POWER RANKINGS
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They reach power rankings’ pinnacle coming off their bye, though the No. 1 team each of the past two weeks (Chiefs, Packers) has subsequently lost. Seattle will have Buffalo and four NFC West games over next five weeks, easily the toughest stretch of its schedule. What’s more impressive? WR Chase Claypool thrusting himself into offensive rookie of the year consideration – he now has six TDs in five games – or garnering a sweet nickname befitting a Canadian native? You gotta love ... “Mapletron.”
Some notes on Derrick Henry. Over past three regular seasons, there have been six 200yard rushing efforts ... three by Henry. Four players have three career games with 200 rush yards and two TDs – Henry ... plus Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson. And Henry’s only the fifth to have two touchdown runs of at least 90 yards. Dude is special.
Derek Carr paces NFL with 73.1% completion rate, his 115.9 passer rating ranks second, he’s thrown just one INT – yet is striking deep. Time to start mentioning his name in the MVP conversation ... especially with my recency bias still shining on Las Vegas.
They chewed up Buffalo for 245 yards on the ground, most since Andy Reid arrived in K.C. in 2013. Now add Le’Veon Bell to that mix. Could be deadly.
Baltimore is 5-1 for the third time in franchise’s 25-season history. The other two occurrences were precursors to Super Bowl victories.
Tom Brady blah, blah, blah. Look who now owns league’s top-ranked defense, which includes breakout CB Jamel Dean. A team that’s still jelling might have far more upside on both sides of the ball than anyone realized.
On one hand, they’ve only lost five games under Matt LaFleur. On the other, those defeats have been by an average of 19.2 points.
They haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher since Nov. 19, 2017 ... since Washington’s Samaje Perine hit the century mark. That’s a remarkable streak of 48 consecutive games. Welp, apparently not ready for prime time. But that’s OK. They remain atop AFC East – although barely – and aren’t scheduled for their next showcase under the lights until December.
With a Week 7 sack of often-battered Joe Burrow, DE Myles Garrett will become first Cleveland player to record one in six consecutive games.
If you had to guess who league’s leading scorer was, probably be quite some time before you got to undrafted Indianapolis rookie K Rodrigo Blankenship ... who has basically made everyone forget about Adam Vinatieri.
They’re in first place, so give them credit for grit. But nothing comes easily to this team, especially on offense. Watching Chicago try to score from the 1-yard line Sunday – failing in a four-tight end set, then a three-receiver set – before QB Nick Foles did it himself ... just painful.
They’d been above .500 through five weeks for a league-record 18 straight seasons lot has changed in New England this year.
How about CB Xavien Howard, who doesn’t get sufficient recognition. He has picked off a pass in four consecutive games and has a league-high 12 interceptions since 2018. What a great signing WR Robby Anderson has been, his reunion with former Temple coach Matt Rhule helping him blossom into a weapon averaging nearly 100 yards a week. After losing a league-record six consecutive games when they had a double-digit lead, they hung on to beat Jacksonville by 18. Keep a close eye on Detroit, which plays one team with a winning record (Colts) over next six weeks.
Beating up on highly depleted Dallas reveals little. The real test comes when undefeated Seahawks kick off month-long homestand in desert.
ICYMI, Deebo Samuel deemed himself, fellow WR Brandon Aiyuk and TE George Kittle the “YAC Bros.” earlier this month. Samuel is producing league-best 12.5 YAC per reception among wideouts and tight ends, better than his brothers combined (10.7). Admittedly, time to take hard look at this team – which fattened up on NFC East – and re-evaluate. Aaron Donald can’t do it alone up front.
Can they build momentum after upset in New England? Not if K Brandon McManus is only source of points Sunday against Kansas City.
They’re in danger of becoming first team to lose three in a row while coughing up a lead of at least 17 points ... but danger should be minimal against Jacksonville.
Despite their growing injuries and QB Carson Wentz’s mishaps, beating the lowly Giants on Thursday night will put Philadelphia in first place.
Been nine years between head coaching wins for interim boss Raheem Morris, who’s more deserving of a second chance than many retreads who have already enjoyed one. Maybe this is misguided, but it seems playing DT Geno Atkins more than 18 snaps when you have a 21-point lead might be prudent?
I keep coming back to training camp, when S Harrison Smith said, “I guess I’ve kind of been out of the loop – I didn’t know we were supposed to be bad.” You should probably stay looped in going forward, Harrison.
With Houston mired at 1-5 and devoid of draft picks, might it be in everyone’s best interest to start shopping JJ Watt to contenders?
Given state of offensive line and defense, it probably wouldn’t matter all that much even if QB Dak Prescott were still available.
Four most recent losses have come by an average of 15 points even be good enough to get Trevor Lawrence into town.
Though they’re (arguably) the most talented team in – OK, near – New York City, G-Men are outgunned pretty much every week. But congrats to rookie coach Joe Judge and his troops, who unfailingly compete and saw their effort pay off in Week 6.
Maybe the WFT would have converted that two-point attempt in New York if RB Adrian Peterson was still on roster. Instead, this team plods along as NFL’s worst rushing team. Good decision cutting AD, fellas.
Quickly making case as worst team in NYJ history, no small feat. They’ve been outscored by 18.3 points per game for a differential of -110, nearly twice as bad as next-worst team (Jags, -56). ... but now that might not