Last week’s rank: 30

Drake Maye was responsible for 301 of the Patriots’ 316 offensive yards, which included an unbelievable scramble drill touchdown pass that sent the game to overtime in Nashville. He’s a certifiable Guy. The next step is ensuring his superhuman efforts lead to wins. — Robert Zeglinski

Last week’s rank: 29

Brock Bowers stat watch through nine games: 57 catches, 580 yards, two touchdowns. A 100-plus-catch and 1,000-yard pace as a rookie. So much potential! Oh, right. What about the rest of the Raiders? Well, there’s really nothing else worth giving oxygen to. This might be a recurring feature. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 31

Tennessee let the Patriots back into the driver’s seat for the top overall pick in next year’s draft. But hey, the Titans won’t finish 2024 with just one win, so that’s something. — Christian D’Andrea

Last week’s rank: 32

Losing to the Panthers is a fireable offense. Dennis Allen found that out in Week 9. Next up on the prospective hit list? Brian Daboll (vs. the New York Giants in Week 10) and Nick Sirianni (at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14). Neither of those guys is currently in the midst of a seven-game losing streak like Allen was, but a loss to Carolina would ratchet up the heat of their seats by several degrees. — CD

Last week’s rank: 28

The state of the Jaguars is their needing an opposing coach to gift them opportunities so they can hang around. Because by golly, if Trevor Lawrence can’t take advantage of a topsy-turvy Philadelphia secondary, what good is he at all? — RZ

Last week’s rank: 26

Alvin Kamara amassed over 200 yards from scrimmage on 35 touches on Sunday. Good job! The Saints lost by a point to one of the NFL’s worst teams with a quarterback they previously gave up on in September. The culprit? I’d say it’s probably Derek Carr, a.k.a. the guy Saints legend Michael Thomas doesn’t like. And I only say that because Dennis Allen is already gone. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 25

Jameis Winston took his own hype train off the tracks when forced to deal with a competent defense, winging three interceptions before finding the end zone in garbage time. That’s fine because the Browns finally own their first-round pick after dealing the last three to the Houston Texans in exchange for Deshaun Watson, the league’s 37th-best quarterback who was accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct in what the NFL itself described as “predatory behavior.” — CD

Last week’s rank: 27

The Colts were hoping for 2023 Joe Flacco and got the 2022 version instead. That guy is still gonna complete more passes than Anthony Richardson and attempt a lot of deep throws, but he’s not going to win many games. Ah, well, at least they aren’t the Jaguars. — CD

Last week’s rank: 24

Daniel Jones threw for 176 yards in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Washington Commanders. This was easy math because he finished the game with 176 yards after throwing for zero in the first two quarters. Just eight more games until the Giants can dump his contract and move on. — CD

Last week’s rank: 23

As a firestorm brews around Aaron Rodgers doing, well, anything, the Jets responded like a team with pride on Thursday night. Sort of. An uninspiring offense did enough while the Jets defense planted C.J. Stroud into the turf any chance it got. New York’s odds for the postseason remain a faint dream at 3-6, but at least it’ll go down swinging toward a comfortable and inevitable mediocrity. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 22

Sunday was Miami’s last stand on a season that’s already off the rails. For a moment, it even looked like Mike McDaniel’s crew might pull it out. Then Tyler Bass booted a 61-yard field goal to win the game. Tough scene. Them’s the breaks. It’s early, but it’s probably time for the 2-6 Dolphins to start looking toward the draft. –– RZ

Last week’s rank: 21

Jerry Jones waited entirely too long to extend CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, and now those two are locked into a total of $331 million in guarantees for the NFL’s 24th-best passing offense. Surely, he’ll learn his lesson and extend Micah Parsons before he’s set to hit free agency in 2026. Or will his impulse to generate an immediate turnaround leave Parsons to twist before signing a megadeal on the eve of free agency that once again costs Dallas a premium on top of an already record-setting deal? I mean, we all know what the answer’s gonna be, right? — CD

Last week’s rank: 17

A 5-3 start primed the Broncos for a step up in competition. Then, the Ravens reduced them to an orange stain on the Baltimore turf. Ah, well. Bo Nix is showing some signs of life but badly needs help. The only above-average skill player in his lineup is Courtland Sutton. (But hey, maybe Troy Franklin will be good!) — CD

Last week’s rank: 13

Did the Commanders’ Hail Mary break Matt Eberflus’s brain? No, there was plenty of evidence he was already very bad at his job. The 2024 season is threatening to slip away from him, and if that’s the case, he won’t get a 2025. Which, for Bears fans, is the silver lining in all of this. — CD

Last week’s rank: 15

The Seahawks are the NFL equivalent of a middling NBA team that jacks up 40-plus 3-point attempts in a game. Their roster is imbalanced, and they don’t really have a strong identity, but the sheer reality of random math and luck might eventually give Geno Smith a chance to win. This, of course, is how no consistently good team wins, hence Seattle’s latest overtime loss. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 18

Kyler Murray completed just 13 passes in a 20-point win over the Bears. He could do that because James Conner and Emari Demercado bowled over the Chicago defense any chance they could get en route to 213 team rushing yards. Now, Arizona sits in a firm first place (???) atop the NFC West. Jonathan Gannon’s rebuild is going swimmingly. –– RZ

