Sports editors Jake McAuliffe and Brett Jassey will rank the 32 NFL teams in their mid-season power rankings, and provide analysis on a handful of select teams. 

Brett’s Mid-Season Power Rankings:

*indicates spotlight team 

1. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2)*
2. Philadelphia Eagles (8-0)
3. Buffalo Bills (6-2)
4. Minnesota Vikings (7-1)
5. Miami Dolphins (6-3)
6. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
7. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)*
9. San Francisco 49ers (4-4)
10. Tennessee Titans (5-3)
11. Seattle Seahawks (6-3)
12. New York Jets (6-3)
13. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)
14. New York Giants (6-2)
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)
16. Los Angeles Rams (3-5)
17. New England Patriots (5-4)*
18. Washington Commanders (4-5)
19. Arizona Cardinals (3-6)
20. Atlanta Falcons (4-5)*
21. Green Bay Packers (3-6)
22. Cleveland Browns (3-5)
23. New Orleans Saints (3-6)
24. Chicago Bears (3-6)
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6)
26. Denver Broncos (3-5)*
27. Indianapolis Colts (3-5-1)
28. Carolina Panthers (2-7)
29. Las Vegas Raiders (2-6)
30. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-6)
31. Detroit Lions (2-6)
32. Houston Texans (1-6-1)

Firstly, my top overall team: my Kansas City Chiefs. Now I assure you that my placement of the Chiefs at the peak of my rankings is completely disconnected from my support of them. The Chiefs are the best team in football. After losing the AFC Championship last year to the Cincinnati Bengals  in horrendous fashion, the Chiefs traded away All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill and allowed star safety Tyrann Mathieu to depart in free agency. Yet, the team doesn’t seem to have skipped a beat. They continue to beat top teams like San Francisco and Tennessee, thanks to dominant play by the best quarterback in football and a solid defense full of young and budding talent. There is not a more complete or better coached football team than the Kansas City Chiefs.

Next, the team that beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, and eventually fell to the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, the Cincinnati Bengals. After losing superstar receiver Ja’Marr Chase to a hip injury for a few games, the Bengals offense seemed it may sour. Instead, running back Joe Mixon had five(!) touchdowns, and the Joe Burrow-led Bengals coasted by the Panthers. Coming off this win, this Cincinnati team, oozing with talent, will gain the confidence they need to make a deep playoff run like they did last year. 

Succeeding the Bengals is Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots. Although they have a winning record, I do not believe in this team. After Tom Brady’s departure from Massachusetts, the Pats have not been a winning franchise. Defensive Player of the Year candidate Matthew Judon and his league-leading 11.5 sacks have shepherded this defense into being, at the bare minimum, competitive in each game. But the total lack of talent at each skill position (apart from Rhamondre Stevenson) on offense, completely caps any chance of winning deep into the season the Patriots may have. Mac Jones and his boring offense will not be seen in the postseason. 

Following New England is the team they came back against down 28-3 in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons. Somehow, the tanking Falcons find themselves in the midst of a NFC South division championship race at this point. But the Falcons are obviously not serious contenders. Quarterback Marcus Mariota had been a backup for a few seasons prior to him being handed the starting role in Atlanta, and the lack of talent or misuse of the rare talent they have clearly shows how Atlanta is not a team that will spoil a playoff run for their adversaries. Whoever is gifted a spot in the postseason from this awful division will not have any success come playoff time. 

Lastly, the Denver Broncos. “Let’s Ride”, said Russell Wilson. The Broncos are not riding. The Broncos have been atrocious. After a plethora of offseason moves (Quarterback Russell Wilson trade, Outside Linebacker Randy Gregory signing, and Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett), the Broncos seemed destined to be in a division swarmed with competition. Instead, they, along with the Raiders and Chargers, have all disappointed. Following star running back Javonte Williams’ tearing of his ACL in Week 4, the disastrous Broncos got even worse. The only player showing any bit of potential is cornerback Pat Surtain II, who is truly one of the best defensive players in football. Besides him, the Broncos—who sold key players at the trade deadline—will continue to trend downwards. 

