Latest / NFL Power Rankings / Week 8: Vikings claim No. 1 spot; Browns, Falcons nearing top 10

Transcript

Week 8: Vikings claim No. 1 spot; Browns, Falcons nearing top 10 · NFL Power Rankings

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome everybody to NFL Power Rankings presented
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: by Energizer and we're all charged up to talk about
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the week seven fallout. Alongside Nick Shook, I'm Colleen Wolfe
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: and all of you at home I've decided, or wherever
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: you are watching, I've decided that you should be known
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: as the Shook Ones. So it's a.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Little Mobb Deep reference. We're 30 seconds into the show.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Let's go.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: There we go. Okay, so how are you, by the way?
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I'm probably doing better than you given all your travel.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Well, yes, I did just get back from Paris last night.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I packed on a few more pounds in my luggage
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and my legs. But listen, like we are carb loading
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: just for this show. So let's take a look at
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: your top teams now. And we have the Vikings.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: New number one up three spots. The Bills at two.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: The Niners, they fell two spots. Now at three. The
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Seahawks up six at four. Bengals 5, Jags 6, the
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Chiefs down 5 after suffering their first loss, and then
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the Broncos at 8, up 1. But let's start with
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the new number one. And they're the only undefeated team
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: still in the league. The offense, it doesn't really look
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: playoff caliber, though, even though this is your number one
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: team in all of the NFL right now.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Careful, don't say that too loud. Vikings fans will get
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: after you.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: They'll get angry. They can be better. Yeah.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, look, they have an elite defense. It's been
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: the same story for this team for weeks now. Their
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: offense gives you signs that they're going to be better.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: They did against the Saints a couple of weeks ago.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: They managed to find enough in this game. I mean,
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: it was a 10-6 game going into the fourth quarter.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: It was a bit of a concerning situation before they
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: were able to pull it out. Again, on the backs
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: of their defense getting a turnover to seal this game.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: And because they're the only undefeated team left, They end
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: up at number one in the power rankings. It's not
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: a number one that I feel great about because I
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: still want this offense.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: To be better.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: I still want Kyler Murray to get more comfortable. I
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: think it will happen in due time. I don't think
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: it's ever going to reach the level that would make
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: us feel super happy and confident in them as a
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Super Bowl favorite, but they're undefeated, and you can't argue
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: with their record.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: You don't sound excited at all about this.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: I mean, look, Brian Flores, the defense is playing so
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: well that he's now faking stunts to run other stunts
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: in one play. So that's fun to watch, but in
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: terms of a.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Complete team, this is not.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: It's like a very meta Brian Flores is scary. Nobody
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: wants to see that. So they have a gauntlet of
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a schedule coming up as well with a huge NFC
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: North matchup in Detroit on Sunday. But let's go to
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the next team who is kind of like the inverse
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: of The Vikings, because they have a lights-out offense and
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: they have a very vulnerable defense.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: It's the Bills. Yes, yes.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: It's the Bills who we didn't get to see tested
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: this week, which is perfectly fine because I like most
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: of what I've seen from them so far.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: On offense. And it's, yeah, you're right. It is the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: inverse of the.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: Vikings because like you look at the Bills and you're like, well,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: this defense, I don't know, man, it might be a problem.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: It's been a problem for most of their season.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: They've given up a ton of points, but they've been
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: able to outscore all of these teams that they're playing.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: And they have Josh Allen at quarterback and he's the
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: great equalizer, the great X factor that skews the game
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: in favor of the Bills. So It's one of those
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: weeks where the Niners lose, the Seahawks manage to climb
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: back up forward, but I don't feel super great about
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: the top two teams in the power rankings right now.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: It's just kind of the way it fell. I would
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: feel a lot better if they're able to go through
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: the next two games against Baltimore and Minnesota and.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Look like the dominant teams.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and the fact that they just need their offense
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: to consistently score 30-plus points with this defense.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: That is not fair to ask anybody.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: It's absurd. They've been able to do it, but they
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: kind of just survived the Rams before this, and then
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: they beat the Raiders by three points. And you mentioned
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: that they have the Ravens coming up. They have the
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Vikings on Monday Night Football. And then if you look
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: at their schedule, their last 10 games, five of them
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: are standalone primetime games.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Island games.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: So we will get a good idea of the Bills
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: coming up. Let's go to your previous number one team.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Fell two after losing their first game of the year
