NFL

2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 11

Thanks to their complete domination of the Bengals, the New Orleans Saints rocketed up our power rankings this week. Which teams join them in doing so?

Two weeks ago, the New Orleans Saints were ninth in our power rankings, which rated them as about 3.9 points better than average. The Saints boasted a great offense, but it wasn’t great enough to push them higher in the rankings due to a poor defense.

After a pair of impressive wins, New Orleans has forced itself into the discussion as one of the league’s best teams. Drew Brees and company dealt the Rams their first loss of the season last week, and on Sunday, they demolished the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.

Their 51-14 victory was the most dominant of the week by point differential, Net Expected Points (NEP) per play margin (+0.61) and Success Rate margin (+13.0%; you can read more about NEP and Success Rate in our glossary).

The beatdown moved the Saints to second in our power ratings, which now have them pegged as 8.8 points better than an average team.

The Rams edged out Seattle on Sunday to retain the top spot, and in doing so, increased their nERD from +10.2 to +10.5.