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Let's get ready to rank some teams. We're basically at the midway point of the season. Hope you had a great weekend. Hope you're looking forward to week number nine already, and we welcome you to the NFL Power Rankings Show, presented by Energizer from our studios in Los Angeles. My
name is Andrews Sosiliado. This guy over here is the man who puts together the rankings, the man who sits only a few miles right now from Hallas Hall, where the Bears are trying to figure out why their fans may or may not be happy about a trade of a second round pick for Montes swet Eric at home.
Happy Tuesday to you.
Good Tuesday, good trade deadline Tuesday, and loss to talk about today. A lot of movement for this late in the season.
And we have a new number one atop the rankings.
If you were to get close to your screen right now and scan that QR code and go to NFL, you would find a Philadelphia Eagles not only the number one seed in the NFC, but the number one seed and the brand new Eric at home NFL dot Com Power rankings. The Ravens are up to, the Dolphins are up to, the Chiefs are down three. Look at the Jaguars and the Cowboys and the Lions all ahead of the San Francisco forty nine ers, who are plummeting heading
into their by with their third consecutive laws. We'll get to them coming up shortly. Let's open, however, Eric with your new number one, who once again need effort, a lot of effort to beat Ron Rivera's fighting Washington Commanders. But in the end, AJ Brown is too much. Jalen hurts us too much, the secondary does just enough, and they hang on, why are they the best team in football?
Yeah, well they certainly have one of the best players in football, and yeah, Hurts will be on that list, But I think AJJ. Brown has to be on that list. I don't know if there's an MVP candidate as a quarterback this year who's just running away with the race.
So let's have Tyreek Hill in that discussion. Let's have AJ Brown in that discussion, because if you had seen what he's done the last six games Andrew including Sunday when he was incredible I mean he's carried the team after you know, the first couple of games, who weren't sure if he was going to have that same role he did last year. He's sort of complaining about touches, no problem anymore. You mentioned that defense though, right, and the secondary is a concern. They'll get Kevin Bayard into
the mix and I'm sure he'll help. Ree Blanket Ship came up with a big play late after he had a tough game. But you know, you have Hassan Reddick to close out games like he did against Washington week four, like he did against the Rams week five, and like.
He did Sunday.
It can make up for some mistakes in the first three or first three quarters of the game.
So they held on.
It was tough, but they got it done because of their two studs on offense and just enough on defense.
And the composite.
The last three times they had played the Commanders is ninety four to ninety three. So that guy there Ron has something in his bag where this game is always going to be close with the Eagles. But is there any concern from you, Eric, Like there is concern I think from the Philly fan base that this team maybe the number one team in football, but they still don't look right. If you're a Philly fan, you're probably forgetting that. Because James Harden got traded. There's a party in the streets.
But are you concerned?
Yeah, I mean there's a few things that could worry you. I mean, Jalen Hurts is playing through left knee pain. There's no guarantee that the secondary is going to fix all their issues. I mean, look, if they don't have a pass rush working, and we assume that that group would be the same sort of terrorizing unit with they had last year, it's just not as an effective in a group this year. So you know that there are some pitfalls. We know Dallas could come in Sunday and
beat him. And this is a tough division.
I mean, I know that.
You know you have teams like the Commanders who can play toe to toe with them. The Giants can beat the Commanders. There's a lot of close battles within that division. And you're I mean, I think the Eagles look good. I wouldn't say that they look like world beaters.
At this point.
And as you mentioned, they get the Cowboys this week, the first of a schedule two week fourteen the game will be in Dallas.
So the Eagles are one.
Look at who is number two, the baltam More Ravens future champions pretended by FanDuel. What if I told you the Ravens are sitting there at plus twelve hundred, the six best odds to win the entire thing. If you thought they were gonna, you know, be facing a trap game, a letdown game whatever. In Arizona this past week, after blowing out the Lions, think again.
Yeah, they give the Cardinals credit.
They hung in there for a little bit, but in the end, Lamar pins his foot on the gash, throws one legged touchdown passes and they pull away.