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: to Atlanta. They really didn't look like themselves at all.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: There was a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes, penalties, turnovers, all
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: of that.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they looked like themselves in the first quarter and
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: a half.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: And you thought, okay, this is going to be the
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Niners just going to Atlanta and taking care of business.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: And then they started to make some uncharacteristic mistakes.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: There was a fumble.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: There was an interception that Brock Purdy threw in which
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: he He was trying to throw the ball away, but
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: didn't give it nearly enough space width away from the
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: field of play. Jesse Bates snags that. And what the
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Falcons did is they capitalized on all of these opportunities.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: And I give the credit to the 49ers because they
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: did make this a.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Very interesting game.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: If you were to watch this game back and not
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: know the final score and you got to about the
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: five-minute mark, you would have.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Thought the 49ers came back and won this game.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Because the momentum was going in their favor. It's just
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: that they didn't finish the job. There was just some
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: really good plays, I think, made by Atlanta. One of
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: those games where they just deserved to win, and the Niners...
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: They're banged up. They didn't have Mike Evans. You saw
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: what happens to this offense when you don't have Mike Evans.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: They still have 400 total yards, but Brock Purdy doesn't
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: have that guy that you can necessarily lean on, much
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: like Baker Mayfield used to with Mike Evans.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: So I think they'll be fine.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: If you're going to pick a time to lose your
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: first game, it's now is going to the bye.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: They've got to get healthy, though.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they welcome this bye like manna from heaven because
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: afterwards they'll welcome back, hopefully, Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Debo Samuel, Upton Stout. I mean, just to name a few.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: We'll see if they end up making any moves before
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline as well to help out that pass rush.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But behind the Niners in both the power rankings and
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the NFC West, it is our team of the week,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: and it's the Seahawks who moved up six spots, Shook.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: This is the Seahawks team that we've come to expect.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: This is who they're supposed to be, a team that
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: is stifling defensively, that takes an offense that looks like
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: one of the best and most balanced in the NFL
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: and absolutely slams the door on them, keeps them out
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: of the red zone all night. Scores enough offensively, overcomes
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: another Sam Darnold interception because of their defensive performance and
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: ultimately win by 17 points in a game that wasn't
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: really ever that close. If they can beat this team
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: on a consistent basis, they'll be one of the best
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: teams in football and a favorite to come out of
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: the NFC to win the.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl, just like they were last year. Exactly.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: We just haven't seen it done consistently enough, but it
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: was a really impressive performance. And then since then, they've
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: traded for Quentin Nelson to help their offensive line issues.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Maybe that'll buy Sam a little more time and he
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: won't get those frantic feet and make those mistakes that
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: he's made over the last few weeks.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: If that happens, then watch out.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, next up for them, Mike McDonald's defense is going
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to be playing Ben Johnson and the Caleb Williams symphony
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: that they have. It's perfect for Monday Night Football at
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Lumen Field. I love it. And I also was very
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: interested in the fact that it was the Emanuel Wilson game,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: not the Kenneth Walker game. We're going to get to
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: the Chiefs later in the show, but let's go rounding
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: out the top five. The Bengals, they only rise one
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: spot after scoring 35 straight points against a division rival,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the Ravens, in Baltimore. We're going to also get to
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: the Ravens a little later, your 16th team, but they
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: were playing without Lamar. The second half Joe Burrow experience
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: was resplendent.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Yes. And this is where the top 10 gets really
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: interesting in these power rankings because the Bengals, you're right,
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: they only rise one spot, but they've been lurking for
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: a while.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Maybe I've held too high of an opinion of them.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Through the first half of Sunday's game, it certainly looked
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: like it because they basically sleptwalked through the entire first
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: two quarters.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Nothing more than a participation trophy did they deserve.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: And yet they come out and drop 35 points on
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: the Ravens in the second half, look like a completely
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: different team. The big play Bengals offense that has defined
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: their season so far comes through again with big throws
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: to T.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Higgins.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Jamar Chase went on a nice route to get around
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: Nate Wiggins for a touchdown. They just, it was an avalanche.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: It was overwhelming.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: It was. It was as impressive for the Bengals as
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: it was concerning for the Ravens. And the most important
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: part for me above all, yes, the offensive output is great.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: They still didn't run the ball well.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Their defense. Is it the defense? Is it the pass rush?
