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We are almost half way through, man, that is hard to believe. We're heading into week eight. Welcome to the NFL Power Ranking Show, Everybody, presented to you by Energizer from our studios in Los Angeles. My name is Andrews. Siciliano. The man on the other side of the screen, the man who is up late Monday night listening to Creed on his iTunes and trying to figure out what to do with the new rankings when four of his top
seven lose is Eric at Holme. How are you, buddy, Yeah, I'm doing all right.
I've recovered.
I think the Power ranking gods had a good laugh at our expense last Monday night, I should say.
So, we've recovered, We've put an order together. We're pretty proud of her.
They laugh in your general direction, and they look at the rankings right now on the screen. You can do it as well. Scan the QR code, go to NFL dot com slash Power Ranks, and when you do, you see Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City chiefs. Hoh hum, just like your thought. As we get near the middle, of the season sitting there at number one. Then the Eagles are up three last year's or last week's number one. The Niners are down to a number three, the Ravens,
the Dolphins, the Jaguars, the Lions, and your Dallas Cowboys. Everybody. Let's open up with the forty nine ers because they were number one. And again, as mentioned, you were on deadline. You got to sit up late Monday night night as if you weren't going to be watching anyway to see the fight. And brock Perties lose back to back games, Eric for the first time in a year. It hadn't happened, Yeah, since Week six and seven of a year ago. Listen, they lost to a great defense last week on the
road in Cleveland. Jake Moody missed a field goal, but everyone thought they were going to pick it up, right, they go on the road in Minnesota. Kirk Cousins isn't winning this game?
And then what happened, right, Yeah, it was a surprising result, just as I think what happened in Cleveland coming off the high the five game win streak they opened the season with. But I'm glad you mentioned Week six and Week seven last year. Remember they were a three and four team a year ago, and what happened immediately after that?
They ripped off ten straight regular season wins, you know, had some success in the playoffs and told the NFC Championship game, to me, this is still a better team than what they had last year. All the questions at quarterback, we hadn't even figured.
Out rock Party was the starter.
But look, you know, Perty was not the guy on Monday night, especially in the fourth quarter. I mean, two interceptions five to ten. Passing didn't really get much done, a couple of high throws lead to picks, and you know, credit to the Vikings for shortening the game and making it an a possession game and really minimizing the chances for the forty nine ers to capitalize on every single
one of them. So, you know, the game plan was great. However, I expected the forty nine ers to come in and flex their muscles.
They'd gotten a whole early. They couldn't dig their way out of it.
Yeah, and brock Party had two possessions at the end of the game, with a chance to do something and rally him back, Eddie threw two picks, both of them to Cameron, buying him. I also think it's a bit concerning that neither Nick Bosa nor anybody Randy Gregory, anybody on that defensive line got to Kirk Cousins. Yeah, he escaped once or twice. They didn't sack him. And now the forty nine ers go back home and they face before thereby a very well rested Bengals team that is
coming off a bye. Not saying it's they must win, but you don't want to go into that buy on a three game losing streak to you, No, you don't. They are number three, the team ahead of them. We're kind of working out order here today, Eric, the Philadelphia Eagles, they are the number two team in football. They move up three after a big resounding win, pulled away late over the Dolphins. Were you tempted to put them at one?
I was?
I thought about it, right, I mean, Kansas City consistently, even if it hasn't always been impressive since you know, since the Week one loss, has taken care of business. You know, I've argue they haven't even played their best game yet. So I kept them ahead of the Eagles for this point. But hard not to argue what happened Sunday. It was kind of a three phase victory. M Miami had a few moments they had the pick six. There were a few shaky elements of the game for Philadelphia,
but in the end overwhelmed them. You know, they hung tough with the secondary that was sort of a patchwork group. And oh, by the way, you just throw up the bat signal and trader Howie Roasman comes in with Kevin Bayard after the game.
I mean, what a move.
But from what we saw Sunday, putting pressure onto a tongue of Ailoa, really forcing it.
Out of his hands.
You know, a little bit of luck along the way drop touchdown, some penalties for Miami, but still I thought it was an impressive performance all the way around. And I think the AJ Brown guy is pretty good after a slow start.
