The NFL’s haves are beginning to separate from the have-nots as well-coached teams begin to stack wins while their competitors struggle to maximize the talent on their rosters. And that’s illustrated beautifully by the first game of the week, in which the Jacksonville Jaguars took care of business against the New Orleans Saints to improve to 5-2, winning their fourth game in a brutal 19-day stretch spanning two continents.
On the other hand, the Saints fell to 3-4 on the season and let a winnable game get away from them. They haven’t won four or more in a row since the 2020 season when Drew Brees was their quarterback and Sean Payton was their head coach. They’re missing both leaders badly.
But let’s take stock of the league as a whole and update our NFL power rankings going into Week 8. There has been more shakeup inside the top-10 as the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles made statement wins while the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins were found lacking:
32
Carolina Panthers (0-6)
Last week: 32 (No change)
31
Arizona Cardinals (1-6)
Last week: 26 (-5)
30
Tennessee Titans (2-4)
Last week: 23 (-7)
29
Las Vegas Raiders (3-4)
Last week: 24 (-5)
28
Washington Commanders (3-4)
Last week: 27 (-1)
27
New York Giants (2-5)
Last week: 29 (+2)
26
Chicago Bears (2-5)
Last week: 30 (+4)
25
Green Bay Packers (2-4)
Last week: 25 (No change)
24
New England Patriots (2-5)
Last week: 28 (+4)
23
Denver Broncos (2-5)
Last week: 31 (+8)
22
Cincinnati Bengals (3-3)
Last week: 22 (No change)
21
Los Angeles Chargers (2-4)
Last week: 15 (-5)
20
New Orleans Saints (3-4)
Last week: 19 (-1)
19
Indianapolis Colts (3-4)
Last week: 18 (-7)
18
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 16 (-2)
17
Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
Last week: 20 (+3)
16
Atlanta Falcons (4-3)
Last week: 18 (+2)
15
Los Angeles Rams (3-4)
Last week: 10 (-5)
14
Minnesota Vikings (3-4)
Last week: 21 (+7)
13
Cleveland Browns (4-2)
Last week: 14 (+1)
12
Houston Texans
Last week: 13 (+1)
11
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2)
Last week: 17 (+6)
10
New York Jets (3-3)
Last week: 11 (+1)
9
Detroit Lions (5-2)
Last week: 5 (-4)
8
Buffalo Bills (4-3)
Last week: 6 (-2)
7
Seattle Seahawks (4-2)
Last week: 8 (+1)
6
Miami Dolphins (5-2)
Last week: 3 (-3)
5
Dallas Cowboys (4-2)
Last week: 7 (+2)
4
Baltimore Ravens (5-2)
Last week: 9 (+5)
3
San Francisco 49ers
Last week: 1 (-2)
2
Philadelphia Eagles (6-1)
Last week: 4 (+2)
1
Kansas City Chiefs (6-1)
Last week: 2 (+1)