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: It's not just the pass rush. That's what we've been
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: able to count on. It's the second, third.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Levels also playing really well.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Demetrius Knight getting an interception to kind of seal this one.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: And that, if that can hold, then they'll be a very,
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: very good team and they'll stay in this top five
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: for quite some time.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Okay, so the Bengals, they are ascending. While your number
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: 17 suffered the first setback of the season, and it's
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: not often that we see Mahomes or the Chiefs offense
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: not score a touchdown in a game.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: First time it's happened since 2021.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: There we go. So that will end up hitting them
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: five spots down after getting blasted by the Seahawks. So
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: no Rasheed Rice in this game. Tyquan Thornton is on IR.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: And their wide receivers accounted for 39 yards combined receiving.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: And since we're doing musical references today and the words
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: have stained, it's been a while since the Chiefs have
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: been in a situation like this.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I just didn't think I would hear that reference today.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Stained.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: We got to take it back to the... I don't
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: even know what you call that rock.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: A time that no one wants to go back to.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: No, indeed, indeed.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: And the Chiefs don't want to go back to this
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: type of offense ever again. Kenneth Walker, 14 for 36,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: completely bottled up by a defense. There's going to be
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: one defense in the NFL that's going to know how
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: to contain this running back. It's the team that he
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: just played for previously. They made it their mission to
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: stop him from bouncing plays outside and gaining extra yards.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: They were great when it came to tackling, and the
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Chiefs had no answer.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: And what we saw in this game was that the
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: Chiefs are overly dependent on Kenneth Walker. He was papering
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: over a lot of their flaws. And because they've had
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: these losses at receiver, I mean, their top two pass
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: catchers in this game were Travis Kelsey and Noah Gray,
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: your tight ends. It's usually not a good sign unless
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: you're named the Los Angeles Rams. And Kenneth Walker was
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: third in that category with four catches for 21 yards.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: They had no offense to generate. It was too much
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: on Patrick Mahomes. They looked nothing like the team that
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: we've seen so far. And the big question now is
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: can they bounce back from this? Andy Reid is one
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: heck of a coach, and he'll find ways to fix this.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: But with the personnel losses that they've suffered, Very curious
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: to see if this is a precursor of more things
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: to come.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Well, they move to 6-1. They have a
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: rematch from Week 1 with the Broncos in Denver coming
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: their way, and that's a team that just so happens
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: to be your number 8 team in the rankings. They're
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: 5-2 after beating the Cardinals, but they kind of just
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: feel fine.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a very fine 5-2, which I don't really
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: know if we can call five and two fine but
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: that's where this team is.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: If you weren't watching the games this year and you
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: just saw the record you would think okay this is
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: pretty decent they're right there now behind the Chiefs in
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the division like this is this is a.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Tight race last year they went 14 and three they
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: were really close to winning going to the Super Bowl
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: they must be.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Right back on track sure Their defense is. Their defense
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: is spectacular.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: It's right up there with the Brian Flores defense in Minnesota,
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: in my opinion. The pass rush gets better every single week.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Nick Benito is playing at a completely different level. Alex
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Singleton had 19 tackles in this game.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: That's all great. That's fantastic.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: And they're doing a lot of this without, you know,
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: they were missing Pat Sertan in recent weeks. Riley Moss
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: was able to come back after getting injured a few
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: weeks ago, but it has not been a fully healthy season.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: No.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: And the offense just hasn't looked healthy in general, whether
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: they've had their players or not. Bo Nix has drawn
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: the ire of pretty much everybody who supports the Broncos
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: and even his head coach in recent weeks.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: But at least on Sunday, he remembered how to scramble.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: We saw it.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: It happened.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: I can't believe it.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Kind of embarrassing for the Cardinals now that I think
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: about it. The 62-yard run.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: He also had a 52-yard touchdown pass, but it was
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: on a screen. Look, if they can generate offense consistently...
