The Minnesota Vikings are the new No. 1 in our Week 8 power rankings consensus, but only just. Ten national rankings split three ways at the top: four put the 6-0 Vikings first, three picked the idle Buffalo Bills and three kept the San Francisco 49ers at No. 1 despite their first loss of the season.
We averaged 10 full 1-to-32 rankings released Monday and Tuesday: Pete Prisco’s, Nick Shook’s, Nate Davis’, Mike Florio’s, a panel of more than a dozen analysts with a note from each team’s beat reporter, Ralph Vacchiano’s, Frank Schwab’s, Jeremy Cluff’s, Mike Johrendt’s and the four-analyst panel of Brent Sobleski, Gary Davenport, Maurice Moton and Kris Knox. The last three came out before Monday night’s game, a 38-21 Dallas Cowboys win at Philadelphia.
Minnesota averages 2.2, ahead of Buffalo at 2.4 and San Francisco at 2.9. A week ago the 49ers were No. 1 on all eight lists we compared; this week they are first on three and no lower than fifth on any.
The Week 8 consensus order
| Consensus | Team | Record | Average rank | Best | Worst | Week 7 consensus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota Vikings | 6-0 | 2.2 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bills | 5-1 | 2.4 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | San Francisco 49ers | 6-1 | 2.9 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | Kansas City Chiefs | 5-1 | 4.7 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| 5 | Chicago Bears | 5-2 | 6.0 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-2 | 6.4 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| 7 | Denver Broncos | 5-2 | 6.6 | 3 | 12 | 6 |
| 8 | Seattle Seahawks | 4-3 | 6.7 | 4 | 11 | 9 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | 4-2 | 9.5 | 5 | 17 | 11 |
| 10 | Detroit Lions | 4-2 | 10.7 | 8 | 13 | 13 |
| 11 | New England Patriots | 4-3 | 10.8 | 8 | 16 | 7 |
| 12 | Cleveland Browns | 5-2 | 12.6 | 8 | 16 | 14 |
| 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-2 | 13.1 | 9 | 16 | 16 |
| T-14 | Green Bay Packers | 4-3 | 14.5 | 12 | 18 | 12 |
| T-14 | Baltimore Ravens | 4-3 | 14.5 | 9 | 21 | 10 |
| 16 | Los Angeles Rams | 3-4 | 15.4 | 12 | 21 | 18 |
| 17 | New York Giants | 4-2-1 | 17.1 | 13 | 22 | 20 |
| 18 | Atlanta Falcons | 3-4 | 17.2 | 10 | 19 | 21 |
| 19 | Carolina Panthers | 3-3 | 18.5 | 16 | 22 | 15 |
| 20 | Las Vegas Raiders | 3-4 | 20.5 | 14 | 25 | 17 |
| 21 | Dallas Cowboys | 3-4 | 21.2 | 20 | 23 | 23 |
| 22 | Houston Texans | 2-5 | 21.8 | 18 | 24 | 19 |
| 23 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-5 | 22.3 | 18 | 26 | 29 |
| 24 | New Orleans Saints | 2-5 | 24.1 | 20 | 27 | 22 |
| 25 | Philadelphia Eagles | 2-5 | 25.2 | 21 | 29 | 24 |
| 26 | Arizona Cardinals | 2-5 | 27.1 | 24 | 30 | 25 |
| 27 | Washington Commanders | 1-4-1 | 27.2 | 24 | 30 | 28 |
| 28 | Indianapolis Colts | 2-5 | 27.8 | 24 | 31 | 27 |
| 29 | New York Jets | 2-5 | 28.0 | 26 | 31 | 26 |
| 30 | Miami Dolphins | 1-5 | 29.1 | 26 | 30 | T-31 |
| 31 | Tennessee Titans | 1-6 | 30.0 | 27 | 32 | 30 |
| 32 | Los Angeles Chargers | 0-6 | 31.9 | 31 | 32 | T-31 |
Records are through Week 7. The Week 7 column is our consensus of eight lists from a week ago, so a few of the analysts differ.
Vikings, Bills or 49ers at No. 1
Prisco, Shook, Cluff and Johrendt moved Minnesota to the top after the 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts left the Vikings as the league’s last unbeaten team. Prisco called the defense run by coordinator Brian Flores “the gold standard right now in the league” but asked whether a team so limited on offense can be considered good: the Vikings rank first in scoring defense and 23rd in scoring offense, and he wrote that Kyler Murray and a passing game 29th in yards per game have to be better. Shook called the Flores unit “unquestionably elite” and wrote that if the offense ever catches up, Minnesota will become a strong Super Bowl favorite.
