NFL Rankings: Week 8
By Ben Almquist
Five undefeated teams all the way into Week 8…that’s pretty amazing. The 2016 NFL season has its share of top tier teams and bottom dwellers. However, there seems to not be much of a middle “pack” this year. Only a few of the division races even look to be competitive at this point, and more teams are disappointing than exciting. As we have seen almost every week, the number of quality teams in the NFL seems to be shrinking as the season goes on.
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Our biggest risers in our NFL rankings this week are the New York Giants, who jump into the top ten after taking the lead in the NFC East. I don’t think that holds up once Dez Bryant and Tony Romo return, but for now the Giants lead their division. The biggest fall is shared by a group of teams who have been pretty disappointing. The Ravens, Colts, Cowboys, and Eagles all had high expectations this year. However, as this week’s rankings indicate, none of them are playing up to what many of us thought they would be. With five teams still undefeated, we’re seeing the top tier teams distance themselves from the rest of the pack. That will shape the Wild Card race to become very competitive over the next several weeks.
The Chiefs pulled off a big victory against a top team this week, albeit with a third string quarterback in. However, given the status of the rest of the league, it actually shows that the Chiefs are not yet out of the running for a playoff spot. If Kansas City can pull together a few more wins over the next several weeks, and they should given their opponents, we may actually see them in the mix for a Wild Card spot. That seems odd to say, but with only 11 teams having winning records in the entire NFL, it’s tough for anyone to be truly out of it yet.
| Team | Status | Lst Wk | Lst Result | Streak | W-L | ||
| 1. | Patriots | — | 1 | W 30-23 vs NYJ | W6 | The Pats got all they could handle, but still walked out undefeated. | 6-0 |
| 2. | Packers | — | 2 | BYE | W6 | A week off was definitely needed to get some guys healthy. | 6-0 |
| 3. | Broncos | — | 3 | BYE | W6 | This Bye may help Manning and Kubiak get on the same page. | 6-0 |
| 4. | Bengals | — | 4 | BYE | W6 | Cincy has been rolling, so this Bye may actually be inconvenient for them. | 6-0 |
| 5. | Panthers | — | 5 | W 27-16 vs PHI | W6 | The Eagles and Seahawks aren’t as good as they have been…but still a pair of good wins. | 6-0 |
| 6. | Falcons | — | 6 | W 10-7 vs TEN | W1 | The recent lack of offense is becoming very disturbing. | 6-1 |
| 7. | Cardinals | +1 | 9 | W 26-18 vs BAL | W1 | A well-timed win extends the Cards hold on the NFC West. | 5-2 |
| 8. | Vikings | +2 | 10 | W 28-19 vs DET | W2 | This keeps them on the coattails of GB. | 4-2 |
| 9. | Giants | +6 | 15 | W 27-20 vs DAL | W1 | The NFC East is competitive. Not good, but competitive. | 4-3 |
| 10. | Steelers | -3 | 7 | L 23-13 vs KC | L1 | The Steelers obviously need Big Ben back. | 4-3 |
| 11. | Jets | -3 | 8 | L 30-23 vs NE | L1 | That was about as exciting a game as you could hope for…next time around Jets may take this. | 4-2 |
| 12. | Raiders | +4 | 16 | W 37-29 vs SD | W1 | Could this be the year the Raiders change their fortunes? | 3-3 |
| 13. | Bills | -2 | 11 | L 34-31 vs JAX | L2 | That was a pretty humiliating way for this team to get exposed. | 3-4 |
| 14. | Rams | +4 | 18 | W 24-6 vs CLE | W1 | Maybe the single most dominating defensive performance of the year. | 3-3 |
| 15. | Seahawks | +2 | 17 | W 20-3 vs SF | W1 | The Seahawks were close to being knocked out of the division race before this win. | 3-4 |
| 16. | Eagles | -4 | 12 | L 16-27 vs CAR | L1 | Chip Kelly should be feeling the heat. | 3-4 |
| 17. | Cowboys | -4 | 13 | L 20-27 vs NYG | L4 | The Boys need Dez and Romo back ASAP! | 2-4 |
| 18. | Colts | -4 | 14 | L 27-21 vs NO | L2 | Their still the best team in the AFC South…but may take division at 6-10. | 3-4 |
| 19. | Dolphins | +3 | 22 | W 44-26 vs HOU | W2 | So, maybe it was all Joe Philbin. | 3-3 |
| 20. | Chargers | -1 | 19 | L 29-37 vs OAK | L3 | The Chargers are playing like a team that’s about to move cities…oh. | 2-5 |
| 21. | Chiefs | +5 | 26 | W 23-13 vs PIT | W1 | That was a big win against a quality team. | 2-5 |
| 22. | Buccanneers | -1 | 21 | L 30-31 vs WAS | L1 | That’s a tough loss for a young team. | 2-4 |
| 23. | Texans | -3 | 20 | L 26-44 vs MIA | L1 | Whatever happened to that stacked defense? | 2-5 |
| 24. | Saints | +1 | 25 | W 27-21 vs IND | W2 | They almost resembled the Saints of two years ago. | 3-4 |
| 25. | Redskins | +2 | 27 | W 31-30 vs TB | W1 | Wow…that was exciting. | 3-4 |
| 26. | Bears | -2 | 24 | BYE | L1 | The Bears needed this week to see if they could figure out how to win again. | 2-4 |
| 27. | Ravens | -4 | 23 | L 18-26 vs ARI | L3 | It can’t get much worse than this for the Ravens…but it will. | 1-6 |
| 28. | Jaguars | +3 | 31 | W 34-31 vs BUF | W1 | That’s a pretty good way to sell this team to London. | 2-5 |
| 29. | 49ers | -1 | 28 | L 3-20 vs SEA | L1 | So much dysfunction on this team. | 2-5 |
| 30. | Browns | -1 | 29 | L 24-6 vs STL | L2 | The Browns have no answers for anything right now. | 2-5 |
| 31. | Lions | -1 | 30 | L 19-28 vs MIN | L1 | Annnnd back to the cellar. | 1-6 |
| 32. | Titans | — | 32 | L 7-10 vs ATL | L5 | What’s really sad is they couldn’t even muster the FG to tie it. | 1-5 |
That’s going to do it for me, Addicts! Another week down in the 2015 NFL season, and another weekly NFL rankings to go along with it.