Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.

What a strange week it was! There were a number of inexplicable results in a week where all but 4 teams made some kind of move in our rankings. The biggest riser was Atlanta, who beat the Trevor Siemian-led Saints on a game winning field goal after surrendering a 23-6 3rd quarter lead (insert 28-3 joke here). Still don’t know if New Orleans is fully screwed or if the Falcons are even remotely good. Siemian’s former team, the Broncos, moved up 4 slots after defeating Dallas 30-16, a game that wasn’t that close (30-0 in the 4th before two garbage times TDs by the Cowboys). Cleveland lost a star receiver (Odell Beckham, Jr.) who just never got on the same page with Baker Mayfield on the football field. After last week’s loss, the WR’s father put up some critical social media posts about Mayfield, and Beckham, Jr. didn’t refute them. It probably made the decision easy for the Browns, because despite his reputation as a player from his time with the Giants and his friendship off the field with the Browns quarterback, they just couldn’t make it work on Sundays. The Cleveland offense has been better without him on the field since he arrived, so after this straw that broke the camel’s back, Cleveland released him and then the team went out and whipped Cincinnati 41-16 in the battle of Ohio, leaping over the Bengals in the rankings. The Giants took care of the Raiders in an attempt to salvage their season. I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Vegas, who responded to losing their coach with a couple of wins before falling flat against a poor team. Jordan Love’s Packers couldn’t beat the Chiefs, who despite the win still can’t score, but the Packers better hope Dr. Joe Rogan’s most famous medical patient gets back soon to help them put some points on the board. Oh wait, that’s right, the NFC North is terrible, they’ll be fine. And I guess Tennessee doesn’t need Derrick Henry after all as they handled the Rams without any trouble.

All those games were surprising to varying degrees, but the real head-scratcher was in Jacksonville (Bortles!). Somehow, someway, the Jagjaguwars knocked off the Bills, who are suddenly free-falling all the way down to 15th from 8th in week 6. But how they lost was even worse than who they lost to. Two first half field goals was all they could manage in an uninspiring, undisciplined (12 penalties for 118 yards) showing. The Jags only managed 9 points and 218 yards of offense, but did intercept Josh Allen twice. The pressure seemed to cause Allen to wilt, and he also fumbled as Buffalo was entering field goal range with less than 6 minutes on the clock in the 4th. A great performance from Jacksonville’s (Bortles!) defense, who in addition to causing three turnovers had 4 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, and 8 QB hits. Although the Jets and the Dolphins are terrible, the Patriots are now just 1/2 a game behind Buffalo, and Mac Jones is only going to improve as he learns more throughout his rookie year. You never know what will happen in a game, but there were more surprises this past week than I can remember any time recently. Nothing to add on the Lions, who had a bye week. Pittsburgh, another team I’m not sure is as good as their 5-3 record would suggest, is up next for Detroit. Not a lot of easy games left on the schedule for the Lions . Chicago or Minnesota may be their best bet for a win this year.

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