NFL power rankings after Week 8, 2026

Buffalo takes over first because at .857 the three 6-1 teams separate only on margins thin enough to be noise, and the Bills lead both stated tiebreaks: beaten opponents at 19-26 to Minnesota's 19-27, and plus 52 to plus 47. Venue settles the rest. Buffalo has won three times away from home, at Houston, at the Rams and at Las Vegas, where San Francisco has one road win in seven games. Against Baltimore the Bills blitzed on 64.5 percent of dropbacks, pressured on 61.3 percent and held the Ravens to 144 net yards and no offensive touchdown. D.J. Moore caught four for 82 and a score, Dalton Kincaid four for 86 and a score. The honest qualifier: Lamar Jackson left after one snap and Baltimore finished with its third quarterback. Buffalo's 233 points lead the league.

The unbeaten season ends at Ford Field, and Minnesota drops only one spot because this is a good loss: four points on the road against a 5-2 team. The Vikings managed 266 yards and 15 first downs, went 3 of 10 on third down and 0 of 1 on fourth, and Kyler Murray's 210 passing yards included a 51-yard throw to Jordan Addison that accounted for nearly a quarter of the total. Minnesota blitzed on 26 of 29 dropbacks and still gave up the go-ahead score. The body of work holds: 93 points allowed is the fewest in the league by 18, no opponent has scored more than 22, and 9-3 at Chicago is the best road result anyone owns over a team now 6-2. Beaten opponents at 19-27 are why it isn't first.

San Francisco sat and slipped on a problem a bye can't fix. The 49ers own the best quality of wins among the 6-1 teams at 20-25-1 and the league's second-best differential at plus 58, so a strict reading of the tiebreaks puts them first. The trouble is where the wins happened. Six of seven games came at Levi's or in Melbourne, the only road win is 32-29 at Seattle, and the one other trip produced a 20-29 loss at a 3-5 Atlanta team with four turnovers. Beating Denver 24-14 at home reads better every week now that Denver is 6-2, and holding Washington to 17 is real work on a file that has allowed 139 points. The schedule will answer this one soon enough.

Chicago goes ahead of Pittsburgh and Denver, and that's a bend worth naming: Denver's beaten opponents are 21-24 to Chicago's 19-28, but Denver is plus 7 and Chicago is plus 54, and 47 points is too much to hand back for a two-win gap. The Bears led wire to wire at Lumen Field, gained 363 yards, took the ball away once, sacked Sam Darnold three times, blocked a field goal and held Seattle to 252 yards and 1 of 11 on third down. D'Andre Swift ran 27 times for three scores, which gives him 10 rushing touchdowns, the most of any player. Caleb Williams threw for 247 with no turnovers, Rome Odunze caught four for 87 and Colston Loveland seven for 65.

Pittsburgh played the most complete game of the week and moves up three. Eight sacks on 21 pressures is a season high, so is 200 rushing yards, Jaylen Warren had 143 and a touchdown, and Cleveland gained minus 1 yard on its first 10 plays and never reached the end zone. That squares a split with the Browns, who won 27-24 in Cleveland in Week 4. The Steelers clear Denver on a 29-point differential edge against a small gap in quality of wins, 20-26 to 21-24. What keeps them behind Chicago is travel: one true road win, 26-19 at Tampa Bay, plus the 16-10 win over New Orleans at the Stade de France, and both losses came away from Acrisure.

Denver has the best quality of wins in the top ten at 21-24 and the best pair of losses in the league, both on the road, at Kansas City and San Francisco. It also has a plus 7 differential, 29 points thinner than any other team with six wins, and that is what holds it sixth rather than fourth. Against the Chiefs the Broncos came back from 11 down, went 2 of 11 on third down, finished under 300 total yards and won on a goal-line stop with four seconds left. Bo Nix went 20 of 32 for 222 and two scores, Nate Adkins caught a fourth-down touchdown and Jonah Coleman's 51-yard run set up the go-ahead drive. Five of Denver's eight games have been decided by seven points or fewer.

