NFL POWER RANKINGS
Week 9 (2023) NFL Power Rankings From The Sturg
Taking a look at the teams halfway through the NFL season
At this point, I’m confident about the order of the top 5 and the place they’re in. From 6–10 is a little more confusing, I usually designate the top 10 for the elite in the rankings every week. I’ll be using the term very loosely this time around. 11–20 truly does feel mid-tier right now and the order of the bottom also feels pretty set. This was the easiest time I had ordered the teams this time. I tried to keep the teams with the brutal losing streaks below the other teams in the same rankings tier. Here is this week’s list. Let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree.
Top 10 Elite (1–10)
1. Philadelphia Eagles (8–1): The Eagles earned retaining their top spot by beating a good Cowboys team 28–23. They were outgained in the game but also forced a turnover. Jalen Hurts was responsible for two total touchdowns and didn’t have any turnovers. That’s a good sign for Philly if they can keep that up in the second half of the season.
2. Baltimore Ravens (7–2): Here we go!! A team I was hesitant to put in the top 5 a couple of weeks ago continues to show why they are actually one of the best teams in the league. They are on a four-game winning streak and demolished the Seahawks 37–3. Shoutout to the undrafted rookie, Keaton Mitchell, for a monster game. Rushing for nearly 300 yards as a team will certainly put you on a winning track every time.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (7–2): The Chiefs rebounded from a bad loss by beating the Miami Dolphins in a premier matchup. They held Miami’s high-powered offense to 14 points and under 300 offensive yards. Mahomes didn’t throw any picks in this win and that certainly helped.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (6–2): The Jaguars were on a bye this week and were helped by teams losing close to them in the standings. They come back in Week 10 to play the 49ers in a crucial matchup with playoff implications. They also meet a team that has fallen in three straight contests now.
5. Detroit Lions (6–2): The Lions also got a bye in Week 9 and benefitted from having teams fall below them. They are hanging around the top 5 because of their stellar start. They face a test in Week 10 against the surging Los Angeles Chargers.
6. Miami Dolphins (6–3): The Dolphins couldn’t put up many points against the Chiefs. They faced a tough test. Tua hung in there but couldn’t quite lead his team to a win. They are still the class of the AFC East as both the Jets and Bills lost this week.
7. Cincinnati Bengals (5–3): The Bengals have won four games in a row and only suffer because they are in a fierce, competitive division. All four AFC North teams are within 1 1/2 games of each other and I could’ve ordered this list differently but this is the team that’s beating good teams right now and this team gets the second spot for their division in the rankings. They beat a good Bills team 24–18 in Germany.
8. Cleveland Browns (5–3): The Browns shut out the listless Cardinals 27–0 in Week 10. DeShaun Watson was back starting and this offense looked humming again to complement a well-oiled defense that terrorized the opposing starter. More on that at the bottom of the rankings.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (5–3): The Steelers beat the Titans, 20–16, going against my pick last week, in a competitive, close game. The Steelers are better than I give them credit for but it’s mainly because of their defense.
10. San Francisco 49ers (5–3): The 49ers were on a much-needed bye this week after losing three straight contests. The bye couldn’t have come at a better time considering the injuries and the slide. They should come back refreshed in Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars but it won’t be easy.
Mid-Tier (11–20)
11. Dallas Cowboys (5–3): Dallas lost a nailbiter to the Eagles which is why they are still on the fringe of the elite. This team is very good but is trailing the Eagles in the division by 2 1/2 games. Dak Prescott put up more impressive numbers in the loss, though.
12. Seattle Seahawks (5–3): The Seahawks got blown out by the Ravens. This team isn’t surprising as many good teams this year and still feels very much fringe when it comes to playoff contention. The only positive I can take from this game is that the defense forced two fumbles. But that obviously didn’t lead to any points.
13. New Orleans Saints (5–4): The Saints have now won two in a row and have taken over the division lead in the NFC South. Sure, this division is showing to be one of the weakest yet again this season but they will definitely be in a fight to win it this year. They beat the Bears 24–17 and their do-it-all utilityman of sorts, Taysom Hill, played a big role again this week. He threw for and received a touchdown along with gaining the most yards on the ground. Their defense forced five turnovers this week.
14. Minnesota Vikings (5–4): I was wrong about last week being the peak of their season after losing Kirk Cousins for the year. They got Joshua Dobbs, who had been struggling with Arizona, this week and he made an immediate impact in a dramatic 31–28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Dobbs is a dual threat and adds an element to the offense they didn’t have with Cousins. This is going to be exciting.
15. Buffalo Bills (5–4): The Bills seem to disappoint right when you think they’re about to hit the next level. The loss to the surging Bengals in Germany this week proved it. Josh Allen threw an interception and they lost another fumble in the game. Their defense may not be good enough to help them overcome turnover woes going forward. I’m worried about this team’s chances after such big preseason expectations.
16. Los Angeles Chargers (4–4): The Chargers got a huge win over the Jets on Monday Night Football 27–6. They got a special teams touchdown and two on the ground from Austin Ekeler and didn’t need Justin Herbert to be spectacular. They also sacked Zach Wilson eight times and recovered three fumbles. Their defense played a huge role in keeping the Jets out of most of the game.
17. Houston Texans (4–4): A week after CJ Stroud laid an egg against his fellow top-2 QB draftee in a direct matchup, he lit up the Buccaneers defense for nearly 500 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. What a way to recover from such a hard loss. This team and this quarterback are probably going to try to show out going forward. Dalton Schultz might be a dangerous TE deep threat for them.