Florio, Vacchiano and the four-analyst panel put Buffalo first after a bye week in which the teams above the Bills lost. “For the first time ever, a team ascends to No. 1 without playing,” Florio wrote. The Bills are in the top two on nine of the 10 lists. The exception is Davis, who has them ninth even though he noted that their 32.8 points per game are the second most in the Super Bowl era through a head coach’s first six games, for rookie coach Joe Brady. “If they figure out how to stop anyone, look out,” he wrote.
Davis, Schwab and the large panel kept San Francisco at No. 1 after the 29-20 loss at Atlanta. Davis pointed to the injuries, with receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel and defensive end Nick Bosa all inactive, and to an early East Coast kickoff after a Monday night game. “If ever there was a time to give a team a mulligan, especially as it heads into a badly needed bye week, this is it,” he wrote.
Chiefs slip to fourth, Bears climb to fifth
The Kansas City Chiefs fall from second to fourth after the loss at Seattle, ranked between third and seventh. Prisco wrote that they are too limited on offense without a big-play receiver and need to make a move to get Patrick Mahomes help, and Davis noted it was the first game of Mahomes’ career in which he never took a snap in the red zone.
The Chicago Bears are the biggest riser inside the top 10, from eighth to fifth. Davis has them second and Johrendt third. Prisco wrote that Caleb Williams is playing the best football of his career and that the defense has made strides. The Seattle Seahawks, who host the Bears on Monday night, rise from ninth to eighth after shutting down Kansas City; Shook and Davis both have them fourth.
The widest gaps: Cincinnati and Baltimore
The Cincinnati Bengals have the widest range of any team, from fifth to 17th. Shook and Prisco have them fifth after they scored 35 unanswered points in the second half at Baltimore, and Prisco wrote that the second half is how they need to play going forward: “Let Burrow cook.” Davis has them 17th, though he noted that Joe Burrow’s eight touchdown passes over the past two games are more than he threw in the first four weeks combined.
The Baltimore Ravens, who visit Buffalo on Sunday, range from ninth with Schwab to 21st with Davis and drop from 10th to a tie for 14th with the Green Bay Packers. Davis wrote that they have blown a double-digit lead in all three losses and have been outscored by a league-high 70 points after halftime. Prisco wrote that the offense is ordinary without Lamar Jackson, who he expects back this week, but that the defense was awful.
Falcons, Buccaneers and Giants climb
The Atlanta Falcons rise from 21st to 18th after handing San Francisco its first loss, and Davis is far higher on them than anyone, at 10th. He credited rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels, whose fourth-quarter interception of Brock Purdy sealed the upset a week after Daniels was carted off the same field. The other nine lists have Atlanta between 13th and 19th.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the biggest jump in the consensus, from 29th to 23rd, after a 43-13 win at Carolina in Baker Mayfield’s return from a dislocated thumb; they host Atlanta on Sunday. The Carolina Panthers fall from 15th to 19th. The New York Giants, 4-2-1 and in first place in the NFC East after winning at Houston, move from 20th to 17th, which is exactly where eight of the 10 lists have them.
The Los Angeles Rams climb from 18th to 16th after beating the Las Vegas Raiders, though the lists range from 12th with Vacchiano and the large panel to 21st with Shook. The Raiders, who have lost four straight after a 3-0 start, slide from 17th to 20th; Prisco wrote that it might be time for rookie Fernando Mendoza.
The bottom
The Los Angeles Chargers, 0-6 and the league’s only winless team, are 32nd on nine of the 10 lists; only Johrendt has the Tennessee Titans below them. The Miami Dolphins move up to 30th after their first win, 28-25 over the New York Jets, with Shook the highest on them at 26th. The Jets drop from 26th to 29th.
The Philadelphia Eagles, 2-5 after the Monday night loss to Dallas, are 25th, between 21st and 29th. Prisco wrote that injuries have crippled the team and asked whether a fire sale is coming.
Week 8 tests
The Vikings start a four-game stretch that Prisco called quite the string of games: at Detroit on Sunday, then home against Buffalo, at Green Bay and against San Francisco in Mexico. The Bills host Baltimore, the Chiefs visit Denver, the Cleveland Browns visit Pittsburgh with first place in the AFC North at stake, the Bears play at Seattle on Monday night and the Chargers face the Rams. The 49ers, New Orleans Saints, Giants and Houston Texans are on bye, and Carolina opens the week at Green Bay on Thursday.
For the individual lists behind last week’s order, see our Week 7 power rankings consensus.
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