Record is the first cut and .714 keeps Jacksonville seventh, but nothing else about this resume says seventh. The plus 85 differential is the best in the league by 27, the 111 points allowed trail only Minnesota's 93, and beaten opponents at 19-20 are the strongest of any team in the top ten. Against the Colts, Trevor Lawrence went 10 of 14 for 210 and three touchdowns and sat most of the fourth quarter, Bhayshul Tuten ran 16 times for 104 on his way to 159 scrimmage yards and two scores, and Rayuan Lane III took a dropped pass 92 yards for a touchdown. Jacksonville forced three turnovers and held Indianapolis to 243 yards on 4.1 a play.

Detroit beat the stingiest scoring defense in the league and moves up three. Jahmyr Gibbs carried 23 times for 153 and a touchdown, Sione Vaki added 65 on 11, and the Lions ran 11 of their final 13 non-kneel plays to close it out. Jared Goff threw the go-ahead touchdown to Jameson Williams, and Alim McNeill had four pressures and a sack. Detroit takes the top of the 5-2 group on the stated order rather than a bend: beaten opponents at 18-20 are well clear of Kansas City's 13-25 and Cincinnati's 11-27. The counterweight is a plus 23 differential, the smallest in the group, with four of the five wins by seven points or fewer, starting with 31-30 over New Orleans.

Kansas City falls five, and it is the whole file rather than one Sunday. The Chiefs' beaten opponents are 13-25, and three of the five wins came at Arrowhead against Denver, Indianapolis and an 0-7 Chargers team. At Denver they led by 11, got three touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes including a 73-yarder to Emmett Johnson, then watched Harrison Butker miss from 54, took a false start on the last snap at the goal line and had Mahomes sacked to end it. Kenneth Walker III managed 84 scrimmage yards on 25 touches. The plus 36 differential and 131 points allowed still rank well, but back-to-back losses at Seattle and Denver are why Denver and Detroit are now ahead.

Cincinnati holds tenth after the strangest box score of the week. Joe Burrow went 38 of 48 for 426 yards and five touchdowns, threw three interceptions to Amani Hooker, and then won it himself with a 9-yard run in overtime. Tee Higgins caught 10 for 155 and two scores, Ja'Marr Chase 11 for 141 and one. The Bengals trailed 13-0, gave the ball away four times, allowed three sacks to Jacob Martin and needed extra time against a 1-7 team at home. Beaten opponents at 11-27 are the weakest of any team with a winning record, and that seven-win gap behind Detroit's 18-20 is too large for a plus 48 differential to override.

The Giants were idle and move up one as teams around them lost. At 4-2-1 their .643 win percentage sits between the 5-2 group and the 5-3 teams, and that is the whole argument for eleventh. Everything underneath is thin. New York's opponents are a combined 17-35-1, by a distance the weakest schedule anyone has played, its beaten opponents are 9-22, and the differential is plus 2 across seven games. The best result is 27-21 in overtime at Houston, where the Giants outgained the Texans 420 to 237 and never turned the ball over. The 36-24 win over Arizona and the 12-7 win over Tennessee came against teams now 3-5 and 1-7. This placement is record doing the work.

New England has played the hardest schedule of any team with a winning record, opponents at 34-27, and its beaten opponents at 19-19 are the best mark in the top twelve. That is what puts it ahead of Green Bay and Cleveland in the 5-3 group, not the plus 22 differential. At Miami the Patriots trailed 13-3 at halftime and won it with Drake Maye going 16 of 20 for 199 and two touchdowns plus a 2-yard run, Kyle Williams and Demario Douglas catching scores, and five sacks of Malik Willis, 1.5 each from Gabe Jacas and Cory Durden. Kevin Byard had an interception. The 29-26 win at Buffalo is still the best single result here, and three road wins back it up.

