Week 8 NFL Power Rankings

1.Los Angeles Rams (8-0 SU and 4-3-1 ATS) We wish Todd Gurley cared about our gambling and fantasy needs as much as we did.

Next Game: LAR at New Orleans -1.5

2. Kansas City Chiefs (7-1 SU and ATS) That backdoor cover hurt as Brandon McManus nailed a 36 yarder to make the final score 30-23 against a -8.5 closing line. Without that, the Chiefs move in to the top spot without question. Thankfully, they get to feast on the Cleveland Browns in Week 9 with a shot at overtaking the Rams, who are truthfully struggling to cover way too many times to be the outright best team in these NFL power rankings.

Next Game: Kansas City -8.0 at Cleveland 3. New Orleans Saints (6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS) The Saints are the epitome of everything whacky about this season. They're the second ranked scoring offense, and give up the 23rd most points per game! To be fair, there are 15 teams that are giving up anywhere between 23.3 and 26.6 points per game (12th ranked LAC to 26th IND). As everyone will write in their own power rankings spot, we'll find out how good the Saints really are this week when they line up opposite the Rams. How about this hot take? They're already good!

Next Game: LAR at New Orleans -1.5

4. New England Patriots (6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS) Chris Collinsworth gets to beam about Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers on Sunday night. This is what his entire broadcasting career has been cresting towards. Get your mute buttons ready.

Next Game: Green Bay at New England -5.5 (Sunday Night) 5. Carolina Panthers (5-2 SU and 4-3 ATS) Being ranked as the fifth best team in the league doesn't necessarily mean anything, but Carolina has performed as the "best of the rest" from our standpoint. They're not great at anything in particular other than rushing the football...and have also barely beaten the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles while losing outright to Washington and Atlanta. We don't get it either even though we're really, really trying to.

Next Game: Tampa at Carolina -7.0 6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-2 SU and 3-4 ATS) Please let Melvin Gordon's hamstring be alright. We desperately need another team to be good.

Next Game: LAC at Seattle -2.0

7. Minnesota Vikings (4-3-1 SU and ATS) The Vikings succumbed to two costly errors, which were both pretty much because they throw the ball too much. Defenses get in a rhythm when playing against a pass-only defense. Cousins coughed up a pick-six and Thielen's fumble led to another score. The Vikings were still in that game even with those two mistakes, and that's pretty much the story on them. They have to pass the ball like crazy to stay in games, and fortunately Cousins is doing a generally masterful job of it. If they had a healthy running-back? They might be the third best team in the league. For now, they're "just" the seventh best (according to us).

Next Game: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings -4.0 8. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2-1 SU and 4-3 ATS) At some point, we have to stop talking about how much Le'Veon Bell is making and discuss how James Conner is worth. Understand that we're coming from the vantage point that the Steelers should have pulled up the Brinks truck for Bell. From a business standpoint, however, Conner's four-year contract (signed in 2017) is worth the same amount of money that Bell was going to be paid for just under 3 1/2 games this season. If he doesn't report by next week, he could be tagged yet again, and give the Steelers all the power. Again.

Next Game: Pittsburgh at Baltimore -3.0

9. Washington Redskins (5-2 SU and ATS) We are old enough to remember a time when Adrian Peterson stampeding through open space was a thing of beauty. Watching him take what felt like five long minutes to score a 64-yard touchdown was kind of painful. Just like admitting that the Redskins are - in fact - a top-10 team in this league.

Next Game: Atlanta at Washington -2.0

10. Green Bay Packers (3-3-1 SU and 3-4 ATS) That. Was. Rough. Yet, even in defeat, the Packers get to hang their hat on the idea that they could have beaten the Rams if Ty Montgomery wasn't such an idiot. A cruel back-to-back set of road games takes the to Foxboro on Sunday.

Next Game: Green Bay at New England -5.5 (Sunday Night)

11. Seattle Seahawks (4-3 SU and 4-2-1 ATS) Think this is way too high? Look at that spread record. As we've said countless times over the last few weeks, you could take teams 5 through 25 on this list and rank them in any order you please. The Seahawks are so plucky and dangerous with their big play offense that they could beat literally anyone. Of course, they could lose to most teams as well but one thing we love about the Seahawks is that they boast a handsome +5.7 point differential. Trust in Russel Wilson. Those nano bubbles he's composed of are the stuff of legend.

Next Game: LAC at Seattle -2.0

12. Baltimore Ravens (4-4 SU and ATS) That loss against Carolina was that general reminder that you can never completely trust the Baltimore Ravens. Ever. There were road favorites against Carolina and lost outright. They head in to Week 9 as home favorites facing a natural line against Pittsburgh and we don't know what to make of that just yet. What an annoying season. If it wasn't so much fun, we'd be bashing our brains in.

