Week 8: Vikings claim No. 1 spot; Browns, Falcons nearing top 10

NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome everybody to NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer and we're all charged up to talk about the week seven fallout. Alongside Nick Shook, I'm Colleen Wolfe and all of you at home I've decided, or wherever you are watching, I've decided that you should be known as the Shook Ones. So it's a.

Little Mobb Deep reference. We're 30 seconds into the show. Let's go.

There we go. Okay, so how are you, by the way?

I'm probably doing better than you given all your travel.

Well, yes, I did just get back from Paris last night. I packed on a few more pounds in my luggage and my legs. But listen, like we are carb loading just for this show. So let's take a look at your top teams now. And we have the Vikings.

Wow.

New number one up three spots. The Bills at two. The Niners, they fell two spots. Now at three. The Seahawks up six at four. Bengals 5, Jags 6, the Chiefs down 5 after suffering their first loss, and then the Broncos at 8, up 1. But let's start with the new number one. And they're the only undefeated team still in the league. The offense, it doesn't really look playoff caliber, though, even though this is your number one team in all of the NFL right now.

Careful, don't say that too loud. Vikings fans will get after you.

They'll get angry. They can be better. Yeah.

I mean, look, they have an elite defense. It's been the same story for this team for weeks now. Their offense gives you signs that they're going to be better. They did against the Saints a couple of weeks ago. They managed to find enough in this game. I mean, it was a 10-6 game going into the fourth quarter.

It was a bit of a concerning situation before they were able to pull it out. Again, on the backs of their defense getting a turnover to seal this game. And because they're the only undefeated team left, They end up at number one in the power rankings. It's not a number one that I feel great about because I still want this offense.

To be better.

I still want Kyler Murray to get more comfortable. I think it will happen in due time. I don't think it's ever going to reach the level that would make us feel super happy and confident in them as a Super Bowl favorite, but they're undefeated, and you can't argue with their record.

You don't sound excited at all about this.

I mean, look, Brian Flores, the defense is playing so well that he's now faking stunts to run other stunts in one play. So that's fun to watch, but in terms of a.

Complete team, this is not.

It's like a very meta Brian Flores is scary. Nobody wants to see that. So they have a gauntlet of a schedule coming up as well with a huge NFC North matchup in Detroit on Sunday. But let's go to the next team who is kind of like the inverse of The Vikings, because they have a lights-out offense and they have a very vulnerable defense.

It's the Bills. Yes, yes.

It's the Bills who we didn't get to see tested this week, which is perfectly fine because I like most of what I've seen from them so far.

On offense. And it's, yeah, you're right. It is the inverse of the.

Vikings because like you look at the Bills and you're like, well, this defense, I don't know, man, it might be a problem.

It's been a problem for most of their season.

They've given up a ton of points, but they've been able to outscore all of these teams that they're playing. And they have Josh Allen at quarterback and he's the great equalizer, the great X factor that skews the game in favor of the Bills. So It's one of those weeks where the Niners lose, the Seahawks manage to climb back up forward, but I don't feel super great about the top two teams in the power rankings right now.

It's just kind of the way it fell. I would feel a lot better if they're able to go through the next two games against Baltimore and Minnesota and.

Look like the dominant teams.

Yeah, and the fact that they just need their offense to consistently score 30-plus points with this defense.

That is not fair to ask anybody.

It's absurd. They've been able to do it, but they kind of just survived the Rams before this, and then they beat the Raiders by three points. And you mentioned that they have the Ravens coming up. They have the Vikings on Monday Night Football. And then if you look at their schedule, their last 10 games, five of them are standalone primetime games.

Island games.

So we will get a good idea of the Bills coming up. Let's go to your previous number one team. Fell two after losing their first game of the year to Atlanta. They really didn't look like themselves at all. There was a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes, penalties, turnovers, all of that.

Yeah, they looked like themselves in the first quarter and a half.

And you thought, okay, this is going to be the Niners just going to Atlanta and taking care of business. And then they started to make some uncharacteristic mistakes.

There was a fumble.