Yeah, they've made good trades. Howie Roseman has two really good trades, not that the others haven't been good. With the Titans, he get AJ Brown and then you get Kevin Byard, who was in all pro se guy as well that you know has a career in broadcasting, as he was in here doing broadcast boot camp at NFL Network back during the offseason. All you give up is a five at a six in Terrell Edmonds here, So you trade a safety for a safety, and the picks
they gave up weren't even their picks. They were picks that they had gotten in other trades. So yeah, there's that. And now the Eagles, as the number two team, get the Commanders this week, and we are still trying to figure out the Commanders, the team the Eagles beat. We are also still trying to figure out Eric. They are the Dolphins. They are down a couple spots to number five. And I'll repeat here what I said last week. And I'm sorry Dolphins fans, you have every right to be
angry at me, but just look at the numbers. Eric, they haven't beaten anybody. They've played two really good teams, the Bills. I mean, the Bills have three losses now and now the Eagles, and they have been beaten soundly in both.
Yeah, I mean, there's there's a stark difference between the level of competition and now the Dolphins have played. There's also a difference I think between you know, Devin hn being on the field and him not being there.
They didn't have him Sunday. They got away from the run game early.
But the results weren't there when they did, so you can understand why Mike mcdanielle felt like, hey, we've got to get the quick passing game going. We don't have our weaponry in the backfield, and it just kind of slid everything down and made it a little less dangerous. And so, you know, the offensive line taking a big step back, probably their worst game of the year.
They're still shorthanded there.
You know, we should see Connor Williams return, We'll see about Armstead, so that there's some hope for you know, improvement from within.
But that's got to be the case in the secondary too.
I thought the Eagles really kind of picked on those corners a little bit.
You know, you get Zaviian Howard back, you get Jalen Ramsey back. I'm less worried. But back to your original point, Andrew, I mean.
Until they beat a quality team and do so, you know, on the road, relatively convincingly something like that, I think we're gonna have some questions about this group and just how viable they will become, you know, December January, in the home stretch of the season.
It's really interesting because this week the Dolphins get a rematch with Bill Belichick and the Patriots. It's a rematch from Week two, and back in Week two, it seems like ten years ago the Patriots actually played them really well. Now, Christian Gonzales was up and active and played a big role in that game.
But hey, maybe.
The Patriots found a way to slow them down after a huge performance against the Chargers week one. This is the rematch. Obviously, the Patriots aren't that good, but they won last week. Regardless. Keep an eye on the Dolphins of the Patriots this week. Our team of the Week now, which is presented by Trust the Baltimore Ravens. Eric the Baltimore Ravens who check in today as the number four team in your Power rankings. They had what we thought was going to be the game of the week against
the Lions. They ended that game by the end of the first quarter.
It was a shocking result for a lot of us.
I think everybody felt like this Detroit team was gonna come in give the real test. And look, this is a Baltimore team that's lost at home to the Colts for the backup quarterback, so you could understand why people thought this is gonna be.
A great matchup.
Instead, they set a big statement, best offensive performance of the year. We've seen the fruits of Todd Monkins labor finally start to come out.
Maybe some holes in the Lions, but that's a separate issue.
I just thought what the Ravens did was unlike anything they'd really done, probably since Week one when they kind of put the foot on the neck of the Texans. But even that, this performance where they said, oh, you think you're a playoff contender right here, Well let me show you what it looks like. And look, I'll ask it to you. Do they not look like a super Bowl team if they're operating with that kind of offensive efficiency.
I mean, that's kind of where we're at.
After that thought, Well, Lamar wasn't running to run, he was staying in the pocket. His accuracy this year is as good as it's ever been. They used to play fake and took advantage of those aggressive linebackers masterfully. From the first quarter on. They would have Eric gott into fifty. This could have been a fifty burger. They took their foot off the gas at the end. And when you face Lamar Jackson for the first time, you're not in
Division foe, you don't have a plan. Look, they had a plan, the plan didn't work, and the Ravens are that good now. Maybe a letdown game this week. They're on the road in Arizona as we air this on Tuesday evening on the NFL channel here, it's still we think is going to be Josh Dobbs. Maybe that changes, but regardless, Yeah, the Ravens are in first, and I don't know that anybody wants to play them right now. The flip side of it, though, the Lions, I know
they have a lot of defensive injuries here. They had fought through all of those injuries, injuries in the offensive backfield as well. I don't want to blame the injuries here, but I still wouldn't want to play him. Eric, you still do have them in the top ten.