Last week’s rank: 20

Joe Burrow put it best after last week’s deflating loss to Philadelphia. The Bengals had to likely win seven of their last nine games just to have a chance at the playoffs. Sunday was a great start, with the quarterback throwing five touchdowns against the hapless Raiders in a blowout win. A marquee matchup against the Baltimore Ravens looms, and a season sweep at the hands of the Bengals’ biggest rivals would be a disaster. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 19

Matthew Stafford was sacked 16 times in his first five games, and the Rams went 1-4. Then, despite still being crushed by injuries up front, Sean McVay and OL coach Ryan Wendell found a way to drop that number down to one sack in his last three games. All three were Los Angeles wins. — CD

Last week’s rank: 9

Baker Mayfield led a two-minute drill to make the score of Monday’s game against the Chiefs 21-20 in the final seconds. Then Todd Bowles turned his back on the football gods by failing to go for two. One Patrick Mahomes game-winning touchdown drive later and the Bucs are 4-5 and, hopefully, processing a painful lesson — CD

Last week’s rank: 16

Justin Herbert is playing the most efficient football of his NFL career, and he’s doing it with Quentin Johnson, Ladd McConkey, and Joshua Palmer as his top wideouts. Jim Harbaugh may be a wizard. — CD

Last week’s rank: 14

The whole “Nick Sirianni is a bumbling oaf even on his best days” thing looms over these Eagles like a haunting specter, but the high-end offensive talent has almost become too overwhelming to lose in spite of their coach. Jalen Hurts’ resurgence is real. Saquon Barkley is having an All-Pro-caliber season. And A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith remain impossible to cover at the same time. Philadelphia’s operation still feels shaky, but I won’t quibble with a 6-2 record as it figures out a new, much more competent identity. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 12

The bye week gives Kyle Shanahan a chance to piece things together in an offense that will, ideally, get Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, and Jauan Jennings all on the field together for the first time. — CD

Last week’s rank: 7

Sam Darnold is floating back down to earth but can be a stable enough quarterback to keep Minnesota in the playoff hunt. Fortunately, Minnesota is good enough to survive even if the Darnold of old comes roaring back. The Vikings have won all three of the games this season in which the journeyman QB has recorded negative expected points added (EPA), including Sunday night’s victory against the Colts. — CD

Last week’s rank: 11

Two straight wins in night games had the Steelers sitting pretty during their bye week. But the time for genuine stress is now. Pittsburgh will face the juggernaut Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens over the next two weeks in a stretch that may define its season. This is more or less exactly what Russell Wilson was acquired for. Let’s see if he’ll deliver. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 6

It turns out that the Texans’ playmakers — specifically, Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs — might be important. Their absence showed during Thursday night’s loss, during which C.J. Stroud never looked completely comfortable. He completed just 11 passes and was sacked eight times. Houston will be the extremely likely AFC South champion, but it entered 2024 with Super Bowl aspirations. For that to happen, it needs a lot more work on offense (namely, receiver and offensive line depth) before it can challenge the AFC’s S-tier. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 5

Jordan Love remains a sloppy quarterback with a high ceiling, which makes him the perfect ongoing project for Matt LaFleur. Seeing him get the green light while trailing means a lot of beautifully thrown deep balls. And a few that make no sense whatsoever. — CD

Last week’s rank: 10

Every time we think Jayden Daniels’ Commanders might finally fail a test, they still deliver. On Sunday, it was a surprisingly feisty Giants team pushing Washington to the limit before Daniels took his team on a clock-killing, nine-play, 67-yard drive to ice the game. At this point, a Commanders’ playoff berth feels like a certainty. The next test is winning the NFC East (hello, Eagles). — RZ

Last week’s rank: 8

The Kirk Cousins signing continues to look brilliant. It turns out the best way to maximize an offense with three top-10 draft pick skill players was to give them a quarterback better than Desmond Ridder. Atlanta’s defense came through in a big way Sunday as well, though its ability to get to Dak Prescott was much more a hypothesis on the quality of the Cowboys’ blocking than a sudden burst of quality for the league’s worst pass rush. — CD

Last week’s rank: 4

Because of Tua Tagovailoa’s presence, the Bills probably sweated out Sunday’s win more than they thought they would. But that’s the good part. With the Dolphins pushing Buffalo’s defense, Josh Allen put on his superhero cape for the first time all season and showed he’s still got the juice for one of the AFC’s top-tier heavyweights. Adding secondary or off-ball linebacker help of any kind feels like a must for a superstar quarterback who remains more than capable of taking his team to ultimate February glory. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 3

The Ravens present the most impossible question to NFL defenses in 2024. Do they sell out to stop Lamar Jackson, giving Derrick Henry room to run, or do they devote everything to limiting Henry, in turn letting Jackson victimize them over the top? Both answers are wrong. It’s a Sophie’s Choice that makes the Ravens the clear No. 1 contender to the Kansas City Chiefs’ title belt in the AFC. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 2

For the third straight year, the Lions went into Lambeau Field and punched the Packers in the mouth over and over. The league’s arguably best offense had its way with an overmatched Green Bay defense, while Jordan Love found himself flummoxed by a shorthanded unit. Get Detroit any above-average pass-rusher to fill in for Aidan Hutchinson at the trade deadline, and this team feels like a lock for Super Bowl 59. — RZ

Last week’s rank: 1

Patrick Mahomes turned DeAndre Hopkins into a star again, terrified folks across Kansas and Missouri by limping off the field in the fourth quarter, then led a come from behind victory anyway. Things are starting to feel inevitable for the Chiefs. — CD