Next Game: Pittsburgh at Baltimore -3.0

13. Cincinnati Bengals (5-3 SU and 4-4 ATS) Another backdoor cover had to have people fuming because the Bengals seemed like a lock halfway through that game before Fitzmagic sprinkled fairy dust all over that spread. From a gambling standpoint, the Bengals are a nightmare. They're brutal at generating yards, preventing them, have a -2.0 scoring differential and have no pass rush despite their personnel. Yet they're 4-4 ATS. Go figure.

Next Game: BYE

14. Philadelphia Eagles (4-4 SU and 3-5 ATS) Maybe an extra week of rest will let the Eagles shake off their Super Bowl hangover.

Next Game: BYE

15. Chicago Bears (4-3 SU and ATS) Very hard to boost the Bears higher than this since they only beat the Jets, but everything is coming together for this sneaky NFC North contender. Do you know what they're bad at? Absolutely nothing. With a reduced playbook, Trubisky has become the lynchpin that this solid roster needed. Using terms like "reduced playbook" make him sound like he's too stupid to understand a regular sized playbook, but this is why people say "less is more". It's working.

Next Game: Chicago -9.0 at Buffalo 16. Atlanta Falcons (3-4 and 2-5 ATS) Remember when we were saying that running backs don't matter? Well look at the teams that have lost their feature backs: Minnesota's Dalvin Cook, Jacksonville's Leonard Fournette and Atlanta's Devonte Freeman are amongst three of the most talented at their position and all of them were crucial to the balance of their offenses. With Freeman, the Falcons were historically good on offense. Without him? They're still good, but not great, and have been saved by how well Matt Ryan has protected the football. The oddsmakers, however, are still treating them like world beaters. The natural home line at Washington has drifted towards Atlanta. This team has been abysmal against the spread and it's going to be interesting to see how public money treats them coming off a bye week.

Next Game: Atlanta at Washington -2.0

17. Houston Texans (5-3 SU and 3-5 ATS) Count on DeAndre Hopkins, the league's most gifted receiver (it's a three-way tie between him, ODB and Antonio Brown) to redefine "football to the groin" and make it awesome.

Next Game: Houston at Denver -2.5

18.Indianapolis Colts (3-5 SU and 4-4 ATS) On the surface, a three-win team at this point in the season is just not sexy enough to move the needle. But this team? We're digging our heals in. Marlon Mack looks legitimately healthy and Andrew Luck continues to ascend back to his Pro Bowl level. The defense is terrible, but the offense is now averaging 28.9 points per game (6th) while averaging 34.2 points in their last five games.

19. Denver Broncos (3-5 SU and 3-4-1 ATS) Defense is what the Broncos rely on with the likes of Bradley Chubb, Von Miller and Derek Wolfe in tow. But this is an off-putting group that isn't performing at a consistent level and it's killing this team overall. Denver somehow gives up 135.8 rushing yards per game (likely because they've played Kareem Hunt twice and he's ripped them to shreds). This has been one of the most agonizing teams to pin down in terms of betting and things don't get much easier down the road. After the Houston and a bye week, the Broncos play the Chargers, Steelers and Bengals.

Next Game: Houston at Denver -2.5

20. Detroit Lions (3-4 SU and 5-2 ATS) Only Detroit could follow up a big win with a big trade and then suffer a big loss at home. The Lions were exposed by Seattle and have been curiously off-balance offensively. We can excuse the defensive lapses; Charles Slay can only cover so much ground and Snacks just got there. But shouldn't this offense be pounding the scoreboard? The Lions shouldn't be a 5-2 ATS team, and we only say that because that's the second best spread busting record in the NFL. The also have one of the worst run defenses in the league, which probably won't matter because they play Minnesota next weekend. We should be seeing more from Detroit and Matthew Stafford.

Next Game: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings -4.0

21. Miami Dolphins (4-4 SU and ATS) The Dolphins were railed on Thursday Night Football, and have a bit of extra time to prepare for a divisional battle with the Jets. Ryan Tannehill is still expected to be out, meaning that the Hunt for Red Brocktober continues. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Brock is a totally passable backup quarterback, but the defense is atrocious and everyone saw how bad they were as Deshaun Watson ripped them apart for 239 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Next Game: NYJ at Miami -3.0

22. New York Jets (3-5 SU and ATS) People's expectations of rookie quarterbacks needs to be brought back down to earth. It's extremely rare that a guy comes in and sets the league on fire. The art of NFL quarterbacking - and coaching it - is more complex than that. Rarely does a Russell Wilson just waltz in and go bonkers. More often than not there are mistakes. And then more mistakes. Jared Goff is a first overall pick that didn't play his first year. Carson Wentz exploded in his second season. Mitchell Trubisky has gone from "oh my god I don't think he can play" to "hmmm...there might be something here!" Case in point is Baker Mayfield, a guy who is really taking his lumps. All of those guys have top level talent to work with. Sam Darnold does not. Let's cut him and his gigantic head some slack.