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: In these forms, that's fine. They're still a pretty low-ceiling offense.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I think he attempted seven deep passes. He completed one,
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: so the vertical game is still not there.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: It's okay.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: This is what you're supposed to do against this team.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: I'm perfectly fine with it. But when the greater tests come,
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: which starts next week with the Chiefs.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: We're going to find out a lot about this team.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Who are you more concerned about between those two?
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, God, that's a great question. And if I think
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: about the match, I'm still going to go Chiefs.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: You're going to go Chiefs.
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: Okay. Because the Broncos still have to prove to me
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: that they can tackle Kenneth Walker. They missed a ton
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: of tackles in that week.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: That's fair. That's fair. Let's find out where the Steelers are.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Where has Aaron Rodgers taken Pittsburgh? They're also 5-2. Are
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: they better than we thought? Shook ones don't go anywhere.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: More NFL power rankings up next. Back here on NFL
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Power Rankings, presented by Energizer. Taking a look at Nick
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Shook's teams, 9 through 16. You have the Bears at 9.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: The Patriots, they fell 3 spots after the Bears beat them.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: You have the Lions at 11. Browns at 12, up
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: 4 spots. The Falcons up 6 spots after their big
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: win at 13. Steelers at 14, up 3. Packers, one
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: of the few teams that actually... remained in the same
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: spot in your rankings, and then the Ravens just plummeted
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: eight spots at 16. Let's get to your Bears, though.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Once again, the offense looked explosive, but they were playing
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: a pretty beat-up Patriots team after that Thursday night football game.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's fair, but I just love how Caleb
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Williams is playing football right now. The throws that he
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: made in this Thursday night game were spectacular. There was
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: a third long throw in the fourth quarter where he.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Is basically in the shadow of his own goal post.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: He steps up amid a collapsing pocket and just rips
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: a seed to Romo Dunzay, who makes a fantastic catch
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: for a first down to get them out of that situation.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: It kind of defined the night for me. That and
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Luther Burden catching and running the screen pass to him.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: The Bears had their own issues, I think, you know,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: not defending the screen that.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: Scored a touchdown with no time remaining in the first half.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Ramondre Stevenson should never go 48 yards of a screen
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: against your defense if you're competent.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: So, The same concerns exist for the Bears, but I mean,
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: since Caleb's been back, they've returned to form. They've become
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: the team that we expected them to be, and now
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: it's a matter of can you stand up against a
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Seattle defense that is going to present your greatest challenge
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: that you've encountered this year?
