first three of which went for touchdowns. We've gotten used to seeing Baker Mayfield pull it out late, and the Bucs had their chances, but they couldn't find that next gear when they needed it. A frustrating setback, but nothing that significantly alters their outlook.

Justin Herbert took way too many hits for my liking and didn't really get cooking until after halftime, but it was a successful formula for victory against the Steelers, with the Chargers' defense doing its job. I still think Pittsburgh was its own worst enemy on Sunday night, but Los Angeles deserves credit for excellent coverage and pressure. There were things I liked offensively, too. Kimani Vidal has continued to provide quality reps in the backfield, and in recent games, Ladd McConkey has reprised the go-to-guy role he earned last season. But there's still a buyer-beware element to this team I can't shake, even after three straight wins. If the Bolts can make it through a tough December slate intact, I'll certainly revisit my hesitation on them.

Nothing was going right offensively against the Eagles, as Jordan Love struggled most of the night, and his receivers let him down time and time again. The offensive line was struggling, too, and that was before Elgton Jenkins suffered an injury just ahead of halftime. And then Josh Jacobs was stuffed on fourth down to end a semi-promising drive in the final minutes, and Brandon McManus' 64-yarder had no chance at the buzzer, spoiling a mostly excellent showing by Green Bay's defense. The Packers' attack looked toothless without Tucker Kraft, and they're missing Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed right about now. If the offense can get right, Green Bay has a chance to be a true title contender, but not if that unit plays like it did on Monday.

The 49ers have Brock Purdy's lingering health questions and a defensive problem that isn't going away. Outside of the Falcons game, Robert Saleh's injury-riddled unit just hasn't played well enough. Meanwhile, despite the forced-pass INT in the fourth quarter, Mac Jones was mostly fantastic against the Rams, nearly erasing a 21-0 deficit. Who knows what Kyle Shanahan will do at QB, but it would be hard to bench Jones with the way he's playing right now. It might be just as hard finding defensive solutions to stop the bleeding. San Francisco is still in good shape at 6-4 with winnable games remaining, but it feels like there's a lid on this team's potential.

I spent most of the first half of the season praising the play of Aaron Rodgers and wondering what kind of year it might be in Pittsburgh if the defense were playing up to its typical standard. Then Rodgers and the offense significantly backslid against the Chargers, while the defense showed improvement. It's awfully hard to fully buy in on this Steelers squad right now, even with its wins over two top-of-the-AFC teams (New England and Indianapolis). Sunday night was the first time where I felt Rodgers looked old and slow, at least relative to the past few years. He took a safety, threw a pair of picks and was sacked three times, struggling to get the ball into his playmakers' hands with any regularity. The Ravens are coming. Can the Steelers stop the bleeding?

Let’s give this revived defense its due. The past four games have been a remarkable improvement over what we saw early in the season, with Zach Orr's group keeping all four opponents under 20 points. The Ravens have been forcing far more takeaways and earning more key stops, even if Minnesota might have helped Baltimore by not sticking with the run. Either way, that unit helped pick up Lamar Jackson and Co. when the offense was stalling in the red zone. Jackson got cooking late, but it's nice to know the Ravens don’t need to be perfect offensively. Sunday was a reminder they can beat teams in three phases these days.

Things were not looking good when the Bears turned the ball over on downs midway through the fourth quarter, trailing 20-10 to the lowly Giants, who were without starting QB Jaxson Dart (concussion) for the final 15 minutes. But Caleb Williams rebounded from a slew of dropped passes to lead two thrilling TD drives in the final six minutes and pull off his fourth fourth-quarter comeback of the season. Williams gave the Giants fits by scrambling out of would-be sacks and making big plays on the move. The Bears have done a great job protecting the ball with only three turnovers since Week 3, allowing them to accumulate the league’s best turnover ratio on the season -- by far -- at plus-14. That’s a big reason why the Bears have won six of their past seven games. You can argue they haven’t beaten a great team yet, but a stiff remaining schedule will give them multiple opportunities to do so down the stretch.  

We might look back at Davis Mills’ fourth-quarter heroics against Jacksonville as the turning point of Houston's season. The Texans looked dead and buried before he led the furious comeback, preventing Houston from falling to 3-6 and giving the team another critical division victory. The Texans sit in third place in the AFC South, and C.J. Stroud remains in concussion protocol early in the week. But they remain only two spots out of the final wild-card bid, and the Texans are as good defensively as almost anyone in the NFL, so they remain a threat, even with work to be done. A win at Tennessee this Sunday would get them back to .500, and that’s followed by a three-game stretch against AFC contenders who’ve all shown some vulnerabilities lately. If Houston can prevail in Nashville and then take at least two of those next three, the playoffs remain a reasonable goal.

