Whether you love Bill Belichick or hate him, or whether you’ve just developed a grudging respect for the man after he’s beaten your favorite team over and over, the span of Belichick’s achievements through his coaching career, and on the occasion of his 300th win as a head coach, are truly remarkable.
Think of the greatest head coaches of all time. Vince Lombardi. Don Shula. Bill Walsh. Chuck Noll. Sid Gillman. George Halas. On and on. Most of them were fundamentalists on one side of the ball, and they hired able lieutenants on the other side — the parts they weren’t as comfortable with. Belichick has focused on both sides of the ball as a head coach, though his career as an assistant was decidedly defensive.
The range of that success is truly historic. In 2007, Belichick the general manager acquired Randy Moss and Wes Welker, helped dial up an offense that was the first in NFL history to take more than 50% of its snaps in the shotgun, and set the NFL record for points in a season with 589 (since broken by the 2013 Broncos, with 606). Now, Belichick has taken a more dominant role in coaching a defense that is on pace to shatter the record for the fewest points allowed in a 16-game season. The 2000 Ravens hold the current mark at 165; the 2019 Patriots are on pace to allow 122.
There has never been a coach in NFL history with the ability to innovate and shape-shift on both sides of the schematic feast, and like it or not, it is the most prominent asset that makes Belichick the greatest head coach in NFL history.
That said, and even after a dominant 27-13 win over the Browns on Sunday, Belichick’s team has been toppled from the top spot in our power rankings. That’s because the 49ers, a team run by another coaching genius in Kyle Shanahan, have proven to be the more complete team — perhaps not as dominant on defense as New England (though still very impressive), but much more explosive on offense.
It would be an ideal Super Bowl matchup to see the old and young masters going at it, but for now, the Patriots and 49ers will continue to compete at the top of our list.
32. Cincinnati Bengals
(0-8. Last week: 32)
When you’re 0-8 and you’ve lost four of those games by more than a touchdown, there are all kinds of reasons things fall apart to that degree. Cincinnati’s offense is no great shakes, and you might say that first-year head coach Zac Taylor is in over his head. Cincinnati’s front office and scouting department have never really been among the league’s best, and that shows up on the field. But if we were to assign primary responsibility for this particular debacle, we’d have to put the focus on a defense that’s allowing 6.6 yards per play, tied with the Dolphins for last in the league. Against the Rams in a 24-10 loss, the Bengals allowed 470 yards on 57 plays, or 8.2 yards per play. Receiver Cooper Kupp ran wild with seven catches on 10 targets for 220 yards, and there were big plays to be had all over the place. Cincinnati does have talent on defense, meaning the seat under defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo should be scalding by now.
31. Washington Redskins
(1-7. Last week: 31)
The Redskins selected Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins with the 15th pick in the 2019 draft, and hoped to keep him on the bench as he learned the complexities of the NFL after starting just one full season in college. As we’ve seen from other inexperienced starters at the NCAA level (hello, Mitchell Trubisky), Haskins may have needed more time with the playbook than even the Redskins thought. Forced into the teeth of Minnesota’s defense last Thursday night after starter Case Keenum suffered a concussion, Haskins appeared over his skis when pressed into service, completing three of five passes for 33 yards and an interception. Haskins has thrown four picks on the season and is still waiting for his first NFL touchdown pass, and not even the presence of ex-Ohio State teammate and top rookie receiver Terry McLaurin has helped his efforts. It’s too early to call Haskins a bust, but the issues that were obvious on his college tape (throwing on the run, reading advanced coverages) have become more stark at the NFL level, as they tend to do.
30. Atlanta Falcons
(1-7. Last week: 30)
Before Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Seahawks, Falcons quarterback Matt Schaub hadn’t started an NFL game since Dec. 6, 2015, for the Ravens. His days as a highly paid pick-six machine long gone, Schaub contented himself with picking apart Seattle’s vulnerable back seven for 460 yards on 52 attempts. The yards were mostly empty, as Schaub was able to throw for just one touchdown pass and hurled an interception, but it was a decent reprieve from Atlanta’s dismal season, though it led to the usual result. More pertinent to this franchise’s situation is that the defense still can’t stop anybody for anything, and it remains woefully undisciplined against all kinds of schematic conceits. Team owner Arthur Blank has said he’ll take the next few weeks to evaluate everything, but it’s hard to imagine head coach Dan Quinn surviving a defensive disaster he created with an increased presence at the playbook. No amount of Schaubness will erase that reality.
