Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #14: Bears reach new heights, while Lions fall out of top 10

Transcript

#14: Bears reach new heights, while Lions fall out of 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.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Welcome to a brand new edition of the NFL Power
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Rankings Mike Eam and Eric at home with you, and
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: of course the complete list of all thirty two teams.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: And analysis on all of them. All you have to
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: do is check out NFL dot com.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Eric, you know I usually ask you about the week,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: and by the way, happy, thanks given, and I hope
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: it was a great one for you and your family.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: But the reality is, I'm doing Monday night football, I'm
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: doing the postgame.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: I get a.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Sneak peek that came in a little earlier than normal
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: the rankings, and I'm looking at these top teams one, two, three,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and four. And I turned to Steve, which who I'm
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: working with on the postgame show, and I said, oh boy,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Eric and I are going to have a real conversation,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: so we need to get right into it. Here are
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: your teams one through eight. It is the Los Angeles Rams,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: spite the loss, still sitting in the number one spot.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: The Seahawks at two. I think they might be the
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: most complete team in the NFL.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: The Broncos in overtime figure out a way to get
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: it done against the Commanders at three.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: The Patriots have.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: The most wins in the NFL and they sit four
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: in the rankings. Then it's the Packers at five. I
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: have the Chicago Bears. Don't look now, we'll talk about
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: that team. They're sitting one in the NFC. They are
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: at six. The Colts they dropped three spots to seven,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and as the San Francisco forty nine ers sitting at eight.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: So let's focus in on this number one team, the Rams.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: We felt good about them, then they lose on the
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: road to Carolina and you still have them number one.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: What are we doing here.
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: Eric, Well, first of all, Mike, I never liked changing
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: the rankings at eleven PM on Monday night, so that
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: is one factor that was in the back of my mind.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: But truly speaking here, third loss of the season all
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: three by three points. I don't put too much stock
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: into the fact that they lost to a desperate Falcon
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: Panthers team. Excuse me, in Carolina one that's scratching its one.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: Of the playoffs.
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: Yes, the turnovers are concerned, but they really haven't been
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: an issue all season long. When Stafford's taking great care
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: of the ball Sunday being the exception, you know, and
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: they could run the football against them too. That was
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: the one thing that kind of caught my eye. So
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: there is a formula that is forming here, and I
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: guess further proof that there may not be a truly
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: elite team in this league. It's gonna be whoever gets
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: hot in January. I think has the best chance to
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: win it. But you know, without that pick six, obviously,
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: without that late fumble, I think they win that game.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: And we have no arguments whatsoever even with a close
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: shavee win. So again, if sands are butts and all that,
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: but I still believe in this team. I still think
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: they're gonna win the division, win the top seed in
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: the NFC, and good for Carolina for getting.
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: A massive victory. But I'm sticking by my rams for now. Yeah.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Hot tip by the way to Bryce Young, who oh yeah,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I'm even at fault of this. Sometimes I look him
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: out on the football field, not a big dude, and
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I go, this is an NFL quarterback, Like, how is
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: he doing this? Three touchdowns in the game, two of
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: them coming on fourth down. We'll show you where Carolina
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: is coming up in just a bit toime now for
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: future champions. It is presented by Fan Duel. Let's take
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: a closer look at the odds to win the AFC West.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: The Broncos right now still the favorite minus five point fifty,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the Chargers behind that plus five point fifty.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Kansas City.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: This has been a rough go plus two thousand, seven
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: hundred and the Raiders they can't technically get it done,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: so no odds for them to get there. The Broncos
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: sitting at number three. It's the same position as last week.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Sunday Night Football. It's a big spot. It goes over time.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I give them credit, man, because we loved up the
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Chiefs a year ago on the show.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: When they're winning these one close games.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Style points, maybe they don't matter, Eric, but you give
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: a lot of respect to this team.
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: Absolutely.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: I think you make a great point about last year's Chiefs. Now,
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: maybe they had a baked in reputation over several years'
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: success that the Broncos don't currently have. But we've seen
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: them get better with each season. Close games were a
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: problem last year, they've now become a team strength. And yeah,
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: it did come down to a play that could have
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: tilted the game.
