NFL POWER RANKINGS
Week 10 (2023) NFL Power Rankings From The Sturg
Things are starting to take shape as the season moves along but a few teams are starting to climb
Week 10 was definitely not short on drama and last-second game-winning scores. The Broncos didn’t surprise me in their win this week as that was one of the bold predictions that I’d made in my Week 9 analysis.
The Bears winning surprised me a little but both of the teams on the Thursday Night game have been terrible to watch this year. I had a very hard time this week sorting this mess out. The Colts-Patriots game was a snoozefest unless you like defense.
Those are my main thoughts from the week. Other than Buffalo lost that game long before that penalty on the missed field goal. Here’s this week’s power rankings. Remember to let me know where your favorite team is on this list and what you think about where I placed all of the teams.
Top 10 Elite (1–10)
1. Philadelphia Eagles (8–1): Philly was on a bye this week so it would’ve been hard for them to move up or down on this list. They are still the only team with one loss on this list and definitely deserve this spot. Their next game is Week 11 against the Chiefs in what looks to be a potential Super Bowl preview and last year’s Super Bowl rematch. Stay tuned.
2. Detroit Lions (7–2): Yeah, I know, I surprised myself with this placement as well. It’s hard to argue with Detroit being this high at this point though. They have played excellent football for most of the season. And they beat the Chargers 41–38 in an exciting game in Los Angeles. Gaining more than 500 yards total certainly helped them win. A healthy David Montgomery should help that backfield and keep them up here for a while.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (7–2): The Chiefs were off this week. Nothing to report here. And thank goodness, all this Travis-Taylor talk has my head spinning. I’d just like to focus on the football at this point. They come back in Week 11 to play Travis’ brother’s team, the Eagles, in what should be an exciting game with playoff implications. The Chiefs currently hold the #1 spot in the AFC and have a lot at stake in this matchup.
4. Baltimore Ravens (7–3): The Ravens will certainly fall lower than this after losing to a division rival in Cleveland. They’ve now lost to both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. That certainly doesn’t look good in the division standings. This was a close, exciting game though and they are still one of the top teams in the NFL even after a close 33–31 loss at home.
5. Cleveland Browns (6–3): On the flip side of the Browns-Ravens game, the Browns are showing people why they are one of the best teams in the NFL despite dealing with a ton of injuries. They have now beaten the Ravens and the 49ers in the top 10. That loss to the Steelers is starting to look more like a blip than the norm. We will see what happens when they face each other again in Week 11. If they lose that game, then I’ll be bothered to move the Steelers ahead of this team.
6. San Francisco 49ers (6–3): They are now back at the beginning of a new winning streak. After starting the season with five straight dominant wins, they were on a month-long slide that got them down to 5–3. Getting a road game against the previously top-10 Jaguars was just what they needed. The game was never close and the 49ers went back to looking dominant again. We will see if this sticks. It definitely helps to have Deebo Samuel back.
7. Dallas Cowboys (6–3): I was tempted to move them higher after this dominant win against the New York Giants 49–17. They could’ve very well won by more but took Dak out of the game while they were leading by a ton in the fourth quarter. This wasn’t even close. Dak threw for over 400 yards and CeeDee Lamb is having a field day out there right now. This team is for real.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (6–3): A team I want to put higher especially since they beat two of the teams above them on this list right now but I’m not ready to yet until they show me more. A 23–19 win over the Packers is nice but it’s still the Packers. I’m tempering my enthusiasm for next week’s game against the Browns.
9. Seattle Seahawks (6–3): The Seahawks kept pace with the division-leading 49ers this week with a win. They escaped against the Commanders in an exciting game that went down to the wire. Geno Smith threw two touchdowns and 369 yards and the defense did just enough recovering a fumble to escape Lumen Field with a win on a last-second Jason Myers 43-yard field goal.
10. Miami Dolphins (6–3): Miami didn’t even play this week and I still knocked them for it. They play the Raiders in Week 11. This team should’ve been lower in the previous week and I’m just correcting for that now. This is still a team to watch out for and certainly a team that is likely going to win the AFC East.