Green Bay and Cleveland are dead even on quality of wins at 17-22, so plus 7 against minus 34 decides it and the Packers take thirteenth. Against Carolina on Thursday, Jordan Love went 30 of 41 for 288 and three touchdowns with an interception, Christian Watson caught eight for 113 after leaving for a hospital check and returning, and the defense got a season-high six sacks. Ty'Ron Hopper had a sack, an interception, eight tackles and three breakups. Green Bay turned the ball over three times and still won, partly because Carolina converted those into three points. The run game was the worry: Josh Jacobs got 39 yards on 21 carries and the team finished with 66.

Cleveland is the biggest faller of the week, down eight. The Browns are 5-3 and that is real, but minus 34 is the only negative differential of any team with a winning record, and at Pittsburgh they produced minus 1 yard on their first 10 plays with two lost fumbles, scored no touchdowns, and let the Steelers rush for 200 and record eight sacks. Deshaun Watson went 13 of 25 for 172 with no scores and an interception off a DK Metcalf drop, and he has been sacked 22 times in four games. Harold Fannin Jr. caught 10 for 154 in a game nobody else turned up for. All five Cleveland wins came by four points or fewer, 16 points of margin in total.

Seattle is 4-4 and the house rule stays broken. The rule gives the reigning champion first place until its results say otherwise, and Seattle's results said otherwise in Week 3 at Washington. The rule governs holding the top spot, not winning it back, so four losses have to be earned off, and Monday night did not help. Chicago led wire to wire, Seattle gained 252 yards, went 1 of 11 on third down, had four three-and-outs and rushed for 81. Sam Darnold went 17 of 34 for 188 with two scores and a pick. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught six for 118 and a touchdown and held 92 of Seattle's 94 first-half passing yards. The 20-3 win over Kansas City is still the best thing here.

The Rams move up three, and the venue note matters: both teams play at SoFi, so this counts as the nominal home win it was rather than a real home edge. Los Angeles scored 21 straight, returned two interceptions for touchdowns through Quentin Lake for 45 yards and Trent McDuffie for 26, posted 20 pressures and two sacks, and held the Chargers to 2.6 yards a carry. Matthew Stafford went 13 of 14 on quick throws for 94 and a score and hit Tutu Atwell for 40. Blake Corum and Kyren Williams ran for 129 and two touchdowns on 27 carries after halftime. Beaten opponents at 10-19-1 keep the Rams behind Seattle at the same plus 26.

Baltimore holds seventeenth on quality of wins, 9-23 against Las Vegas's 5-24, which is the stated tiebreak and outweighs the Raiders' better differential. The Ravens have now lost three straight, by 3, by 22 and by 26. At Buffalo they gained 144 net yards, their only touchdown came off a Broderick Washington interception, and Tyler Loop's 26-yard field goal was the rest of the scoring. Lamar Jackson's day ended after one snap with a thumb injury and Tyler Huntley was hurt as well, leaving Joe Fagnano to finish. Zay Flowers was held without a catch on five targets and Justice Hill led the team with four receptions. Buffalo held the ball for 37:36.

Carolina is 3-4 and a .429 win percentage is the only thing separating it from the 3-5 group below. The Panthers lost on Thursday in Green Bay with Bryce Young sacked six times, hit nine times and pressured on 48.9 percent of his dropbacks, and the one thing that went right was converting three Packers giveaways into three points, which is a backwards way of saying the offense did not. Young's 26-yard fourth-and-3 touchdown to Jalen Coker capped the best drive of the night. Carolina has lost three of four since winning 25-14 at Philadelphia. Beaten opponents at 10-13 include a 32-26 home win over a Detroit team now 5-2, and that is why the Panthers are not lower.

