NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Review and Reaction to 2015 League Standings
For the first time this season, the New England Patriots looked vulnerable to a possible defeat. But despite the best efforts of the New York Jets, the reigning champs remained undefeated and kept the status quo across the league.
The Patriots are clearly the class of the league and will remain that way until they lose, if they ever do. But there are a number of teams breathing down their neck for the top spot, with five teams still carrying perfect records into Week 8.
But that number is set to decrease this weekend with the Denver Broncos hosting the Green Bay Packers, while the Cincinnati Bengals have to travel to Pittsburgh and face their bogey team. Even the Panthers don’t have the easiest of matchups, with a home Monday night confrontation with the Indianapolis Colts on the schedule.
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The league has become increasingly top-heavy as the season goes on, and the best teams keep winning, but Week 8 is poised to provide a little more clarity as to how things will look at the end of the year. Let’s look at how the teams stack up heading into Week 8 and highlight a few of the notable performances from this past weekend.
| 1 | New England Patriots | 6-0 | Not all games are blowouts, but Pats look nearly unbeatable |
| 2 | Green Bay Packers | 6-0 | Aaron Rodgers is unstoppable, but Denver’s defense is a big test |
| 3 | Cincinnati Bengals | 6-0 | The most balanced team in the NFL so far, Cincinnati looks like the real deal this season |
| 4 | Carolina Panthers | 6-0 | Perceived issues on offensive line and at receiver haven’t hurt the Panthers |
| 5 | New York Jets | 4-2 | Jets kept things close against New England, defense is great and offense has been surprisingly good. |
| 6 | Denver Broncos | 6-0 | Defense is fantastic but offensive issues could hinder team down the road |
| 7 | Minnesota Vikings | 4-2 | Haven’t looked great but at 4-2, they are still very much in the hunt for the playoffs |
| 8 | Arizona Cardinals | 5-2 | As long as Carson Palmer keeps playing well, Cardinals are on short list of title favorites |
| 9 | Atlanta Falcons | 6-1 | Schedule has been kind, and a 10-7 win against Tennessee isn’t overly impressive |
| 10 | New York Giants | 4-3 | With the Patriots atop the league and the Giants playing well, the Giants' 4-year Super Bowl cycle might continue again |
| 11 | Seattle Seahawks | 3-4 | A loss to the 49ers would have been detrimental, but there are still plenty of questions in Seattle |
| 12 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-3 | Landry Jones has mixed results for the Steelers so far, but Ben Roethlisberger’s return will be a welcome sight |
| 13 | New Orleans Saints | 3-4 | Back-to-back wins against the Falcons and Colts have New Orleans looking like a playoff contender this season |
| 14 | Miami Dolphins | 3-3 | Dan Campbell has turned the Dolphins into a high-scoring powerhouse in his two games as coach |
| 15 | St. Louis Rams | 3-3 | The defensive line is incredible, and Todd Gurley looks as good as advertised, but the running back needs some help |
| 16 | Buffalo Bills | 3-4 | EJ Manuel is 0-2 as a starter and Buffalo needs Tyrod Taylor back after the bye week to right the ship |
| 17 | Washington | 3-4 | At least for one week, the Kirk Cousins discussions can stop, meaning the focus can shift to the struggling ground game |
| 18 | Oakland Raiders | 3-3 | Derek Carr and Amari Cooper have the makings of an all-time QB/WR combo, and the Raiders look poised to challenge for wild-card spot |
| 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | 3-4 | The league is catching up to Chip Kelly’s offense, and the Eagles are in a downward spiral because of it |
| 20 | Indianapolis Colts | 3-4 | Chuck Pagano is on his last legs, and Andrew Luck is turning the ball over at an alarming rate |
| 21 | San Diego Chargers | 2-5 | Results haven’t been entirely fair to the Chargers this season, but trailing 30-6 to the Raiders at halftime is a sign of big problems |
| 22 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2-5 | A home win against the Steelers is huge, but it’s still hard to envision much offensive success sans Jamaal Charles |
| 23 | Dallas Cowboys | 2-4 | Tony Romo can’t come back soon enough after the Cowboys fall to 0-4 without their starting quarterback |
| 24 | Chicago Bears | 2-4 | After back-to-back wins, Chicago went into its bye week with a loss to Detroit and all was right in the league |
| 25 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-4 | Record doesn’t show how well Tampa Bay has played at times this season, but letting Washington back into the game really hurt |
| 26 | Cleveland Browns | 2-5 | No rushing attack means relying on the quarterbacks, and that’s not a place Cleveland wants to be |