Jake’s Mid-Season Power Rankings:

1. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2)
2. Buffalo Bills (6-2) 
3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-0)
4. Dallas Cowboys * (6-2)
5. Miami Dolphins (6-3)
6. San Francisco 49ers * (4-4)
7. Minnesota Vikings (7-1) 
8. New York Jets (6-3)
9. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
10. Seattle Seahawks (6-3)
11. Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)
12. New York Giants* (6-2)
13. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)
14. Tennessee Titans (5-3) 
15. Los Angeles Rams (3-5)
16. Arizona Cardinals (3-6)
17. New England Patriots (5-4)
18. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6)
19. Atlanta Falcons (4-5)
20. Washington Commanders (4-5)
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers* (4-5)
22. Green Bay Packers*  (3-6) 
23. Chicago Bears (3-6)
24. Cleveland Browns (3-5)
25. Denver Broncos (3-5)
26. New Orleans Saints  (3-6)
27. Las Vegas Raiders (2-6)
28. Indianapolis Colts (3-5-1)
29. Carolina Panthers  (2-7)
30. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5)
31. Detroit Lions (2-6)
32. Houston Texans (1-6-1)

“Dem Boyz” might be onto something this year. The Dallas Cowboys, firmly at number 4, will look to lock up the number two spot in what is probably the best or second best division in football this year. Their rematches against their division rivals, the Giants and the Eagles, will be their biggest tests, but this time they won’t have Cooper Rush at quarterback. As serviceable as he was, leaving Dak with a 4-2 record to build off of, the Cowboys are only more competitive from here. Their defense has been the standout of this team, with the third best points against and Micah Parsons looking like a potential DPOY candidate. There’s a chance that the Cowboys won’t disappoint their fanbase again this year, but only time will tell. 

Nextly, you might’ve asked yourself, is this guy crazy? Putting the 4-4 49ers over the 7-1 Vikings? You may be right, and this 49ers pick might just be a tad ambitious. But this is one of the best .500 teams I’ve seen in some time. They’ve had a couple fluke games, for instance, the waterlogged game that was week 1, and the tragedy Jimmy G had against the Falcons. Jimmy Garoppolo may not be a good quarterback, but I trust him more to service the team around him enough to potentially win one or two playoff games more than a guy like Kirk Cousins, who has a tendency to choke. Needless to say the acquisition of Christian McCaffrey will only make this offense more electric and less predictable, and the defense has what it takes to really get it done. It’s not a coincidence that they’ve already swept the defending Super Bowl champs, and as inconsistent as they may seem right now, this is certainly not a team you’d like to face in a wild card game.  

I’m fully aware that the Giants are 6-2. The truth is, I’m just not convinced. I think a lot of people aren’t. Their Ravens win was impressive, but besides that they haven’t shown anything to make them contenders. They are also extremely dependent on Saquon Barkley and try to just let him ball out every week, but as soon as teams start to neutralize him, their offense comes to a standstill. Daniel “Vanilla Vick” Jones has been playing well, but he’s still Daniel Jones for right now. I truly respect what Brian Daboll has been doing with this team, and it’s been exciting to see football in New York back, but my goodness are their receivers horrible.Probably the worst wide receiver room in the league. They might as well be putting Air Bud out wide instead of whoever their second or third receiver may be. Their defense has been good enough, but until they really show something, especially against the Eagles or Cowboys, this looks like a prime first round exit.   

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have no excuse. Maybe Todd Bowles has never seen a game of football in his life prior to this season, or something else is just going completely wrong. Maybe it’s his age, maybe it’s what’s going on at home, but we’ve never seen Tom Brady in this form. His midlife crisis might just be seeping out onto the field, and losses to teams like the Panthers or Steelers are simply unacceptable. The Buccaneers were supposed to absolutely fly through this division, have it on lock, and now they might not even win it. Maybe they’ll figure it out for the rest of the season, sneak into the playoffs and potentially make some noise. But the time to do that is right now, and we have to see if TB12 can get this team out of the hole they’ve dug.  

Finishing off is a team ironically in a very similar situation to the Buccaneers, who are also next to them in my rankings, the Green Bay Packers. Maybe after all the psychedelics wore off, Aaron Rodgers just can’t read the field like he used to, or maybe the loss of Davante Adams is actually the problem. Having Allen Lazard as your WR1 certainly isn’t ideal, but to say the back to back MVP couldn’t have possibly strung together a better offense is just wrong. It seems like their defense is getting worse every game, and the loss of Za’darius Smith—now on the division rival Vikings—who’s putting together a DPOY candidate season, certainly hurts the Packers as a team and also the hearts of cheeseheads across America. Last week’s loss against the Lions signaled this team’s downfall, and may have been the game that started the end of success the Packers have had over the last decade. Their schedule for the rest of the season does them zero favors, and this formerly great, Rodgers lead organization, may just be on its way out of contention for the next few years. 

So that will do it for us here. Let’s see how our opinions progress throughout the remainder of this season.