29. Miami Dolphins
(0-7. Last week: 29)
For nearly a half of football, the Dolphins had the appearance of a team not looking to tank but looking to win. They got out to a 14-0 lead against the Steelers on Monday night and were flustering quarterback Mason Rudolph. Then, with 12 seconds left in the first half and up 14-3, Miami’s coaching staff made the inexplicable decision to blitz eight and run man coverage. That led to an easy 45-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Diontae Johnson, and the rout was on. Former Dolphins cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick twice, Rudolph completed enough deep fades to make the passing game a concern, and James Conner blew up Miami’s run defense. The Dolphins have been more competitive than the teams at the bottom of their power rankings, and there are stretches of time where they put it together well, which is a testament to Brian Flores and his coaching staff. Clearly, that staff and these players care about winning, though the results are frustratingly inconclusive.
28. Cleveland Browns
(2-5. Last week: 27)
The Browns went into their bye week with an imperative to fix a broken offense and an inconsistent defense. That they had to return against the Patriots wasn’t exactly fair, but the schedule gives what it gives. And in some ways, Cleveland looked respectable in a 27-13 loss. Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to tight end Demetrius Harris against a defense that doesn’t generally allow those types of things, and Nick Chubb ran 20 times for 131 yards. Again, impressive against the best defense of the NFL’s modern era. The problem for the Browns, as it is against nearly every team facing the Pats, is that they made more than enough mistakes. Mayfield threw a bizarre interception and Chubb fumbled twice in a three-drive span that saw Cleveland give the ball away on three consecutive offensive plays, and that was the ballgame. After the game, Mayfield bemoaned his team’s lack of accountability and discipline, putting the focus squarely on head coach Freddie Kitchens to fix things. Not that Kitchens is the one turning over the ball at a record rate; the problems seem to be everywhere for the most disappointing team of 2019.
27. Denver Broncos
(2-6. Last week: 24)
The Broncos lost, 15-13, to the Colts on Sunday despite holding the lead until Adam Vinatieri kicked a 51-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the game. Afterward, Joe Flacco let loose a flurry of dissatisfaction regarding the conservative nature of Denver’s offensive play calls. As I pointed out Sunday, much of the reason for Denver’s conservative play-calling in critical situations has to do with Flacco’s own shortcomings — he’s ridiculously slow to process what’s in front of him, and his deliberate decision-making leads to far too many sacks and negative plays. Flacco should hope that his coaches are more generous in their evaluations when it’s time to review his tape. Flacco has completed just 57.5% of his passes on third down this season, with 21 first downs, 13 sacks, no touchdowns, and two interceptions on 73 passing attempts. If Flacco wants to point at the real problem with Denver’s offense, all he has to do is to look in the mirror. Of course, Flacco will have more time to do that now. On Monday, head coach Vic Fangio announced that Flacco has a neck injury, and will not start against the Browns on Sunday.
26. Los Angeles Chargers
(3-5. Last week: 28)
Last week, the Chargers lost to the Titans in the most Chargers way possible, with a late drive that included multiple potential touchdowns negated by penalties and reviews. This week, they handed their bad juju over to the Bears, who seemed more than willing to inflict it upon themselves. Chicago head coach Matt Nagy ordered quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to take a knee with less than a minute left because he didn’t trust his quarterback, and kicker Eddy Pineiro missed the subsequent 41-yard field goal. That put the Chargers back in the win column, 17-16, after three consecutive losses. Better news for Anthony Lynn’s offense? Melvin Gordon was somewhat of an asset for the first time this season (although Austin Ekeler has proven to be the more valuable back this season), and on defense, Joey Bosa was unsolvable with two sacks and four quarterback hits. The Chargers have a rough go with the Packers, Raiders, and Chiefs coming up, but in the moment, they can celebrate an occasion upon which they didn’t beat themselves. They will run that gamut without offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired on Monday.