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: Either way right.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: They don't make it, they lose the game, but that
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: defense did come through and it had to pass. Rush
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: was a little hit or miss throughout the game. It's
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: been a superpower all season long. And you got to
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: ask about the offense too. Look, bo Nick's had some
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: big moments. They had four drives of ten or more
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: plays in their first five possessions. So still moving the
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: ball to be a little bit better in the red zone.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: Need touchdowns not field goals. But you know, it's really
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: the first time defensively where you know they had trouble
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: stopping the run, and we know since JK. Dobbins has
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: been out the run game on offense has been an
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: issue too, so some things creeping up. But still they
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: have this uncanny knack of finding a way to victory
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: in the last fifteen minutes, sometimes in the last fifteen
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: seconds or in this case overtime in Washington.
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: So credit to them.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: It's a feature, not a bug at this point, their
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: ability to pull these games out.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: You know, Eric, I know you touched on it a
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: little bit, and once again to hammer home the point
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: that you made on NFL dot Com, I don't know if.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: There really is a great team in the league.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: This Broncos team once again finding some ways to win
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: the Rams coming off the lost. Like I think, they're
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: a really good football team. What's fascinating to me is
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: we shift our attention to the Patriots that you have.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: They have the most wins in the NFL with eleven.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: They look like bullies. I mean what they did to
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the Giants on Monday Night Football. I mean from the
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: jump when they were special teams, their defense up there,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: just these massive hits. Jackson Dart was taking throughout the
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: course of this game. It was a physical matchup for him.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: I still think that by the end of the season,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the best team the one that wins the Super Bowl,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: or at least leading into it. Eric, we're having conversations
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: about who do you trust? How much do you trust
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: this Patriots team.
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: With each passing week, I've trusted them just a little
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: bit more now they haven't played the toughest schedule in
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: the NFL. We kind of had an idea of that
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: back in August, but it's become even more true as
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: these teams have, you know, kind of shown what they
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: really are. Now that's not taken away what they've done,
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: but they've also had some close losses prior.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: To Monday night.
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: You know, Bengals almost had them, Jets gave him a
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: little trouble, Falcons almost beat him in Foxborough. So I've
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: still had a little bit of pause over that still
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: when you have Drake May operating at this high level,
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: and to your point, the physical battle that they won
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: down a couple offensive linemen, down a few defensive linemen two,
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: the execution on special teams. These are kind of the
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: I don't want to say, the hidden quote quotions of
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: a football team, but some times the things that get
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: overlooked when we talk about wide receivers and quarterbacks and
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: pass rushers and such. So for them to be able
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: to control the line of scrimmage, run the ball effectively,
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: play action pass, hit home runs on special teams as well,
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: even with a field goal miss, it's a pretty darn
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: good formula. We'll see how they test up against the
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: playoff stretch where every team is good.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: That's really going to be the ultimate test for them.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: You know, we talked about this team schedules ten consecutive
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: wins for them. I think there's two coming out parties
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: for the Patriots.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: We saw it.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: I think that was a Sunday night game against Buffalo
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: in Buffalo the way Drake may look. We said, oh, okay.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: And then there was a win a couple weeks ago,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay's coming off of a bye, they're at home, Yeah,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: and the Patriots go down there and win, And at
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: that point I said, oh, this team is for real.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: And I think basically how you described it on Monday
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: Night Football, with the offensive lineman being down and the physicality,
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: I think it's hard to not be impressed by what
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: we've seen from Mike Freeble squad, and he could be
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: actually Coach of the year. Let's jump on another team
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: that's been pretty impressive so far this year. It is
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears, who sit at number six. They move
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: up five spots in the rankings.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: They'll match up against Green Bay a couple two more
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: times before the season is done, so there's a lot
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: to still be learned here. But they're sitting as the
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: one seed right now, and Eric like they're doing it
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: with slightly.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Above passing Right now.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: This season, it's been the run game and defensively, if
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: they figure out that aspect, this Bears team's real dangerous.
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: You're right, it's not like they've been bad in the
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: pass game.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: There's just been too many misconnections, and there's been a
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: more reliable run game. And you know, their defenses continue
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: to make plays even while giving up yards and such.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: But you know, I understand Sunday why they continue to
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: run the ball. They as I said in my in
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: my right up for NFL dot Com, that offensive line
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: looked like a Macedonian foulings upfront. It was the most
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: impressive O line performance I've seen, at least in terms
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: of run blocking in a long time.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: And to have it to.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: Come against an Eagles front that's been really, really good.