There was an interception that Brock Purdy threw in which he He was trying to throw the ball away, but didn't give it nearly enough space width away from the field of play. Jesse Bates snags that. And what the Falcons did is they capitalized on all of these opportunities. And I give the credit to the 49ers because they did make this a.

Very interesting game.

If you were to watch this game back and not know the final score and you got to about the five-minute mark, you would have.

Thought the 49ers came back and won this game.

Because the momentum was going in their favor. It's just that they didn't finish the job. There was just some really good plays, I think, made by Atlanta. One of those games where they just deserved to win, and the Niners... They're banged up. They didn't have Mike Evans. You saw what happens to this offense when you don't have Mike Evans.

They still have 400 total yards, but Brock Purdy doesn't have that guy that you can necessarily lean on, much like Baker Mayfield used to with Mike Evans.

So I think they'll be fine.

If you're going to pick a time to lose your first game, it's now is going to the bye.

They've got to get healthy, though.

Yeah, they welcome this bye like manna from heaven because afterwards they'll welcome back, hopefully, Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson, Debo Samuel, Upton Stout. I mean, just to name a few. We'll see if they end up making any moves before the trade deadline as well to help out that pass rush.

But behind the Niners in both the power rankings and the NFC West, it is our team of the week, and it's the Seahawks who moved up six spots, Shook.

This is the Seahawks team that we've come to expect.

This is who they're supposed to be, a team that is stifling defensively, that takes an offense that looks like one of the best and most balanced in the NFL and absolutely slams the door on them, keeps them out of the red zone all night. Scores enough offensively, overcomes another Sam Darnold interception because of their defensive performance and ultimately win by 17 points in a game that wasn't really ever that close. If they can beat this team on a consistent basis, they'll be one of the best teams in football and a favorite to come out of the NFC to win the.

Super Bowl, just like they were last year. Exactly.

We just haven't seen it done consistently enough, but it was a really impressive performance. And then since then, they've traded for Quentin Nelson to help their offensive line issues. Maybe that'll buy Sam a little more time and he won't get those frantic feet and make those mistakes that he's made over the last few weeks.

If that happens, then watch out.

Yeah, next up for them, Mike McDonald's defense is going to be playing Ben Johnson and the Caleb Williams symphony that they have. It's perfect for Monday Night Football at Lumen Field. I love it. And I also was very interested in the fact that it was the Emanuel Wilson game, not the Kenneth Walker game. We're going to get to the Chiefs later in the show, but let's go rounding out the top five. The Bengals, they only rise one spot after scoring 35 straight points against a division rival, the Ravens, in Baltimore. We're going to also get to the Ravens a little later, your 16th team, but they were playing without Lamar. The second half Joe Burrow experience was resplendent.

Yes. And this is where the top 10 gets really interesting in these power rankings because the Bengals, you're right, they only rise one spot, but they've been lurking for a while.

Maybe I've held too high of an opinion of them.

Through the first half of Sunday's game, it certainly looked like it because they basically sleptwalked through the entire first two quarters.

Nothing more than a participation trophy did they deserve.

And yet they come out and drop 35 points on the Ravens in the second half, look like a completely different team. The big play Bengals offense that has defined their season so far comes through again with big throws to T.

Higgins.

Jamar Chase went on a nice route to get around Nate Wiggins for a touchdown. They just, it was an avalanche.

It was overwhelming.

It was. It was as impressive for the Bengals as it was concerning for the Ravens. And the most important part for me above all, yes, the offensive output is great. They still didn't run the ball well.

Their defense. Is it the defense? Is it the pass rush?

It's not just the pass rush. That's what we've been able to count on. It's the second, third.

Levels also playing really well.

Demetrius Knight getting an interception to kind of seal this one. And that, if that can hold, then they'll be a very, very good team and they'll stay in this top five for quite some time.

Okay, so the Bengals, they are ascending. While your number 17 suffered the first setback of the season, and it's not often that we see Mahomes or the Chiefs offense not score a touchdown in a game.

First time it's happened since 2021.