25. New York Jets
(1-6. Last week: 25)
So, maybe it was more than the Patriots. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold came crashing down to earth against Bill Belichick’s defense after a Week 6 performance against the Cowboys that got him the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week award. But on Sunday, Darnold looked all too vulnerable for the second straight week, and this time, it was against a Jaguars defense that’s no longer elite. Darnold was harassed constantly behind an offensive line that can’t seem to handle its assignments, with eight sacks and 13 quarterback hits against Jacksonville’s furious front. Darnold’s first pick came under pressure, and his last two — both in the fourth quarter — came as he was, for lack of a better term, “seeing ghosts.” Young quarterbacks need more help than this, and Darnold, who can throw well under reasonable pressure, probably isn’t going to get it this season. Fixing that line should be Priority No. 1 for whoever’s coaching this team in 2020 and beyond.
24. Pittsburgh Steelers
(3-4. Last week: 26)
The Steelers welcomed quarterback Mason Rudolph back from his time away recovering from a concussion with an entirely different game plan. Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner had been highly conservative with Ben Roethlisberger’s replacement, knowing full well that Rudolph’s on-field acumen was a work in progress. But against the Dolphins on Monday night, it was bombs away, as Rudolph threw a ton of downfield fades with occasional accuracy. His 45-yard touchdown pass to receiver Diontae Johnson at the end of the first half was the result of Miami’s bizarre decision to blitz eight and run man coverage with three, and JuJu Smith-Schuster was the star of the show on Rudolph’s other touchdown pass. Still, it was an important step in Rudolph’s development, as his coaches decided to take the training wheels off, and the passing game didn’t fall apart. It was an important win for the Steelers as they try to avoid the first losing season of Mike Tomlin’s career, but what it means in the long term remains to be seen.
23. New York Giants
(2-6. Last week: 23)
The trade for Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams gives Giants general manager Dave Gettleman another of his beloved Hog Mollies (i.e., big guys on both sides of the trenches), but it doesn’t solve the team’s real problem — a secondary that can’t seem to cover anybody consistently. Against the Lions in a 31-26 loss, only Janoris Jenkins provided consistent coverage, and it’s been that way throughout the season, with safety Jabril Peppers as the only other relative constant. That secondary allowed Matthew Stafford to throw for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and both Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola ate at the buffet all day. Until and unless defensive coordinator James Bettcher is able to get his guys in concepts that work for their talents, efforts from Daniel Jones (who recorded 322 yards and four touchdowns against a Detroit secondary that has become similarly leaky over the past few weeks) will be wasted.
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(2-5. Last week: 21)
After Tampa Bay’s 27-23 loss to the Titans on Sunday, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians blasted Adrian Hill’s officiating crew for negating what could have been a game-winning fumble recovery by blowing the play dead. It’s not the first time this has happened this year, and this is years after an NFL edict which directed officials to keep turnover plays alive when unsure. Arians said that referees aren’t held accountable for these types of mistakes, which appears to be true more often than not. Arians then went on to say that the game-clinching interception Jameis Winston threw wasn’t the QB’s fault — in fact, according to Arians, neither of the two picks Winston threw were his fault. Instead, according to the coach, Winston’s receivers had let him down. That doesn’t explain the five interceptions Winston threw against the Panthers in Week 7. Nor does it excuse Winston’s volatile consistency throughout the season — or for that matter, throughout his career. It’s an interesting dynamic for Arians, who seems to have different concepts of responsibility depending on one’s position in the game.
21. Chicago Bears
(3-4. Last week: 16)
With 43 seconds left in Chicago’s eventual 17-16 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, Bears head coach Matt Nagy ordered quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to take a knee at Los Angeles’ 22-yard line, as opposed to advancing the ball further to assist beleaguered kicker Eddy Pineiro. Pineiro missed the subsequent 41-yard field goal, and Nagy was quite insistent that he was in the right in calling such a conservative option, as opposed to leaving fate open to either a fumble or an interception. Trubisky had thrown an interception and lost a fumble in the game. He had not thrown a touchdown pass, despite completing 23 of 35 passes for 253 yards — a statistical course that doesn’t tell the story of his overall inconsistency. Nagy was pilloried in some circles for the way he handled the series on the field and the press conference afterward, but when a coach has no confidence in his quarterback, this is what it looks like. Nagy announced on Monday that Trubisky will start against the Eagles on Sunday; the thought here may be that if Trubisky can’t get it done against Philly’s awful secondary, it will truly be time to move on.