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: I thought, spoke volumes, this was the big win they needed,
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: hence the big jump, and they still made big plays
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: in the pass game. You saw that sort of love
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: one obviously that the fourth down touchdown as well to
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: clinch the game. So we know they're capable of fireworks
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: in the passing game. We know they theoretically could get
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: better on defense if they do watch out. I mean,
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: this team is all of a sudden fascinating, and you know,
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: maybe we're talking about Bears Patriots super Bowl right two
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: first year head coaches. What has it been forty years
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: since they met down in New Orleans. That would be
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: a fun matchup. But both teams are playing their best
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: football and getting it done and winning a ton of games.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: You know, I was doing the pregame in the postgame
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: on Black Friday and Ben Johnson had made a comment,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and I think it's really telling. He said, we haven't
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: even hit our ceiling right now this season. And I think, Eric,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: that hits the nail on the head for what you're
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: just describing. And we're seeing this offense and this team
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: get better as the season goes on, and there's got
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: to be confidence with all these one score games, these
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: late tough battles down the stretch, and they're figuring out
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: ways to muscle in some victories. So a lot of
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: respect to what Chicago has been able to accomplish so
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: far this season. I'm starting to get a little concerns
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: about the Indianapolis Colts. They dropped three spots to here,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: soasco Pardner, the good news not in a serious Achilles
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: injury for him, expect to see him at some point.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: You're not going to go on, ir, but they.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Put the chips in the middle of the table before
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: the trade dead on he said, hey, we're going to
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: need some help here. What do I make of what
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: I've seen from the Colts these last couple of weeks.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: If we're being honest with ourselves, Mike seventh is a
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: pretty generous raking right now. Like you just watch them
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: the last three four games. I don't think you'd put
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: him any higher than seventeenth, right. I mean, it's been
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: a very average football team in a lot of respects,
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: even as close as Sunday's tight game was in a
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: huge divisional matchup, you know, could have gone either way theoretically, right,
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: they had the ball, they had a chance, but couldn't
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: get it done. And the offensive the reduction in offensive strength,
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: I would say, has been a big problem, you know,
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: not having those big plays in the past game, Daniel
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: Jones playing through this broken fibula or this break in
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: his fibula that I think has taken a little bit
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: of juice out of his legs. It's taken a little
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: bit of juice out of his arms. We know it
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: starts from from the legs on up when you're throwing
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: the ball. You know, he made some good throws Sunday too.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: But asking this Colts defense without sauce now for a
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: few weeks to sort of carry the load or steady things,
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: I think is asking a little bit too much. It's
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: a good unit, but I don't know that it's a
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: great unit, and so I have my share of concerns too,
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: and I'm really worried about where this team is heading.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: A couple of weeks ago, we're saying one seed. Now
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: we're saying are we sure they're in the playoffs? They
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: probably are, but at this point I don't think any guarantees.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: This is a team that started seven to one real
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: quick here. Do you think they win this division?
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: The way Houston has been playing, they have great opportunity
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: obviously Sunday, huge matchup against the Jaguars. They're a wild
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: card team in terms of, like you never know what
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: you're gonna get, and their best days are really good.
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: I'm not pushing any money forward on that one right now.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a part of me that says that maybe
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: I'm a little more confident in the Jags than I
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: am the Colts. But the best unit of all three
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: of those teams is Houston's defense, and if CJS Prout
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: is going to be able to figure it out, and
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: now turn over the football. They are maybe the team
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: to beat all of a sudden in that division still
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: to come. We got a Philadelphia Eagles squad that look,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I know fans and Philly been hitting the panic button
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: for weeks even when they were winning. Now they're starting
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: to drop some games. Where did they sit in the
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: power rankings?
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: The answer to that is coming up next.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Back here on power rankings, taking a look at teams
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: nine through sixteen. The Buffalo Bills move up one spot
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: with that win against the Steelers and eight and four record,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: They're at number nine.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: The Eagles drop four spots.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: They're at ten. The Lions I think there's some concern
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: right now in Detroit at eleven.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: The Jags.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Not sure exactly what to make of them, but we'll
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: talk more about them and the Houston Texans as those
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: two teams sit at twelve and thirteen. The Ravens are
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: six and six spot. I still think they're a postseason team,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: which is wild to think at fourteen, the Chargers at fifteen.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Some news about Justin Herbert having successful surgery Monday on
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: that finger injury that he had, that fractured finger, and
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: the Dallas Cowboys moving on up at sixteen two spots.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: In a good direction.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: All right, Buffalo, sell me on this team, because I
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: think the Steelers looked old. Their offense from a Buffalo perspective,
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: didn't look great early in this game. It felt like
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: the defense needed to spark them a little bit. And
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: yet I know you moved them up a spot here.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: How how much should we be puffing out our chest
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: if we're Bill's mafia?