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Well, they did lose in Minnesota.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: That was pretty challenging, too. That's fair. Yeah, that's like 1A,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: 1B at this point, but that one's in Lumen Field, too,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: so at Lumen Field, so you know that that always
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: plays into it with the 12s. Let's go to... The Lions,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: who they are now 4-2 on the season, and what
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: a walk-off win over the Packers they had. Getting Brian
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Branch back, though, was great.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: It was an ugly final operation, but they got the
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: job done.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Brian Branch's return really helped this defense. They were
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: able to out-gain the Packers 4-15 to 3-24, which is
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: essentially what you expect from a Lions team that is
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: very offensively driven. But getting Branch back on that defensive side,
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: I think, stabilized the back end, which has been a
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: huge weakness for them. the Packers were not able to
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: go as deep as often against them as they wanted to,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: even though they tried. And yeah, it puts the Lions
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: in a better situation at 4-2 in this NFC North
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: that is so competitive than you probably would have thought they.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Would have been in. Because when you look at this matchup,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: the Packers are just going to outscore them. They have
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: a better defense. They'll be able to limit the Lions.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: It's just not what happened.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: It was one of those classic divisional games that gets
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: kind of weird in that we see a 20-17 final,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: and it's kind of chaotic in the final few minutes.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: But Good on the Lions. Another big test coming for them.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: I think this might be the game of the week, Lions-Vikings.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Ooh, another maybe chaotic divisional game that comes down to
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: the last minute. We love chaos. We do.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: We really do.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: How about the Browns, speaking of chaos? They get a
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: win over the Titans, and they had to fight really
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: hard for it.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: They did.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: They really did, and it was really concerning if you're
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: a Browns fan. And Browns fans, I would like to
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: just send you a quick message. I hear you. It's
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: not because I'm from Northeast Ohio that I've been keeping.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: The Browns in the mid-teens.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: It's because they keep winning in a fashion that I
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: just cannot trust.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: I still don't trust it.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: It took them another game-winning drive to beat the lowly Titans,
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: but they do deserve some credit for overcoming a quick
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: 14-point deficit. produced by two Tony Pollard touchdown runs. That
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: showed the metal and the willingness to fight back that
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: other Browns teams simply didn't have. Todd Munkin's done a
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: great job with this team. They've been able to spread
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: the ball among different guys given the week. One week
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: it's a Denzel Boston week. One week it's a Casey
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: Concepcion week. It's always Harold Fannin in the mix. And
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: it was also Quinshawn Judkins week. If they can run
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: the ball consistently like this, then I'll feel very good
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: about them. Man, needing a game-winning field goal to beat
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: the Tigers.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: It is the NFL. These are professional football players.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I know. I know.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: But I give them credit.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: They go up to 12 because they're 5-2, but I
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: still don't feel great about it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, they're going to be taking on– there's
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: a lot of really big division games, I feel like,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: this week.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: And the Browns, they have the Steelers coming up.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: And that's in Pittsburgh where they never do well. Exactly.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Except in the playoff game.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know if they can beat the Steelers for
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: a second time this season, especially the Steelers coming off
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: of that game in Paris. Yeah. But that's something to
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: watch for. And now we're going to shine a spotlight.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: And we're shining it on the Falcons. Up six spots.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: What are the Falcons? Because as soon as we saw
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Michael Penix Jr. come back, they sort of switched identities
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: a bit. But I don't know. They took advantage of
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: a lot of mistakes that the Niners just uncharacteristically had
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: in that game. So I don't know if it was
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: a really bad Niners game and they just capitalized, but
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: are they better than maybe a lot of people think?
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Well, the question is, who are the Falcons? What are
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: the Falcons?
