NFL Power Rankings: Cardinals, Bucs, Titans, Packers, Rams

PHOENIX — After our No. 1 and No. 2 teams in our Week 8 Locked On NFL Power Rankings lost in Week 8, we thought we may get some normalcy in Week 9. But, we got the opposite. 

Each of our top four teams in our Week 9 Power Rankings (Rams, Packers, Bills, Cowboys) all lost their games this past week as seven NFL underdogs won their games outright.

That led to quite the shake up in our Power Rankings.

This year, the Locked On Podcast Network and TEGNA sports departments have teamed up to vote weekly to rank all 32 NFL teams in our Locked On/TEGNA NFL Power Rankings. 

Our local Locked On NFL hosts and TEGNA sports journalists ranked their 1-32 power rankings and the voting averages created the official power rankings.

Let’s get on to the rankings.

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Ranking last week: 6
Last week result: 31-17 win over 49ers
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 1/2

The Arizona Cardinals are right back in the No. 1 spot after a week off. They were bounced all the way back to sixth after a tight loss against the Packers. But, they just defeated the 49ers easily without Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and J.J. Watt. Most teams in front of them lost, so this was an easy decision for voters as Arizona grabbed most of the No. 1 votes.

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Ranking last week: 5
Last week result: BYE
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 1/6

The Tampa Bay Bucs were on bye this week but after all the teams in front of them lost, they bounce right back up to the No. 2 spot.

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Ranking last week: 8
Last week result: 28-16 win over Rams
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 2/9

How about this Titans team? They were demolished by the Cardinals in Week 1, lost to the Jets in Week 4, but since then they’ve been dominated. They’ve defeated the Bills, Chiefs, Colts and Rams in four-straight weeks to get to 7-2. They didn’t have Derrick Henry and still were able to crush the Rams.

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Ranking last week: 2
Last week result: 13-7 loss to Chiefs
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 3/7

The Packers made it up to No. 2 last week after they defeated the Cardinals. They fell to the Chiefs with Jordan Love making his first start with Aaron Rodgers in COVID protocol. It’s hard to move the Packers down at all with a close loss without Aaron Rodgers. They drop two spots to four after being jumped by the Cardinals, Bucs and Titans.

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Ranking last week: 1
Last week result: 28-16 loss to Titans
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 1/8

We’ve seen two times this year now from the Rams where they just lay an egg at home and look like they have nothing. That was the deal Sunday against the Titans, whose defense dominated a high-powered Rams offense for much of the game. Los Angeles drops four spots back to No. 5.

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Ranking last week: 7
Last week result: 34-31 win over Vikings
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 3/7

The Baltimore Ravens won a tight game in overtime over the Minnesota Vikings to move to 6-2 on the season. It was a much needed bounce back win after they were crushed by the Bengals at home two weeks prior. 

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Ranking last week: 4
Last week result: 30-16 loss to Broncos
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 5/8

The Dallas Cowboys were pretty inexplicably dominated by the Broncos at home in Dak Prescott’s return, which surprised many. They drop three spots back to seven after they suffered their first loss since Week 1.

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Ranking last week: 3
Last week result: 9-6 loss to Jaguars
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 5/9

Obviously a really bad game from the Bills offense on Sunday in Jacksonville as they lost to one of the NFL’s worst teams. Bad games happen. But, the Bills are suddenly 5-3 with losses in two of their last three.

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Ranking last week: 11
Last week result: 27-24 win over Eagles
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 8/15

The Chargers are back in the top 10 after they moved to 5-3 on the year with a much-needed win over the Eagles on Sunday. They’re up two spots from No. 11.

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Ranking last week: 10
Last week result: 27-25 loss to Falcons
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 9/15

The Saints were down big to the Falcons on Sunday and almost completed a comeback to win the game but came up short as Atlanta won on a game-winning field goal. They stayed at No. 10 in our rankings with a lot going on for teams around them as well. They’re still 5-3 on the year.

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Ranking last week: 13
Last week result: 29-27 win over Bears
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 9/17

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Ranking last week: 15
Last week result: 41-16 win over Bengals
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 6/18

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Ranking last week: 9
Last week result: 23-16 loss to Giants
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 10/18

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Ranking last week: 14
Last week result: 13-7 win over Packers
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 9/19

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Ranking last week: 16
Last week result: 24-6 win over Panthers
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 11/18

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Ranking last week: 12
Last week result: 41-16 loss to Browns
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 10/17

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Ranking last week: 21
Last week result: 30-16 win over Cowboys
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 11/21

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Ranking last week: 18
Last week result: 45-30 win over Jets
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 12/20

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Ranking last week: 17
Last week result: BYE
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 11/19

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Ranking last week: 20
Last week result: 34-31 loss to Ravens
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 19/23

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Ranking last week: 24
Last week result: 27-25 win over Saints
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 20/24

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Ranking last week: 22
Last week result: 24-6 loss to Patriots
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 20.25

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Ranking last week: 19
Last week result: 31-17 loss to Cardinals
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 19/25

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Ranking last week: 23
Last week result: 27-24 loss to Chargers
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 22/28

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Ranking last week: 27
Last week result: 23-16 win over Raiders
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 23/28

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Ranking last week: 25
Last week result: BYE
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 25/28

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Ranking last week: 26
Last week result: 29-27 loss to Steelers
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 23/29

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Ranking last week: 29
Last week result: 9-6 win over Bills
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 25/30

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Ranking last week: 28
Last week result: 45-30 loss to Colts
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 28/30

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Ranking last week: 30
Last week result: 17-9 win over Texans
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 27/31

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Ranking last week: 31
Last week result: BYE
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 30/32

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Ranking last week: 32
Last week result: 17-9 loss to Dolphins
Highest/lowest vote in power rankings poll: 31/21

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