Colin Cowherd Ranks the 10 Best NFL Teams After Week 8 – October 29th (Full Video at Bottom of Page)
10. Kansas City Chiefs (5-3): “I actually thought their loss to Aaron Rodgers was really competitive without Patrick Mahomes. Structurally I love them: GM an A, coach an A, playmakers an A, and even defensively where they have their issues, they are fifth in sacks, so they make plays defensively. This organization had a bizarre number of injuries but I think they’re going to be fine in this mess of a division.”
9. Los Angeles Rams (5-3): “Quietly they are very interesting now. Their offensive line is getting healthier and they haven’t surrendered a sack in two weeks. They're fourth in the league in passing yards and this is the deepest receiving corps in the league.”
8. Minnesota Vikings (6-2): “Are they good enough to get to a conference championship? Yes. But I think there is some fool’s gold here. I don’t trust Kirk Cousins in a big spot. They struggled beating the Redskins with a backup quarterback and backup coach. However, they’re third in total offense, third in rushing, they’ve got playmakers on the perimeter, their safeties are great, their corners are good, their linebackers can run, and they get after the quarterback."
7. Baltimore Ravens (5-2): “They’re hard to prepare for in this new collective bargaining agreement where you don’t hit much in practice. The first time you face Baltimore you see how physical of an offense they are. They’re first in the NFL in rushing, and second in total offense. Lamar Jackson may have limitations, but he’s 11-3 in his 14 starts and wins a lot. He’s not going to be great trailing by two touchdowns late, but he can make specific throws with those big tight ends.”
6. Houston Texans (5-3): “I always worry about their offensive line and JJ Watt is out for the year. We tend to bail on the Texans after slow starts because Deshaun Watson is only 4-7 for his career in September, but he's 15-5 in all the other months. They’re an incredibly tough out once they settle into the season. When they’re healthy on the offensive line and have a running game, they’re tough to stop.”
5. Dallas Cowboys (4-3): “Situationally they’re better than you think. Not only do they lead the NFL in total offense, but they’re number one in third down offense. You may bang on Jason Garrett but they lead the NFC in fourth quarter point differential. It’s a team very good on third down and a team who is very good late in games.”
4. Green Packers (7-1): “Their defense is good but it’s not dynamic. They’re middle of the pack in sacks and are very turnover dependent. When good teams don’t give them turnovers, they can sit and get pushed around. I don’t think it’s a great defense, but it is an improved defense and an opportunistic one. That defensive line doesn’t scare you and Matt Moore looked comfortable for three quarters.”
3. New England Patriots (8-0): “You say New England should be number one but here’s what I saw against Cleveland; their offensive line lost a lot of individual battles with the Browns defensive line, and the Patriots D-line lost a lot of battles to Cleveland’s O-line. They’ve played young quarterbacks and KIDS, and I didn’t love their line play this week. They don’t have a dynamic tight end, have no vertical passing game, and Brady has looked flat.”
2. New Orleans Saints (7-1): “They are fourth in third down defense and second in rush defense. The story on this wasn’t Drew Brees or Teddy Bridgewater, it was their defense. This is a really good defense. They stop you on third down, they get you off the field, and then they get the ball back to their running game. You can’t run on them, they get after the quarterback in opportunistic spots, and they get you off the field on third down.”
1. San Francisco 49ers (7-0): “My eyes tell me this is the most dynamic team offensively and defensively. They lead the NFL in rushing and have the highest rushing percentage in the league (57.5%). They're also first in defense, first in pass defense, and are the least penalized team in the league, which is rare for a team that young."
,quality(10),blur(50))