| 27 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-5 | Blake Bortles didn’t look bad against Buffalo, but the Jaguars are still in the midst of another rebuilding year |
| 28 | San Francisco 49ers | 2-5 | After the offseason San Francisco had, is it any surprise the 49ers are this bad |
| 29 | Houston Texans | 2-5 | Losing Arian Foster for the year makes the huge loss to the Dolphins that much worse |
| 30 | Baltimore Ravens | 1-6 | Turns out the Ravens aren’t immune to rebuilding years after a number of player departures |
| 31 | Tennessee Titans | 1-5 | Titans defense did a decent job holding the Falcons, but the team still has way too many problems |
| 32 | Detroit Lions | 1-6 | Memories of the win against Chicago were washed away by an abysmal performance in the final three quarters against Minnesota |
Notable Week 7 Performances
To say whatever it is Dan Campbell has done in his short time as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins has been working is a bit of an understatement. Sure, it appears pretty much anyone can beat Tennessee and Houston with ease this year but since exorcising Joe Philbin, the Dolphins have been arguably the best team in the league.
The Dolphins jumped out to a 41-0 lead at halftime against the Houston Texans on Sunday, scoring at will and absolutely hounding Brian Hoyer on defense. Ryan Tannehill finished the game 18-of-19 for 282 yards and four touchdowns, with Lamar Miller going for 175 yards and a score on the ground.
Miami had high expectations coming into the season with a highly skilled offense and a defense that was supposed to be better than in 2014-15, and all it took was four games and the firing of its coach to reach that level of performance in real life.
It is a shame that the Dolphins play in arguably the best division in the league—with all four of the AFC East teams very much in the playoff race—especially with the AFC South stinking up the league at the moment.
Next up, the Dolphins will have to prove whether or not their run of form is an anomaly or the real deal, with back-to-back road trips set against the New England Patriots and then the Buffalo Bills. A win in either will validate what Campbell is doing, while a pair of losses could wipe away the memory of the past two weeks quickly.
The state of the Dallas Cowboys isn’t something that Jerry Jones will be too pleased about. Intrasquad dust-ups and interesting press conferences aside, per ESPN, the Cowboys are not playing pretty football at the moment.
Since losing Tony Romo, Dallas has lost all four games and looks very much like you would think a team starting Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel at quarterback would, not to mention the team appears unable to stick with a single running back. This week, it was Darren McFadden’s turn to take the lead, going for 152 yards and a touchdown against the Giants.
But even though the numbers on Sunday were pretty good offensively against the Giants, the mistakes were far too much to overcome. Turning the ball over four times, one of which was a pick-six, and giving up a game-winning kickoff return touchdown after tying the game were a microcosm of a rough stretch for Dallas.
It is looking more and more like Dez Bryant is set to return this weekend, which will be a huge boost no matter who is under center, but Romo needs to come back as soon as possible for the Cowboys to avoid falling even farther behind in the NFC East.
The offensive line is still the best in the league, but the team is only No. 27 in the league in points per game. Things don’t look good for Dallas, and there aren’t many signs of them getting better.
When does it become acceptable to consider the Raiders not only a good team, but a legitimate playoff contender? After spending years stuck at the bottom of the pile in the NFL, Oakland has been one of the surprises of the season with a stellar run of form to start the year.
Although they are only 3-3 on the year, a 37-29 win against the San Diego Chargers signaled that a shift had finally occurred in the AFC West. Going up 30-6 by halftime, the Raiders obliterated one of their division rivals before taking their foot off the gas, resulting in a score that didn’t do the game justice.
The selection of wide receiver Amari Cooper in the first round of the NFL draft was highly praised around the league, but not many could have predicted he would have developed this quickly, having become the go-to target for one of the league’s top young quarterbacks, Derek Carr.
Defensively, they still leave a little something to be desired, but with the Chargers and Chiefs both struggling this year, Oakland could well be poised to make a push to the playoffs as a wild-card team.
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