The number of unbeaten teams is now down to two, the Patriots and the 49ers. What do they each have in common? Both possess very stingy defenses.
New England is allowing 223.1 yards per game.
San Francisco is allowing 223.5 yards per game.
The Patriots, in fact, are on pace to field one of the best units in history.
But let's be honest here. Neither team has really faced a potent offense. The Patriots' toughest test so far was a 16-10 win on the road over AFC East rival Buffalo.
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That should change, and soon. San Francisco hosts the Panthers on Sunday and the Patriots host the underachieving Browns and then have to go on the road for a showdown against the Ravens on Nov. 3.
So, without further ado, it's time for the Week 8 edition of my Wildly Important NFL Power Rankings. Enjoy.
| 1. Patriots (7-0) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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How good is the Patriots defense right now? Through seven games they are statistically better than the 1985 Bears and 2000 Ravens. | 1 |
| 2. Saints (6-1) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They beat the Bears in Chicago and keep rolling with Bridgewater. Think what they’ll be like with Brees back in the saddle. | 2 |
| 3. 49ers (6-0) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Think they should be No. 2 here? Maybe, but they haven’t played anybody yet. Let’s see how they do against the Panthers. | 3 |
| 4. Packers (6-1) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They took care of the Raiders, and now face the Chiefs. This game looked so much more enticing a couple of weeks ago. | 4 |
| 5. Bills (5-1) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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It got a little dicey against the winless Dolphins, but they keep on rolling. Remember, they’re the one team to really challenge the Patriots so far. | 6 |
| 6. Ravens (5-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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To go up to Seattle and beat the Seahawks there is very impressive. They’re my kind of team – they can run and play defense. | 11 |
| 7. Vikings (5-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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This offense is starting to click and I think they’re going to emerge as one of the top three teams in the NFC when it’s all said and done. | 8 |
| 8. Seahawks (5-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They’re coming off a rare home loss and traveling across the country to face the Falcons. Despite all of that, something tells me they’ll be ready. | 5 |
| 9. Chiefs (5-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Can Matt Moore drive the Chiefs bus until Patrick Mahomes returns? So far he’s keeping it on the road. | 10 |
| 10. Panthers (4-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They’ve had a week off to prepare for the unbeaten 49ers. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Christian McCaffrey, too. I think they’ll pull off the upset. | 7 |
| 11. Cowboys (4-3) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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When they’re healthy they can play with and beat any team in the league. They head into their bye week looking to do just that – heal. | 14 |
| 12. Rams (4-3) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They snapped their three-game skid with a win over the Falcons. Now they’ll face the winless Bengals before heading into their bye week. Yawn. | 12 |
| 13. Colts (4-2) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Jacoby Brissett outdueled Deshaun Watson and the Colts are sitting atop the AFC South now. | 17 |
| 14. Texans (4-3) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They drop a few spots and will look to get back on track against the Raiders. | 9 |
| 15. Lions (2-3-1) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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With losses to division rivals Green Bay and Minnesota, maybe they aren’t quite there yet. | 13 |
| 16. Eagles (3-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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That crunching sound you hear is Doug Pederson eating his words after his failed guarantee against the Cowboys. Early turnovers doomed them. | 16 |
| 17. Raiders (3-3) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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The offense put up 24 against the Packers at Lambeau but the defense surrendered 42. Not great, Bob. | 15 |
| 18. Bears (3-3) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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I know they’re not thrilled with Trubisky these days but they’ve got to get the running game going, too. | 18 |
| 19. Jaguars (3-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Back-to-back games against the Bengals (a win) and Jets should help before their showdown against the rival Texans on Nov. 3. | 23 |
| 20. Titans (3-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Welcome back, Ryan Tannehill. The one-time Dolphins QB makes the most of his first start in Tennessee and the offense, well, scored more points. | 25 |
| 21. Cardinals (3-3-1) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Chase Edmonds, not Saquon Barkley, was the better running back (at least on this day) as the Cardinals have now won two straight. | 19 |
| 22. Steelers (2-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They’re coming off their bye week and get the Dolphins at home. Not too shabby. | 20 |
| 23. Browns (2-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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It’s been a disappointing season thus far but knocking off the Patriots in Foxborough could be just want the Browns need to turn it all around. OK, I'm daydreaming. | 21 |
| 24. Giants (2-5) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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The offense isn’t really the problem for Big Blue, although it wasn’t especially pretty vs. the Cardinals, either. | 24 |
| 25. Buccaneers (2-4) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Jason Pierre-Paul is back practicing but can they get Jameis Winston to cut down on the mistakes? | 26 |
| 26. Broncos (2-5) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They could only muster six points against the Chiefs. Now they’re heading to Indy against an even better team. | 22 |
| 27. Chargers (2-5) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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This team continues to find creative (and mind-boggling) ways to lose close games. Unreal. | 27 |
| 28. Jets (1-5) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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That 33-0 shellacking by the Patriots all but wiped out any memory of that feel-good win over the Cowboys a couple of weeks ago. | 28 |
| 29. Falcons (1-6) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Matt Ryan suffers an ankle injury. I keep waiting for the Falcons team I expected to see in August to show up. So is the rest of Atlanta. | 29 |
| 30. Redskins (1-6) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Even with poor weather conditions and a terrible field conditions they couldn’t find a way to knock off the unbeaten 49ers. | 30 |
| 31. Bengals (0-7) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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They haven’t won a game since Marvin Lewis was still the head coach. That seems like such a long time ago. | 31 |
| 32. Dolphins (0-6) | TABEEK'S TAKE | PREVIOUS |
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Call me crazy but I think they have a chance to pick up their first win of the year on Sunday. | 32 |
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