NFL Power Rankings Week 8
Get ready to hear it a lot over the next two weeks:
“…needs to be addressed at the trade deadline.”
“…should be looking to make a move before next week’s trade deadline.”
“…are in the market for something at the trade deadline.”
The 2025 NFL trade deadline is at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. That is just two weeks from now. And over the next two weeks you’re going to hear every media bobblehead in the country tossing around wild-eyed trade scenarios.
Well, don’t get your hopes up. Because almost none of it is going to happen.
In-season trades are rare in the NFL. And impactful in-season swaps are even rarer. Outside of 2022’s Christian McCaffrey trade, which sent the running back from Carolina to San Francisco, I’m hard-pressed to think of another move from the past two decades that really altered the balance of power in any particular season.
Just look at last year. Did Amari Cooper do anything for the Bills after that “major” deadline deal? Did Davante Adams change anything about the Jets’ season? Marshon Lattimore was moved to the Commanders, and then only played two regular season games.
If you are waiting for your favorite team to make some blockbuster deal to alter their fortunes, you shouldn’t hold your breath. Playbooks and schemes are so varied and complicated that it is almost impossible for guys to get up to speed when shipped to a new organization. There is also the matter of chemistry and cohesion, and a player dropped in the middle of a locker room is likely going to need some time to adapt.
Add it all up and the trade deadline talk we’re going to be subjected to over the next two weeks will serve as nothing but the latest distraction from the Football-Entertainment Complex. Don’t let it mislead you. Keep your focus on what you’re seeing on the field and on the betting boards and let that guide your gambling.
Doc’s Sports offers NFL expert picks for every game on our NFL predictions page.
Here is Doc’s Sports NFL Power Rankings:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) – Let’s not treat Rashee Rice’s return as some kind of heart-warming tale. The guy is lucky he isn’t still in jail and even luckier that he didn’t kill anyone in the accident that he caused (and then fled). I think the attention that comes from playing on Monday Night Football is enough to keep Kansas City from looking ahead to next week’s trip to Buffalo.
2. Detroit Lions (5-2) – The look ahead line on next week’s game against Minnesota is 4.5. If you like the Lions I would bet that now. If the Vikings win on Thursday at Los Angeles I think that number will move to 6.5. If the Vikings lose I think Detroit will be -7.5 when they return from their bye next week. The Lions are 40-15 against the spread in their last 55 home games.
3. Buffalo Bills (4-2) – The Bills are getting defensive linemen Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi back from suspension this week to bolster their flimsy front four. Buffalo is also close to getting first round pick Maxwell Hairston in the fold as well, as his 21-day window to return has been opened. The Bills are 22-6 straight up in their last 28 games against NFC opponents.
4. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) – All anyone has done is rag on Philadelphia’s offense. However, they are by far the best red zone offense in the NFL, scoring a touchdown on an absurd 82.4 percent of their drives this season. I think the Eagles are going to be focused and motivated to get some revenge this week after their embarrassing Thursday night loss two weeks ago.
5. Los Angeles Rams (5-2) – There are six teams currently tied for the best record in the NFC at 5-2. Three of them are in the NFC West. The four teams in the West are a combined 13-7 SU against teams from the other divisions, with the Rams leading the way at 5-1 against non-divisional foes.
6. Green Bay Packers (4-1-1) – The Packers have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. Handling all the outside noise about this week’s game against the Steelers – Aaron Rodgers’ first game against his former team – will be a tough test for this group. How they handle it will tell me a lot about how prepared this team is to be a factor in the NFC and whether they are making strides toward being a championship-caliber squad.
7. Indianapolis Colts (6-1) – Indy’s offense looks unstoppable. But their 9.8 yards per point over the last three weeks is completely unsustainable. The Colts are 5-0 SU and ATS in their last five games against the Titans but NFL favorites of 14.0 or more are 0-2 ATS this season.
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) – The injuries were bound to catch up to this team at some point. Tampa Bay is still 16-6 ATS in its last 22 games on the road and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 away from home. Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last five games in New Orleans but just 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall against the Saints.
9. San Francisco 49ers (5-2) – Kyle Shanahan has to be the runaway for NFL Coach of the Year and Robert Saleh has to be the frontrunner for Assistant Coach of the Year. What these guys are doing despite a tornado of injuries is amazing. San Francisco is 3-1 SU and ATS on the road this season, including wins against the Rams and Seahawks (two teams better than this week’s opponent, Houston).
10. Seattle Seahawks (5-2) – “Win on Monday, lose on Sunday,” is a mantra I’ve followed in the NFL for decades. However, Seattle’s well-timed bye week should eliminate any potential letdown from their clinical win over Houston. They will be back in primetime next week at Washington on Sunday Night Football.
11. New England Patriots (5-2) – The Patriots are the third-most penalized team in the NFL so far this season. That is going to catch up to this group when they start playing better competition. Remember: outside of Buffalo, New England’s four other wins have come against teams that are a combined 8-20 SU this season. The ‘under’ is 11-3 when New England is posted as a favorite.
12. Denver Broncos (4-3) – Look man: these guys have not been good. I don’t care that they have won four in a row. They were down 17-3 before their wild fourth quarter comeback against the Eagles, they could’ve lost to the pathetic Jets, and they should’ve lost to the putrid Giants. The Broncos are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games and this team is just not as good as people think it is.
13. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) – I have no idea how the Chargers offensive line is going to hold up against Minnesota’s aggressive blitzing defense. The Chargers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games but they have been good on short rest, going 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Thursday night games.