Atlanta owns the best quality of wins in the league at 13-9, including 29-20 over a San Francisco team now 6-1 and 35-14 in Green Bay, and the stated tiebreak order is why it tops the 3-5 group despite a minus 18 differential. It also just got shut out. The Falcons went 0 for 12 on third down in Tampa, Michael Penix Jr. went 8 of 24 for 125 with four interceptions and a 12.0 passer rating, and this is the only shutout anyone has suffered all season. Bijan Robinson has 780 rushing yards, the most in the league, and Drake London has 624 at 16.0 a catch. Three of Atlanta's five losses came at home.

Tampa Bay won a game without completing a pass, the first team to manage that in 52 years. Baker Mayfield threw three times for nothing, the Buccaneers ran 55 times excluding kneeldowns for a franchise-record 322 yards, Bucky Irving had 170 on 27 carries and a touchdown, Kenneth Gainwell 140 on 25, and Chase McLaughlin made field goals from 46, 34 and 42. The defense took the ball away four times and delivered the season's only shutout. Tampa Bay is 3-5 with a plus 27 differential, better than seven teams ranked above it, and the reason it sits twenty-first is beaten opponents at 9-14 against Atlanta's 13-9. The schedule has been hard: opponents at 36-25.

Dallas and Arizona are effectively tied on quality of wins, 6-15-1 against 7-16, so differential breaks it and plus 6 against minus 63 is not close. That is the stated order, and it is why the Cowboys stay ahead of a team that just beat them in Arlington. The loss was bad work: Dallas led 17-3 late in the third quarter, gave up an 80-yard, eight-play drive that tied it in the final seconds, and Chad Ryland pushed the go-ahead extra point wide left with six seconds on the clock. CeeDee Lamb has 709 receiving yards and Dak Prescott 2,046 passing yards, both top five, on a team that has lost five of eight. All three Dallas wins came over teams now 2-4-1, 2-5 and 2-6.

Arizona is up four on the second-biggest comeback of the season, and it has a case to be higher that the stated method will not support. All three Cardinals wins are road wins, at the Chargers, at the Rams and now at Dallas, and the head-to-head with Dallas is theirs. But quality of wins is a wash at 7-16 against 6-15-1, so differential breaks the tie, and minus 63 is the second-worst in the league. Gardner Minshew replaced Jacoby Brissett and went 17 of 23 for 188 and three touchdowns. Tyler Allgeier ran 11 times for 147 including a 63-yarder and caught five for 44 and a score. Michael Wilson had eight for 111. Arizona has allowed 238 points, most in the league.

Washington is the week's biggest riser, up five, which is mostly the teams around it falling plus a 17-point win. The Commanders trailed by 10 in the first quarter and won going away on Sunday night, with Jayden Daniels throwing for 217 and an 8-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs. At 2-4-1 their .357 win percentage puts them above the 2-5 and 2-6 groups. The 33-31 win over Seattle in Week 3 is the only result all season against a team now at .500 or better. Beaten opponents at 6-10, a minus 23 differential, no road wins in six tries and a 13-30 loss to Indianapolis at a neutral site are what keep this at twenty-fourth.

New Orleans was idle and falls three. The Saints are 2-5 and hold this spot on one thing: the best beaten-opponent record in the league at 8-6-1, because both wins are road wins over teams now at or above .500, 24-17 at Baltimore and 34-27 at the Giants. They have also played the second-hardest schedule in the league, opponents at 32-20-1. Against that sits a minus 32 differential, five losses in seven games, a 24-45 home loss to Atlanta and a 13-23 home loss to Minnesota. Chris Olave has 636 receiving yards and Tyler Shough 1,721 passing yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions at 6.3 a throw. Two good road wins is a thin beam to hold a ranking on.

Houston sat and slips one. The Texans are 2-5 with a minus 5 differential, the best mark of any team ranked below twentieth, and their 34-31 neutral-site win over Jacksonville came against the team with the best point differential in the league. That keeps them close. What holds them at twenty-sixth is beaten opponents at 6-9 against New Orleans's 8-6-1, which is the stated tiebreak inside the 2-5 group. Five of Houston's seven games have been decided by six points or fewer and they have lost four of those. C.J. Stroud has thrown one interception on 247 attempts, a rate matched only by Jared Goff's one on 248. The other win is 26-3 at Tennessee.