And really, you know, they didn't need a monster game from Lamar like they saw against Detroit Offensive player of the Week and all that. I mean, this week it looked like he was just sort of sitting back, wasn't running all that much, almost in a rocking chair, delivering passes to his receivers. So it was a perfect week from that standpoint. Lamar didn't get hit, but she didn't get hurt. He was just able to kind of divvy
up the ball and get it to their playmakers. And you know, obviously they're growing offensively, and the score looked a little closer. You'd like to see them avoid those special teams mistakes missfield goal, couldn't get the on side kick there, or the first of the two on side kicks, I should say, But you know, all in all, I thought they did their job. They went on the road and took care of an opponent that's been tougher for some teams than you might expect in a one in
seven team. So you know, if they could find that run game for four quarters, we saw it really flourished late. It's a dangerous, dangerous team as we know. I think they're better than the six best odds to win the Super Bowl personally, but still got some big games coming up.
For sure.
I'll say this, I think Lamar Jackson and the stats may not back me up here, but just look the tape and look at the throws he makes, and look at the patience he has in the pocket, look at the accuracy he has after being patient in the pocket. I think he's playing better than MVP Lamar. He's playing that well. He's living up to the contract. And with all their injuries, with losing JK. Dobbins right out of the gate with everything they've dealt with, especially in September
on the offensive line, Look where they are. They are the six best odds right now and the number two team in your power rankings. They are ahead of the Dolphins who are sitting there at three.
The Dolphins had a huge.
Game coming up in Germany on NFL Network and NFL Plus nine to thirty Eastern time. Guten Morgan to Frankfurt for week number nine and they face the Kansas City Chiefs Eric who are down three. They were one, now they are four, and they look mortal, almost like that scene and I think it was Superman two. What is it, you know when Clark kentson the diner and he punches the dude. He looks at his hand and he's bleeding and he can't can't figure out how and why that's them?
I guess, yeah, I mean, you know, great, And Mahomes was ill this weekend, said he was dealing with some kind of a bug. But it's not like he's been as dialed in as we expect. He's on pace for seventeen interceptions would be a career high. You know, I didn't think he played well Sunday. The offensive line probably had its worst game. They've kept him up right for
the most part. That really wasn't the case. How much of mahomes mobility was part of that, I don't know the answer, but I do know that his receivers have let him down and he's let his team down at times.
Look, I mean, I hate to say it, because I think he's the best.
Quarterback in the NFL l all things considered, but lately it just hasn't been quite the same. Maybe it is going to take a trip overseas to kind of clear out the system a little bit. We saw Jacksonville do that and really kind of kickstart their season against City's won plenty of games. I'm not saying they're in entire trouble. I'm just saying all of a sudden, things don't look quite right and they've got to fix it.
Yeah, they do have to fix in. And this is a great game on international stage. I mean, this would be a headlining game wherever it was played, whether it's Miami or Kansas City.
It's going to be played in Frankfort.
We're thrilled that this game is on NFL Network in NFL Plus, it's going to be fantastic. It is one of those that, yes, is very much worth getting up early and rearranging your Sunday schedule to see. The Chiefs are four, the Jaguars are five. They are on a by the Cowboys are up to and as they prepare to go to Philly, Eric they do so off a resounding victory here. I mean just they blew the doors off the Rams. Everything went their way in the first quarter.
You know, it could have had a three and out early, but the penalty took back an Aaron Donald sack and then they just cruise. I mean they look better, honestly than the number sixteen.
Yeah, this was their most complete performance of the season arguably. I mean, right, they've won by bigger margins. We saw the blowout in week one. We saw them dominate the Jets week two at home.
But it was.
Offense, it was defense, it was special teams, and I don't know that you could pick a one unit that was better than the mess maybe the offense. Right, This is the group that we probably said was the one kind of I don't want to say weakness, but the one sort of shortcoming they had because every week you didn't know what to expect. Out of the pass game.
The run game has been inconsistent. But Dak and Ceedee lamb to me, I want to get your opinion on it, but that's as dialed in as I can remember them. And if they can become that pair that really threatens defenses, I think it makes them a whole different animal to deal with. So we saw that, especially in that second quarter blitz. They looked like a Super Bowl caliber team, at least for you know, twenty minutes of the.
