NFL Power Rankings: New Orleans Saints drop in latest release
The New Orleans Saints dropped in the NFL Power Rankings following Week 8.
Heading into Week 8, the New Orleans Saints sat in the second-place spot in the NFL power rankings behind only the New England Patriots.
After routing the Arizona Cardinals 31-9 last Sunday, the New Orleans Saints dropped one spot heading into their bye week. Now, they’ll get healthy and look forward to their Week 10 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
Coming out of their bye week, the San Fransisco 49ers took on the red-hot Carolina Panthers and quickly put them in their place on the way to beating them 51-13. This outing must have shown the NFL analysts just how dominant the 49ers are.
The 49ers are the team who passed the New Orleans Saints in the power rankings.
Are the San Fransisco 49ers really a better team than the New Orleans Saints? The San Fransisco 49ers rank No. 1 in overall defense and No. 1 in passing defense, but the Saints rank No. 12 in rushing defense.
The San Fransisco defense is nothing short of dominant.
However, in the last 7 weeks, they have seen Andy Dalton (0-6), Mason Rudolph (3-4), Baker Mayfield (2-5), Jared Goff (5-3), Case Keenum (1-7), and Kyle Allen (4-3). All of those, with the exception of Goff, are either back-ups or have a terrible losing record.
Can we really say that the 49ers, without a single doubt, have the best defense? Both the Patriots and Saints have defenses that have shown just as much this season.
When it comes to offense, neither team is in the top 5, but the 49ers come in at No. 6 and the Saints at No. 12.
Again, we have to take into consideration the defenses that the 49ers have played. Besides for the Los Angeles Rams (who are No. 11), the best defense they have played is still in the bottom half of the league.
While the 49ers look dominant, the Saints’ strength of schedule thus far has been lightyears harder than that of the 49ers. The true test will come in the second half of the year when the 49ers see Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Jared Goff, and Russell Wilson to end the year.
Can the Saints move back up into the No. 2 spot where they rightfully deserve? Even if they can’t right now, Saints-49ers matchup in Week 14 will certainly set the order straight. That said, the bye week should also prove to be a time of recalibration for the heavily injured Saints offense.
Drew Brees already showed us he is ready to be back to normal. Alvin Kamara should be ready to take the bye week, heal up, and come back to the dominance he was prior to his injury.