The Jets drop three after losing a game they spent all afternoon inside. New York reached the Raiders' 21 on six straight opening drives and came away with three touchdowns, and Geno Smith threw an interception with seven seconds left. Braelon Allen ran for 147 on 21 carries, Adonai Mitchell had 142 receiving yards and Garrett Wilson 83, and the teams combined for 71 points. At 2-6 the Jets hold twenty-seventh over Indianapolis and Philadelphia on quality of wins, 6-10 to 4-9-1 and 3-11-1, and on a minus 18 differential against minus 61 and minus 65. Smith has 1,913 yards at 8.0 a throw with three interceptions, and he has been sacked 23 times.

Indianapolis has lost six of eight and this was the worst of them. The Colts gained 243 yards on 4.1 a play, gave the ball away three times, and watched Rayuan Lane III return a Tyler Warren drop 92 yards for a touchdown. Daniel Jones went 19 of 28 for 144 with a score and two interceptions before Anthony Richardson replaced him, and Jonathan Taylor averaged 2.9 a carry and fumbled on a trick play. Jones now has five touchdown passes against nine interceptions at 5.8 a throw. Indianapolis stays ahead of Philadelphia on beaten opponents, 4-9-1 to 3-11-1, and on minus 61 against minus 65. The 30-13 win over Washington at a neutral site is the best thing on the file.

Philadelphia has lost six straight and the latest was a 17-point loss on Sunday night to a team that had also been losing. The Eagles led by 10 in the first quarter and scored 10 points all night. At 2-6 they have the worst quality of wins of any team that has won a game, beaten opponents at 3-11-1 from a 24-22 home win over Washington in Week 1 and a 24-20 win at Tennessee in Week 2, and those two teams are a combined 3-11-1 now. Philadelphia's 137 points are the second-fewest in the league, its minus 65 differential is third-worst, and four of the six losses came by 11 points or more.

Miami holds thirtieth. The Dolphins are 1-6 and have played the hardest schedule in the league, opponents at 33-19, which is the one line on this file that argues for anything. Against New England they led 13-3 at halftime and lost, giving up five sacks of Malik Willis, who went 21 of 32 for 211 with two touchdowns and an interception, and missing a two-point try. Ollie Gordon II ran 19 times for 69 yards. The only win is 28-25 at the Jets. At minus 64 with 117 points scored, Miami has the second-fewest points in the league and the third-worst differential, and beaten opponents at 2-6 tie Tennessee for the weakest of any team with a win.

Tennessee stays thirty-first and played its best game of the season doing it. The Titans forced four takeaways in Cincinnati, Amani Hooker picked off Joe Burrow three times, Jacob Martin had three sacks, Cam Ward went 26 of 40 for 304 and two touchdowns and Tony Pollard ran for 117 and two scores. They still lost in overtime, after scoring 36 against a team that had allowed 122 points in its first six games. At 1-7 the record is the record. The only win is 26-20 at Indianapolis. Tennessee's 144 points are fourth-fewest, the minus 55 differential is fifth-worst, and beaten opponents at 2-6 tie Miami for the weakest among teams with a win.

The Chargers are the only winless team in the league at 0-7, and that settles thirty-second. At SoFi against the Rams they threw two interceptions that came back for touchdowns, 45 yards to Quentin Lake and 26 to Trent McDuffie, averaged 2.6 yards a carry, allowed 20 pressures and two sacks, and settled for three field goals on fourth-and-short. Justin Herbert has five touchdown passes against 10 interceptions at 6.6 a throw and has been sacked 23 times. Los Angeles has scored 99 points, the fewest in the league by 18, and its minus 76 differential is the worst. The schedule has been genuinely hard, opponents at 32-22, and three of the seven losses came by eight points or fewer.