Yeah, I really struggle with where to place them. Right They'd accrued so much goodwill up to this point. You know, they weren't just the darlings. They backed it up with play. Even the loss to Seattle, you felt like wasn't so demoralizing because Okay, the offense played well, they had a chance at the end, they were in it. Yeah, it was coming off the week one win, but that one, you know, pales in comparison to what we saw Sunday.
This time the team that loves punching people in the mouth got punched a couple times and couldn't respond, And you know, there the most demoralizing play, kind of what you described with Lamar earlier, was you know, seeing Aiden Hutchinson, of these rushers who we used to seeing getting to the quarterback, flail around for eight nine seconds, Waldo mart decides where he's gonna throw it back in the end
zone touchdown. To me, that was the play where you felt like they're just not going to have an answer for him today. And they haven't really done well against mobile quarterbacks in recent years. Is that just a flaw? The injuries factor in there. They lose Jerry Jacobs right before the game. You know, there were some bad roles there. But at the same time, how they respond is going to say a lot about the fighting Dan Cambell's.
At this point a fighting Campbell's listen. I still would not want to have to go to Detroit and face them at the postseason. I don't. I still think they are the third best team in the NFC. I do, and I'm gonna say they're better than the Cowboys. You have them ranked better than the Cowboys. You have Dallas at number eight. But again it's you're going to be put on a pedestal a lot. How do they answer? They come back now with a Monday night game this
week to close out Week eight against the Raiders. They are clearly the better team, but this is their first Monday night home game since twenty eighteen, since after they made the playoffs and went to lose in Seattle in twenty seventeen. All right, the Lions seven and the Cowboys eight. We're just getting rolling here. Oh, the NFL Power Ranking Show, presented to you by Energizer coming up. Do we have a three loss team in the top ten? We do.
We'll tell you which one straight. But wait, there's more on the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer. The Buffalo Bills are down two, but they are still in the top ten with three losses. At number nine, the Cleveland Browns don't move despite winning somehow in Indianapolis. The Seahawks don't move despite winning as well at home. Bengals, Steelers, Jets, Texans, and Falcons rounding out the top sixteen, all of them
moving up. Eric Aholme, of course, is putting these numbers together, and he has the Bills as a top ten team despite not one, not to Eric, but three losses, and despite losing to Mac Jones and the Patriots. I'm not trying to slam Mac Jones nor Bill Belichick, but we had seen how they had looked in previous weeks. This was not supposed to be a game, Eric.
Yeah, it wasn't really.
And you know, straight gam Andrew where the offense has started very slowly. This is not a new, you know, new theme. We've been talking about it for a while and it's essentially turned it over to the defense as special team that said, all right, you guys, take care of business.
You know, we got your back.
We'll get there eventually, but hold the fort until we're ready to get going. And look the defense without Matt Milana, without Trey White, without at Oliver de Kwan Jones, you go on and on.
I mean, look, they're they're gutted on that side of the ball.
They're gonna have an off day every now and then, even against the likes of a struggling Patriots offense. So you know, look, this is this is the kind of thing where I really debated do they belong in.
The top ten? Should I drop them? Wait?
You know, beyond that, I felt like, we give them another chance, right. We feel like there's enough file power here to make this thing work eventually.
But it's hard not to sort of poke holes in their resume right now.
They're complex team, they are, and I think people just assume that when you lose Matt Mlano and Tredevius White, you plug other guys into the uniforms and then nothing, nothing changes. That is not the case. This team has taken some major hits. Dawson Knox now needs risk surgery as well, in no word to how long he is gonna be out. They draft a Dulton Kincaid, so yay, I mean they should be fine there, but he is still a rookie. They get a short week, they get
the Bucks coming to town. You hope to get to five and three, and then you get a little bit of the mini buy here. They're still in the top ten. There are still very much a playoff team. They are at number nine. The Browns also look like a playoff team here. They are at number ten. They have a massive question mark Eric at quarterback, but they don't have
a question at defensive end. I was in the building for what was one of the greatest defensive performances I have ever seen turned in by Miles Garrett or anyone.
He took over the game.
And when you have a quarterback situation where you go into every single game now not knowing what to expect out of that position, you're.