Next Game: NYJ at Miami -3.0

23. Tennessee Titans (3-4 SU and 4-3 ATS) Lost in the myriad of Bad Quarterback Yelling is Marcus Mariota, a good guy with a great reputation who doesn't seem to be getting better. Mariota has a rating progression of 91.5, 95.6, 79.3 and 78.5 over the past four seasons. He's also thrown just 3 touchdowns this year, and is not nearly as good on the ground as people think he is. Injuries are part of it. Bad coaching is a big part of it too. We get a full glimpse of what the Titans are going to look like down the stretch when they play the Cowboys on Monday night, but something has to give. They're a big team to watch as we approach the trade deadline as well.

Next Game: Tennessee at Dallas -6.5

24. Dallas Cowboys (3-4 SU and ATS) The NFC East is a garbage division right now, and Dallas can win it. If you don't think Amari Cooper's talent/contract was worth the gamble, then that's fine. But kudos to Jerry Jones for being in "win now" mode. We do wonder what other receivers could've been fetched for a first round pick, but if Cooper was the best available then so be it. Sometimes you just have to get what you can. We've all been there.

Next Game: Tennessee at Dallas -6.5

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4 SU and ATS) There are plenty of times when a quarterback throws a pick that isn't their fault. Maybe it bounces off the intended receiver's hands and in to those of an opportunistic defensive player. Sometimes it's just a bad route by the receiver. Other times...it's Jameis Winston. He has a billion turnovers in a career that has been as flatlined as his progression through the last four years. There is absolutely no way this team can afford to take a chance by paying Winston this off-season, and the infuriating part about this franchise is that they just might.

Next Game: Tampa at Carolina -7.0

26. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-5 SU and ATS) There should be two weeks of "what's up with Jacksonville?" talk spinning round our ears and heads as they head in to a bye, but the answer is obvious and nobody cares to talk about how bad Blake Bortles is anymore. He's done his best and it's just not good enough. I mean, we saw this last season in the AFC Championship when the Jags had to go 80 yards twice in the fourth quarter against the Patriots, and you just knew it wasn't going to happen. What exactly is supposed to lift this team up over the hump? They have no number-one receivers, no running backs and an offensive line that is surrendering 22 sacks that they can't afford.

Next Game: BYE

27. Cleveland Browns (2-5-1 SU and 5-3 ATS) By no means did Hue Jackson deserve to keep his head coaching job, but maybe there was a better time to throw someone else to the wolves than the week where you have to play the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons in back-to-back weeks before a bye?

Next Game: Kansas City -8.0 at Cleveland

28. New York Giants (1-7 SU and 3-5 ATS) If you were wondering how long a Super Bowl victory should buy you as a quarterback, Eli Manning finally has the answer. It's six seasons. Kyle Lauletta is probably a name you have never heard of unless you dip your toes in to the nether regions of college football, but the former Richmond standout may be getting the call sooner rather than later. Yes, the Richmond Spiders have a football team. No, they weren't good. To some extent, there's no telling if Lauletta is actually a serviceable NFL quarterback but Giants fans are probably just in the mood to scream at anyone else other than Eli.

Next Game: BYE 29. Arizona Cardinals (2-6 SU and 4-3-1 ATS) It took about 40 minutes for Arizona to wake up, but they beat the worst team in the league. Good for them? Byron Leftwich may actually be the savior of this team, which is something nobody has ever said about him.

Next Game: BYE 30. Buffalo Bills (2-6 SU and 3-5 ATS) The Bills' defense took it personally that they were two-touchdown dogs on Monday night. Unfortunately, Derek Anderson and the offense did not.

Next Game: Chicago -9.0 at Buffalo

31. San Francisco 49ers (1-7 SU and 2-6 ATS) What exactly was Jimmy Garappolo supposed to do with this team again? Remember when the 49ers were playoff bound in the preseason? Listen, we're not saying Jimmy is bad because he's one of the highest paid in the league for a good reason. But his supporting cast is terrible, and the offensive line in front of him has given up 31 sacks. That's as many as the Giants and two less than the Browns, who are all struggling this year despite having well known quarterback talents of varying experience. The bigger problem for the NFL as a whole is that college football's system isn't churning out offensive linemen at a rate rapid enough to build barriers around their most important commodities.

Next Game: Oakland at San Francisco -3.0 (Thursday)

32. Oakland Raiders (1-6 SU and 2-5 ATS) If the Raiders blowing up a perfectly fine roster to remold it in Jon Gruden's image wasn't enough of a disaster for you, how about the fact that they may not have a place to play for two years? Their lease with their current stadium runs out after this season, and they have been engaged in gureilla warfare with the city of Oakland over their impending departure. The Las Vegas stadium isn't finished, and might not be anytime soon. Levi Stadium, where they play this weekend, might not be an option either. The other option? AT&T Park, which means they'd be stuck playing on a baseball diamond for half the season AGAIN. They may be changing the roster, the coach and their home town...but they will never stop being the Raiders.

Next Game: Oakland at San Francisco -3.0 (Thursday)