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, at this point, with the Bills having
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: performed the way they have this season, up down sideways,
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: what have you.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: I'll take a game.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Where they end up winning on the road by multiple
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: touchdowns when the ground game is successful, especially given that
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: both their starting offensive tackles were out. I think that's
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: sort of the you know, the umbrella we've got to
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: put over this performance. Yeah, the passing game wasn't great.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: It's been spotty at times all season. They may not
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: have a true separator a receiver, even with Brandon Cooks
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: in the building now. But you know, another twenty plus
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: point game after halftime. It's the fourth time they've done
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: it this season, Mike, So you know, even when they've
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: started games slowly or settle for field goals or turn
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: the ball over. They've at least found ways to kind
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: of crank things up. So credit to Joe Brady.
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: I mean, he ran the same run play about twenty
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: six times in the second half.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: But when it's working, why go go away from that?
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: That's a pretty good formula. So the defense also turning
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: in its best game of the season. I think, so
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: that's a that's a that's a steadying force kind of
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: thing right there. And we'll see I think Cable winning
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: super Bowl maybe, But Sunday was more good than bad.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I think Eagles dropped four spots. What's the biggest area
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: of concern for this Philly team?
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, look, you know, it was one thing
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: when we.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Just said, okay, the offense is sluggish. Passing game has its,
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: you know, a little moments here and there, but not
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: good enough. Now we're saying, hey, they got gashed against
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: the run by the by the Bears. First month of
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: the season. This was an issue.
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: Don't forget they were giving up almost five yards of carry.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: They seem to fix it under four for several games,
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: but then this performance.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: It led to some questions here.
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: And obviously even the tush push has not been a
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: relative strength to this team for a while now, so
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: you know, you consider the fact they've got to be
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: in the.
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: Plus margin and turnovers.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: They have to find at least a couple of big
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: plays downfield in the pass game every time they want
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: to try to win. You know, all of a sudden,
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: these formulas are becoming much more difficult. Jalen Hurts has
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: not played great, the receivers aren't doing what they need
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: to do, and the offensive line is frankly a shell
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: of itself with Lane Johnson out.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the Lions are also a team that are It
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: feels like a little bit of a free fall now
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: they've dropped three spots in your rankings. The fourth down
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: situation is becoming telling to me. They haven't converted down
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: on their last seven. We know Avin ra is also
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: banged up right now, But from a fourth down perspective,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: is this a situation where teams like they already know
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: that these dudes are going to.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Go for it? Does Dan Campbell need to rethink the strategy?
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: I mean when you start the season, what were they
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: thirteen for eighteen on fourth downs? It builds a confidence
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: that we can get this done. You know, two thirds
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: of the time or more obviously to your point, the
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: last seven haven't gone well, and they've gotten into this
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: hyper aggressive mode where you know they're not.
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: Staying ahead of the sticks.
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: They almost sort of count on fourth down being in
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: their pocket when the last few games have shown it's not.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: So that's one issue. Look, Dan Campbell's taking over an
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: offense that look good as first game planing a calling
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: place not so great since then, I would say a
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: little too predictable. The run game has it worked if
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: teams take away Jamiir Gibbs, that offense doesn't work nearly
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: as well as it needs to. And you know, defensively,
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: we know they have the challenges. They're they're not going
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: to completely shut most teams down, and you run up
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: against a good team like the Packers, it's gonna be tough.
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Look, Thursday night, it is the Dallas Cowboys who ally
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: a sudden they look like a rocket ship going up.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: This is it feels like in a lot of ways
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: for both of these teams a must win. The Houston
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Texans they move up two spots right now. There is
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: a point in this game, Eric where I'm thinking to myself, like,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: we're gonna have a Davis Mills conversation. Now, we figured
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: it out and CJ got you know, was able to
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: shake off some of that RUSS. But what's the upside
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: right now for the Texans.
