2021 NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Big jumps for first and second ranked teams

A new team has leapt into the top spot in our weekly The Phinsider Power Rankings. With the fall of the Arizona Cardinals, the 1972 Miami Dolphins team can now pop the champagne corks to celebrate remaining the only team in NFL history to complete the Perfect Season. It also pushed Arizona out of the top spot in our rankings, clearing the way for the Dallas Cowboys to leap from eight last week into the top spot. If a team can win with a Cooper Rush, they can win the Super Bowl.

There was also some debate this week about the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints. Both teams should be high on the rankings, but with the respective injuries to Derick Henry and Jameis Winston, what will those teams become? Can they shake off the losses of those players, or will they start to slide?

As you probably know by now, but we explain it every week anyway, our power rankings are not your standard power rankings from around the web. Here on The Phinsider, it is not a matter of looking at last week’s rankings and adjusting teams up or down the list based on their most recent game. Instead, we start with a blank sheet each week, and then draft teams into positions. Josh Houtz and Kevin Nogle alternate the picks, selecting the team that best answers the question, “Who can win the Super Bowl?”

It can lead to some big moves, as they begin to believe in or distrust a team. Maybe there was a reason the team lost, or maybe it was just one bad game but they do not think it is indicative of the team’s overall chances to win. That team may stay still despite a loss. Or maybe they have not trusted a team for much of the season, but the team just continues to find ways to win and they have to finally admit they could win the title. Teams might make a double-digit jump up the rankings. It all depends on how Houtz and Nogle answer that question.

For Week 9, Nogle has the odd selections while Houtz will handle the even picks.

1. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 8)
2. Green Bay Packers (7)
3. Buffalo Bills (4)
4. Arizona Cardinals (1)
5. Los Angeles Rams (3)
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5)
7. Baltimore Ravens (9)
8. Tennessee Titans (2)
9. Las Vegas Raiders (10)
10. New Orleans Saints (12)
11. Los Angeles Chargers (6)
12. Cincinnati Bengals (11)
13. Kansas City Chiefs (13)
14. Pittsburgh Steelers (15)
15. San Francisco 49ers (18)
16. New England Patriots (19)
17. Cleveland Browns (14)
18. Seattle Seahawks (24)
19. Indianapolis Colts (17)
20. Minnesota Vikings (16)
21. Carolina Panthers (25)
22. Denver Broncos (20)
23. Chicago Bears (23)
24. Philadelphia Eagles (27)
25. New York Giants (22)
26. Atlanta Falcons (21)
27. Washington Football Team (26)
28. New York Jets (31)
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (28)
30. Miami Dolphins (29)
31. Houston Texans (30)
32. Detroit Lions (32)