Well, you did it. I told you not to; I tried to warn you, but you did it anyway. You blinked. You blinked, and now 25% of the NFL season is already over.
As we did last year, we are going to update our team and QB power rankings every 4 weeks (or thereabouts) throughout the season. As we did last year, we will keep the previous rankings in parentheses next to the team name.
These rankings are not based on record; they are based on how well the team is playing compared to the rest of the league. Here’s
a look at the rankings 25% of the way into the season.
1. San Francisco 49ers (6)
Made a statement in Week 1 in Australia against the Rams and haven’t slowed down since. If they stay healthy (enough), they should be playing in late January, probably February.
2. Seattle Seahawks (1)
A trip up against the Commanders cost them their top spot in the rankings, but this is a formidable team and continues to show it.
3. Buffalo Bills (3)
Josh Allen is on a mission. Can Buffalo get home-field advantage this year and slay the dragon that is Patrick Mahomes?
4. Baltimore Ravens (4)
For the last 7 or 8 years, the Chiefs, Ravens, and Bills have dominated the AFC; it doesn’t look like we are getting a different outcome this year.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (10)
I’m not sure if the Chiefs are all the way back, but they are most of the way back at a minimum.
6. Chicago Bears (9)
If Dennis Allen can keep getting this out of this defensive unit, this team has a chance to reach the big dance in February.
7. LA Rams (2)
The Rams should probably be higher on this list, but you make stupid travel plans and blow a game the way they did against the Denver Broncos, and you need to get punished. Had they managed to beat Denver, they’d probably be 3rd.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (14)
The Jaguars move up 6 spots, and if I’m being honest, you can make the argument they should be even higher on this list. They have it on both sides of the ball.
9. Dallas Cowboys (13)
The Cowboys have some holes, but they are showing flashes of having this come together. We will see how much Joey Porter boosts this defense.
10. Minnesota Vikings (15)
The Vikings defense is doing what it needs to under Brian Flores. The offense isn’t playing well enough to get a spot higher than this on the list despite being undefeated.
11. Denver Broncos (5)
The Broncos have had a tough schedule so far this season. All 4 of their opponents are ranked in the top 8 of the power rankings. It might have been too harsh to drop them this far, but Bo Nix’s inconsistent play has me concerned for their future this season.
12. Cincinnati Bengals (16)
A lot of people wanted to applaud the Bengals and their improved defense, and it does look better, but their two wins were against Tampa and Houston, and perhaps they weren’t as back as we thought they were.
13. Philadelphia Eagles (12)
The Eagles look a lot like the 2025 version, which is a pretty good team that will shoot itself in the foot and probably make the playoffs but not have any January success.
14. Las Vegas Raiders (26)
This Raiders team is good, and Klint Kubiak seems like the real deal. I don’t know if Kirk Cousins can keep the clock turned back for 17 games, but it’ll be fun to see how far they ride this wave.
15. New England Patriots (7)
Drake Maye looked a little better on Sunday, but things have been off with this team this season. That was a monster win in Buffalo. Too early to say it saved their season, but it could swing the momentum in the right direction for them.
16. Carolina Panthers (23)
Bryce Young is operating this offense quite well. He may never be an elite quarterback, but if he plays like this, he’s a QB you can win with. The defense has given up some points, but they’ve also made some big plays. This team is trending in the right direction.
17. Cleveland Browns (28)
The Browns are sitting at 3-1 and are playing really well. Can Deshaun Watson continue to play well enough to get them victories? They may fade over the course of the season, but Todd Monken will have this team fighting for 60 minutes.
18. Detroit Lions (17)
The Lions can still score points, but they just can’t stop other teams from scoring. Dan Campbell just looks like a man searching for answers, and I’m not sure he’s going to find any.
19. New York Giants (22)
The Giants are a well-coached team, and that’s going to get them more wins than they’ve had in recent years. But their QB situation has already ended this season, whether they win a few games or they don’t.
20. Atlanta Falcons (29)
I was ready to bury the Falcons after two games, but they look like a different team under Michael Penix. He’s not great, but he can operate an offense, and it’s been a world of difference.
21. Houston Texans (8)
This is more of a respect spot. They have an extremely talented defense and a few talented pieces on offense as well. They shouldn’t be this bad, but there’s nothing they’ve put on tape at this point that says they aren’t this bad. There are no moral victories when you fall to 0-4.
22. Pittsburgh Steelers (19)
This Steelers team is an aging group that always had a low ceiling. They look exactly like they were expected to look: a near .500 team that’s not going to be bad enough to get a great QB in the draft and not good enough to make an impact in the playoffs. It’s another Mike Tomlin year even if he isn’t there.
23. Green Bay Packers (18)
This team might be 2-2, but they look absolutely awful. They won a game that Aaron Glenn handed to them on a platter and barely beat a UDFA rookie QB. Something is missing with this team. Can Micah Parsons elevate the team and make them contend again? That seems like their only hope.
24. Los Angeles Chargers (11)
The Chargers should probably be even lower on this list, but again, we give them a little bit of a respect ranking as we did with the Texans. This team looks absolutely lost, and this is headed to a massive reset after this season if they don’t turn this thing around quickly.
25. Indianapolis Colts (24)
The Colts’ two wins are against teams with a combined 1-7 record. Daniel Jones isn’t playing well, and the Colts have a lot invested in this team, and it doesn’t look like they are going to get much in terms of the results they are looking for.
26. New Orleans Saints (20)
I really thought the Saints were going to show some life and potentially push for the NFC South division title. They still have a chance to do it, but they are going to have to figure out how to protect Tyler Shough to do it.
27. New York Jets (30)
The Jets are definitely bad. They are largely bad because of their head coach. But the team is paying hard, seemingly because of their head coach. The Jets are going to play hard, but they aren’t going to win a lot of games.
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (21)
The Bucs aren’t it. They are headed towards the basement of possibly the worst division in the league. Todd Bowles probably should have lost his job last year, and this is a team that doesn’t have an obvious path out of mediocrity.
29. Washington Commanders (25)
Jayden Daniels can’t stay on the field, and this team simply doesn’t have enough talent or strong enough coaching to overcome that. The Commanders are going to face a lot of tough decisions this offseason.
30. Arizona Cardinals (31)
The Cardinals are a bad team. We knew they were a bad team. They’ve played like a bad team. The Cardinals are a bad team.
31. Tennessee Titans (27)
Cam Ward is frustrated. The Titans franchise has been a mess for years. This is a car stuck in the mud, and they don’t have any tools in the trunk to help them out.
32. Miami Dolphins (32)
With the first pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select…