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you're right. I got a little worried in that
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: first quarter, first half.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: You saw CJ kind of feeling his way through the game,
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: but he settled down. I thought he played pretty well defensively.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: They did give up some plays, but came through in
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: the clutch like they always seem to. So you know,
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: it's a three phase operation right now. And if CJ
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: just continues to stack good performances. You know, they had
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: some nice production in the run game here, even when
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: Nico Collins taking the end around, and you know, with
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: with Marx and Chubb, I think that's a good enough
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: duo for the playoffs. And again turn it over to
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: your D. You know they're going to make plays, especially
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: against the pass. That pass rush is always going to
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: be there. It's a fun team right now because they
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: do look dangerous and they look like the kind of
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: unit that nobody wants to face. A defensive buzz saw
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: in January could be very tough to deal with.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: The Ravens sit at fourteen on your rankings. You know,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: they're like my adopted team. I got to tell you,
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, disappointment that I have for this squad because
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: it's a lot of the little things that continue to
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: pile up and they're becoming really big things and real
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: issues on the football field.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Maybe I just ask you this, like you think they're
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: going to be in the postseason?
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like, you know, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed, right,
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: I totally thought they were kind of over this sort
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: of performance. But you know, credit to the Bengals. Obviously
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: they needed the game and Burrow was back and all that.
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: But you know, there's still this this quality about them
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: that you know, it's it's it's hard not to be
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: a little bit concerned. If the Steelers weren't struggling the
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: way they have been lately, I'd be even more concerned.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: But somebody's winning this division. And look December and January,
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: that's when Lamar, at least in the regular season, that's
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: when Lamar has typically taken over twenty two to four
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: in his career. You know, an incredible touchdown to interception
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: ratio thirty fifty three to eight. Excuse me, in those games.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: You know, he's been a great player. We haven't seen
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: that version of him yet. I don't know if the
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: calendar turning to the next month is going to make
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: a difference, but he's got to elevate his play and
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: the defense has to get back to the way they were.
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: You know, even before this game, the last several games
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: before it looked pretty good.
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: You know, Thursday was the difference or different story though.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: I think you described it the best way possible.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: It is like a parent being disappointed because they're better
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: than this and they whatever.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, they lost, they lost.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: It is what it is, Dallas Cowboys from the bad
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: to the good. Because the Cowboys right now are absolutely balling.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: I think you can make.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: A case that they are the squad that should like
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: fear and their opponents the most if you're on their
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: schedule the rest of the way.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: Absolutely you know, explosive passing game. A coach and Brian
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: shot named Haimer, who is very patient with the run.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: He will stick with it, you know, and god forbid
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: they get a lead on you, right, He'll keep going
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: back to it. But for me, the biggest improvement has
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: been defensively since Quentinn and Williams arrived.
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: You know, Demarvin Overshown.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Is back now, but that young defensive line seems energized.
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: Donovan Ezriaku, who has been great lately, Sam Williams, you know, Digiezua,
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: They've all seen kind of a fire has been lit
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: underneath them too.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: So you know, it's not gonna be perfect on that
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: side of the ball.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: But if they can attack and keep games close and
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: hold teams the field goal, get an occasional turnover, that's
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: a win for me defensively because we know what they're
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: capable of of putting up points wise.
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: So fun team. Maybe they're catching Detroit at the right
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: time too.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: This is going to be an absolute banger on Thursday,
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: and I can't wait to see how they finish out
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: the season. Are they in the playoffs? I'm not quite
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: there yet, but they could be.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: What a meaningful game on t and a half. I'm
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: telling you, like, I think there's gonna be a ton
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: of fireworks here. And he's a part of me that
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: says Dallas is gonna be able to handle business. We
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: got coverage on an NFL network, by the way, before
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the game, and of course after the game. You know,
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: I know that, Eric, because I'm doing that show on Thursday.
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: I'm actually gonna'll be there too.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Still to come here. On power rankings. The Carolina Panthers,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: you know, we could go on Monday Night Football. I'm like, yeah,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: we're gonna leave the squad for dead and then they
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: go and beat the Rams.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: Where do they sit in the rankings?