Game, and they took advantage of some pretty inexperience, some young Rams corners, and to their credit, they eight and Matthew Stafford got knocked out. He wasn't playing in the second half, at least after the two point conversion. Brent ripping all the way and they kept their foot on the gas. And now they go to Philadelphia and I said, they look better than the number umber sixteen. Eric, I'm not gonna hold you to this, but what happens if they beat your number one team, the Eagles on Sunday?
Presents an interesting situation, does it. I Mean, we've got this glut of six and two teams in the AFC, but what about the NFC side. San Francisco's falling out of it. Now, Philly is kind of the one team left standing.
With the one loss.
But if Dallas beats him and kind of puts the ghost of San Francisco by and all of a sudden, you take this team a lot more seriously and they'd be in the running for number one next week, depending on how they play.
All right, let's fast forward a bit. We have the Lions at seven. They are heading into a bye after their big win on Monday night, And if you look at the schedules here and we have the whole second half of the season to break this one down, I think the Lions have a clear path to the number one seed in the NFC because their schedule sets up nicely, I think compared to the gauntlet the Eagles have in the second half of the season. Then we get to
the forty nine at number eight. They're heading into a buy with a three game losing streak. And let's pull the curtain back on when we prepare this show. This is in the middle of the trade deadline Tuesday. Eric, I'm breaking news to you. The forty nine Ers, according to our Ian Rappaport, have just traded for Chase Young
in exchange, they are sending Washington a compensatory three. You have the Niners at eight again, a three game losing streak, but they are now adding Chase Young to put on the other side of Nick Bosa.
Not bad, right, I mean Bosa has admitted that his contract situation has holed in, probably has cost him a little juice early in the season as he ramps up.
You know, they went out and.
Got Randy Gregory, they drafted Drake Jackson last year. I mean, they've thrown a lot of assets at that position, but it hasn't really resulted in the kind of pressure they expect. I mean, our grave helps inside, so just another piece is becoming more and more like what we saw with the Eagles last year, where they can mix and match, you know, kick guys inside if need be on passing down. So, yeah, Chase Young has played well this year, motivated, wanting that contract,
you know, possibly wanting to be moved. This is a fascinating spot and the Niners are kind of taking a page out of the Rams book here.
Let's let's use our draft assets to give players.
Yeah, and they've had so many compensatory threes over the last couple of years, right, flip those picks. Now that you can trade compensatory threes. It used to be that you couldn't. And normally a compensatory three is right around pick like one oh two to one ten in that window. The Niners the last couple of weeks have had trouble even with all that talent you just listed getting.
To the opposing quarterback.
Now you add Chase Young, look out and also look for NFL films inside. The NFL had a great thing this week where Nick Bosa hugs it out with his former college teammate Joe Burr.
After the game.
It said, great game, great game, but man, our bye week is now going to be a bleep because of you with the three Dame losing streak. Well, now they've added Chase Young and we have thirty two teams to rank.
Eight of them are down.
Coming up next on the NFL Power Ranking Show. If you have not seen your team, where is your team? The big unveil continues. All right, you're watching the NFL
Power Ranking Show presented to you by Energizer. The Buffalo Bills after a TANF victory and the Mini by are number nine, followed by the Seahawks, who just beat the Browns who are twelve in between them, the Bengals who are eleven, who won in San Francisco, the Jets somehow pulled that off, the Saints, the Steelers, and the Houston Texans.
Everybody.
Let's open up here, Eric at home with the Seahawks. They not only beat the Browns on Monday, they added Leonard Williams, given the Giants, among other things.
A two.
Tell me why for you they're a top ten team now leading the NFC West.
Well, certainly adding Williams is a big deal.
I mean, they you know, they've they've tried to bolster that front, and now you've got this sort of weird manifest destiny thing happening with Jase Young going to San Francisco, Williams, both guys leaving the NFC East going to the NFC West.
And you know, both the.
Forty nine Ers and the Seahawks struggled offensively Sunday. I mean, the Seahawks were able to get it don thanks to their defense kind of clamping down late but adding more firepower. Now, you know, the hope is that the pressures off Geno spit a little bit. He hasn't been the same level of effectiveness as last year, but the run game still works.
