NFL power rankings Week 9: Eagles ascend to top spot after Chiefs' slide

NFL power rankings entering Week 9 of the 2023 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Eagles (2): The NFL's only seven-win team will arguably take its biggest test to date Sunday when division rival Dallas comes calling to Lincoln Financial Field. Defensively, Philly has some issues, surviving a 31-point barrage from Washington for the second time this season. Offensively, you'd like to see QB Jalen Hurts quit dragging his leg around … but at least the Eagles are developing offshoots of the "Tush Push" that spare him. With his record six consecutive games with 125+ receiving yards, WR A.J. Brown is on pace for 1,995 yards.

2. Ravens (4): At 6-2 and leading their division, are they the AFC's best team? Maybe, but they certainly seem to have the conference's best safety tandem in Kyle Hamilton and emergent Geno Stone, who leads the NFL with five INTs.

3. Chiefs (1): At 6-2 and leading their division, are they the AFC's best team? Maybe, but they had several significant streaks end Sunday, including their first loss to Denver since Peyton Manning was the Broncos' quarterback. Kansas City also allowed more than 21 points for the first time this season, and QB Patrick Mahomes failed to generate a TD for the first time in nearly two years.

4. Jaguars (5): At 6-2 and leading their division, are they the AFC's best team? They certainly seem like its most adaptable, Jacksonville's five-game winning streak spanning the length of October in five different stadiums, two in London, with another victory occurring on a Thursday night in New Orleans. Their Week 9 bye is well deserved.

5. 49ers (3): Here's an insane stat about this club. Since HC Kyle Shanahan took over in 2017, San Francisco is 0-37 when trailing by eight or more points in the fourth quarter.

6. Cowboys (7): One weapon we might not talk about enough? K Brandon Aubrey, formerly a professional soccer player who was drafted by the MLS' Toronto FC. Now a 28-year-old NFL rookie, if Aubrey hits his next field goal, he'll set an NFL record for most consecutive makes (19) to start a career.

7. Lions (6): Their fourth consecutive prime-time win, extending to last season's regular-season finale, is their best since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. Monday night's win was Detroit's first under the lights at Ford Field since 2018, and it happened in dominant fashion as the Lions outgained the Raiders by more than 300 yards.

8. Bills (8): Now it's back to Cincinnati for a Sunday nighter, 10 months after S Damar Hamlin's frightening cardiac event on a Monday night ultimately took the starch out of this squad at the end of the 2022 season. Hopefully Week 9 provides a nice forum to celebrate Hamlin's medical saviors and offers some closure for a team that seems to need a lift.

9. Dolphins (9): At 6-2 and leading their division, are they the AFC's best team? They remain the league's most explosive squad, topping the charts in rush yards, pass yards and points – production they hope translates with the European exchange rate Sunday in Germany. Regardless, look for a 16th-ranked defense to trend up if Xavien Howard rejoins fellow CB Jalen Ramsey between the lines soon.

10. Bengals (12): They seem to be back, QB Joe Burrow looking quite spry and highly accurate Sunday as Cincinnati won for the fourth time in its past five games. But speaking of four out of five, the Stripes will face Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville over the next five weeks.

11. Seahawks (14): Look who's atop the NFC West with a 5-2 ledger. The 'Hawks next head to Baltimore to face QB Lamar Jackson and his 17-1 record against NFC teams. However Seattle has freshly obtained DL Leonard Williams and possesses its own weird factoid: Since 2020, the Seahawks' 10-6 record against the AFC is the best among NFC clubs.

12. Steelers (10): No AFC team has gained fewer yards. Only two have surrendered more. Their average drive lasts 5.16 plays, fewest in the league. But Pittsburgh is somehow 4-3 despite losing the first of its three-game homestand and watching battered QB Kenny Pickett fail to finish another game.

13. Browns (11): What's the fastest way to squander the NFL's top-ranked defense? Probably by fielding an offense that turns it over a league-high 17 times.

14. Chargers (21): The juice has returned to the offense, largely thanks to the life that's returned to Austin Ekeler's legs. Sunday night, he became the first running back in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to amass 30 TD receptions with one team.

15. Jets (15): With C Connor McGovern (knee) and G Wes Schweitzer (calf) going down Sunday, New York now has four offensive linemen on injured reserve. Not great for a team that just managed to score its first first-quarter TD all season and is headed back to the prime-time spotlight next Monday night.

16. Rams (13): Congratulations on the baby, Coach. Now let's get Jordan John McVay back to .500.

17. Titans (29): Rookie QB Will Levis is in pretty heady company, joining Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton and former Titans QB Marcus Mariota as the only players to connect for four TD passes in their NFL debuts. Tennessee's 28 points were its most in nearly two years. Time to see if the team and Levis can sustain their momentum going into a three-week road trip.

18. Falcons (16): Congrats to rookie RB Bijan Robinson, who notched his first NFL rushing touchdown Sunday. Now as to why he only got 11 touches in a five-point loss in Nashville? Can't explain it.

19. Buccaneers (18): Much as they're struggling, only one (San Francisco) of their next seven opponents (three in the AFC South) currently has a winning record. Don't expect Tampa Bay to disappear from the NFC South or wild-card races.

20. Saints (20): After averaging 51 yards on three catches Sunday, WR Rashid Shaheed now leads the NFL with 20.8 yards per reception. RB Alvin Kamara owns 18 career regular-season games with both 50 yards rushing and receiving after managing it again in Sunday’s win at Indianapolis.

21. Colts (22): Only one team has scored at least 20 points in its first eight games this season. But bet you wouldn't have guessed it's Indy.

22. Texans (17): Hoping to salvage a .500 season against the NFC South as they conclude a four-game sprint through the division with Sunday's visit from the Bucs.

23. Vikings (19): The most Pyrrhic of victories Sunday at Green Bay, QB Kirk Cousins tearing his Achilles in the latter stages of Minnesota's walkover win. So now what?

24. Raiders (23): Appropriate the Las Vegas Strip has a New York-New York Hotel & Casino with the Giants and Jets paying visits the next two weeks. But will the Silver and Black be checked out after a ghastly loss on Monday night?

25. Broncos (25): Their biggest win in years was appropriately celebrated with Taylor Swift's “Shake It Off” cascading through Empower Field after Denver vanquished Travis Kelce and Kansas City … finally.

26. Giants (27): QB Daniel Jones' return comes just in time, Big Blue hitting the road for the next three weeks in what's probably a last-ditch effort to save the season.

27. Patriots (24): With their leading receiver, WR Kendrick Bourne, tearing his ACL, hard to say where an offense that was going nowhere fast heads from here.

28. Packers (26): They've now lost four of five, failing to score a first-half TD in all of those games while being collectively outscored 73-9 before halftime.

29. Bears (28): Among Chicago's many issues, its 10 sacks are the fewest in the league. The Bears had an NFL-low 20 in 2022.

30. Commanders (30): Pending free agents Chase Young, Montez Sweat and Kendall Fuller are all good players. They're also part of a pass defense that's allowed the most TDs (18) through the air league-wide.

31. Panthers (32): Not only did Sunday provide a breakthrough win, Carolina ended a record 56-game losing streak in games where it trailed in the fourth quarter.

32. Cardinals (31): Is this the week QB Kyler Murray returns? If so, he might have a nifty new target, second-year TE Trey McBride establishing personal bests Sunday with 10 catches for 95 yards.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings: Eagles rise, Chiefs slide in Week 9