There we go. So that will end up hitting them five spots down after getting blasted by the Seahawks. So no Rasheed Rice in this game. Tyquan Thornton is on IR. And their wide receivers accounted for 39 yards combined receiving.

And since we're doing musical references today and the words have stained, it's been a while since the Chiefs have been in a situation like this.

I just didn't think I would hear that reference today.

Stained.

We got to take it back to the... I don't even know what you call that rock.

A time that no one wants to go back to.

No, indeed, indeed.

And the Chiefs don't want to go back to this type of offense ever again. Kenneth Walker, 14 for 36, completely bottled up by a defense. There's going to be one defense in the NFL that's going to know how to contain this running back. It's the team that he just played for previously. They made it their mission to stop him from bouncing plays outside and gaining extra yards.

They were great when it came to tackling, and the Chiefs had no answer.

And what we saw in this game was that the Chiefs are overly dependent on Kenneth Walker. He was papering over a lot of their flaws. And because they've had these losses at receiver, I mean, their top two pass catchers in this game were Travis Kelsey and Noah Gray, your tight ends. It's usually not a good sign unless you're named the Los Angeles Rams. And Kenneth Walker was third in that category with four catches for 21 yards.

They had no offense to generate. It was too much on Patrick Mahomes. They looked nothing like the team that we've seen so far. And the big question now is can they bounce back from this? Andy Reid is one heck of a coach, and he'll find ways to fix this. But with the personnel losses that they've suffered, Very curious to see if this is a precursor of more things to come.

Oh, okay. Well, they move to 6-1. They have a rematch from Week 1 with the Broncos in Denver coming their way, and that's a team that just so happens to be your number 8 team in the rankings. They're 5-2 after beating the Cardinals, but they kind of just feel fine.

Yeah, it's a very fine 5-2, which I don't really know if we can call five and two fine but that's where this team is.

If you weren't watching the games this year and you just saw the record you would think okay this is pretty decent they're right there now behind the Chiefs in the division like this is this is a.

Tight race last year they went 14 and three they were really close to winning going to the Super Bowl they must be.

Right back on track sure Their defense is. Their defense is spectacular.

It's right up there with the Brian Flores defense in Minnesota, in my opinion. The pass rush gets better every single week. Nick Benito is playing at a completely different level. Alex Singleton had 19 tackles in this game.

That's all great. That's fantastic.

And they're doing a lot of this without, you know, they were missing Pat Sertan in recent weeks. Riley Moss was able to come back after getting injured a few weeks ago, but it has not been a fully healthy season.

No.

And the offense just hasn't looked healthy in general, whether they've had their players or not. Bo Nix has drawn the ire of pretty much everybody who supports the Broncos and even his head coach in recent weeks.

But at least on Sunday, he remembered how to scramble.

We saw it.

It happened.

I can't believe it.

Kind of embarrassing for the Cardinals now that I think about it. The 62-yard run.

He also had a 52-yard touchdown pass, but it was on a screen. Look, if they can generate offense consistently... In these forms, that's fine. They're still a pretty low-ceiling offense. I think he attempted seven deep passes. He completed one, so the vertical game is still not there.

It's okay.

This is what you're supposed to do against this team. I'm perfectly fine with it. But when the greater tests come, which starts next week with the Chiefs.

We're going to find out a lot about this team.

Who are you more concerned about between those two?

Oh, God, that's a great question. And if I think about the match, I'm still going to go Chiefs.

You're going to go Chiefs.

Okay. Because the Broncos still have to prove to me that they can tackle Kenneth Walker. They missed a ton of tackles in that week.

That's fair. That's fair. Let's find out where the Steelers are. Where has Aaron Rodgers taken Pittsburgh? They're also 5-2. Are they better than we thought? Shook ones don't go anywhere. More NFL power rankings up next. Back here on NFL Power Rankings, presented by Energizer. Taking a look at Nick Shook's teams, 9 through 16. You have the Bears at 9.

The Patriots, they fell 3 spots after the Bears beat them. You have the Lions at 11. Browns at 12, up 4 spots. The Falcons up 6 spots after their big win at 13. Steelers at 14, up 3. Packers, one of the few teams that actually... remained in the same spot in your rankings, and then the Ravens just plummeted eight spots at 16. Let's get to your Bears, though.