Mid-Tier (11–20)
11. Jacksonville Jaguars (6–3): Jacksonville had to fall from grace at some point. None of us were used to seeing them so high in the rankings. That loss at home to the 49ers was embarrassing and hard to watch for Jags fans. I think they still have a shot to win their own division but I don’t see them as a big threat to good teams at this point.
12. Minnesota Vikings (6–4): A team that started 1–4 is now 6–4 after a five-game winning streak, two now with a new quarterback in another exciting game that saw the opposing team lose their own starting quarterback. This Vikings team is at least keeping it interesting for football fans in the NFC North. I feel that they will likely fall short of a division title in a division that the Lions already seem to have locked up but there is still plenty of football to play. The Vikings meet a very hot Broncos team in Denver in Week 11. This should be a matchup to watch as both teams started off slowly.
13. Houston Texans (5–4): The Texans have now looked exciting on offense for the last two games. This time, they beat a previously surging Bengals team. They won on a Matt Ammendola last-second 38-yard field goal. Their offense had 544 yards and CJ Stroud is starting to separate himself as a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate as he’s setting records in his rookie season.
14. Cincinnati Bengals (5–4): You can’t really penalize the Bengals too much in an exciting loss at home. They just couldn’t stop the Texans’ offense which is well-oiled right now and looks very dangerous. They still got nearly 350 yards and two touchdowns from Joe Burrow although those two interceptions look pretty glaring considering the final score and the outcome.
15. Las Vegas Raiders (5–5): New coach, new quarterback. Two straight wins now. This Raiders team is starting to turn some heads. I won’t get ahead of myself here. They are still the Raiders. But if they can depend on Josh Jacobs to go back to running for over 100 yards every game and playing good defense, they might just have a shot. Aidan O’Connell isn’t terrible as a rookie but he still has some room to improve.
16. Indianapolis Colts (5–5): Two straight wins is two straight wins even if they were expected wins over the Panthers and Patriots, two of the worst teams in the NFL. This win was in Germany, though, so it’s extra special. And the Colts did enough on defense to secure the win and that’s saying something. Their running game didn’t look typical in the 10–6 win against the Patriots and the final score was ugly but again winning is key in the NFL.
17. New Orleans Saints (5–5): Derek Carr is out for a bit as they lost him in the loss to the Vikings. Jameis did Jameis things throwing 2 interceptions in the loss. This Saints team should hope that Carr isn’t out for long if they want to continue to hold on to the division lead in arguably the worst division in football at the moment.
18. Buffalo Bills (5–5): This team is continuing to fall further from grace after a decent start to the season. They’ve now lost two in a row to fall to .500 this late in the season. It’s not necessarily time to hit the panic button yet. They were involved in a close loss at home to the Denver Broncos. They lost on a last-second field goal that was initially a miss but they had a penalty that wiped it out and the Broncos got a second chance. I feel that they lost the game well before that moment though. Four turnovers are not the way an “elite” offense should be playing. But the Broncos, to their credit, have been playing great defense.
19. Denver Broncos (4–5): Speaking of that very team. The previously mentioned Broncos. I was tempted to move them ahead of Buffalo this week because of the head-to-head win but I refrained since they still have one less win and it was a close game in the end. They could very well pass Buffalo when all is said and done though. Despite this recent winning streak, I’m still not completely sold on this team quite yet. They still have more to prove before I say playoffs for them. Courtland Sutton and Russell Wilson also showed us flashes of greatness in the win with that stunning toe-tap touchdown.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4–5): The Buccaneers finally found themselves on the right side of a game for the first time in five games. A team that had started 3–1 has fallen out of the division lead, although it is a marvel to me that despite their long losing streak, they are only a half-game out of first in the NFC South at the moment. The defense played well against the Titans in the 20–6 win and Baker Mayfield played well enough to help the team win but got injured so concerns will come up going forward.
The Caboose (21–32)
21. Los Angeles Chargers (4–5): This team feels like it should be higher but they find themselves on the wrong side of high-scoring games more often than not. They played well in the loss to the Lions but still fell a bit this week in the power rankings. Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen both had monster games but it just wasn't enough. The defense didn’t get the memo this week.
