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Come Fan with UsWednesday, August 5, 2026

NFL Power Rankings: Broncos take huge jump as defense shines

Sean Payton and co. reach their highest rank of 2024.

Denver Broncos v New Orleans Saints
Denver Broncos v New Orleans Saints
Photo by Gus Stark/Getty Images
James Dator
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.

We’re fast approaching the midpoint of the season and it’s safe to say we have a pretty good idea of where teams are slotting in. There’s a near-perfect bell curve of team records, with nine teams having two or fewer losses, and 11 teams with two or fewer wins — while everyone else is stuck in the middle.

One team that has been stunning this year are the Broncos. At 4-3 it’s not like they’re blowing everyone out of the water, but it’s a much better result than many expected. This is compounded by the fact they simply don’t play like a Sean Payton team, with a premium being placed on defense, while Denver has a barely-good-enough offense to win games.

Here’s now our Power Rankings work: Our group each ranks the team from 1-to-32, with those scores averaged out to get our total number. In the event of ties it goes to the highest consensus pick, i.e. if two people have a team ranked 20th and one ranks them 21st the break goes to putting them at No. 20.

Without further ado, here’s our slate.

NFL Week 8 Power Rankings

Rank

Team

Avg.

Change

1Chiefs1.330
2Lions1.331
3Ravens1.331
4Vikings3-2
5Bills4.661
6Packers4.663
7Texans6.66-2
8Seahawks70
9Commanders7.66-1
10Steelers8.664
11Eagles10.663
12Falcons11.33-2
1349ers11.66-2
14Cowboys12.66-2
15Bears14.663
16Buccaneers15-2
17Broncos15.666
18Cardinals17.331
19Dolphins18.661
20Colts19.335
21Bengals19.330
22Chargers20.33-6
23Jaguars21.333
24Saints23.33-5
25Jets23.66-2
26Giants25-2
27Rams260
28Titans27.661
29Raiders28-1
30Patriots28.331
31Browns30.33-1
32Panthers30.660
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