Once again, the offense looked explosive, but they were playing a pretty beat-up Patriots team after that Thursday night football game.

Yeah, and that's fair, but I just love how Caleb Williams is playing football right now. The throws that he made in this Thursday night game were spectacular. There was a third long throw in the fourth quarter where he.

Is basically in the shadow of his own goal post.

He steps up amid a collapsing pocket and just rips a seed to Romo Dunzay, who makes a fantastic catch for a first down to get them out of that situation. It kind of defined the night for me. That and Luther Burden catching and running the screen pass to him. The Bears had their own issues, I think, you know, not defending the screen that.

Scored a touchdown with no time remaining in the first half. Ramondre Stevenson should never go 48 yards of a screen against your defense if you're competent.

So, The same concerns exist for the Bears, but I mean, since Caleb's been back, they've returned to form. They've become the team that we expected them to be, and now it's a matter of can you stand up against a Seattle defense that is going to present your greatest challenge that you've encountered this year?

Well, they did lose in Minnesota.

That was pretty challenging, too. That's fair. Yeah, that's like 1A, 1B at this point, but that one's in Lumen Field, too, so at Lumen Field, so you know that that always plays into it with the 12s. Let's go to... The Lions, who they are now 4-2 on the season, and what a walk-off win over the Packers they had. Getting Brian Branch back, though, was great.

It was an ugly final operation, but they got the job done.

Yeah, Brian Branch's return really helped this defense. They were able to out-gain the Packers 4-15 to 3-24, which is essentially what you expect from a Lions team that is very offensively driven. But getting Branch back on that defensive side, I think, stabilized the back end, which has been a huge weakness for them. the Packers were not able to go as deep as often against them as they wanted to, even though they tried. And yeah, it puts the Lions in a better situation at 4-2 in this NFC North that is so competitive than you probably would have thought they.

Would have been in. Because when you look at this matchup, the Packers are just going to outscore them. They have a better defense. They'll be able to limit the Lions. It's just not what happened.

It was one of those classic divisional games that gets kind of weird in that we see a 20-17 final, and it's kind of chaotic in the final few minutes.

But Good on the Lions. Another big test coming for them. I think this might be the game of the week, Lions-Vikings.

Ooh, another maybe chaotic divisional game that comes down to the last minute. We love chaos. We do.

We really do.

How about the Browns, speaking of chaos? They get a win over the Titans, and they had to fight really hard for it.

They did.

They really did, and it was really concerning if you're a Browns fan. And Browns fans, I would like to just send you a quick message. I hear you. It's not because I'm from Northeast Ohio that I've been keeping.

The Browns in the mid-teens.

It's because they keep winning in a fashion that I just cannot trust.

I still don't trust it.

It took them another game-winning drive to beat the lowly Titans, but they do deserve some credit for overcoming a quick 14-point deficit. produced by two Tony Pollard touchdown runs. That showed the metal and the willingness to fight back that other Browns teams simply didn't have. Todd Munkin's done a great job with this team. They've been able to spread the ball among different guys given the week. One week it's a Denzel Boston week. One week it's a Casey Concepcion week. It's always Harold Fannin in the mix. And it was also Quinshawn Judkins week. If they can run the ball consistently like this, then I'll feel very good about them. Man, needing a game-winning field goal to beat the Tigers.

It is the NFL. These are professional football players.

I know. I know.

But I give them credit.

They go up to 12 because they're 5-2, but I still don't feel great about it.

Well, I mean, they're going to be taking on– there's a lot of really big division games, I feel like, this week.

Yeah.

And the Browns, they have the Steelers coming up.

And that's in Pittsburgh where they never do well. Exactly. Except in the playoff game.

I don't know if they can beat the Steelers for a second time this season, especially the Steelers coming off of that game in Paris. Yeah. But that's something to watch for. And now we're going to shine a spotlight. And we're shining it on the Falcons. Up six spots. What are the Falcons? Because as soon as we saw Michael Penix Jr. come back, they sort of switched identities a bit. But I don't know. They took advantage of a lot of mistakes that the Niners just uncharacteristically had in that game. So I don't know if it was a really bad Niners game and they just capitalized, but are they better than maybe a lot of people think?