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: The Falcons are a team coached by the former Browns coach,
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: Kevin Stefanski, who is starting to, they're kind of taking
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: on his identity in some ways. They like to run
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: the football. They like to at least present the threat
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: of running the football.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: But John Robinson always presents that threat.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: He didn't have a great game, you.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Know, 20 for 63, no touchdowns.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: But his presence allows them to then open up their
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: passing game. Michael Penix ends up, you know, thriving in this.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: I think he looks very comfortable. He's spread the ball
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: among a ton of different targets. Drake London, Robinson, Kyle Pitts,
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: Austin Hooper, you know, the list goes on. And more
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: than anything, their defense played well. Their defense, which I've
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: had a lot of respect for and have appreciated more
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: than the average person. When they put it all together,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: they're one of the more impressive units. It doesn't happen
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: every week, but it did this week.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: And they were able to get the win because of it.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: And if you look at the division, hey, it's an
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: interesting race.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: It's the NFC South.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: It's an interesting race.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Anybody can win it. That's a nice way of putting it.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Interesting race.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Speaking of the Steelers, they are your number 14 team,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: up three spots after beating the Saints in Paris, the
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: first ever game in France. They've won three straight, and
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: now they're 5-2.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: You are going to hear a lot of optimistic talk
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: around this team this week. And rightfully so, because... They
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: have played winning football over the last two weeks. They
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: also needed one score finishes to beat two NFC South
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: teams that aren't exactly great. All the Buccaneers are gaining steam.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: What's most important to me for this team is their
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: willingness to adjust in game. Last week, it was them
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: adjusting to short completions because they realized the running game
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: wasn't going and the deep shots weren't going to work
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: for Aaron Rodgers. This week, it was about putting two
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: tight ends on the field at the same time and
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: removing your tells whether you're going to run or throw.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: And then just making the most of it. Jalen Warren
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: gets back over 100 yards after a quiet week last week.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: Rico Dattle had some nice chip-in runs there as well.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: And Aaron Rodgers scrambled for a first down late in
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: a game.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: We saw it with our own eyes. You were there.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: You saw it yourself. So I do think that this team,
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: they have enough. They have a defense that can be
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: very good from one week, maybe not as good the
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: next week.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: And if their offense can just continue on this path,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: They're not going to go anywhere.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: I mean, they're basically not in a tie for first
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: in the AFC North because they don't have the tiebreaker
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: against the Browns, but they could get it back in
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: some ways this week by playing them. There's a lot
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: to sort out in the AFC North, and I think
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: it begins this week.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: That T.J. Watt interception, though, by the way, was a
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: thing of absolute beauty. There was a straight shot watching
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: it on the field right in front of us. I mean, listen,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: it's different when you see it at field level.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Let's go to the Ravens, and they are, wow, they're
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: down eight spots here.
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: So they've blown leads to division opponents the last two weeks.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Where are you with them? I know that Lamar Jackson
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: isn't playing right now and hasn't contributed to those losses,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: but still, are you panicking at all?
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I am panicking because there's too many consistent things
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: happening with this team. Derrick Henry unable to get going.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: I understand Snoop Huntley being a quarterback does make you
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: a little bit more predictable and easier to play against
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: from a defensive perspective.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Zay Flowers is still doing well, but they are not
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: putting together full games.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: In the last two weeks, they jumped out to a
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: 13-0 lead against the Bengals in this game. They got
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: to halftime, and I'm thinking they probably should have scored
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: more points, because I don't know if I trust them
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: in the second half. Last week, it was a 10-0 lead,
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: didn't score again, in either of those games.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Lost two divisional games. Browns last week, Bengals this week.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: And while Lamar comes back and helps you become a
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: more dynamic and versatile offense that's harder to predict, overall,
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: he doesn't fix everything, including the fact that you gave.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Up 35 points in the second half. You looked.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: I mean, they got steamrolled by the Bengals' offense. They
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: look completely useless defensively in the second half. That has
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: to be fixed, and I'm not sure that they're going
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: to be able to. We have the.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Charger-ing thing. Let's add Ravening.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I heard this.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Yes, because I know we did this on the pod,
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: and it's like, it needs to happen. It happens too
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: often to not have a term, so let's add.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: It to the lexicon.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: All right, so we're adding Ravening to the mix. Stamp it.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: All right, how about the Giants?
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Coming up, the Giants are sitting on top of the
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: NFC East, but is the J.J. McCarthy-led squad the real deal?
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: And what should we make of Dak Prescott and the Cowboys?
