NFL: Weekly Power Rankings
1. New Orleans Saints (8-1, +2): The Saints look like the best team in the league and that was solidified with a 45-35 victory over the previously undefeated Los Angeles Rams. Then, this past week, the Saints obliterated the Cincinnati Bengals. New Orleans ran away with a 51-14 win behind 265 yards from QB Drew Brees. The Saints were clicking on all cylinders and had an advantage in virtually every major statistical category. RB Mark Ingram ran for 104 yards and had his best game of the year. If he gets going, this team could be even more dangerous than we thought. WR Michael Thomas led both teams in receiving with 70 yards. The Saints will return home for a matchup with the defending champions Philadelphia Eagles.
2. Los Angeles Rams (9-1, -1): The Rams are no longer unbeaten after their trip to New Orleans, but this team is still obviously in play for a Super Bowl berth. They were able to bounce back with a second win over the Seattle Seahawks, this time a 36-31 victory for the Rams. QB Jared Goff looks like a real MVP candidate and he threw for 318 yards against the Seahawks, but RB Todd Gurley has emerged as the best player on the team, even if he struggled a little against the Saints' defensive line. Gurley has now scored a touchdown in 13 straight outings and totaled 120 rushing yards versus Seattle. Now it's time for a huge matchup on Monday night when the one-loss Kansas City Chiefs travel to Los Angeles for a top tier battle.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1, -1): The Chiefs' defense had arguably their best game, even if it was against the lowly Arizona Cardinals. Kansas City held the Cardinals to just 14 points and slowed the game down a little bit more than usual, which meant RB David Johnson didn't have as many opportunities as he'd like. Johnson ended up with 98 rushing yards, but he couldn't keep his team in the game. QB Patrick Mahomes is still on an unreal pace as a sophomore quarterback, and he went for a game-high 249 passing yards. WR Tyreek Hill was the beneficiary of a lot of those passes as he compiled 117 yards. As we previously mentioned, the Chiefs will look to move up a spot in our rankings as they face the Rams on the road next week.
4. New England Patriots (7-3, +0): The Patriots were handled, for lack of a better term, by the Tennessee Titans this past weekend. It was the third time this year that New England looked lost, but we've come to learn that this team deserves the benefit of the doubt more than anyone. The Patriots will have these types of games every five weeks or so, and at the end of the year, they're still in serious contention. We expect this year to be no different. There are things we should worry about, like the defensive backs allowing WR Corey Davis to amass 125 receiving yards, but it's not the end of the world. QB Tom Brady still looked pretty good, throwing for 254 yards. It's not time to overreact. The Pats will get a much needed bye in Week 11.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1, +1): The Steelers have now won six straight games after a strange 0-2-1 start to the season, and it looks like they might not even need RB Le'Veon Bell to return. According to Sports Illustrated, Bell is "unlikely to report by eligibility deadline" which means he's probably going to miss the entire year. That's obviously not good news, but given how good the Steelers look right now, they should be fine. In their most recent game, the Steelers absolutely blew the doors off of the two-loss Carolina Panthers, 52-31. QB Ben Roethlisberger has looked incredible lately, and that continued with 328 yards in this game. WR Antonio Brown totaled 96 receiving yards. Pittsburgh will head to Jacksonville next.
NFL Rankings:
1. Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
2. Drew Brees (Saints)
3. Todd Gurley (Rams)
4. Tom Brady (Patriots)
5. Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers)
Review: Patrick Mahomes has a firm hold on the top of our MVP rankings, but others are starting to make some noise right behind him. Most notably, Drew Brees looks like a real threat. He has been more than dominant over the last month or so. In fact, he's been nearly perfect. He had 265 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks versus the Bengals, on 88.0 (!) percent passing. In the game before that, Brees threw for 346 yards and four scores. The Saints are riding high with nine straight wins and Brees is the main reason why. Just behind him is Todd Gurley, who ran for 120 yards on 16 carries (7.5 yards per carry) against the Seahawks. Ben Roethlisberger also jumps into the conversation after a masterful performance with a perfect 158.3 rating.
Photo Credit: 247 Sports.
