NFL power rankings Week 9: Chiefs hold firm at No. 1, but they've got company at top
- - NFL power rankings Week 9: Chiefs hold firm at No. 1, but they've got company at top
Nate Davis, USA TODAYOctober 27, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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NFL power rankings entering Week 9 of the 2025 season (previous rank in parentheses):
1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): Rekindled TE Travis Kelce is a microcosm for a rekindled dynasty, one that's won five of six heading into the teeth of its schedule − starting Sunday at Buffalo.
2. Green Bay Packers (4): Christian Watson returned, with significant effect, Sunday night, and fellow WR Jayden Reed shouldn't be too far behind for an offense seemingly loaded with 1A weapons − even if a No. 1 receiver has yet to emerge. An already accelerating team could be poised to hit another gear.
3. Los Angeles Rams (2): They made a very nice pick-up Monday, acquring CB Roger McCreary to fortify a defense lacking for little but depth − a forward-thinking move that basically seems to have January in mind.
makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/fo8okmfdHRvDHl_AjAyGtw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ece3b009de0e7aba961c9dfc2585f6aa class=caas-img data-headline="Best images of the 2025 NFL season" data-caption="
Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.
">Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/fo8okmfdHRvDHl_AjAyGtw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ece3b009de0e7aba961c9dfc2585f6aa class=caas-img>
1 / 4Best images of the 2025 NFL season
Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.
4. Indianapolis Colts (3): How well is it going for the team with the league's best record (7-1)? QB Daniel Jones was sacked on third down Sunday … for the first time this season. Also, MVP candidate Jonathan Taylor is on pace for more than 2,200 yards and 30 TDs from scrimmage.
5. Detroit Lions (5): They haven't lost at home this season. They haven't lost at home to the Vikings since the 2020 season.
6. Seattle Seahawks (6): Coming out of their week off, they hit the road − exactly where coach Mike Macdonald and crew play their best football − for four of their next six games.
7. Denver Broncos (7): Awesome as this pass rush has been, now up to a league-leading 36 sacks, how many of the coverage variety will it lose with injured CB Pat Surtain II set to miss a few games?
8. Philadelphia Eagles (8): Their bye comes at a terrible time after the offense put up 59 points and nearly 800 yards over the past two weeks. Their bye also comes at an ideal time given RB Saquon Barkley left Sunday's win hobbled by a groin injury.
9. New England Patriots (12): Seven of their final nine opponents currently have losing records. Not only do the Pats appear to be back, they could be right back to having the No. 1 playoff seed that became so customary during the TB12 years.
10. Buffalo Bills (9): RB James Cook's 216-yard rushing performance Sunday was the most by a Buffalo player since O.J. Simpson had 273 in a game 49 years ago.
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10): An injury-riddled offense has really hit the skids the past two weeks, both in terms of output and mistakes made. The bye arrives right on time even as the Bucs begin pulling away in the NFC South.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (11): Are the wheels coming off here? The league's worst (by far) pass defense will next be charged with slowing down the high-powered Indy offense. And Sunday night provided further evidence this offense isn't built to overcome even moderate deficits.
13. Los Angeles Chargers (20): Amazing what the return of LT Joe Alt and some sweet uniforms will do for a struggling offense.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (14): Coming off an ugly "home" game in London and their bye, they'll only play in Duval County once between now and Dec. 7.
15. Houston Texans (22): The passing offense finally came to life Sunday − naturally, the absence of WR1 Nico Collins (concussion) was the missing piece.
16. San Francisco 49ers (15): Well … the defense picked off its first pass in 14 games, snapping a league-record drought in that department. Otherwise, it was torn asunder by C.J. Stroud and Co.
17. Chicago Bears (13): Their league-high 16 takeaways have greatly contributed to the fact that the Bears' average starting field position is their own 33-yard line, best in the league. Coulda used one of those turnovers Sunday in Baltimore.
18. Carolina Panthers (16): When you lose three starting offensive linemen in one game, it probably doesn't matter much who's taking the snaps.
19. Dallas Cowboys (17): Remember when Jerry Jones cited an emphasis on stopping the run as a reason to move on from DE Micah Parsons and reconfigure this defense? Seems to be going great, Dallas surrendering nearly 168 rushing yards per game over the past five weeks.
20. Baltimore Ravens (25): Now 15-3 all-time following a bye week, coach John Harbaugh faces a big game Thursday night − will QB Lamar Jackson actually play in his native South Florida? − before another mini-bye.
21. Washington Commanders (19): Monday night's loss dropped them to 13th place in the NFC − if only two games behind the Niners, who currently hold the conference's final wild-card spot. The return of QB Jayden Daniels will obviously help, but this offense also has a lot of other issues to address.
22. Minnesota Vikings (21): They lost QBs Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones in the offseason … and have already lost more games in 2025 (4) than they did in 2024 (3). Coincidence?
23. Cincinnati Bengals (23): Sunday was a reminder that this team is basically a more expensive version of last year's. So why bother rushing QB1 Joe Burrow back this season?
24. New York Giants (24): Not only is the loss of injured RB Cam Skattebo bad for the offense and bad for business, it's also very likely going to be bad for the development of rookie QB Jaxson Dart as his arsenal continues to dwindle.
25. Arizona Cardinals (26): A team that's lost five in a row has somehow been outscored by one point over the course of the entire season. Still, unclear if the expected return of QB Kyler Murray is truly a net gain for a team seeking to get back to net positive in the points department.
26. Cleveland Browns (27): Sacks became an official individual statistic in 1982. Before Sunday, no player had ever had a five-sack performance − in a double-digit loss. DE Myles Garrett just continues to distinguish himself ... in the darkness.
27. Miami Dolphins (31): That's 30 touchdowns in 36 career games for RB De'Von Achane − and there should be a lot more coming as he's on course for his first season with at least 300 touches.
28. Atlanta Falcons (18): Is there a more vexing team in the league? Getting rocked by a Miami squad fresh off getting rocked by Cleveland suggests these birds are headed for a dirty finish.
29. New Orleans Saints (29): They're not a good team, but Sunday was one of the rare times when they didn't show up. It's time to look at rookie QB Tyler Shough and others before the course for 2026 is charted.
30. New York Jets (32): Apparently, all they needed was for RB Breece Hall to throw a game-winning TD pass − just the fourth non-QB to do so in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime in a game during the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
Since 2000, there have been two non-QBs to throw a game-winning TD pass in the final 2 minutes of the 4th quarter (or OT): Curtis Martin and Breece Hall pic.twitter.com/J4QjoCSoCa
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 27, 2025
31. Las Vegas Raiders (28): Geno Smith, Jamal Adams and now Tyler Lockett? Pete Carroll seems determined to reconstitute an older version of the average-at-best Seahawks teams that concluded his tenure in Seattle.
32. Tennessee Titans (30): Johnny Hekker, one of the best specialists who's ever lived, booted his 1,000th career punt Sunday. He might reach 2,000 by season's end.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings Week 9: Chiefs hold firm despite Packers' push
Source: “AOL Sports”