20. Tennessee Titans
(3-4. Last week: 22)
Dolphins fans would no doubt tell you to avoid belief in this at all costs, but over the past two weeks, Ryan Tannehill has completed 44 of 62 passes for 505 yards, five touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 115.3 — which puts him eighth in the NFL over that time. Moreover, a film review seems to indicate that this isn’t vaporware. Tannehill is more composed in the pocket, throws more consistently with timing and rhythm, and doesn’t lose his bearings when he’s flushed from the pocket. It makes the Titans an interesting team in the second half of the season if Tannehill can keep it up, because Tennessee also got rookie defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons off injured reserve in Week 7, and he’s been tremendous in short bursts. It’s always nice when you can find graphic improvement at important positions during the season without making a trade.
19. Arizona Cardinals
(3-4-1. Last week: 19)
The Cardinals had been playing well of late, with three straight wins after starting the season 0-3-1. It was their singular misfortune to run into the buzzsaw that will be the Saints with Drew Brees back at the helm, and a 31-9 loss was the result. Kyler Murray didn’t make too many mistakes in the loss, and Kliff Kingsbury will have the services of ex-Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake following a Monday trade, which will firm up a rushing attack beset by injuries. Kingsbury has already accomplished more than some observers believed he would in making the Cardinals competitive; we’ll see how that works out in a true nightmare matchup against the 49ers on Halloween night.
18. Oakland Raiders
(3-4. Last week: 17)
Jon Gruden’s team hasn’t played at home since Week 2. Since then, there’s been four official away games with a trip to England in the middle. It’s a credit to the organization that the Raiders came out of that stretch with a 2-3 record, and they now have three straight get-well games at home against the Lions, Chargers, and Bengals. We’ll find out a lot about Oakland’s contender/pretender status in that time, but they’ve shown some real toughness in getting past unusual obstacles in the first half of the season.
17. Detroit Lions
(3-3-1. Last week: 14)
This season, the Lions have alternated between a team that looks like the toughest hard-luck franchise in the league (when Clete Blakeman’s officiating crew cost them a win over the Packers in Week 6) and a team — especially a defense — that doesn’t exactly know what it’s trying to do. The recent trade of safety Quandre Diggs, which caused severe distress on social media among Diggs’ former Detroit teammates, could have been the end of Matt Patricia’s team as a functional unit. Not that the Lions’ man-based coverage always did an optimal job against the Giants in a 31-26 win — rookie Daniel Jones doubled his previous career high with four touchdown passes — but Detroit’s offense understood that Big Blue’s secondary would be even easier pickings. If the Lions want to be anything more than a curiosity in the second half of the season, they’d better get over recent coverage busts and revert to the disciplined group seen earlier this season.
16. Philadelphia Eagles
(4-4. Last week: 20)
Through their first seven games of the 2019 season, Philadelphia’s defense has been an abject disaster, especially in coverage. Against the Bills in a 31-13 Sunday win, Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz put the pressure on his front seven, which sacked quarterback Josh Allen four times and added nine quarterback hits. Allen still threw two touchdown passes against Philly’s leaky secondary, but between the quarterback pressure led by Fletcher Cox and a run game that finally came alive, the Eagles had enough juice for the kind of decisive win over a quality team that’s been in short supply this year.
15. Jacksonville Jaguars
(4-4. Last week: 18)
As you would expect of any sixth-round rookie with limited big-time college experience, Gardner Minshew has had his share of ups and downs in his rookie season. But for a guy who was forced into the spotlight early on by Nick Foles’ broken collarbone in Week 1, Minshew certainly seems to have the NFL on lock a lot of the time. This was the case in Jacksonville’s 29-15 win over the Jets, in which Minshew completed 22 of 34 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns, and made more than one spectacular play on the move.
Jacksonville gave Foles a four-year, $88 million with $50.125 million guaranteed this past offseason, and at this rate, there’s little sense in putting him back on the field. Not to compare Minshew to another former sixth-rounder who got an unexpected opportunity due to a starter’s injury and made the most of it, but Foles might be feeling a bit like Drew Bledsoe did in 2001.
