NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Updated 2016 Regular-Season Standings
Now that the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings have done their Monday night business (Chicago won 20-10), it's time to close the book on Week 8.
The week brought us a variety of results, some expected and some a bit surprising. The New England Patriots embarrassed another opponent behind the precision passing of Tom Brady, which wasn't shocking. The New Orleans Saints upset the Seattle Seahawks thanks to their defense, which was a bit more unexpected.
Oh, and the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins played to a draw in London, because having only one tie this season wouldn't be enough.
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What does all this mean for the NFL landscape at large as we look ahead to Week 9? Well, that's what we're going to try to sort out here. We'll provide our Week 9 power rankings and take a look at some of the most important rankings of the week.
First, though, let's examine the current league standings.
NFL Standings
| New England Patriots | 7-1 | 2-1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4-4 | 1-3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 3-4 | 1-1 |
| New York Jets | 3-5 | 1-0 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-3 | 1-0 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3-4-1 | 1-1 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 3-4 | 1-0 |
| Cleveland Browns | 0-8 | 0-2 |
| Houston Texans | 5-3 | 2-0 |
| Tennessee Titans | 4-4 | 1-2 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3-5 | 1-2 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-5 | 1-1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 6-2 | 1-1 |
| Denver Broncos | 6-2 | 1-1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 5-2 | 2-0 |
| San Diego Chargers | 3-5 | 1-3 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-1 | 2-1 |
| New York Giants | 4-3 | 1-1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4-3 | 0-2 |
| Washington Redskins | 4-3-1 | 2-1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5-2 | 1-1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4-3 | 2-1 |
| Detroit Lions | 4-4 | 0-2 |
| Chicago Bears | 2-6 | 2-0 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-3 | 2-1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-4 | 2-0 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3-4 | 1-1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 2-5 | 0-3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-2-1 | 1-1-1 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 3-4-1 | 1-1-1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 3-4 | 2-1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1-6 | 1-2 |
Week 9 Power Rankings
| 1 | New England Patriots |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys |
| 3 | Denver Broncos |
| 4 | Oakland Raiders |
| 5 | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 6 | Atlanta Falcons |
| 7 | Minnesota Vikings |
| 8 | Seattle Seahawks |
| 9 | Houston Texans |
| 10 | Green Bay Packers |
| 11 | New York Giants |
| 12 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 14 | Washington Redskins |
| 15 | Buffalo Bills |
| 16 | Tennessee Titans |
| 17 | Detroit Lions |
| 18 | Arizona Cardinals |
| 19 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 20 | Baltimore Ravens |
| 21 | Miami Dolphins |
| 22 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 23 | New Orleans Saints |
| 24 | Indianapolis Colts |
| 25 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 26 | San Diego Chargers |
| 27 | Carolina Panthers |
| 28 | New York Jets |
| 29 | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| 30 | Chicago Bears |
| 31 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 32 | Cleveland Browns |
Notable Rankings
1. New England Patriots
Since Brady returned from suspension in Week 5, the Patriots appear to be playing on a different level than everyone else.ย
Brady having a positive impact on the offense was clearly expected, but the 17th-year player might just be playing the best football of his career. Through four games, he has completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 1,319 yards, 12 touchdowns and no turnovers.
The Patriots have surrounded Brady with a lot of talent this season. In addition to returning favorites such asย Rob Gronkowski, LeGarrette Blount and Julian Edelman, the team has guys such as Chris Hogan and Martellus Bennett.
Matching points with the Patriots is going to be a difficult task for any team.
What's truly impressive about this New England team, however, is the way the defense is complementing the offense. No, the Patriots don't have a dominant defensive unit like last year's Denver Broncos, but they have an efficient and opportunistic group. Pro Football Focus rated New England fifth in overall defense.
Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan has even admitted that New England could be on the verge of running away with the AFC East.
"I think it's unrealistic to think you're going to win your division when you just got beat by...how many games are they up now? Three?" Ryan said, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. "That team is three games up on us and at the halfway point they've lost one game. And No. 12 is back. So yeah, I don't see that happening. I hope I'm wrong."
There's a real possibility that the Patriots run away with the entire AFC.
2. Dallas Cowboys
There doesn't appear to be a clear-cut top team in the NFC like there does in the AFC, but the Dallas Cowboys have the conference's best record.ย
How have the 6-1 Cowboys gotten to this point? For starters, they have developed a high level of chemistry behind rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott. As NFL Network's Ian Rapoport recently pointed out, this chemistry appears to be the driving force behind the team right now:
This, of course, has led to a lot of speculation about the future of Dallas' quarterback position. Prescott is playing well, has the team believing in him and is winning. Yet some still believe that Tony Romo should be inserted back into the lineup upon his return.
While players in the NFL don't traditionally lose their starting jobs to injury, it doesn't make much sense to return to Romo. Prescott is completing 65.2 percent of his passes for 1,773 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.
More importantly, Prescott has shown he is capable of delivering in big moments. He helped the team rally from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles and then tossed the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime.
The questions in Dallas surround the defense, which is playing well enough to win but not convincingly. While that defense is allowing just 18.6 points per game, it is rated just 16th overall by Pro Football Focus.
Assuming Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is healthy enough to play, we should find out if the defense is good enough to best a top offense in Week 10.
8. Seattle Seahawks
As of right now, the Seahawks are a playoff team. If the Arizona Cardinals continue to struggle and the Los Angeles Rams can't quite find their way on offense, the Seahawks will have a good chance of staying atop the NFC West.
However, it's hard to deny that the Seahawks have some significant weaknesses.
The biggest issue is the Seattle offensive line, which is rated 31st overall in both run blocking and pass blocking by Pro Football Focus. The deficiencies on the line have led to inconsistent play on offense and a lot of pressure on quarterback Russell Wilson.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson has been pressured on 37.3 percent of his dropbacks, fifth-most in the NFL.
The Seahawks couldn't do enough on offense to beat the Saints this past week or to break a tie with the Cardinals the week before. As good as the Seattle defense is, the team is going to need to score points to beat top teams in the postseason.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times recently called for the Seahawks to upgrade their offensive line before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline.
"With Wilsonโs mobility limited and the running game struggling, a major upgrade on the offensive line would provide a huge boost," Stone wrote. "On Sunday, they started two undrafted free agents at tackle, including one, George Fant, who hadnโt started a game since junior high school."
If Seattle can't figure out a solution for its line, it's going to be hard to view the team as a legitimate title contender.
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