Top teams to watch before the 2025 NFL trade deadline
USA TODAY Sports’ Joe Rivera and Chris Bumbaka break down the teams to watch ahead of the Nov. 4 NFL trade deadline.
- For the fourth week in a row, a new team took the lead.
- The Bucks were pretty down after an unfortunate showing at Motown on Monday night.
- Where will the league’s only six-win team check in?
NFL power rankings entering Week 8 of the 2025 season (previous rankings in parentheses):
1. Kansas City Chiefs (10): Yes, they are only 4-3. Yes, if the season ended today, which it actually doesn’t, they wouldn’t make the playoffs. Yes, you probably hate this because you have Chiefs fatigue like most of America. sorry. very sorry. Andy Reid’s team just gave the coach the first shutout win of his illustrious career, even as he acknowledges that the parity is currently out of control in the league, where teams that are considered the best often lose to clearly lower-tier feeders. QB Patrick Mahomes appears to be back to MVP-caliber form, and Sunday’s 31-0 win over the Raiders certainly took advantage of the long-awaited return of wide receiver Laci Rice. The next four games, against three 2024 playoff teams and the upstart Colts, will shed even more light. But for now? We are saying that this dynasty is alive and well.
2. Los Angeles Rams (3): Victories in Baltimore and London took more than 10,000 miles round trip, more distance than the Bengals traveled during the entire regular season. The Rams won a combined 52-10 against the Ravens and Jags, both in impressive style, heading into a Week 7 bye and Week 8 bye (Saints) before getting to the crux of the schedule where WR Puka Nacua is expected to be healthy.
3. Indianapolis Colts (5): It’s still fair to denigrate the quality of Tennessee’s schedule next. And it took a special teams blunder for Indy to beat the Broncos in Week 2. That said, no other team has had more than the Colts’ six wins or a +92, 28-point margin of victory. We’ll know more about this team later in the season. For now, let’s appreciate that they’ve already impressively exceeded almost every preseason expectation.
4. Green Bay Packers (2): See who rose to the top of the very premature NFC playoff seedings after the Bucks’ loss on Monday night. Pack will be next in prime time as he prepares to face former QB Aaron Rodgers for the first time since leaving Wisconsin in 2023.
5. Detroit Lions (11): Did you know they have gone a league-high 51 games without a losing streak, their best run since the 2022 season?
6. Seattle Seahawks (4): If they can win the game by 8 points despite being -3 on the turnover front, they will be playing extremely dominant soccer.
7. Denver Broncos (6): Sunday’s historic comeback was truly remarkable. Besides, it shouldn’t be too difficult for a team with this much talent to beat the Giants. Or the Jets.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (8): In effect, trading non-retired DE Brandon Graham for retired DE Za’Darius Smith looks like a real win…even as we wait to see what GM and executive vice president Howie Roseman decides to do ahead of next month’s trade deadline.
9. Buffalo Bills (7): Mafia, it might be a good time to distract Carolina QB2 Andy Dalton and start collecting new charitable donations.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1): It’s not like they had WR Mike Evans in the lineup until recently, but it’s a real shame to lose him to a broken collarbone and concussion on Monday night. I hope he comes back for the playoffs.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (12): Just wait until you see Rodgers take on the puck for the first time. No, seriously, from a distance, or from the upper deck of Acresure Stadium, he would look like he was wearing a wrestling singlet.
12. New England Patriots (13): It’s crazy to think this team won three road games in three weeks, but Tom Brady never got to do that. This feat also requires scheduling habits. Remember, TB12 and current Pats coach Mike Vrabel were on the team that won all road games in 2007. The Drake May Pats have a chance to accomplish that, too.
13. Chicago Bears (14): It’s becoming clear that rookie head coach Ben Johnson is the focal point here, and second-year QB Caleb Williams is just a spoke. The Bears rushed for 367 yards in the two weeks following the bye and produced 15 takeaways during their four-game winning streak.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (9): Now are they going to force rookie WR/CB Travis Hunter to get 14 targets, double the number Brian Thomas Jr. had on Sunday? What is going on here?
15. San Francisco 49ers (16): But the Niners have little choice but to force-feed running back Christian McCaffrey to stay in contention. CMC had never had a 200-yard game before Sunday night’s outburst (he had three games with Carolina earlier in his career).
16. Carolina Panthers (19): With a truly relentless defense, they held two opponents to six points or less…while the remaining five averaged more than 29 points.
17. Dallas Cowboys (22): They rank first in total offense and last in total defense. They score the third-most points per game and concede the third-most points per game. They made a great trade for WR George Pickens and a terrible trade for DE Micah Parsons. Big D’s amazing balance.
18. Atlanta Falcons (20): They have yet to allow 160 net passing yards in a game this season…all good things on a night when you can’t stop a guy like McCaffrey.
19. Commander Washington (15): Considering QB Jaden Daniels and all of his wide receivers are dealing with injuries, there’s a good chance he’ll struggle to throw for 160 net passing yards.
20. Los Angeles Chargers (17): The Bolts have been shaky lately, but don’t blame Orondo Gadsden II. He is only the third rookie tight end in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to record at least 150 receiving yards and a touchdown grab in a game.
21. Minnesota Vikings (21): It’s been a while since a quarterback shredded Brian Flores’ defense like Jalen Hurts did on Sunday. Flores’ next two assignments, Justin Herbert and Jared Goff, definitely caught his eye.
22. Houston Texans (18): They currently trail Indy by three games in the AFC South, but at least they can play their next three games at home…even if they are against three teams with current winning records.
23. Cincinnati Bengals (25): When the winless Jets come to town, expect a good feeling to remain. after that? The schedule suggests QB2 Joe Flacco has a tough task ahead of him if he is to safely hand the baton back to Joe Burrow.
24. New York Giants (23): Sunday’s loss to Denver was a disaster, but let’s not lose sight of how well this young offense performed in the third quarter against arguably the best D-League opponent in the league.
25. Baltimore Ravens (24): QB Lamar Jackson has yet to practice opposite his Week 7 bye. What happens when you press the panic button anyway?
26. Arizona Cardinals (26): They are the third team in history to lose five consecutive games by four points or less.
27. Cleveland Browns (29): They are undefeated in their new all-brown “Alpha Dawg” uniforms, but otherwise undefeated. Use a pencil to number 3 to 14 on each brownie.
28. Las Vegas Raiders (27): Sunday against KC, they scored 31 points and allowed 30 first downs, while the Silver and Black also tallied 30 plays, the fewest in the league this century.
29. New Orleans Saints (28): Congratulations to RB Alvin Kamara, the first player in franchise history to surpass 12,000 yards from scrimmage. How long will he be with this franchise?
30. Tennessee Titans (31): Rookie QB Cam Ward currently leads the NFL in sacks (30), fumbles lost (5) and head coaching appearances (2) in 2025.
31. Miami Dolphins (30): A formidable offensive line gives LB Jordyn Brooks an opportunity to lead the league in tackles — even though he’s already 75 years old.
32. New York Jets (32): The team, which has been sluggish through seven games, has now gone eight straight quarters without a touchdown.
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