Gonna need a Miles ga takeover game every now and then. Now, they may not get that.
Every single week, right, but this was a tremendous performance, absolutely, time after time. You know, the strip sack and the end zone, the blockfield goal, you name it. I mean, he was a one man wrecking for us. But you know, some other elements of the defense gave up some plays. Certainly the offense was a scattershot at times. But boy, I just my question is can they sustain this? That's the biggest thing without with all the unknowns of Deshaun Watson,
the injuries at the running back spot. Now dre Ford is hurt, you know, Marik Cooper great one week, a ghost in the first half on Sunday.
It's just a It's a lot of factors. And you've seen this team up close two weeks in a row Andrew. I mean, I think they look like a playoff team too, But I'm starting to I.
Got a lot of balls I'm juggling in the air, and whether I can keep them all going, I don't know.
Yeah, the biggest issue is the quarterback, and Shawn Watson was supposed to be okay. He looked okay in practice on Friday, came out Sunday and clearly was not okay. And even though Kevin Stefanski's says we were benching him to protect him after he took the big hit, he had clear concussion protocol. You know what, just stay over there. We'll let the defense win this game. On the five passes that he threw, he didn't look right. No, he didn't look like he had the zip on that ball.
Julian Blackman comes all the way from the other hash to pick him off on that first interception, and you're like, if he has more of an arm, does Blackman even have a chance to get there. He threw a second pick which the ball hit the ground, So look, he didn't look right and they have to figure it out. PJ. Walker, as good as this defense is, likely doesn't take you to the playoffs. Will Deshaun Watson be back. Do you put him on ir? I mean, these are questions that
they now have to answer and have to navigate. I think they can survive without Jerome Ford for a couple of weeks. I'm a big Pierre Strong fan, believe it or not. And Kareem Hunt looks okay, score two touchdowns. But Kevin Stefanski give him Coach of the Year right now because he is navigating through all of this and they are four and two. Let's do some power moves for another AFC and North team. These power moves are
presented by Energizer. I admittedly didn't think the Steelers were gonna come in here to La and beat the Rams, but they did what they always do here. Eric Kenny Pickett starts slowly and then in the fourth quarter he just figures it out.
It's every week, right, one hundred and ninety two or their three hundred yards game in the fourth quarter.
It's like I tell my kids, Andrew, it doesn't have to be this hard, Okay, there's a better way to do it.
Right.
However, with Mike Tomlin involved.
You know his team's gonna play for four quarters, maybe that wasn't the case in Houston, but still every other game this season they have competed. And look those two games Houston and San Francisco. We looked at him and said, are they any good?
They are?
They a good football team defensively, offensively, big questions, but they found ways to win games. And you come into the fourth quarter trailing, you leave it flexing your chest. Dominated the final fifteen minutes, even with you know, a couple of bone headed you know, taunting penalties and things like that.
They may not have even gotten the last Kenny Pickett sneak. They did not win. Is they did not. Let's just stay let's be diplomatic.
Yeah, that's that's the deal. I really want to like this team more than I do. But I have listened to you Steelers fans. I have moved them up. They're in the top fourteen. They're in that playoff march right now.
Yeah, real quick. Here, there's a loophole when it comes to NFL officiating. Here, all turnovers on downs are automatically reviewed. Right, So if Kenny was ruled to have been short of the first down, they would have gotten an automatic review. But getting the first down on fourth down is not automatically reviewed every one of the building, including Kenny Pigott, knows that if they had reviewed that it wasn't a first down. Regardless, the Steelers won the game and Sean
McVay was out of timeouts. Let's do Germany and remind you that come it up weeks nine and ten. We have games in Germany. Week nine, the Dolphins and the If. Week ten it's the Colts and the Patriots in Frankfort. You can watch the game on NFL Network and you can stream it on NFL Plus plus dot NFL dot com plus dot NFL dot Com exclusively right here on NFL Network. Now, I was getting so excited here about
future champions. Let's do them. They're presented by FanDuel as we show you a team with the best odds to win the NFC South, the team that has already gone overseas this year, the Atlanta Falcons. They are the favorite. After Desmond Ritter comes alive, Eric late and sets up young Way Coop for a game winner, you have the Falcons up six to sixteen.
They have a formula, don't they all right, let the kicker take care of business.