14. Atlanta Falcons (3-3) – The Falcons are averaging 22.7 points per game this season at home and just 10.7 per game on the road. Despite their shaky play and poor record, Atlanta is one of the few teams in the NFL that are in the Top 10 in both total offense (No. 7) and total defense (No. 2). They are also the least-penalized team in the league.
15. Houston Texans (2-4) – Two near-safeties, two goal line failures, and two personal fouls – one that extended a touchdown drive and one that basically ended the game – were just the tip of the idiot iceberg for Houston on Monday. Houston is 9-2 SU as a favorite and 14-6 SU in its last 20 games at home. They are just 2-13 SU against teams from the NFC West and 5-19 SU against any NFC opponent.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) – We said it last week: these guys aren’t as good as their record. And the main reason is that for the first time in a long time the Steelers defense is soft as hell. They can’t stop the run, they get pushed around at the point of attack, and they aren’t getting after the quarterback. Pittsburgh is No. 28 in total defense and No. 31 against the pass.
17. Baltimore Ravens (1-5) – The spread in the Bears-Ravens game suggests that Lamar Jackson will be back. However, Jackson hasn’t practiced yet this week and his status is very much up in the air. Since 2018, Baltimore is 74-32 (.698) with Jackson as its starting quarterback, averaging 28.1 points. Without him they are 4-12 (.250), averaging 15.4 per game.
18. Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1) – The Cowboys have now gone ‘over’ in four straight games and, frankly, I don’t how they aren’t a blind ‘over’ play. The look ahead total on the Dallas-Denver game was 44.5. Now that total is at 50.0 and I expect it to be even higher by kickoff.
19. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3) – The Jaguars are the most penalized team in football. They somehow have the No. 2 turnover differential and that’s the only thing that’s keeping them out of the bottom 10 in these rankings. These guys have a lot of things they need to clean up during their week off.
20. Chicago Bears (4-2) – This team is playing better and pointed in the right direction. But they’ve been beating bad teams, and barely doing it at that. Chicago is 6-23 SU in its last 29 road games and has lost 10 of its last 14 games against AFC opponents.
21. Minnesota Vikings (3-3) – This team is impossible to bet on or against. They have an excellent defense and amazing skill position players. But the Vikings have one of the three worst quarterback situations in the league. Those back-to-back interceptions from Carson Wentz – along with the pass he airmailed in the end zone on the following drive – are exactly why this guy should not be starting in the NFL.
22. Washington Commanders (3-3) – I’m sure that there are some analytics dorks that would say that the sophomore slump isn’t real. Jayden Daniels’ MRI showed that he doesn’t have a serious hamstring injury. However, he’s not playing this week. It will be Marcus Mariota time on Monday in Kansas City.
23. Arizona Cardinals (2-5) – All seven Cardinal games this year have been decided by seven points or less. Arizona has lost five straight, but those five L’s have come by a combined 13 points.
24. Cleveland Browns (2-5) – The Browns are still just 3-10 ATS in their last 13 games and 7-19 ATS in their last 26. They haven’t covered the spread in back-to-back games since a run of four straight at the end of the 2023 season (28 games).
25. Carolina Panthers (4-3) – Bryce Young has a high ankle sprain and will miss this week’s game against the Bills. I actually think the Panthers offense might be a little better with Andy Dalton at the helm, assuming that he can limit the turnovers (which he likely can’t). Carolina is 11-4 ATS in its last 15 games overall.
26. Cincinnati Bengals (3-4) – I’m always wary of a team that goes from being an underdog of a touchdown or more one week to a favorite of a touchdown or more the following week. The Bengals are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games as a favorite and 11-2 straight up in their last 13 in that role.
27. New Orleans Saints (1-6) – I had been a bit impressed with Spencer Rattler through the first two months of the season. But last Sunday was a disaster. Rattler has to run more. He had also done a good job taking care of the ball, throwing just one interception through six games, before he imploded for three INTs last week. The Saints are just 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog.
28. Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) – The bye week really came at the perfect time for this group. They did not look like an NFL-caliber team in Arrowhead last week.
29. New York Giants (2-5) – According to Next Gen Stats, the Giants had a 99.3 percent win probability when they led 26-8 with six minutes left. NFL teams had been 1,602-0 when leading by 18 or more points with six minutes or less remaining. The depths of humiliation for New York football right now are unlimited.
30. Miami Dolphins (1-6) – I will be stunned if the Dolphins don’t allow at least 250 rushing yards to Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier this week in Atlanta.
31. Tennessee Titans (1-6) – The lack of coaching leadership is going to be exacerbated by going on the road this week. College football teams are 6-0 ATS this season the week after firing their head coach. The Titans couldn’t keep that streak going last week and Tennessee is now a pathetic 4-19 ATS in their last 23 games.
32. New York Jets (0-7) – When Justin Fields had to leave the game in the first half to be evaluated for a concussion, Tyrod Taylor came in and looked sharp for three snaps. That right there is when Aaron Glenn should’ve made the change to Taylor. New York is now 4-18 SU in their last 22 games.
Robert Ferringo has posted seven of 10 winning football seasons, including last year thanks to an astounding +10,660 football run last season. Robert banked nearly +40,000 in profit between 2010-2019 for a 10-year average profit of nearly +4,000. He has earned 11 of 16 overall winning years and 69 of 114 winning months while also going 23-9 with his football futures rated 5.0+ and earning 16 of 19 winning Super Bowls. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and he is set for another amazing football season.
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