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Find out what Nick Shook thinks next on NFL Power Rankings.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: And we're back on Power Rankings presented by Energizer. Teams
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: 17 through 24. You have the Giants up top at 17.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: They lead the division right now in the NFC East.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: The Texans at 18, down 4. Look at the Bucs,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: up 8 spots at 19. Panthers down 7. We'll get
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: to that game coming up. We got the Rams at 21,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: up 3. The Cowboys up 4. The Saints down 3
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: at 23. And then rounding out this tier, the Washington
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Commanders down 1. So, the Giants. What's going on with J.J. McCarthy?
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: He looks pretty capable. And the Giants, maybe they are
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: a contender. Maybe.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Every game for them, it's a journey. It's interesting. And
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: this one was very entertaining and successful, largely.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Cam Scadaboo came out from the doghouse and put together
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: quite a game on the ground. 124 yards and 17
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: carries and a touchdown. They ran the ball really well
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: right through the Texans' defense.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: And McCarthy... He threw a handful of really pretty passes. Yeah,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: he did.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Malachi Fields is the real deal. McCarthy's already got a
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: rapport with Malik Neighbors. I like the way that this
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: offense looks. It's just a matter of, like, can they
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: do this week to week? Because it's hard to reconcile
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: that with the fact that they lost to the Saints
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: the week prior in the fashion in which they did.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Right. You think John Harbaugh and Cam Scadaboo are okay now?
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: They had to have made up.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: They're good? He got out there, he got 17 carries,
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: and he tore it up for them.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: They have a bye week this week, and then we'll
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: see how they do after the bye. But we go
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to power moves. The Bucs up eight spots. To 19,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: they boat raced the Panthers, and now you have them at,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I don't know, 2-5? And can you see them winning
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: this division?
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Yes, and that's because it's the NFC South. They're 2-5,
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: but they're only a game and a half out. The
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: Panthers are in first at 3-3, nothing like a first-place
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: team in that contest. They were absolutely detonated by the Buccaneers.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: And so I think that if the Buccaneers continue to
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: play like this, especially defensively, they've been very good in
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: recent weeks. Baker Mayfield didn't even have to do anything
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: in this game because.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: They ran the ball so well. Yes, exactly. This is
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the sign of where they can go. They just have
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: to do it.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: They play the Falcons coming up next. And then we
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: go to your number 22 team that rose four spots
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: after their Monday night football win in Philadelphia against the Eagles.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: It's the Cowboys.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: I know it pains you to say that. Yep.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: The Cowboys' defense played well enough, and they rediscovered how
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: to throw the football down the field. And they ran
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: the ball well for the first time all season. Javante Williams,
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: 25 for 155 and a touchdown. They did, but he
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: came against an Eagles defense that has underachieved, and I
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: have a hard time trusting it. But at least for
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: one week, Dak Prescott and company looked like Dak Prescott
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: and company.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, CeeDee Lamb, that catch, that body control. Oh, my God.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: George Pickens, too. Both fantastic.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Let's go to teams 25 through 32. We got the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Raiders at 25, followed by Dolphins, Titans, Eagles, Jets. The
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Cardinals at 30, the Colts at 31, and then the
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Chargers there at 32, staying the same.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Hey, they had a pie. They gave everybody a gift
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: this week by not playing football.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: But the Dolphins, they get their first win of the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: season against the Jets, so they've been playing pretty hard.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Look at them go.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Yes, and they climb up five spots ahead of a
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: group of teams that unfortunately includes the Eagles because they've
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: gotten better, marginally better every week, and it finally produced
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: a win for them. I'm happy for Jeff Halfley to
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: get his first win. Malik Willis looked the best he
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: has as Dolphins quarterback. Ollie Gordon ran well. Their young
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: guys contributed Caleb Douglas to two catches for two touchdowns.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: This is what they are striving toward. And so for
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: a week, you get a bump.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Hey, look, they're building something there. They're playing the Patriots
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: next week.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Good luck. Yes.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: And hey, shook ones, thanks for watching. We had a ball.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Nick shook. You can find his rankings at NFL.com slash
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: power rankings. And we'll see you next week. NFL Power
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.