No sugar-coating here: This was one of the worst regular-season losses in franchise history. The Jaguars were beating the Texans and backup QB Davis Mills soundly on Sunday, up 29-10 thanks to good special teams and defense and just enough offense. Next Gen Stats gave them a 97% chance to win at that point. Somehow, Jacksonville’s defense allowed Mills to squirrel his way out of multiple sacks and lead three touchdown drives in just over a quarter, with a defensive TD tacked on as time expired for an additional layer of torture. Jacksonville is a one-point overtime win over Las Vegas away from having lost four straight. Liam Coen is facing his first crisis as Jaguars coach, as it has gotten very dark very fast.

If anyone has a good read on exactly what kind of a team Carolina is, please drop me a line. I’d love to know. Because it has become obvious that these Panthers require a broader scope than drilling down on what happens to them each week. We've seen a 30-0 win followed by a 29-point loss in Weeks 3 and 4. Three straight victories, then another blowout defeat. An upset in Green Bay followed by a home loss to the lowly Saints. Quite an interesting road to 5-5. Sunday’s loss really was a killer to the Panthers’ playoff chances, and it was another step back for the offense, which now has totaled 45 points in the past four games. With Rico Dowdle bottled up, Bryce Young couldn’t deliver against a Saints defense that was pasted the week before. Time is starting to run out with this inconsistency in Carolina, even with the Panthers sitting only a game and a half out of the last playoff spot.

It was another chaotic experience with J.J. McCarthy at QB, and this one didn’t end as well as the rousing win at Detroit. McCarthy wasn’t helped by the Vikings’ execution against the Ravens, with a shocking eight false start penalties and perhaps not Kevin O’Connell’s finest game as a play-caller. Even still, McCarthy threw two picks, missed some key third-down throws and couldn’t pull it out late in spite of a gutsy effort. Myles Price fumbling two straight kickoffs (one lost) didn’t help. The Vikings still have plenty of high-stakes games left to prove themselves, but they haven’t logged back-to-back wins yet.

The Falcons have gone from 3-2 and flying high to 3-6 and wondering whether the playoffs have flown the coop. In previous seasons going back to 1990, only eight teams (out of 164) that started at 3-6 went on to make the postseason. Even if the schedule looks a little lighter, it’s going to be a steep climb, especially with the way the offense is performing. Sure, allowing 519 yards on defense isn’t anything to write off, but the Falcons built this offense to be explosive and dynamic. Michael Penix Jr. has struggled with consistency, notably on third downs. The Falcons ran the ball effectively against the Colts in Berlin but averaged just 4.8 yards when Penix dropped back. That has to be vastly better.

The case for Jacoby Brissett as QB1 always started with the fact that he seemed to have the Cardinals more on schedule offensively. True as that might be, Brissett couldn’t overcome some poor blocking against the Seahawks that seemed to carry over from the end of the Dallas game. Brissett was clocked twice on missed assignments that led to scoop-and-scores for Seattle, helping put the Cardinals in a 35-0 hole midway through the second quarter. They gamely fought back and looked like the better team after halftime, but two turnovers on downs inside Seattle's 10-yard line snuffed out any chances of a miracle comeback. The Cards are currently three losses out of a wild-card spot and 0-3 vs. NFC West teams. Not great. 

After the Cowboys' fascinating bye-week acquisition of Quinnen Williams, tragedy struck with the death of Marshawn Kneeland. This team has been through a lot since August, but this was something that went way beyond football. At some point, the focus will turn back to the gridiron, where the Cowboys have their work cut out for them, but will the emotional toll be too great? Williams gives them a difference-maker on defense, though that unit appears to be more than one star player away from major improvement. Dallas' offense also leveled off significantly in the two games prior to the Week 10 bye, and the Cowboys must still go on the road (where they're 1-4) four more times and face the Eagles, Chiefs and Chargers at home. 

It has been a dizzying run over the past month-plus, watching the Dolphins drop heartbreakers, get blown out twice and also earn two runaway victories against seemingly respected opponents. Like last season, there's a path for Miami to finish relatively strong and push for a .500 record, but will that be enough to convince Stephen Ross that Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa both should be back next season? That feels very unclear at the moment, even in the afterglow of a dominant performance against the Bills. It's hard to know what we'll get week to week with this club. But it is nice to know that the Fins are still capable of turning in a heater every now and then, I suppose. 

Joe Burrow has returned to practice after missing most of the season with a turf toe injury, which might offer a glimmer of hope. But even if the QB1 returns to action, can the Bengals realistically expect him to outpace Joe Flacco's recent play to the point that losses are suddenly turning into wins? That feels far-fetched. Cincinnati's defense has been a major sore spot all season, allowing 300 points in nine games, and it's seemingly getting worse on that side of the ball. The Bengals are not mathematically out of it at 3-6, but there would be a different level of optimism had the defense gotten one more stop in each of the past two losses. They'd be 5-4, which looks a heck of a lot better and might justify Burrow's reinsertion to the lineup. Their next five games are against playoff contenders, and three of the next four are on the road. Maybe Burrow can spark a sliver of positivity, but Cincy can't really lose too many more and stay afloat.

