NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Which team is No. 1 after 49ers, Chiefs lose?

Updated October 27, 2026, 8:26 p.m. ET

NFL power rankings entering Week 8 of the 2026 season (previous rankings in parentheses):

1. San Francisco 49ers (1): Huh, you say? These guys just lost – pyrite! Not so fast. WRs Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel and DE Nick Bosa were among the inactives Sunday and don’t even really illustrate the injury concerns here. The Niners also played at 1 p.m. on the East Coast following a Monday night appearance. RB Christian McCaffrey was well below 100%, and QB Brock Purdy was well below his typical 100.0+ passer rating, scouted twice by the plucky Falcons. If ever there was a time to give a team a mulligan, especially as they head into a well-deserved bye week, this is it…and especially now that they have returning DT DeForest Buckner.

2. Chicago Bears (4): Quarterback Caleb Williams has been lights out since his return. But after failing his Week 2 test against the Vikings, he will try to pass this week’s test against the equally formidable Seattle D – and on the road this time.

3. Denver Broncos (5): Bo Nix looked like a functional quarterback Sunday in the team’s best offensive performance of the season. Then he has the opportunity to make up for the loss of week one in Kansas City.

4. Seattle Seahawks (6): How important is it for them to get their revenue issues under control? Since the start of last season, Seattle is 15-0 when counting one or fewer giveaways. Otherwise, the Seahawks are 6-6. Put that away, Sammy D. And hats off to NBC’s Mike Tomlin for the nugget.

5. Minnesota Vikings (3): Maybe they’re the 2000 Ravens and they only need to score 17 points a week…which is close to what they offer. This wouldn’t be such a concerning trend if they weren’t having such a hard time handling teams like Miami and Indianapolis.

6. Kansas City Chiefs (2): They don’t get the benefit of the doubt, but San Francisco benefits from a generous ranking after the first game of Patrick Mahomes’ career in which he never took a play in the red zone. The offense’s 213 yards was also a new low under the three-time Super Bowl MVP… considering Mahomes could use better blocking and some wideout help, especially against a unit like the “Dark Side.”

7. Jacksonville Jaguars (7): This could be a good week to introduce Brian Thomas Jr., who has effectively become WR5 here – targeted eight times in the last four games – despite what coach Liam Coen says.

8. New England Patriots (8): Turnovers continue to be their bugaboo, their 14 giveaways the second-highest in the league and a minus-7 differential also the second-worst. Add in a string of injuries, and it’s pretty remarkable that the Pats are 4-3.

9. Buffalo Bills (9): How good has rookie coach Joe Brady been during this 5-1 start? Buffalo’s 32.8 points per game are the second-best in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) through an HC’s first six career games. If they figure out how to arrest someone, watch out.

10. Atlanta Falcons (16): A major hat tip to rookie LB Kendal Daniels, whose fourth-quarter interception of Purdy sealed Sunday’s upset — and a week later, Daniels was carried off the same field and hospitalized after suffering a blow to the head. “It’s been the craziest week of my life,” said Daniels, who was concussion-free in Week 7. May your luck continue, round.

11. Detroit Lions (11): Maybe a little more MVP love for Jared Goff, the only quarterback to pass for at least 200 yards, one TD and zero picks in each of his team’s first six games? Never.

12. Green Bay Packers (17): Given their situation, there’s plenty of room for upward mobility here – especially if OLB Micah Parsons joins RB Josh Jacobs on the field in the near future.

13. Los Angeles Rams (13): The Rams are who we thought they were – that’s why we took the damn field. Now if you want to crown them, then crown them…well for a week anyway.

14. Las Vegas Raiders (12): The Raiders are who we thought they were – that’s why we took the damn field. Now if you want to crown them, then crown them… not for four weeks in fact.

15. Cleveland Browns (14): Say what you want about quarterback Deshaun Watson — and I usually do — but he’s led a winning streak in all five of this first-place team’s wins. He had one in his first four seasons in Cleveland…combined.

16. Pittsburgh Steelers (18): “Sometimes you have to succumb and make a play for your guys,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of his 8-yard run for a first down in the final minutes of Sunday’s game, a scramble that all but buried the Saints. “I think because I’m a lot less athletic than I used to be, it excites the guys even more.” On this play, the 42-year-old four-time league MVP also outscored all New Orleans players on Sunday.

17. Cincinnati Bengals (19): Someone’s getting heated. Quarterback Joe Burrow’s eight TD passes in the last two games are more than he had in the first four weeks combined (7). “That’s what we need to be,” Burrow said of a team that has topped 30 points in its last two outings, something it hadn’t done since Week 1.

18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25): It’s good to see Baker Mayfield back and the Bucs becoming relevant again…even though they clearly should have had the nifty new quarterback glove designed by the Milwaukee Brewers.

19. Carolina Panthers (10): Anomaly or worrying reversion? Quarterback Bryce Young threw for 163 yards and turned the ball over three times in Sunday’s blowout loss to Baker’s Bucs, looking like the player he had been for most of his first three seasons — after Young averaged a league-best 309.8 passing yards in his first five starts of 2026 with just two giveaways. So, do we believe Young’s story? Or its recent history?

20. New Orleans Saints (21): They could really use RB Travis Etienne Jr. and first-round WR Jordyn Tyson to come back on the other side of their Week 8 bye.

21. Baltimore Ravens (15): The same old Ravens? They’ve blown double-digit leads in their three losses… although getting beaten by a record 70 points after halftime in 2026 is a new twist.

22. New York Giants (22): Did you know that RB Cam Skattebo’s 124-yard rushing performance on Sunday was the first time he surpassed the century mark since Arizona State nearly eliminated Texas in the quarterfinals of the 2024 CFP, aka the Peach Bowl?

23. Dallas Cowboys (26): Perhaps the most encouraging element of Monday night’s victory in Philadelphia was the complete awakening of RB Javonte Williams.

24. Houston Texans (20): It may be a lost season in H-Town, but not if you’re Tank Dell. Welcome back, pattern and accessories.

25. Washington Commanders (27): If you like rooting for the good guys, let’s hope Dan Quinn’s internal audit during the bye week pays off for the one-win Commanders.

26. Arizona Cardinals (23): Could TE Trey McBride reach 150 receptions? He is already the first player in league history to catch at least seven balls in each of his team’s first seven games.

27. Miami Dolphins (31): “Thinking of me as a little kid in the parking lot as we (arrived at Meadowlands), I was one of those guys getting off the buses, and now here I am,” said Jeff Hafley, a New Jersey native and first-year coach of the Fins, after his team upset the Jets to finally get into the win column. Also a way to fend off all those observers who thought your team might become the 0-17 bookend to the 17-0 Dolphins of 1972, coach.

28. New York Jets (24): If Aaron Glenn wants to keep his job, he should probably beat an AFC East team – at least once. Or at least try not to get outscored 107-6 in the final minutes of the first half, like the Jets were under their second-year HC. “If I were them, I’d do two minutes every day of my life until further notice,” Tomlin noted (perhaps AG’s replacement? Just saying.)

29. Philadelphia Eagles (28): At least they control the 2028 NFL Draft? Enough said.

Gn sports

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