14. Los Angeles Rams
(5-3. Last week: 15)
After their Week 6 loss to the 49ers, the Rams were stuck at 3-3, and looked to all the world like a Super Bowl hangover team that was taking itself out of the postseason discussion. Since then, they’ve beaten the Falcons and Bengals (admittedly, not a Herculean task in either case), which at least got Sean McVay’s team back to respectability. The Rams will face a highly vulnerable Steelers team after their upcoming bye, and if Jared Goff can handle Chicago’s defense the week after that, the Rams might just play themselves into the wild-card discussion.
13. Dallas Cowboys
(4-3. Week 8 Bye. Last week: 13)
Since the Cowboys were on a bye last week, it was up to Jerry and Stephen Jones to provide the fireworks in and around Big D. The younger Jones, Jerry’s son and the team’s executive vice president, did so by suggesting that quarterback Dak Prescott take a team-friendly deal. A fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Prescott is making $2.025 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Through the first seven weeks of the season, only Patrick Mahomes ranked higher in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted DVOA and DYAR metrics, and Prescott ranked first in ESPN’s QBR metric. He ranked fifth in Pro Football Reference’s Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt, and he ranked seventh in passer rating. This season, he’s completed 70.6% of his passes for 8.9 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Except for the higher interception rate, it’s been Prescott’s best season to date. The Jones boys can try to create a stigma around Prescott’s salary demands all they want, but they have two choices: Either pay the man what he deserves as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, or be forced to slap the franchise tag on him. Moving on from Prescott is not an option, and they know it.
12. Buffalo Bills
(5-2. Last week: 11)
Were the Bills the beneficiaries of a relatively weak schedule to start their season at 5-1, or are they true contenders in the AFC? Buffalo’s defensive excellence throughout most of the 2019 season would seem to reveal the latter option, but their 31-13 loss to the Eagles on Sunday implies the former. Quarterback Josh Allen went up against one of the softest secondaries in the NFL, and managed just 16 completions in 34 attempts for 169 yards. Allen’s two touchdown passes are a default mechanism against Philadelphia’s defense this year, so let’s throw that out. More disconcerting for the Bills’ generally excellent defense is that the Eagles ran for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries. Buffalo’s still hanging tough at 5-2, and the Bills benefit from games against the Redskins, Browns, Dolphins and Broncos in the next month — before things get more interesting against the Cowboys and Ravens. Allen, who’s still putting his NFL résumé together as a pure passer, will hopefully rebound against a slate of relatively weak defenses.
11. Carolina Panthers
(4-3. Last week: 9)
It was nice while it lasted. Panthers backup quarterback Kyle Allen hadn’t been involved in a loss or thrown an interception through his first four starts this season, leading to all kinds of speculation about the future of the injured Cam Newton. Then, what happens to every young quarterback happened to Allen — he ran into a defense he couldn’t solve, and it all fell apart. To Allen’s credit, he waited for a really good defense, throwing three picks and taking seven sacks as the 49ers’ defense welcomed him to the NFL’s realities in a 51-13 demolition. Head coach Ron Rivera has already said that Allen will start next week against the Titans, which gives the second-year man the opportunity to rebound against a defense that’s tough, but not quite on San Francisco’s historically good level.
10. Seattle Seahawks
(6-2. Last week: 12)
Falcons coach Dan Quinn’s defense did its usual face-plant Sunday against Seattle, where Quinn was once one of the league’s best defensive coordinators. Perhaps it’s time for an Emerald City reunion, because Pete Carroll’s defense is a shell of what it was in the Legion of Boom days. Russell Wilson was murderously efficient against an Atlanta squad that frequently was out of assignment and position (especially against play-action passes), but how do you explain Matt Schaub playing in lieu of the injured Matt Ryan and completing 39 of 52 passes for 460 yards? A lot of those yards were empty calories, as Schaub managed just one touchdown and threw a pick, but there’s a reason the Seahawks traded for ex-Lions defensive back Quandre Diggs, and a team that wanted to go back to the future this season with a high percentage of base-defense snaps is getting lit up far too often. Seattle’s 6-2 record is a relative balm in the face of this, but one imagines that in the playoffs (or, before that, with two upcoming games against the 49ers), these liabilities will be exploited.
