NFL power rankings after Week 9, 2026

Buffalo holds first place on the two stated tiebreaks and on where it has won. The Bills went to Minneapolis and beat the team allowing the fewest points in the league 23-6, holding the Vikings to 178 yards, nine first downs and nothing on third down while keeping the ball 42:32. James Cook carried 31 times for 107 yards and a score, and Josh Allen threw 25 yards to Keleki Latu after a rough start, 4 of 9 for 31 yards with an interception against the blitz on the first six drives. That's a fourth road win, more than any other team has, and Buffalo's beaten opponents are 28-31, tied for the best mark among the teams at the top. The 256 points scored lead the league.

San Francisco is 7-1 with the second-best differential in the league at plus 79, and it lost the top spot on venue rather than on anything that happened Sunday. The 49ers ran 43 times for 190 yards in a 38-17 win over Las Vegas, Brock Purdy went 7 of 11 for 153 yards on throws of 10 or more air yards, Christian McCaffrey caught his 37th career touchdown and Jordan Watkins had four catches for 84 yards and his first. Kirk Cousins gave up a pick-six to Jaden Dugger. The problem on the resume is still travel: one true road win in eight games, plus the neutral-site win over the Rams in Melbourne, against Buffalo's four.

Denver moves up on the stated tiebreak and nothing else. At 7-2 the Broncos are level with Chicago on record, and their beaten opponents are 28-31 to Chicago's 23-39, which is a five-win and eight-loss gap in a 60-game aggregate. Denver has beaten Jacksonville and Kansas City, both 6-2, plus Seattle and the Rams at 5-4. Chicago has beaten nobody better than 5-4. The honest counterweight is margin: plus 12 is by far the thinnest differential of any team with seven wins, and the 26-21 win at Carolina was Denver's fifth after trailing in the fourth quarter. Bo Nix went 25 of 37 for 237 yards with two scores and a pick, and Nik Bonitto strip-sacked Bryce Young late.

Chicago is 7-2 with the third-best differential in the league at plus 57, and it sits behind Denver because quality of wins is the first tiebreak and the Bears' beaten opponents are 23-39 against Denver's 28-31. Sunday night was the strangest win of the week. Caleb Williams threw four interceptions, a career high, Chicago turned the ball over five times, and the Bears won 27-24 anyway on the back of third down, 7 of 13 against Tampa Bay's 2 of 12, plus four sacks. Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards and two scores, Luther Burden III caught seven for 97 and a touchdown, and Colston Loveland's 38-yard catch set up the finish.

Jacksonville has the best differential in the league at plus 108, which is 29 clear of San Francisco, and the second-fewest points allowed at 121. Record is the first cut, so 6-2 sits behind the four teams with seven wins, but the Jaguars top their own tier on quality of wins at 24-29. Thursday at Baltimore was a 33-10 road win built on three takeaways, interceptions by Montaric Brown and Jourdan Lewis and a fumble recovered on a kick return. Trevor Lawrence went 16 of 26 for 242 yards with a 50-yard touchdown to Parker Washington and a 105.0 rating. Baltimore managed 227 yards, ten first downs and 4 of 14 on third down.

Pittsburgh was on bye and holds its place on the body of work. The Steelers are 6-2 with 144 points allowed, fourth-fewest in the league, and a plus 36 differential, and they're level with Minnesota on beaten opponents at 22-30, which leaves margin to separate them. Both losses came away from home, 3-20 at New England and 24-27 at Cleveland, and the last result before the week off was a 27-6 win over the Browns with eight sacks and 200 rushing yards. What keeps Pittsburgh behind Jacksonville is the quality-of-wins gap, 22-30 to 24-29, and what keeps it out of the top four is one true road win in eight games plus the neutral-site 16-10 over New Orleans in Paris.

Minnesota falls five places on a home loss that didn't look like a 6-2 team. Buffalo won 23-6 at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the Vikings finished with 178 total yards, nine first downs, no third-down conversions and 17:28 of possession. Carson Wentz went 8 of 25 for 81 yards with two interceptions and an 8.9 rating, with Kyler Murray out. This is the bad kind of short possession: three-and-outs, not quick scoring. The defense is still the best in the league, 116 points allowed in eight games, 14.5 a game, five fewer than anyone else. But 146 points scored is fourth-fewest, the differential is only plus 30, and beaten opponents at 22-30 don't argue for better.

