NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Cardinals remain NFL’s lone unbeaten

10/27/2021

The Cardinals are still the only undefeated team in the NFL following their Week 7 blowout.

Who would’ve thought the Cardinals would be 7-0 after seven weeks?

I know I was big on them entering this season, but…jeez.

Regardless, here we are — Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray are on a roll, and as a result, sit atop our NFL Power Rankings ahead of Week 8.

32. Detroit Lions ( → )

Another week, another Lions loss.

This was always a lost cause of a season for a rebuilding Detroit team. But boy, I didn’t expect it to be this bad already.

The Lions are 0-7 with the Eagles on deck.

31. Houston Texans ( → )

The Texans are on a six-game losing streak and the only eye-opening news out of the organization is the Deshaun Watson trade speculation.

Will a move for the troubled quarterback be finalized ahead of the Nov. 2 deadline despite his various allegations for sexual misconduct?

30. Jacksonville Jaguars ( → )

The Jaguars don’t move in the rankings following their bye week.

But hey, they’re on a one-game win streak. That has to count for something, right?

29. New York Jets ( → )

The Jets remain right where they are after suffering a brutal 41-point loss to New England on Sunday.

Not to mention, rookie quarterback Zach Wilson suffered a PCL sprain and will miss 2-4 weeks.

The Jets must move forward with either Mike White or Joe Flacco, who they just traded for on Monday.

28. Miami Dolphins ( ↓ 1 )

The Dolphins drop one spot and swap rankings with the Giants (who we’ll talk about next) following their last-second loss to Atlanta this past weekend.

Miami is now 1-6 after it finished 10-6 last year.

Maybe the Dolphins actually finalize a trade for Watson? Who knows?

27. New York Giants ( ↑ 1 )

The Giants finally won for the first time since Week 4 this past Sunday.

And somehow, they executed a double-digit victory.

New York defeated Carolina 25-3 behind 203 passing yards and one touchdown pass from Daniel Jones.

26. Atlanta Falcons ( → )

The Falcons remain at No. 26 even after defeating the Dolphins in Week 7.

To be honest, they shouldn’t be receiving much credit for needing a game-winning field goal to beat a struggling Miami team.

25. Chicago Bears ( ↓ 1 )

The Bears descend the rankings after suffering a blowout loss to the Buccaneers.

A loss was expected, given the Bears’ struggles and the Bucs’ talent.

But 38-3? That’s rough for the Windy City.

24. Denver Broncos ( ↓ 1 )

What happened to Denver?

The Broncos began the season 3-0 but have lost four straight since.

Their most recent loss was a Thursday night defeat against the Case Keenum-led Browns, which lowers their ranking by one spot.

23. Washington Football Team ( ↑ 2 )

The Football Team move up two spots to make room for the Bears’ and Broncos’ respective drop-offs.

They don’t really deserve to ascend the rankings though, which is why it was tough to move them up. Washington has lost three straight but is tied for second in the NFC East (that division is mostly below-average — what a shock).

22. Philadelphia Eagles ( → )

The Eagles showed some fight in Week 7 but ultimately lost to the Raiders by a score of 33-22.

The score was once 30-7 — if it remained a blowout, I would’ve lowered the Eagles’ ranking. But since Philly was able to score 15 fourth-quarter points, I’ll keep the Birds at No. 22.

21. Seattle Seahawks ( ↓ 1 )

The Seahawks have lost three straight (the most recent defeat coming Monday against the Saints) and are really missing quarterback Russell Wilson, who’s still nursing an injured middle finger.

At 2-5, Seattle is in the basement of the NFC West and there’s a feeling head coach Pete Carroll may not last past this year.

20. Carolina Panthers ( ↓ 1 )

The Panthers’ losing streak continued in Week 7 with a 25-3 defeat against the Giants.

Carolina is another team that’s struggling after a productive 3-0 start — what can the Panthers do to turn it all around?

19. Pittsburgh Steelers ( ↓ 1 )

The Steelers didn’t play this past week but we must move them down one spot to make room for the Colts’ movement (we’ll talk about Indy in a little).

Regardless, Pittsburgh sitting in the bottom half of the league makes sense — the Steelers are 3-3 and in last place in the AFC North.

And, uh, I think it’s clear Mike Tomlin isn’t taking the USC job. I was intimidated just watching his response on my laptop from New York…

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin swiftly rejects any speculation he’d be a candidate for the USC job. “Never say next, but never.” pic.twitter.com/EiP1spB4jc

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 26, 2021

18. San Francisco 49ers ( ↓ 3 )

The 49ers are really struggling following four consecutive losses; the most recent defeat came at the hands of the Colts this past Sunday night.

