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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
John Sigler

NFL power rankings, Week 8: Dolphins, Lions drop back down to Earth

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)

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Last week: 32 (No change)

31
Arizona Cardinals (1-6)

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 26 (-5)

30
Tennessee Titans (2-4)

AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

Last week: 23 (-7)

29
Las Vegas Raiders (3-4)

Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 24 (-5)

28
Washington Commanders (3-4)

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 27 (-1)

27
New York Giants (2-5)

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 29 (+2)

26
Chicago Bears (2-5)

Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 30 (+4)

25
Green Bay Packers (2-4)

Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Last week: 25 (No change)

24
New England Patriots (2-5)

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Last week: 28 (+4)

23
Denver Broncos (2-5)

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 31 (+8)

22
Cincinnati Bengals (3-3)

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Last week: 22 (No change)

21
Los Angeles Chargers (2-4)

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 15 (-5)

20
New Orleans Saints (3-4)

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Last week: 19 (-1)

19
Indianapolis Colts (3-4)

Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last week: 18 (-7)

18
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 16 (-2)

17
Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 20 (+3)

16
Atlanta Falcons (4-3)

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 18 (+2)

15
Los Angeles Rams (3-4)

Harry How/Getty Images

Last week: 10 (-5)

14
Minnesota Vikings (3-4)

Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 21 (+7)

13
Cleveland Browns (4-2)

Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Last week: 14 (+1)

12
Houston Texans

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 13 (+1)

11
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2)

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Last week: 17 (+6)

10
New York Jets (3-3)

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Last week: 11 (+1)

9
Detroit Lions (5-2)

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 5 (-4)

8
Buffalo Bills (4-3)

Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 6 (-2)

7
Seattle Seahawks (4-2)

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 8 (+1)

6
Miami Dolphins (5-2)

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 3 (-3)

5
Dallas Cowboys (4-2)

Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 7 (+2)

4
Baltimore Ravens (5-2)

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 9 (+5)

3
San Francisco 49ers

Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 1 (-2)

2
Philadelphia Eagles (6-1)

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Last week: 4 (+2)

1
Kansas City Chiefs (6-1)

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Last week: 2 (+1)

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