This feels pretty close to rock bottom after last season. The Commanders dropped their fifth straight (and their fourth straight decided by 20-plus points), allowed 44 points for the second time in four games and lost DT Daron Payne to an ejection and subsequent suspension for the Week 11 game in Madrid. Oh, and Jayden Daniels is still hurt, even if his elbow injury is not as bad as initially feared. There could be some offensive improvement if Daniels and some of the wide receivers return to the lineup, but there can't be any realistic hopes for major upgrades on defense. That unit has regressed this season, to the point that it is among the worst handful of defenses in the league right now -- and stopping the Dolphins next Sunday might be a real chore.

Just another double gut punch for the Giants, who blew a double-digit lead on the road for the fourth time this season and also saw their QB go down. Jaxson Dart was giving the Bears fits with his legs and arm before leaving with a concussion -- the fourth time he’s been evaluated for one this season. That’s the biggest worry now, even after another painful loss, one that cost Brian Daboll his job. That wasn’t a shocking development after Sunday’s defeat -- a contest in which the G-Men held a 10-point lead with four minutes remaining -- but it’s what happens when your team consistently coughs up chances to win games. That’s now four straight losses, with games against the Packers, Lions and Patriots left before the bye. No matter how they finish up, the Giants will be looking for their fifth head coach since Tom Coughlin’s final season a decade ago.

It’s sad that the Raiders’ best defensive effort of the season -- by a wide margin -- went to waste in the 10-7 loss last Thursday in Denver. The offense just hasn’t done enough this season, with or without Brock Bowers on the field. Bowers played Thursday, hauling in the team's second-longest catch of the game early in the second quarter … and then wasn’t targeted for the rest of the game. I mean, come on. Geno Smith is up to 12 interceptions and clearly hasn’t proven to be the guy. Ashton Jeanty had a 32-yard run called back, and the Raiders were down to two backup guards by game’s end, but Chip Kelly has to find solutions fast, or this unit could look vastly different a year from now.

Were you expecting a 13-10 snoozer vs. Cleveland? The Jets may have traded a big chunk of their defense at the deadline, but they earned a second victory and played with good effort, even with the offense doing very little until the fourth quarter. It was a banner day for the Jets’ special teams, with two returns for touchdowns, which helped give them a chance to pull away late. Interestingly, New York received some big contributions from players who were mentioned in trade chatter. Breece Hall was one of the few reliable offensive sources on Sunday, while Quincy Williams and Will McDonald IV both had impressive games.

The Browns held the Jets to 169 total yards (42 passing) and didn’t turn the ball over -- and still lost. Two TD returns allowed on special teams were essentially the difference, and Cleveland’s six second-half penalties were killers. Several of them bailed the Jets out or erased positive plays for the Browns. Let’s not gloss over the offensive limitations, either. I’d love to hear a legit case for Dillon Gabriel keeping his job for another week, which is apparently the plan. Either that’s an indictment on Shedeur Sanders or an admission that neither he nor Gabriel is realistically the starter for the future and that they’re just playing out the string with what they have. If you’re the glass-half-full sort, the Browns and Jaguars (Cleveland owns Jacksonville's 2026 first-rounder) losing and the Jets, Dolphins and Saints winning last week was a good development for the 2026 NFL Draft, but not everyone is capable of mustering up excitement for that in mid-November.

Tyler Shough leveled up from his first start to his second, delivering some big throws in a statement road victory at Carolina. The Saints only scored 17 points, running their streak of games under 20 points to five, but it was arguably their best offensive showing, even after they traded away two starters at the deadline (WR Rashid Shaheed and OT Trevor Penning). New Orleans logged a season-high 388 yards, zero offensive turnovers and just two offensive penalties (though both were annoying flags in high-leverage spots). Shough stood up to a lot of Panthers blitzes and made clutch connections with Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson. It was an encouraging development for a rookie QB who has a chance to prove he deserves to start in 2026. 

The Titans’ rookie class has been a mixed bag this season, with Cam Ward struggling to find consistency, but they’ve received more output on the offensive side of the ball than they have with the defensive newbies. Following the deadline trades of Dre’Mont Jones and Roger McCreary, and with Oluwafemi Oladejo on IR, it’s hard to imagine Tennessee's D playing better after the bye. There are more tough games than not down the stretch, which should at least test Ward, with the No. 1 overall pick's development being the key goal at this point -- but that's tougher with an interim head coach and more possible change coming in the offseason. Hang on, Titans fans. Better days lie ahead.