Ah, November. The time of year when leaves turn crisp, rain turns freezing, and we start separating pretenders and contenders in the context of an NFL season. The 2026 campaign is no different.
Even with Bo Nix’s Jekyll and Hyde play, his Denver Broncos somehow sit at the top of the AFC West. The Cincinnati Bengals, meanwhile, are receiving MVP play from Joe Burrow, but seem to have the same defensive issues that have plagued them since their run to Super Bowl 56. In the NFC, until or if they can find a better quarterback than Kyler Murray, it’s really hard to take the Minnesota Vikings seriously. On the flip side, if the Green Bay Packers can piece together a functional running game, they appear capable of making a lot of noise this coming winter.
Then there’s the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys, as ever, remain a cursed franchise dedicated to inventing new ways to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory every single week. It’s to the point where we’re pretty sure another monster trade wouldn’t even fix what ails Dallas because their problems run much deeper. That might not stop Jerry Jones from making one, though. But what else is new?
Let’s unpack all the latest shifts in the landscape of the 2026 NFL season in For The Win’s Week 9 NFL Power Rankings.
32. Los Angeles Chargers
Last week: 32
Jim Harbaugh's offense is a bowling pin setter. An unremarkable piece of old-school machinery that does its job in a way you don't truly appreciate. Mike McDaniel came in and replaced all his bowling pins with early 90s troll dolls, and now the whole operation is failing as two incongruent systems crash into each other week after week. All the Chargers have to offer in 2026 is schadenfreude. — Christian D'Andrea
31. New York Jets
Last week: 30
Do you know how hard it is to lose against a West Coast team playing an early-afternoon East Coast game? Aaron Glenn's Jets, everyone! The rebuild he insists is going swimmingly is actually going, well, like any other recent Jets rebuild. That is to say, it's going bad. Very bad. — Robert Zeglinski
30. Miami Dolphins
Last week: 29
Malik Willis has stacked back-to-back efficient performances, suggesting he could be turning a corner as he builds rapport with a young playmaking corps still adjusting to the loss of De'Von Achane, the team's only proven veteran engine. Expectations are modest, but he's shown he deserves a chance to run this offense with a roster that isn't dedicating 40 percent of its salary cap space to players who aren't even on the team. — CD
29. Philadelphia Eagles
Last week: 26
There's no way the Eagles can let Nick Sirianni keep his job just because of their rash of injury issues this year. This is a poorly coached, undisciplined team that makes self-inflicted mistakes every week, without fail. If anything, the Eagles should take the possible top-five draft pick that will come from this cursed season and gift it to a new coach with a more coherent vision for the organization in the offseason. — RZ
28. Tennessee Titans
Last week: 31
The Titans look … competent? Tennessee utilized a short-range offense that took the Cincinnati Bengals by surprise, even on a day without Carnell Tate in the lineup. That has a shelf life, but Robert Saleh's main job in another lost season is to build up Cam Ward and see if he can be a viable franchise quarterback. He thrived in the intermediate range Sunday. Will that be a sign of things to come, or just an outlier for another wasted Titans first-round quarterback pick? — CD
27. Indianapolis Colts
Last week: 25
Fun fact: The Colts do not own their 2027 first-round draft pick. It belongs to the Jets, thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade. So, after taking a blowout loss on the chin from the Jaguars, the Colts are actually the rare fire-selling team tanking for a second-rounder. The road back to relevance might be a long one in Indianapolis. — RZ
26. Washington Commanders
Last week: 28
No one is out of the NFC East race (well, maybe the Eagles). Jayden Daniels isn't back to rookie-of-the-year form, but he's playing much more efficiently than in his injury-derailed 2025. The defense has risen up from putrid to average. Now, the pressure is on Dan Quinn to prove he can blow this opportunity. — CD
25. New Orleans Saints
Last week: 23
A bye week let us mercifully forget that this version of the Saints exists. Instead of resembling a mush of gray Play-Doh, they'll hopefully come back from their break with a discernible identity. If there's any consolation for New Orleans, the NFL hasn't decided to relegate the NFC South (I don't know why not?), which means they could technically still win the embarrassing division. But would that really be an accomplishment worth writing home about? — RZ
24. Dallas Cowboys
Last week: 21
Few teams can unite generations of fans once accustomed to glory together in misery with the efficacy of the Cowboys. Every loss pushes Jerry Jones a step closer to making a blockbuster trade that sounds great but only chips away at the team's depth more. There were medieval torture devices less effective than Jerry's ability to make citizens of his fiefdom feel awful. — CD
23. Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 27
Mike LaFleur deserves some credit. He has one of the NFL's least-talented rosters and is in a firm rebuilding year. Yet, his team keeps ruining weekends for some of the NFL's most overhyped teams from warm-weather cities. There are signs of a strong program being built in Arizona. The next step is, and this is no inherent disrespect to new starter Gardner Minshew, finding a quarterback of the future. — RZ
22. Atlanta Falcons
Last week: 20
(Splashing sounds, wails of pain, Falcons fans nodding grimly). — CD
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 24
Baker Mayfield has seven total completions since his return from injury two games ago. The Buccaneers are somehow 2-0 in that span. That's not a sustainable way of winning in the modern NFL, but you have to admit that it is really funny and really stupid at the same time. All of a sudden, after a 1-5 start, the Buccaneers are right back in the NFC South race. That's a credit to Tampa Bay and a black mark on everyone else in the division for letting them hang around. — RZ
20. Houston Texans
Last week: 22
The week off allows DeMeco Ryans time to figure out what has happened to his star-studded defense. The edge rush has improved (from a 35 percent pressure rate to 37 percent), but that unit has slipped from second in the NFL to only the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in 2025, to 22nd in terms of expected points added (EPA) allowed this fall. That's how you get C.J. Stroud absolutely slinging the ball to a suddenly deep receiving corps and a 2-5 record. — CD
19. Baltimore Ravens
Last week: 11
Lamar Jackson's likely season-ending thumb injury is devastating. It means another year in the middle of his prime has already spiraled down the drain. It also raises questions about his future in Baltimore, and whether the Ravens will even want to keep the soon-to-be 30-year-old around. If they do, they better make an earnest effort at finding more weapons outside of Zay Flowers and finding a replacement for a declining Derrick Henry. On top of a new monster contract, he deserves that as much. — RZ
18. Carolina Panthers
Last week: 14
The Panthers have given up 70 total points the last two weeks. An offense that was slinging the ball under Bryce Young has failed to top 266 total yards in either of those games. What looked like a statement season from Young once again threatens to leave Carolina in limbo, though many NFC South champions are decided from a state of superposition. — CD
17. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 19
Klint Kubiak made the hard but correct decision to limit Ashton Jeanty's usage. It's probably no coincidence that Las Vegas put the underwhelming former first-round pick on the back burner and immediately put up 38 points in a win. The Raiders look like one of the best-coached teams in football already and are doing a wonderful job keeping the seat warm for Fernando Mendoza. Whatever buttons Kubiak has been pushing to this point, he should keep mashing them. — RZ
16. Cleveland Browns
Last week: 15
Only five of Deshaun Watson's — the quarterback formerly accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what an NFL investigation deemed "predatory behavior" — 27 completions against the Pittsburgh Steelers went more than 10 yards downfield despite trailing by multiple scores for the final two quarters. Sunday marked the second time he's been sacked eight times in four weeks. This is not an offense you have to take seriously. — CD
15. New York Giants
Last week: 18
A Halloween weekend bye gave the Giants a chance to observe the smoldering ruins of the NFC East from afar with joy and great interest. It also gave them more time to construct an even healthier offense around reclamation project J.J. McCarthy, who might be good enough to take New York to a division title and a top-three playoff seed in the NFC. Who would have thought? Certainly not me! — RZ
14. Los Angeles Rams
Last week: 17
Matthew Stafford remains capable of dizzying highs, but the space between those peaks is creating larger and larger valleys as his career rolls on. He was unmemorable in Week 8 against a flailing Chargers team, falling behind early and eventually stabilizing. This could be the season that chases him, and Sean McVay, into broadcasting careers. — CD
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 16
I still have my doubts about the Steelers' ultimate ceiling, but boy do they keep me proving wrong. On Sunday, it was their trademark defense mashing the Browns' offense into a fine paste with a ferocious pass rush and a running game led by the sterling Jaylen Warren bullying Cleveland up and down the field. Depending on how much Aaron Rodgers can stay out of the way, a top-two playoff seed in the AFC doesn't seem all that implausible. — RZ
12. Minnesota Vikings
Last week: 2