They've kind of weathered their O line issues. So look, it was a good win Sunday with they a little bit lucky, absolutely, but sitting top the NFC West all of a sudden, you know, the forty nine ers kind of in a little mini free fall. They have to feel good about their position even with tough games ahead.
I mean Baltimore Dallas.
Two against the Niners, lots of copper still.
Yeah, the way the balance of power shifts within a couple of minutes in the division there with PJ. Walker throwing that pick on third and three could have ended the game. Browns could have beaten the Seahawks there, and then with with Logan Wilson's pick and with the Brock Purtty turnovers there at the same time as the Niners were battling the Bengals, and then bam, the next morning you trade for Leonard Williams and the Seahawks go.
Yep, we truly are all in.
The Seahawks there at ten, the Bengals are at eleven, and the Bengals are Our Team of the Week presented by Truest we've seen this movie before.
Eric.
The people in Cincinnati always hate the beginning of the movie, but they love the middle of the movie where they get up off the matt and play really good football and they're back.
Yeah, this is it right here, and they're getting to the good part of the movie right now. Joe Burrow may have been down and out, but I don't know who they got behind the scenes, mister Miagi with the hands together or something like that. If he had any questions about whether his calf was okay after last week. It was certainly answered Sunday. And it was about five or six plays into the game. He wiggles out of a sack, throws Eric arms Stead down, shakes Bosa, and
drills a dome to t Higgins on the sideline. I mean that was just like, Okay, not only is he back, but the team is back. The offense as a swagger. Higgins has been up and down. He's now rolling along pretty well. Chase his dominant, even Joe Mixon too. I mean, that was a big story coming into the game, was his lack of effect in this round game wasn't adding much, so they chuck checked off a ton of boxes in that game, played great situational defense andrew the three turnovers
all kind of deep in their zone. That's what Leuno has sort of become known for. So I don't know, it's just trending in the right direction. I was giving them that sort of leap of faith putting him at eighteen or twenty when they were still below five hundred. Don't have to worry about those excuses anymore.
Yeah, he's got a squagger back and lou Anarumo's defense.
Yeah, you want to.
Go Assistant of the week, I'll go lou An Arumo for the way his defense played. And they went into Santa Clara. Yeah, the Niners had a short week and perty didn't practice all week. But Kyle laid down the gauntlet on Monday night on the podium after they lost in Minnesota, said it right then and there before they got back on the plane, we need to win this week. I didn't call it a must win, he said we need to win this week. We cannot go into the by losing three in a row. And they go into
the by losing three and zero. So the Bengals are sitting there at eleven. The Browns fall two, they are twelve. They have a major quarterback issue. The Jets have a quarterback issue that they summ how battled through and won again, and they beat the Giants. They beat the Giants when this game was over in a downpour, without anyone in the interior of their offensive line. I don't know how they did it, but Eric, they have one three in a row, and you have them above the playoff line at thirteen.
Look, you know it wasn't pretty style points put him to the side, right.
They probably should have lost that game.
I think somebody didn't lose that game for all intents and purposes, except they didn't.
They I think they had a point two percent chance to win it at one point, but they found one of the point dudes in there and got it done. I mean, obviously the Giants kind of helped him out quite a bit there.
At the end.
But you know, at the end of the season, we'll look back and that's just a w I mean, they're gonna have to find ways to scrap through anyway. We've known that since the fourth play of the season when Aaron Rodgers went out. It looked a little better prior to that, but I wasn't shocked. I thought the Giants would give him a hard time. Good defenses are going to kind of lean into them a little bit.
We'll see.
I mean, it's a little scary they had to go to overtime to beat a team with negative passing yards. But yeah, and there's some big games coming up Buffalo, Miami, et cetera this weekend against the Charters, another team kind of desperate in the same spot they are. You know, it just it's a little bit of a step back for me, even though they move up one spot.
Looking at that field goal again, thought Greg Zerline missed it when it went on.
That's right, Yeah, it.