Detroit is 6-2 and sits seventh in its own tier because beaten opponents at 21-30 trail Minnesota's 22-30 and Pittsburgh's 22-30 on rate. The 19-9 win at Miami was a grind rather than a statement: 270 yards to 228, Jahmyr Gibbs with 74 rushing yards and an eight-yard score, Jared Goff with 170 yards, three sacks taken and an interception, and 20 combined accepted penalties. Goff still has only two picks on 273 attempts, the second-lowest rate of any quarterback with 200 or more throws. Detroit's plus 33 differential and 222 points are both solid without being top-five numbers, and the loss at Carolina in Week 4 remains the odd one on the sheet.

Kansas City is 6-2 and ninth because of who it has beaten. The Chiefs' beaten opponents are 16-36, a .308 mark that only Cincinnati is worse at among winning teams, and that's what holds a plus 59 differential and 143 points allowed, third-fewest in the league, below four teams with thinner margins. Sunday was straightforward: 35-12 over the Jets, Patrick Mahomes 23 of 31 for 242 yards and two scores, and New York settling for four first-half field goals. Mahomes took a hit on the throwing elbow and returned the next drive. Kansas City's two losses are 3-20 at Seattle and 24-28 at Denver, and the win over Denver in Week 8 is still the best thing on the resume.

Cincinnati is 6-2 with a plus 65 differential and the weakest set of beaten opponents of any winning team at 15-36, which is why it's tenth rather than fifth. The production is not in question. In Madrid, at a neutral site, Joe Burrow went 24 of 29 for 271 yards with three touchdown passes, no interceptions, a 140.1 rating and a rushing score in a 34-17 win. He was 82 percent for 239 yards in the first half on four scoring drives at 9.3 yards a play, and 20 of 23 for 237 when kept clean. Ja'Marr Chase caught ten for 155 and a score, Tee Higgins got two, and Chase Brown averaged 6.3 a carry.

The Giants are 5-2-1, which is a .688 winning percentage and the first cut puts them eleventh, ahead of a 6-3 Green Bay team with a much better resume underneath. That's worth naming rather than hiding. New York's schedule is 23-44-1, the weakest in the league by a wide margin, and its beaten opponents are 13-30. The 19-11 win at Philadelphia was a defensive game: seven sacks on Joe Milton III, three by Arvell Reese, and the Eagles going three-and-out on seven of 13 drives. Saquon Barkley carried 13 times for 22 yards against his old team. The differential is plus 10 in eight games, the thinnest of any team above .500.

Green Bay is 6-3 and sits behind a 5-2-1 Giants team only because winning percentage is the first cut. Everything underneath favors the Packers: beaten opponents at 24-29 beat the Giants' 13-30, and three of those wins came on the road. The 45-27 win at New England was the most complete performance of the week. Jordan Love went 23 of 29 for 372 yards and three scores, Christian Watson caught seven for 171, Matthew Golden ten for 164, and Green Bay totaled 478 yards with four sacks and four takeaways, including two Xavier McKinney interceptions. Love leads the league with 2,618 passing yards. The losses, all by three to seven points, are what keep the record where it is.

New England is 5-4 and tops its tier on quality of wins at 20-22, the only group of beaten opponents above .450 among the four teams at that record, and on a schedule of 44-33 that's the toughest any winning team has played. The 27-45 home loss to Green Bay was the worst result of the Patriots' season: three Drake Maye interceptions in the first half, 478 yards allowed, four giveaways. Maye has 18 touchdown passes at 8.4 yards an attempt, and also 11 interceptions, tied with Justin Herbert for the most of any quarterback. A plus 4 differential across nine games says this team has been close to even all year, which is what 5-4 looks like.

Seattle moves up one on a 17-3 home win over Arizona and on a differential that no longer fits where it sat. The Seahawks are plus 40 against Cleveland's minus 35 at the same 5-4 record, and the two are separated by a single game in beaten opponents, 17-26 to 17-25, so margin decides it. Drew Lock went 19 of 28 for 175 yards and a score, Seattle ran for 120, and the defense held Arizona to 198 yards, 50 on the ground, and 4 of 13 on third down, with sacks from Dante Fowler, Byron Murphy II and Demarcus Lawrence. The house rule gives the reigning champion first place until results say otherwise, and at 5-4 Seattle isn't close.

Cleveland drops one on an overtime loss at New Orleans and on the arithmetic underneath it. At minus 35 the Browns own the only negative differential of any team with a winning record, and they're level with Seattle on beaten opponents at 17-25 against 17-26, so the 75-point gap in margin decides the order. The 22-23 loss had the shape of the season in it: Shedeur Sanders threw 64 yards to KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston broke off a 60-yard gain, and then Cleveland went for it on fourth and goal and Quinshon Judkins was stuffed. New Orleans won it in overtime. Cleveland has 161 points in nine games, which is the real problem.

