NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Dolphins at #2

Another week of the NFL season can be crossed off as we enter the month of November in what seems to feel like a season that has been flying by. 

 

While some teams don’t want the season to go by, others are desperately praying to get it over with because things have not been going well at all. 

 

The Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots, just to name a few, are teams that fall under the category of wishing there was a skip button to the end of the season. 

 

The Cardinals hold the league’s longest losing streak after they lost their fifth game in a row against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday but after starting out their season 2-1, all of a sudden, the Packers have lost four-straight games and are 2-5. Green Bay’s quarterback, Jordan Love, has really struggled trying to fill Aaron Rodgers’ shoes as he completed just 24 of his 41 passes for 229 yards and an interception in the loss to the Vikings. 

 

The Bears and Giants are dealing with quarterback injuries and are forced to play their second and even third string quarterback which, most of the time, doesn’t end well. Chicago got blown against the Chargers 30-13 and the Giants lost a heartbreaker to the Jets in an extremely ugly game for both teams. 

 

Have the Titans found their quarterback of the future? Will Levis got his first career start on Sunday and it looked like he was playing against high schoolers. The rookie out of Kentucky threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns while allowing star receiver Deandre Hopkins to finally have his best game in a Titans uniform. Hopkins had four catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-23 win against the Falcons. 

 

Minnesota’s injury woes continue as they lost quarterback Kirk Cousins for the rest of the season due to a torn achilles he suffered against the Packers. It is absolutely devastating for Minnesota because they looked like a team that finally found their groove after beating the 49ers last week and then going into Lambeau Field and making a statement. Cousins was also having a very good year throwing for 2,331 yards and 18 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how this Vikings team will fare going forward. 

 

The San Francisco 49ers have completely fallen off the face of the Earth. What has happened to them? They started out the year 5-0 and have now lost three games in a row. Quarterback Brock Purdy all of a sudden looks like “Mr. Irrelevant” and that Niners defense that is often highly praised has completely disappeared. Don’t look now but the Seattle Seahawks are in the lead in the NFC West division and if San Francisco doesn’t get it together, their hopes for a division title can easily get out of reach. 

And now we can talk about the fastest team on the planet. The revamped ‘Greatest Show on Turf’. The 6-2 Miami Dolphins. 

 

The Dolphins hosted the Patriots on Sunday in what some feared to be a trap game for Miami as they would face the Chiefs in their next game in Germany. But, Miami looked locked in from the get go. 

 

Tua Tagovailoa continued to make his case for the MVP as he threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle each had over 100 receiving yards. Hill had eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown while Waddle caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. 

 

But even with all the noise offensively, the story of the day was the return of All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. In his Dolphins debut, Ramsey recorded an interception and showed how much of an impact he can make on this defense for Miami. 

 

Oh, and Tagovailoa is 6-0 in his career against Bill Belichick. So yeah, there’s that. 

 

Below are my power rankings for Week 9.

 

32. Arizona Cardinals (1 – 7) 

Last Week: 31

Result: Lost vs. Ravens 31-24

 

31. Green Bay Packers (2 – 5)

Last Week: 30

Result: Lost vs. Vikings 24-10

30. Carolina Panthers (1 – 6)

Last Week: 32

Result: Won vs. Texans 15-13

 

29. Chicago Bears (2 – 6)

Last Week: 27

Result: Lost at Chargers 30-13

 

28. New York Giants (2 – 6)

Last Week: 25

Result: Lost vs. Jets 13-10

 

27. Washington Commanders (3 – 5)

Last Week: 26

Result: Lost vs. Eagles 38-31

 

26. New England Patriots (2 – 6)

Last Week: 24

Result: Lost at Dolphins 31-17

 

25. Indianapolis Colts (3 – 5)

            Last Week: 23

Result: Lost vs. Saints 38-27

 

24. Los Angeles Rams (3 – 5)

Last Week: 19

Result: Lost at Cowboys 43-20

 

23. Las Vegas Raiders (3 – 5)

Last Week: 21

Result: Lost at Lions 26-14

 

22. Houston Texans (3 – 4)

Last Week: 16

Result: Lost at Panthers 15-13

 

21. Tennessee Titans (3 – 4)

Last Week: 29

Result: Won vs. Falcons 28-23

 

20. Denver Broncos (3 – 5)

Last Week: 28

Result: Won vs. Chiefs 24-9

 

19. Atlanta Falcons (4 – 4)

Last Week: 17

Result: Lost at Titans 28-23

 

18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3 – 4)

            Last Week: 18

Result: Lost at Bills 24-18

 

17. New Orleans Saints (4 – 4)

Last Week: 22

Result: Won at Colts 38-27

 

16. Los Angeles Chargers (3 – 4)

Last Week: 20

Result: Won vs. Bears 30-13

 

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (4 – 3)

Last Week: 13

Result: Lost vs. Jaguars 20-10

 

14. Minnesota Vikings (4 – 4)

Last Week: 15

Result: Won at Packers 24-10

 

13. New York Jets (4 – 3)

Last Week: 14

Result: Won at Giants 13-10

 

12. Cleveland Browns (4 – 3)

Last Week: 9

Result: Lost at Seahawks 24-20

 

11. San Francisco 49ers (5 – 3)

Last Week: 5

Result: Lost vs. Bengals 31-17

 

10. Seattle Seahawks (5 – 2)

Last Week: 12

Result: Won vs. Browns 24-20

 

9. Buffalo Bills (5 – 3)

Last Week: 10

Result: Won vs. Buccaneers 24-18

 

8. Cincinnati Bengals (4 – 3)

Last Week: 11

Result: Won at 49ers 31-17

 

7. Dallas Cowboys (5 – 2)

Last Week: 8

Result: Won vs. Rams 43-20

 

6. Jacksonville Jaguars (6 – 2)

Last Week: 6

Result: Won at Steelers 20-10

 

5. Detroit Lions (6 – 2)

Last Week: 7

Result: Won vs. Raiders 26-14

 

4. Kansas City Chiefs (6 – 2)

Last Week: 2

Result: Lost at Broncos 24-9

 

3. Baltimore Ravens (6 – 2)

Last Week: 3

Result: Won at Cardinals 31-24

 

2. Miami Dolphins (6 – 2)

Last Week: 4

Result: Won vs. Patriots 31-17

 

1. Philadelphia Eagles (7 – 1)

Last Week: 1

Result: Won at Commanders 38-31