Looked like he missed it. Give Zach Wilson credit. He made the throws down twenty four. Truly, I don't know which which win was more improbable, that one or the one in September last year with Joe Flacco when they were down what three scores in the fourth quarter in Cleveland, they had the on side kick. It was their first on side kick they recovered since the nineties, and they won that game. This one actually seemed even more improbable. The Saints are sitting there at fourteen eric. They are
making power moves presented by energizer. I don't know how you have them here because I don't know that they passed the eye test. They had their best offensive performance of the year in Indianapolis.
Yep.
Yeah, every weekend, Drew, I sit there in that kind of thirteen to eighteen range and say, who am I going to over promote this week?
And in this case it was the Saints.
Right, it just feels like there is a drop off. And it's not even rankings, even the sort of positioning from one number to the next. And this is really where the dropoff happens, thirteen fourteen and on. And look, I mean defensively, they got kind of run over a little bit by the coltspot and you have your best offensive game, as you mentioned, Taysom Hill stepped out, Alvin Kamara, Rashid Shaheed, Derek Carr had one of.
His best games, and the offensive line wasn't killed. To me, that's a win.
You could fix the run defense that was That's what they really needed.
I thought I had. Derek Carr wasn't killed. That's a win. And they did win.
And now the Colts have dropped three in a row, despite despite playing pretty well at times here without Anthony Richard said, all right, coming up, the Minnesota Vikings found a way to win, but they lost their quarterback. Where are they now that they've traded for Josh Dobbs coming up next on your NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer.
NFL Power Rankings show presented by Energizers seventeen through twenty four has Atlanta, the Chargers, the Vikings, the Buccaneers up to twenty and then the Rams, the Titans, the Colts, and the Broncos to twenty four. Let's talk about the Vikings at home, because you hate what happened to Kirk Cousins out for the Achilles, playing his best football. But now they go out and they get Josh Dobbs, who likely is not going to play, likely going to be
the rookie Jaron Hole this week for Kevin O'Connell. How do you find a place for them now?
Tough?
You know, I sort of vacillated. Put them up a little higher out of respect. Right, They've won three out of four games. Jefferson's coming back in a couple of weeks. The defense has tightened up, like a lot of good things have happened. And you mentioned Cousins, he'd been playing so well this all of a sudden was looking like a dangerous team until that Achilles injury. And you've got
one week all likely Dobbs. If he can stay healthy the rest of the way, if he comes in the same sort of preparation that he did with Arizona, they're gonna be in decent shape.
Yeah.
I'm a big Josh Doobs fan here, but the fact is he's on his fifth team in eleven months. If you include two trips to Cleveland, it's his sixth team in eleven months. But the fact is he's probably a better option right now than the rookie Jaron Hall, whose future is bright.
Phukn Nakua's quarterback at BYU.
That's right, he is now No all right, Bucceteers Rams and then the Titans sitting there at twenty two, I think they found their quarterback.
Will Levis.
Well done, even though you eat mayonnaise, that was a heck of a start.
I'm a Mayo guy, but I wasn't always a Levis guy, Andrew. I mean, look, I looked at the film of his twenty twenty one seats in.
Liked a lot of it.
Watched last year wasn't all that impressed, and the biggest things for me decision making, poise, accuracy. Maybe health factored in a little, but that's to me why he dropped out of the first round. But none of that was evident on Sunday. I thought he looked terrific against a defense that's been a top ten unit statistically this season. So he threw the scouting report out the window, got Hopkins involved, put some life into this team that's been
so dormant. Kudos to him and if he can get to get it done on a short week this week, very impressed stuff.
I really liked what I saw week Onore or his first game, I should.
Say, absolutely great stuff from Jeffrey Simmons as well. Who is miked up? Is you don't like that as our guy? That guy?
That kid can play all right.
The rest of the rankings for those desperate to see their teams. Here on the bottom quarter, we got the Packers, the Raiders, the Commanders who are trading away both Montes Wett and Chase Young, followed by the Patriots, the Bears, the Biens, the Carolina Panthers, and the Arizona Cardinals. All right, Arizona bringing up the rear, despite the fact that, look, they fight every week here and Kyler Murray is knocking
on the door, but he is not there yet. As always, send all your mail to Eric at home, find him on Twitter, and find the rankings on NFL dot com.
Eric, we're halfway there. We're through Week eight.
Have a great one, everybody, see you Week nine.
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.