The Rams hold sixteenth with the weakest set of beaten opponents in their tier at 13-27-2, which is what keeps a plus 33 differential from moving them up. The 20-13 win at Washington was a road win and counts as one, but it took a while: Los Angeles started 0 for 9 on third down. Puka Nacua caught 14 for 150 yards and a score before leaving with a knee injury, Matthew Stafford threw an interception, and Myles Garrett had three sacks, his first with the team, including the strip of Jayden Daniels that the Rams recovered. Three road wins is a real mark in this group. Four of the five losses came against teams currently at .500 or better.

Dallas is the week's biggest riser, up five, and it gets there on a 27-23 road win and on a plus 10 differential against Baltimore's minus 47 at the same 4-5 record. The two are level on quality of wins, 9-24-1 to 10-25, so margin decides it. The win itself was ugly in a way worth stating: 14 penalties for 153 yards, two turnovers, and Indianapolis outgaining the Cowboys 508-271. CeeDee Lamb was flagged twice for offensive pass interference and fumbled in the red zone late, yet caught six of 12 downfield targets for 180 yards and a score. Javonte Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute left and Caleb Downs sealed it.

Baltimore slips one after a 10-33 home loss to Jacksonville in which it gained 227 yards, made ten first downs and converted 4 of 14 on third down. Joe Fagnano attempted one pass longer than ten yards. Justice Hill's 65-yard touchdown run was most of the offense, and Derrick Henry got 57 yards on 17 carries. The Ravens are 4-5 at minus 47, the fourth-worst differential in the league, with 236 points allowed. What keeps them ahead of Las Vegas is quality of wins, 10-25 against 6-27, and what drops them behind Dallas is 57 points of margin against a gap in beaten opponents too small to measure. Five straight losses now.

New Orleans jumps five on an overtime win and on the best argument in its tier. The Saints are 3-5, but their beaten opponents are 14-11-1, a .558 mark second only to Atlanta in the entire league, and that beats Carolina's 11-15 and Houston's 7-17 on the first stated tiebreak. Sunday was a 23-22 win over Cleveland decided when Tyler Shough threw 15 yards to Juwan Johnson in overtime, after New Orleans ran 31 times for 155 yards. The differential is still minus 31 and that's the honest limit on this placement. The schedule, 39-28-1, is among the three hardest anyone has played, which is part of why the record looks worse than the work.

Carolina falls two after a 21-26 home loss to Denver in which it led 14-13 and gave the game away late. Nik Bonitto strip-sacked Bryce Young, Devon Key intercepted a pass in the closing minutes, and Darren Waller's touchdown catch and Corey Thornton's interception of Bo Nix weren't enough. The Panthers are 3-5 at minus 20, and they sit behind New Orleans because beaten opponents at 11-15 trail the Saints' 14-11-1. Young has 2,197 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he's been sacked 26 times, the most of any quarterback. Chuba Hubbard has 619 rushing yards. The 32-26 win over Detroit in Week 4 is still the best result on the sheet.

Houston rises four on a 44-22 road win and still ranks below two teams with worse differentials, because beaten opponents at 7-17 are the weakest in the tier. That's the stated order and it holds here. C.J. Stroud threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns at the Chargers, Kayshon Boutte caught four for 125 including a 63-yarder, and Will Anderson Jr. had two sacks to reach 9.5 for the season while Justin Herbert went down eight times. The Texans are plus 17, the only positive differential of any team at 3-5 or worse, and Stroud's two interceptions on 282 attempts is the lowest rate of any quarterback with 200 throws.

Atlanta drops three after a 17-34 loss to Cincinnati at a neutral site in Madrid, and the manner of it matters. The Falcons took 12 accepted penalties for 88 yards, allowed 7.1 yards a play and forced two punts all afternoon. Michael Penix Jr. scrambled for a career-high 50 yards, Bijan Robinson had 147 scrimmage yards and a score, and Nick Folk missed a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth. What keeps Atlanta ahead of Tampa Bay and Arizona at 3-6 is the best set of beaten opponents in the league, 16-9, built on wins over Green Bay, New Orleans and San Francisco. The differential is minus 35.

Tampa Bay falls three and still owns the only positive differential among the 3-6 teams at plus 24, with 178 points allowed, seventh-fewest in the league. The 24-27 loss at Chicago is the frustrating kind: the Buccaneers held the ball 32:52, ran for 126 yards behind Bucky Irving's 20 carries for 97 and two scores, watched Chicago turn it over five times, and lost anyway. Third down did it, 2 of 12. Baker Mayfield went 18 of 32 for 243 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Tampa Bay's schedule at 46-31 is the second-hardest anyone has played, and its beaten opponents at 10-16 are why it sits behind Atlanta.