Lade Desmon Ritter has led them back four times.
This year, but six interceptions, six fumbles, three fumble Sunday after a three.
Pick the week before.
Stop the turnovers, des when you're making it too tough. The Vjon situation was a little weird, but look it came out with a win over Division four on the road.
Can't really argue with that, so credit to them.
They keep finding ways to get it done in the situations they don't win impressively, but they get it done.
Yeah, I don't know what the big stink is with a Vjon thing like I wasn't feeling well, so he didn't finish the game. It wasn't feeling well. You every wake up on a Sunday morning and not feel well? Me too. Falcons won the game thanks to Young Wag who's bomb right there, and they beat the fighting Baker Mayfield. All right. Coming up on the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer, the Vikings pulled the stunner on Monday night. What now do they do? Kirk Cousin's not getting traded,
that's straight ahead. It's the NFL Power Ranking Show presented by Energizer. The countdown continues. I feel like Casey case and telling you the Bucks are down five to seventeen, followed by the Rams, the Saints, and the Vikings. There at twenty Indianapolis, the LA Chargers, the Green Bay Packers, and the Las Vegas Raiders. According to one Eric at home, he has the Vikings up five eric after beating and
stunning the forty nine ers on Monday Night. And they're kind of in this middle ground of mediocrity in the NFC. They're kind of in it for a wild card or do they trade Kirk Cousins. I don't know, choose your own adventure.
Yeah, right, I mean they're pretty interesting all of a sudden, right, I mean that trade Kirk talks should quiet down after probably his best game and in at least a year, if not longer, maybe one of the best games we've seen by a quarterback this season. And to do it without Justin Jefferson to do it, you know, with Addison leaving the game briefly, the massive night he had stealing a touchdown away from Chervarius Ward after you'd had one taken away from him earlier in the game.
You know, just so many things went right. They rotated the running backs, it was effective, the offensive line didn't get killed, and defensively.
Look, they forced the key turnovers, that's what they wanted to do, two late interceptions, the early Christian McCaffrey fumble. It was a great game plan, very well executed. And you know, a loss that can come our win rather that can springboard him into something really interesting all of a sudden. This is a team that won a lot of games last year, So don't count them out yet.
And as we sit here today, they are three and four in the eighth spot in the NFC somehow and seven teams make the playoffs. But this week they also go to Green Bay, and the Vikings are one of those teams where I say they're not good enough to just start checking off wins. So what are they getting in Green Bay this week? You have the Packers down three to twenty three.
Yeah, they're getting a team that we're already starting to question, or at least the nervous Packer fans and people who follow that team, whether Jordan Love is the guy. I don't seem to remember this happening in two thousand and eight with Aaron Rodgers, But look, I mean he's only been slightly worse than Rogers was. Interestingly enough, through his first six starts. I think there's a little bit of a panic factor here. The fact that he's thrown interceptions
in four straight game, that's a big deal. I want to see this defense, you know, continue the way they played the other day. But it's about love consistently getting the ball to those talent of receivers.
They don't do that, they don't have a chance.
I don't know. Packers fans are sad as are fans of the bottom of your rankings. Let's get the end of the line on the board here, the Commanders, the Titans who trade Kevin Byard. Who's next? The Broncos, the Patriots, The Bears are up to twenty nine. They got a two in front of their name. Now the Giants, the Cardinals, and the winless Carolina Panthers. What do we make of the Commanders? I mean they should have eaten the Giants?
Eric, Yeah, yeah, they should have absolutely.
I mean, look the blockfield goal, the chances they had down there. Sam Howell is sort of coming to the spotlight. Is he the guys gonna get benched this week? Next week? After that?
Is Eric?
The enemy's play calling helping all the pressure that's been hit on them up front. Look, they've got to fix something offensively, even quick before the Seagulls game.
And decide who their quarterback is for the rest of the season. Andrew.
Remember past performance is not necessarily indicative of future gains. So if you don't like where Eric put your team this week, don't worry. Something crazy is going to happen in Week eight. It always does, and then your team's going to be somewhere else next week. So don't get mad. Just watch Week eight and we thank you for watching this show. You got it Eric every week. And remember we're a podcast. Download us like, write a review, say
you like us. I hope you do. That's Eric Comandrew Goodbye.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.