9. Indianapolis Colts
(5-2. Last week: 8)
The ability to win ugly is a prerequisite for any NFL quarterback; at certain points in your career, you’re going to have to push through a lot of slop to get to a positive result. This was the case for Jacoby Brissett, who’s passed most of the tests presented to him this season as Andrew Luck’s last-second replacement. Against the Broncos in a 15-13 win, Brissett completed just 15 of 25 passes for 202 yards, but he did manage this ungodly 35-yard Aaron Rodgers-esque pass to T.Y. Hilton when it mattered.
That was the start of Indianapolis’ winning drive, and aided by the efforts of running back Marlon Mack as he was, Brissett added a crucial element to his NFL potential — the ability to pull things together after they’d fallen apart.
8. Kansas City Chiefs
(5-3. Last week: 5)
Is there a better coach for average quarterbacks than Andy Reid? During his time as the Eagles’ head coach, he maximized the talents of players such as A.J. Feeley, Jeff Garcia and Kevin Kolb. In the pre-Mahomes era in Kansas City, he helped Alex Smith to his best seasons. Now, with Mahomes recovering from a knee injury, Reid plucked Matt Moore, who didn’t take a single snap last season, from the sideline and put him on a path to beat the Packers on Sunday night. It didn’t quite turn out as Reid would have hoped, but Moore’s performance (24 completions in 36 attempts for 267 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions against a top defense) is a testament to how Reid can use a quick passing game and estimable targets to keep his team in the fight with just about anybody under center.
7. Houston Texans
(5-3. Last week: 10)
The bad news for the Texans? J.J. Watt suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Houston’s 27-24 win over the Raiders, and he’ll miss the rest of the season. It’s the third time in the past four seasons that Watt has seen his season end early due to injury — and at age 30, questions start to arise about the viability of any pass-rusher. Watt will carry a $15.5 million cap hit in 2020, and there’s no cap penalty for releasing him. Not that the Texans would consider it, but it’s an interesting notion. The good news for the Texans, Watt or not, is that they have a quarterback in Deshaun Watson who can do incredible things like this:
Kicked in the face on this touchdown pass to tight end Darren Fells, Watson was basically throwing blind, and he showed up with a serious shiner at his postgame press conference. As much as any quarterback in the NFL right now, Watson has the ability to transform circumstances in his team’s favor, and if you’re not at least considering him when assembling your personal MVP vote, you might want to pay closer attention.
6. Baltimore Ravens
(5-2. Week 8 Bye. Last week: 4)
The Ravens were on a bye this week, but there’s a lot to be excited about in Baltimore as John Harbaugh’s squad prepares to take on the Patriots this Sunday evening. Not only is Lamar Jackson growing rapidly as a quarterback, and not only does Greg Roman’s offense have the league’s best rushing attack, but there’s much-needed new blood in Baltimore’s secondary with the trade for Marcus Peters. As you started to see against the Seahawks in Week 7 (Peters’ first game with the Ravens), his addition to a defensive backfield that already had safety Earl Thomas and criminally underrated cornerback Marlon Humphrey allows Baltimore to fully play defensive coordinator Don Martindale’s varied and highly disciplined schemes. There’s still work to do with the pass rush (Baltimore is blitzing on 48% of its snaps, by far the highest percentage in the NFL this season), but if the Ravens can get that together — perhaps by the trade deadline — this becomes an opponent nobody wants to face. To be sure, it will be fascinating to see what Bill Belichick dials up for Baltimore’s multifaceted run game.
5. Minnesota Vikings
(6-2. Last week: 7)
Over the past four weeks, Kirk Cousins has absolutely demolished the NFL, and even if you’re on the fence about a guy who’s been a stat collector most of his career, this is starting to feel different. Since Week 5, Cousins leads the NFL in passer rating at 137.1 — Aaron Rodgers ranks second in that span at 118.7. Cousins has completed 78.5% of his passes for 1,261 yards, a 10.9 yards-per-attempt average, 10 touchdowns and one interception. Cousins leads the NFL in play-action rate in that time — he’s using it on 43.7% of his snaps — and this gives him defined openings without confusing the picture. He’s a big reason the Vikings are 6-2, and in this time span, he’s moved from extreme liability to absolute strength. It’s difficult to say how long it will last, but as long as Mike Zimmer’s team has Mike Zimmer’s defense and a running game defined by Dalvin Cook, adding a top-shelf quarterback to the equation makes the Vikings a Super Bowl contender.