Arizona drops two after a 3-17 loss at Seattle in which it managed 198 total yards, 50 of them rushing, and went 4 of 13 on third down. Gardner Minshew was 21 of 30 for 166 yards without a touchdown. The Cardinals are 3-6 at minus 77, the second-worst differential in the league, and they've allowed 255 points, second-most. Beaten opponents at 9-17 put them behind Tampa Bay in the tier. The one thing genuinely in Arizona's favor is that all three wins came on the road, at the Chargers, at the Rams and at Dallas, which is more than Washington, Indianapolis and the Chargers have managed anywhere. Trey McBride leads the league with 73 catches.

Washington drops two on a 13-20 home loss to the Rams and on a resume that has not got any better. Jayden Daniels went 24 of 35 for 274 yards and a touchdown and lost a fumble that Myles Garrett forced and Los Angeles recovered. The Commanders are 2-5-1 at minus 30 with 172 points, and the thing that stands out is venue: no road wins in eight games, one of only three teams that can say that. Both wins came at home, over Seattle 33-31 and Philadelphia 27-10, and beaten opponents at 7-11 are respectable enough to hold off the three teams at 2-7 below them.

The Jets hold twenty-seventh on a 12-35 loss at Kansas City that was over early. New York settled for four first-half field goals and never found the end zone, and Geno Smith finished with 165 passing yards. At 2-7 and minus 41, the Jets lead their tier on beaten opponents at 6-11, which is what separates them from Indianapolis and Philadelphia. The two wins, 23-10 at Tennessee and 17-12 over Cleveland, are both against teams that have struggled to score, and the Browns win is the one with any weight to it now that Cleveland is 5-4. Braelon Allen has 598 rushing yards. Seven of the nine games have been decided by eight points or fewer.

Indianapolis stays twenty-eighth after a 23-27 home loss to Dallas that it should have won on yardage. The Colts outgained the Cowboys 508 to 271 and lost, which is what 3 of 13 on third down, five three-and-outs and six first-half punts will do. Daniel Jones went 20 of 34 for 180 yards with a touchdown and an interception, Ashton Dulin caught a 55-yarder, Seth McGowan averaged 7.5 a carry on six attempts with a score, and Caleb Downs ended it with an interception. Indianapolis is 2-7 at minus 65, has allowed 249 points, third-most in the league, and has no road wins. Jonathan Taylor's 656 rushing yards and eight scores are the bright spot.

Philadelphia stays twenty-ninth after an 11-19 home loss to the Giants in which Joe Milton III, making his first start, went 18 of 32 for 169 yards and was sacked seven times. The Eagles went three-and-out on seven of 13 drives and Braden Mann punted for more than 80 yards, which tells you how the afternoon went. Saquon Barkley carried 13 times for 22 yards. Philadelphia is 2-7 with 148 points, fourth-fewest in the league, and minus 73, fourth-worst. Its beaten opponents are 3-12-1, the weakest of any team with a win other than Las Vegas. Both wins came in the first two weeks, over Washington and Tennessee, and nothing since.

Tennessee was on bye and moves up one because Miami lost again and the two are level on quality of wins. The Titans are 1-7 with 144 points, third-fewest in the league, and minus 55, and their beaten opponents are 2-7, identical to Miami's, which leaves differential to separate them: minus 55 against minus 74. The one win is 26-20 at Indianapolis in Week 6, and the closest the Titans have come since is 36-43 at Cincinnati, a game they lost in overtime after scoring 36. Cam Ward has 1,483 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions. Five of the eight losses have come by 14 or more points.

Miami drops one after a 9-19 home loss to Detroit in which it gained 228 yards, missed a 38-yard field goal and got 128 yards and an interception from Malik Willis. The Dolphins are 1-7 with 126 points, second-fewest in the league, and minus 74, third-worst. They're level with Tennessee on beaten opponents at 2-7, so the differential gap decides the order. The one argument in Miami's favor, and it's a real one, is the schedule: 42-25, the hardest anybody has played this season, with San Francisco, Kansas City, Minnesota, Cincinnati, New England and Detroit all on it. The lone win is 28-25 at the Jets.

The Chargers are the only winless team in the league at 0-8 after a 22-44 home loss to Houston. Justin Herbert went 13 of 23 for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception and was sacked eight times, which puts him at 31 sacks taken and 11 interceptions, tied for the most of any quarterback. Los Angeles has scored 121 points, fewest in the league, and sits at minus 98, 21 worse than anyone else. There are no wins to weigh, so there's nothing to break a tie with. The closest game was 16-24 at Buffalo in Week 3, and five of the eight losses have come by 12 or more points.