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And by the way, we haven't even named checked the
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Chiefs just yet so far, and Joe Burrow's team scored
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: a win. Where do all three of those sit in
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: the power rankings? The answer to that is coming up next.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I'll back here on power rankings Eric's team seventeen through
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: twenty four. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they scored an important win.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: They move up three spots to seventeen. The Carolina Panthers,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: we'll talk about them in just a moment. At eighteen,
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: the Chiefs, we could have a conversation on those guys.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: They dropped seven spots down at nineteen. I did not
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: think there was a world that existed where they'd fall
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: to this point, but that's where we are. The Steelers
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: at twenty, the Dolphins at twenty one. Got a Cincinnati
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: team that moved up three spots to twenty two. The Commanders,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: despite the loss, also moved up three spots to twenty three,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: and the Atlanta Falcons sitting at twenty four. All right,
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: it's time for a Team of the Week presented by Truest.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Let's focus in on team number eighteen right now, and
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: that is the Carolina Panthers. I mentioned this before we
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: got to the break there Monday night football against the Niners.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I'm like, hey, like, this don't look good, and didn't
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: think they'd be able to respond, but that's exactly what
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: we saw here.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: How impressed were you with this win against the Rams?
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: First of all, their season has been one of the
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: strangest resumes for any team you could ever imagine, blowout losses,
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: shocking wins, everything in between. But you know, for them
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: to come out and be as assertive and decisive offensively
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: running the ball and also yes, Bryce throwing the ball too,
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: that's been the biggest improvement I would say, are the
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: biggest difference between them having a disappointing game and being successful.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: You know, when they've struggled, the common denominator has been
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: not putting enough points up. They've been better defensively on
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: the hole than last year when they were the worst
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: scoring defense in league history. So a little too hot
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: and cold for my liking. But the fact is Bryce
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: has responded several times this season and they still got
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: a chance. They gave themselves a chance to keep fighting
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: for that playoff spot, and good for them.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, are you done with the Chiefs at this point?
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: This isn't admittedly unfair ranking here. If you just looked
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: at their blind resume without we lost record there, you'd
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: see that they're better than last year's team in several metrics.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: They have ten more touchdowns than their opponents, but the
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: record is the record, and that reflects into how much
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: work they have to do to win in the playoffs.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: What did Andy Reid say They're going to tickle our tonsils.
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: I'll believe it when I see it, and I hope
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: they do. I love the story if they get in,
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: but they've got a ton to do still in some
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: tough games remaining. I just feel like it's not going
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: to be in the cards this year.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: The Steelers drop four spots first place on the line
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: in Baltimore this weekend. Fans at home are chanting fire.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin, what are we talking? About here is I
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: guess it is as bad as as I saw against Buffalo.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: What's the level of concern regarding this team being able
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: to make a run?
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: It's massive, right, I mean, obviously they can cure their
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: ills by winning this game and kind of taking care
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: of business, calming everything down.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: But it feels right now like everything is kind of
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: caving in.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: If the Ravens didn't struggle Thursday, I might feel a
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: little worse even But we'll see this game. We'll know
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: a lot about their future after Sunday.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: The Cincinnati Bengals. You know, we haven't talked about this
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: team in a long time on power rankings. They move
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: up three spots in the rankings. Joe Burrow is back,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: he's dealing. You think there's a playoff run here.
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: They've got to win out pretty much. That doesn't even
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: guarantee they're in the playoffs, but what a story would be.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Teams starting three and eight are ozer for one hundred
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: and two in the league's history, at least since nineteen ninety,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: making the playoffs great. A little longer season now with
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: seventeen games, but they can get it done. They can
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: win those this game Sunday and then the next one,
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: and they'll be in much better position than I think
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: a lot of people realize. But if they could have
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: pulled off one or two of these earlier games, feel
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: a lot better about it.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: At Buffalo, by the way, I imagine they win that
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: game where the big sitting in your Power rankings. Then
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: it's Baltimore at Miami, Arizona and Cleveland, just to level
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: set the expectations for the Cincinnati Bengals.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: The rest of the rankings.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Minnesota who that was tough with Max Rosmer twenty five
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: in the rankings, the Arizona Cardinals at twenty six, Gangreen
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: moving up a couple spots to twenty seven, the Browns
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: at twenty eight, the Giants losing on Monday Night Football.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Some big hits that Jackson dar took in twenty nine.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: It's the Saints, the Titans, and the Raiders that wrap
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: up thirty, thirty one and thirty two. Eric, I cannot
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: wait to do this with you again next week, a
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: huge matchup.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: It all kicks off we number fourteen in the NFL
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: on Thursday. Thanks for watching Power Rankings.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.