4. Green Bay Packers
(7-1. Last week: 6)
Remember last season, when then-Packers head coach Mike McCarthy rationed snaps for running back Aaron Jones despite Jones’ league-leading 5.5 yards per carry average because “there’s more to playing the position than just running the football?” Well, that’s one of many reasons McCarthy is Green Bay’s ex-head coach. As it turns out, there is more to Jones’ position than running the football, and he proved it in the Packers’ 31-24 Sunday night win over the Chiefs. Under new head coach and offensive play-designer Matt LaFleur, Jones caught seven passes on eight targets for 159 yards and two touchdowns with a route package McCarthy could only dream of constructing. It helped that Aaron Rodgers used his usual array of ridiculous throws (see below), but the Packers are 7-1 and challenging the top level of the NFC because they’re a fully realized team for the first time in years — and using all their best talent in the right ways.
3. New Orleans Saints
(7-1. Last week: 3)
In their 31-9 win over the Cardinals, the Saints held Kliff Kingsbury’s offense to 237 net yards. It was the fifth consecutive game in which New Orleans’ defense held its opponent to 260 net yards or fewer, which the franchise hasn’t done since the legendary “Dome Patrol” defenses of the early 1990s. Of course, back then, the team’s quarterbacks were Steve Walsh and Bobby Hebert. These days, the Saints had Teddy Bridgewater establishing himself as the NFL’s best backup quarterback while Drew Brees recovered from a thumb injury, and Brees coming back against Arizona to complete 34 of 43 passes for 371 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints went 5-0 with Bridgewater as their starter, and now with Brees back, this entirely legitimate 7-1 team becomes as tough an opponent as there is in the NFL.
2. New England Patriots
(8-0. Last week: 1)
At this point, New England’s defense is just getting ridiculous. After the Patriots’ 27-13 win over Cleveland, in which they caused turnovers on three consecutive offensive plays by the Browns, Bill Belichick’s team stands with a plus-189 point differential, tied with the 1942 Bears for the third-highest differential through the first eight games of a season in NFL history. New England’s plus-17 turnover differential through the first eight games of a season is similarly historic. The only thing that bounced the Pats from the top spot in our power rankings is an offense that is effective, but doesn’t quite match up to what Kyle Shanahan is putting together with the 49ers. Tom Brady completed 20 of 36 passes for 259 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions — perfectly efficient, but hardly explosive. Perhaps that will change when first-round receiver N’Keal Harry comes off injured reserve and recently acquired Mohamed Sanu gets the hang of the offense. But right now, it’s the defense that makes this team great in a special way.
1. San Francisco 49ers
(7-0. Last week: 2)
Not that the 49ers needed to trade for receiver Emmanuel Sanders to stay atop the NFC, but the former Steelers and Broncos veteran could be to Jimmy Garoppolo what Cooper Kupp has been to Jared Goff — a consistent and intelligent first-read receiver with explosive potential. Sanders caught four passes on five targets for 25 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 51-13 shellacking of the Panthers, but you get the feeling more production is imminent when Sanders gets the hang of Kyle Shanahan’s offense. As for Robert Saleh’s defense, that unit turned Carolina quarterback Kyle Allen into a figurative pumpkin — thanks in large part to rookie pass-rusher Nick Bosa, who drilled through the Panthers’ overmatched offensive line for three sacks and three quarterback hits, adding this incredible interception for good measure.
Bosa became the third rookie since 1982, when the sack became an official statistic, to record three sacks and an interception in the same game, joining Julius Peppers and Kevin Williams. Factor in San Francisco’s running game, which is just about impossible to stop, and there’s no avoiding the truth at this point. When you look at all the aspects of team excellence, the 49ers have surpassed the Patriots as the NFL’s best team.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018-.
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