18. New York Jets (4–4): The offense looked anemic but the defense did get five sacks in the loss to the Chargers on Monday Night. Zach Wilson still doesn’t look like the long-term solution for the Jets but he’s all they have for now. Good luck, Jets and Jets fans. I don’t think the playoffs are realistically in your future.
19. Washington Commanders (4–5): The Commanders went into Foxboro and beat the Patriots. In previous seasons, that would’ve been big news. In this newer, bizarro world, it was expected. Sam Howell played well for another game and did just enough to help his team get a win. Joey Slye kicked a 30-yarder with less than 2 minutes left to ice the game.
20. Las Vegas Raiders (4–5): New coach, new starting quarterback. A fresh start, perhaps? I think Las Vegas is hoping so after firing Josh McDaniels (rightfully) and replacing him with Antonio Pierce, a more player-friendly option. They started rookie Aidan O’Connell and he performed well enough to help them to a 30–6 win over the Giants. Josh Jacobs looked more dominant with a consistent quarterback out there.
The Caboose (21–32)
21. Indianapolis Colts (4–5): The Colts’ defense came threw with 3 interceptions against Bryce Young and his Panthers. The final was 27–13. They were outgained but Kenny Moore II’s two pick-sixes made the difference in this game. The offense didn’t have to do much more than minimize their own turnovers, which they did.
22. Atlanta Falcons (4–5): Considering this team still played well despite the dramatic loss, I didn’t want them to dip too low this week. Taylor Heinicke is starting now over Desmond Ridder and they looked more consistent on offense.
23. Green Bay Packers (3–5): The Packers beat the Brett Rypien-led Rams 20–3 in a game that the defense controlled. They lost two fumbles but their defense also recovered two turnovers, a fumble and an interception, and held the Rams to under 200 yards. Jordan Love didn’t throw a pick so that helped.
24. Denver Broncos (3–5): The Broncos didn’t play this week but they go to Orchard Park next week in a battle against the struggling Bills in Week 10 on Monday Night. They’ve surprised a few teams as of late and the potential win would be a statement game for Sean Payton in his first season coaching in Denver.
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3–5): The Bucs have now lost four in a row. They should be in panic mode at this point. They went from leading the division to looking to compete with the Panthers for the cellar in just over a month. To their credit, they did play competitively in a shootout against the Texans.
26. Tennessee Titans (3–5): Will Levis followed up his spectacular first start with an unremarkable second start. He threw for 262 yards and one interception against the Steelers. The defense didn’t play that well either as they didn’t sack the quarterback and didn’t force any turnovers. The Steelers earned the win as much as the Titans earned the loss here.
27. Los Angeles Rams (3–6): Brett Rypien starting in place of an injured Matthew Stafford looked awful. The Rams didn’t really have the defense to compete even with Stafford. Without him, expect them to dwell near the bottom of the standings for the rest of the season. Even with a healthy Cooper Kupp and a decent running game, this team is awful.
28. Chicago Bears (2–7): With five turnovers, that score should’ve been more lopsided against the Saints than 24–17 in a loss, but they were lucky to get that. Tyson Bagent is not the full reason this team sucks but you’re not exactly scaring or inspiring opposing teams by fielding him at QB.
29. New England Patriots (2–7): There haven’t been many highlights for the Patriots this season. Getting over 300 yards in a home loss against the Commanders could be considered one of them. Playing well in a loss but Belichick knows results matter and we will see how short of a leash Robert Kraft is giving him this year. This team has to improve more to compete and win to save his job.
30. New York Giants (2–7): The Giants have a new quarterback in Tommy DeVito. He threw two interceptions in a loss against the Raiders. Hopefully, he can get the team on track and play up to their expectations, especially with Saquon back in the flow of things.
31. Carolina Panthers (1–7): The Panthers followed up their inspiring first win with an uninspiring loss in Week 9 against the Colts. Throwing two pick-sixes won’t help win you any games and this team is still near the bottom of the league.
32. Arizona Cardinals (1–8): As bad as Carolina is, no one has been as bad as Arizona this year. Now they are in the middle of their own six-game losing streak. They traded away their best quarterback to the Minnesota Vikings. This team is in full rebuild, top of the draft mode now. The shutout loss to the Browns with first-time rookie starter, Clayton Tune, was hard to watch.
Well, there you have it. This is my end of Week 9 NFL power rankings for all 32 NFL teams. Tune into Week 10 starting on Thursday, November 9th at 8:15 PM EDT when the Carolina Panthers (1–7) take on the Chicago Bears (2–7) in a game that I imagine will be hard to watch because of how bad both teams have been.
My prediction is that the Panthers win in a close game. It’s hard to knock this game personally. These are my two favorite teams. I just won’t be stoked to watch. I already mentioned some of the previous matchups I’m excited to watch in Week 10 but the one I’ll most be paying attention to is the Browns-Ravens as that one will further sort that division out.
Which games are you excited to watch this week? How did you think I did with the rankings? Let me know in the comments which teams you’d like to see move up or down this list. Is your favorite team faring well at the moment?
Tune into The Press Box on Medium for next week’s NFL Power Rankings given by me, The Sturg, every Tuesday or Wednesday (most weeks). See you next week, sports fans.
Source: NFL Standings
Compare My Rankings:
NFL.com before the Monday Night game
ESPN has not released theirs yet so I finally beat them to it.