Well, the question is, who are the Falcons? What are the Falcons?

The Falcons are a team coached by the former Browns coach, Kevin Stefanski, who is starting to, they're kind of taking on his identity in some ways. They like to run the football. They like to at least present the threat of running the football.

But John Robinson always presents that threat.

He didn't have a great game, you.

Know, 20 for 63, no touchdowns.

But his presence allows them to then open up their passing game. Michael Penix ends up, you know, thriving in this. I think he looks very comfortable. He's spread the ball among a ton of different targets. Drake London, Robinson, Kyle Pitts, Austin Hooper, you know, the list goes on. And more than anything, their defense played well. Their defense, which I've had a lot of respect for and have appreciated more than the average person. When they put it all together, they're one of the more impressive units. It doesn't happen every week, but it did this week.

And they were able to get the win because of it.

And if you look at the division, hey, it's an interesting race.

It's the NFC South.

It's an interesting race.

Anybody can win it. That's a nice way of putting it. Interesting race.

Speaking of the Steelers, they are your number 14 team, up three spots after beating the Saints in Paris, the first ever game in France. They've won three straight, and now they're 5-2.

You are going to hear a lot of optimistic talk around this team this week. And rightfully so, because... They have played winning football over the last two weeks. They also needed one score finishes to beat two NFC South teams that aren't exactly great. All the Buccaneers are gaining steam. What's most important to me for this team is their willingness to adjust in game. Last week, it was them adjusting to short completions because they realized the running game wasn't going and the deep shots weren't going to work for Aaron Rodgers. This week, it was about putting two tight ends on the field at the same time and removing your tells whether you're going to run or throw.

And then just making the most of it. Jalen Warren gets back over 100 yards after a quiet week last week. Rico Dattle had some nice chip-in runs there as well. And Aaron Rodgers scrambled for a first down late in a game.

We saw it with our own eyes. You were there.

You saw it yourself. So I do think that this team, they have enough. They have a defense that can be very good from one week, maybe not as good the next week.

And if their offense can just continue on this path, They're not going to go anywhere.

I mean, they're basically not in a tie for first in the AFC North because they don't have the tiebreaker against the Browns, but they could get it back in some ways this week by playing them. There's a lot to sort out in the AFC North, and I think it begins this week.

That T.J. Watt interception, though, by the way, was a thing of absolute beauty. There was a straight shot watching it on the field right in front of us. I mean, listen, it's different when you see it at field level.

Yes.

Let's go to the Ravens, and they are, wow, they're down eight spots here.

Yes.

So they've blown leads to division opponents the last two weeks. Where are you with them? I know that Lamar Jackson isn't playing right now and hasn't contributed to those losses, but still, are you panicking at all?

Yeah, I am panicking because there's too many consistent things happening with this team. Derrick Henry unable to get going. I understand Snoop Huntley being a quarterback does make you a little bit more predictable and easier to play against from a defensive perspective.

Zay Flowers is still doing well, but they are not putting together full games.

In the last two weeks, they jumped out to a 13-0 lead against the Bengals in this game. They got to halftime, and I'm thinking they probably should have scored more points, because I don't know if I trust them in the second half. Last week, it was a 10-0 lead, didn't score again, in either of those games.

Lost two divisional games. Browns last week, Bengals this week.

And while Lamar comes back and helps you become a more dynamic and versatile offense that's harder to predict, overall, he doesn't fix everything, including the fact that you gave.

Up 35 points in the second half. You looked.

I mean, they got steamrolled by the Bengals' offense. They look completely useless defensively in the second half. That has to be fixed, and I'm not sure that they're going to be able to. We have the.

Charger-ing thing. Let's add Ravening.

I heard this.

Yes, because I know we did this on the pod, and it's like, it needs to happen. It happens too often to not have a term, so let's add.

It to the lexicon.