Kyler Murray is a drain on this offense, incapable of maximizing the potential of a star-studded receiving corps. Which sounds a lot like last year's starter, J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota is too good to find a franchise quarterback, leaving the Vikings trapped in a familiar time loop of high expectations tinged with the inevitable revelation that the sport will turn against them. — CD
11. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week: 9
The defense is officially a concern after letting Cam Ward look like a functional quarterback in a near-upset. The good news is that Joe Burrow is at the top of his game, with the superstar creating six total touchdowns in the Bengals' overtime win. Burrow is having an MVP-caliber season at the helm of a Super Bowl-caliber offense. Cincy would do well to make a defensive upgrade or two at the trade deadline to get some much-needed insurance for him ahead of an incoming playoff run. — RZ
10. Detroit Lions
Last week: 12
Can the Lions make a long playoff run with a bottom-three defense? Probably not. Can they be appointment viewing with a top-five offense leading them face-first into fireworks displays? Absolutely. So long as the Vikings aren't involved. — CD
9. Green Bay Packers
Last week: 13
Oh, huh. Another beautiful Jordan Love moonball dropped right into the bread basket of one of his receivers. Look at that. The Packers quarterback is playing the finest football of his career. He now has at least two touchdown passes in seven of eight games this season. If only Green Bay had a running game commensurate with Love's special abilities, because Josh Jacobs, who has four allegations of abuse from four different women, simply isn't getting it done there. — RZ
8. Seattle Seahawks
Last week: 8
The Seahawks defense couldn't cover for Sam Darnold this time, as Seattle's overreliance on Jaxon Smith-Njigba laid the team's limitations bare. Midway through the third quarter Smith-Njigba was responsible for 92 of his team's 94 receiving yards. This title defense may not make it to the postseason unless this offense can be something other than predictable. — CD
7. New England Patriots
Last week: 7
Drake Maye, deprived of weapons, managed to elevate Kyle Williams and Pop Douglas and fend off a frisky Dolphins team. A closer-than-expected win won't quiet the critics who have buzzed about New England's strength of schedule since last fall. Beating the Packers and Lions in back-to-back weeks before the bye might. — CD
6. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 6
The chickens have come home to roost on the Chiefs' bold gambit to try and contend without a single legitimate downfield weapon. Outside of Kenneth Walker III and a semi-washed Travis Kelce, there is no one on this offense that scares competent opposing defenses, as evidenced by the Chiefs' losses to Seattle and Denver. A solid trade deadline addition would go a long way toward fixing what ails Kansas City. — RZ
5. Denver Broncos
Last week: 10
(Studies Bo Nix's game tape; looks at Denver's place atop the AFC West; shrugs) — CD
4. Chicago Bears
Last week: 5
Chicago's secondary woes remain, but they're also much easier to paper over with Jeffery Simmons thriving from the middle of the line. He had a sack, two tackles for loss and six total tackles to make a statement and prove the Bears are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. — CD
3. San Francisco 49ers
Last week: 3
A bye week couldn't have come at a better time for the bruised and battered 49ers. It gave both Christian McCaffrey and Nick Bosa time to heal from their injuries and a chance to return for the stretch run at 100 percent. That's the good news. The bad news is that the NFL doesn't hand out two bye weeks to teams, which means the 49ers might have to grit and grind their way through the next two-plus months as they try to secure the NFC's No. 1 overall playoff seed. In a word: Gulp. — RZ
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week: 4
Jacksonville has a top-three offense and a top-five defense, though Davon Hamilton's season-ending knee injury creates gaps up front. The rest of the AFC South has fallen by the Jags' wayside. Can they use that momentum to ensure the road to the Super Bowl travels through Duval County? — CD
1. Buffalo Bills
Last week: 1
The defense is still a mess. Josh Allen is still prone to boneheaded turnovers at the worst possible time. Yet, the Bills are sitting pretty at the top of the AFC. What happens the rest of the way depends on perspective. Glass half full: Buffalo has endured all this early-season adversity and is in prime position to secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Glass half empty: The Bills look like the regular-season paper tiger they've been for most of the 2020s and seem vulnerable to postseason shenanigans.
But that's a problem for the future Bills to figure out. You listen to me, greater Buffalo metropolitan area: There's no sense in dwelling on January failure that may or may not happen right now. You are OK. — RZ
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Hilarious Cowboys can’t even be saved by another blockbuster trade