22. New York Jets (4–5): The Jets lost 16–12 to the Raiders in a game I can only describe as disappointing. The Jets were starting to look like a team back on the rise but they lost to a team that I had underestimated. Their defense is definitely propping this entire team up but won’t be enough if Zach Wilson can’t improve quickly enough. I don’t think they should move on from him yet but it’s getting close to time.
23. Washington Commanders (4–6): The Commanders lost to the Seahawks in a high-scoring game. They lost on a last-second field goal. The defense could’ve played better but the Commanders showed that they aren’t ready for the better teams in the league yet. Sam Howell is continuing to develop and find his footing as a quarterback. He had 312 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
24. Atlanta Falcons (4–6): Three straight one-score losses now. Not time to hit the panic button yet as they are only one game behind the division-leading Saints. They are now playing Taylor Heinicke at quarterback but rely heavily on their running game. They will have to go back to Desmond Ridder after an injury to Heinicke but I felt that moving away from Ridder was short-sighted anyway. I hope they can salvage this season before it gets away from them.
25. Green Bay Packers (3–6): A 23–19 loss to the Steelers doesn’t necessarily make me think that this team is a bad team even if they are 3–6 and close to the bottom of the standings at this point. They still have a lot of potential to move up and just need to limit their mistakes. Jordan Love had two more interceptions in the game. He’s tied for second behind Josh Allen with 10 in one less game.
26. Tennessee Titans (3–6): A 20–6 loss to the Buccaneers with Will Levis at quarterback. It seems like the Titans are headed for another lost season this year. I don’t see a road up for them at this point. This team is definitely a rebuilding, young team in need of more time.
27. Los Angeles Rams (3–6): The Rams were on a bye this week. They play the Seahawks in Week 11 in Los Angeles with Matthew Stafford set to come back and start again. Let’s hope that this is the kick in the face that they needed to get themselves back up in the power rankings. They are very capable offensively with Stafford out there.
28. Chicago Bears (3–7): The Bears beat an equally sad Panthers team on Thursday Night in a game that can best be described as boring. I didn’t move this team up and they don’t deserve to be either. The upside is that the game had zero turnovers. The Bears did have 133 yards on the ground which ultimately was the difference in the game at home.
29. Arizona Cardinals (2–8): The Cardinals pulled themselves out of the complete cellar of the NFL with a win over the Falcons. Kyler Murray and James Conner were both back in the lineup and the team definitely looked better with that combination. The offense was clearly more dominant in this game than their opponent’s was.
30. New England Patriots (2–8): After a 10–6 loss to the Colts where they outgained the Colts in Germany, they let the game get away with two turnovers. It might be time to change the quarterback in New England. Bill Belichick has a huge decision to make coming up if he wants to save his job and the franchise.
31. New York Giants (2–8): I can’t even put into words how disgusting this team looked in a 49–17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas had 640 yards against this “defense”. Even Cooper Rush did okay in his one quarter of play at quarterback despite his one interception against this Giants’ “defense”. Beyond Saquon, the offense is being led by Tommy DeVito at quarterback and that’s not a fun thing to watch…at all.
32. Carolina Panthers (1–8): Sure, it’s easy to rip on the Panthers at this point. They’ve spent most of the season at the bottom. They clearly didn’t get the quarterback in the draft that was NFL-ready right off the bat. Bryce Young will likely still be good in the NFL but they really should’ve drafted CJ Stroud with the first overall pick that they traded for with Chicago in this draft. They were competitive at Soldier Field but the defense couldn’t stop the run and that was huge.
Thursday’s game is going to be a huge division one for the AFC North as the Bengals (5–4) go into Baltimore to take on the Ravens (7–3) in Week 11. This will give the Ravens a chance to rebound after a tough division loss this week at home against the Browns. The division is already one of the best in the NFL and I expect it to be a competitive, tough game. I think that the Ravens can definitely rebound and win this game but the prospect of the Bengals winning and keeping the division tight is also something to watch.
I will make one more prediction. Along with predicting a Ravens’ win. I also predict a Kansas City win against Philly this week to likely take over the number-one spot in the power rankings again. Tune into the NFL this week and also stay tuned to The Press Box on Medium every Tuesday or Wednesday as I release my weekly power rankings. Until next time, sports fans.
Resources: NFL Standings
Here are the other major power rankings for comparison around the sporting news world.