All right, so we're adding Ravening to the mix. Stamp it. All right, how about the Giants?

Yeah.

Coming up, the Giants are sitting on top of the NFC East, but is the J.J. McCarthy-led squad the real deal? And what should we make of Dak Prescott and the Cowboys? Find out what Nick Shook thinks next on NFL Power Rankings. And we're back on Power Rankings presented by Energizer. Teams 17 through 24. You have the Giants up top at 17.

They lead the division right now in the NFC East. The Texans at 18, down 4. Look at the Bucs, up 8 spots at 19. Panthers down 7. We'll get to that game coming up. We got the Rams at 21, up 3. The Cowboys up 4. The Saints down 3 at 23. And then rounding out this tier, the Washington Commanders down 1. So, the Giants. What's going on with J.J. McCarthy?

He looks pretty capable. And the Giants, maybe they are a contender. Maybe.

Every game for them, it's a journey. It's interesting. And this one was very entertaining and successful, largely.

Cam Scadaboo came out from the doghouse and put together quite a game on the ground. 124 yards and 17 carries and a touchdown. They ran the ball really well right through the Texans' defense.

And McCarthy... He threw a handful of really pretty passes. Yeah, he did.

Malachi Fields is the real deal. McCarthy's already got a rapport with Malik Neighbors. I like the way that this offense looks. It's just a matter of, like, can they do this week to week? Because it's hard to reconcile that with the fact that they lost to the Saints the week prior in the fashion in which they did.

Right. You think John Harbaugh and Cam Scadaboo are okay now?

They had to have made up.

They're good? He got out there, he got 17 carries, and he tore it up for them.

I love it.

They have a bye week this week, and then we'll see how they do after the bye. But we go to power moves. The Bucs up eight spots. To 19, they boat raced the Panthers, and now you have them at, I don't know, 2-5? And can you see them winning this division?

Yes, and that's because it's the NFC South. They're 2-5, but they're only a game and a half out. The Panthers are in first at 3-3, nothing like a first-place team in that contest. They were absolutely detonated by the Buccaneers. And so I think that if the Buccaneers continue to play like this, especially defensively, they've been very good in recent weeks. Baker Mayfield didn't even have to do anything in this game because.

They ran the ball so well. Yes, exactly. This is the sign of where they can go. They just have to do it.

Okay.

They play the Falcons coming up next. And then we go to your number 22 team that rose four spots after their Monday night football win in Philadelphia against the Eagles. It's the Cowboys.

I know it pains you to say that. Yep.

The Cowboys' defense played well enough, and they rediscovered how to throw the football down the field. And they ran the ball well for the first time all season. Javante Williams, 25 for 155 and a touchdown. They did, but he came against an Eagles defense that has underachieved, and I have a hard time trusting it. But at least for one week, Dak Prescott and company looked like Dak Prescott and company.

Yeah, CeeDee Lamb, that catch, that body control. Oh, my God.

George Pickens, too. Both fantastic.

Let's go to teams 25 through 32. We got the Raiders at 25, followed by Dolphins, Titans, Eagles, Jets. The Cardinals at 30, the Colts at 31, and then the Chargers there at 32, staying the same.

Hey, they had a pie. They gave everybody a gift this week by not playing football.

But the Dolphins, they get their first win of the season against the Jets, so they've been playing pretty hard. Look at them go.

Yes, and they climb up five spots ahead of a group of teams that unfortunately includes the Eagles because they've gotten better, marginally better every week, and it finally produced a win for them. I'm happy for Jeff Halfley to get his first win. Malik Willis looked the best he has as Dolphins quarterback. Ollie Gordon ran well. Their young guys contributed Caleb Douglas to two catches for two touchdowns.

This is what they are striving toward. And so for a week, you get a bump.

Hey, look, they're building something there. They're playing the Patriots next week.

Good luck. Yes.

And hey, shook ones, thanks for watching. We had a ball. Nick shook. You can find his rankings at NFL.com slash power rankings. And we'll see you next week. 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.

Week 8: Vikings claim No. 1 spot; Browns, Falcons nearing top 10

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