Will San Francisco dig itself out of this 2-4 hole?

17. Indianapolis Colts ( ↑ 4 )

The Colts move all the way up from No. 21 to 17 after defeating the 49ers on the road this past Sunday night.

Colts quarterback Carson Wentz threw for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the rain while Jonathan Taylor rushed for 107 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.

Indianapolis has now won three of its last four games.

16. New Orleans Saints ( → )

The Saints stay at No. 16 — I won’t give them much credit for defeating a lousy Seahawks team without Russell Wilson by just three points.

If New Orleans can defeat Tampa Bay this Sunday afternoon, then we can think about changing its ranking, because that would be an impressive victory indeed.

15. New England Patriots ( ↑ 2 )

The Patriots defeated the struggling Jets, but since it was by a whopping 41 points, we have to move them up two spots.

New England doesn’t have many playmakers, so the fact it was still able to drop 54 points is impressive.

Rookie Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Maybe Bill Belichick still hates the Jets with a passion after all these years? He didn’t need to run up the score considering the Pats were up 31-7 at the half, but New England went ahead and scored 23 in the final two quarters.

Sounds a tad bitter to me, but I won’t criticize any professional team running up any score. This isn’t high school.

14. Minnesota Vikings ( → )

The Vikings remain at No. 14 following their Week 7 bye but have an important matchup against the Cowboys this Sunday night.

Minnesota will definitely ascend the rankings if it defeats Dallas, which is the superior ballclub in the matchup.

13. Kansas City Chiefs ( ↓ 4 )

It’s seriously unknown what’s going on with the Chiefs.

They are losing games, sit in third place in the AFC West, and Patrick Mahomes has thrown nine picks in the last six matchups.

One more loss to the Giants next Monday night and the Chiefs could find themselves in the bottom half of these power rankings.

12. Las Vegas Raiders ( ↑ 1 )

The Raiders move up one spot, not just to make room for the Chiefs’ downward movement, but because they put together a double-digit win over Philly and are now on a two-game win streak.

11. Cleveland Browns ( ↑ 1 )

The fact the Browns were able to win with a backup quarterback shows just how talented and well-coached that team is.

Thanks to a 17-14 victory with Case Keenum at quarterback, Cleveland moves up the rankings to No. 11.

10. Los Angeles Chargers ( ↑ 1 )

The Chargers had their bye in Week 7 but move up one spot to make room for the Chiefs’ movement.

Will LA bounce back after Week 6’s 28-point loss to the Ravens with a win over the Patriots this coming weekend?

9. Baltimore Ravens ( ↓ 3 )

The Ravens lost their first game since Week 1 this past Sunday and drop to the No. 9 spot because of it.

Baltimore is now 5-2, and thanks to the head-to-head loss to Cincinnati, sit in second place in the AFC North.

8. Tennessee Titans ( ↑ 2 )

The Titans have really found a rhythm and are on a three-game win streak.

Their last two victories were huge — Tennessee defeated the Bills and Chiefs to improve to 5-2 and sit atop the AFC South.

7. Cincinnati Bengals ( ↑ 1 )

The Bengals have solidified themselves as one of the better squads in the AFC to commence the season and defeated Baltimore 41-17 this past Sunday.

Joe Burrow is really coming into his own and threw for 416 yards and three touchdowns against the Ravens.

6. Green Bay Packers ( ↑ 1 )

The Packers defeated the Football Team by 14 points in Week 7 and have now won six straight games.

Aaron Rodgers threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

5. Dallas Cowboys ( → )

Just a warning: The top five will not change from last week. Every team either won or was on a bye in Week 7.

The Cowboys found themselves in the latter category — will they retain their “top five” status after they face the Vikings this Sunday night?

4. Buffalo Bills ( → )

The Bills were also on a bye in Week 7, but unfortunately, don’t move up the rankings because of the respective victories from the Rams, Buccaneers, and Cardinals.

3. Los Angeles Rams ( → )

It wasn’t an easy win, but the Rams got it done on Sunday against the Lions and remain in our top three.

Matthew Stafford threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( → )

Man, are the Bucs talented or what?

The Tom Brady-led squad blew out the Bears by a score of 38-3. If it weren’t for the only undefeated team in the league (which we’ll discuss next), Tampa would be back on top of our rankings.