NFL Week 11 Power Rankings: C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are on the rise

• Biggest riser: Houston Texans (up nine spots since Week 10)

• Biggest faller: New York Jets (down five spots since Week 10)

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Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

You can find a statistical review of Week 10 here.

NFL Week 10 Power Rankings

1. Kansas City Chiefs (no change)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (no change)
3. San Francisco 49ers (up 1)
4. Baltimore Ravens (down 1)
5. Dallas Cowboys (up 1)
6. Miami Dolphins (up 1)
7. Detroit Lions (up 2)
8. Cincinnati Bengals (down 3)
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (down 1)
10. Cleveland Browns (up 1)
11. Buffalo Bills (down 1)
12. Los Angeles Chargers (up 1)
13. Seattle Seahawks (down 1)
14. Minnesota Vikings (up 3)
15. Indianapolis Colts (up 1)
16. New Orleans Saints (down 1)
17. Houston Texans (up 9)
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (up 2)
19. New York Jets (down 5)
20. Washington Commanders (down 2)
21. Green Bay Packers (down 2)
22. Los Angeles Rams (down 1)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (up 1)
24. Tennessee Titans (down 2)
25. Denver Broncos (no change)
26. Atlanta Falcons (down 3)
27. Las Vegas Raiders (no change)
28. Arizona Cardinals (up 2)
29. Chicago Bears (no change)
30. New England Patriots (down 2)
31. Carolina Panthers (no change)
32. New York Giants (no change)

NFL WEEK 10 TAKEAWAYS

Five teams (Texans, Lions, Browns, Cardinals and Seahawks) won games on a made field goal as time expired, the most on a single day in NFL history.

C.J. Stroud led the Texans to a win over the Bengals, ending Cincinnati's four-game win streak. 

The Lions beat the Chargers in a shootout. The Lions finished first in expected points added (EPA) per play on offense, while the Chargers finished third (0.29). Quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown earned top-10 PFF grades at their respective positions in Week 10. 

The Cowboys pummeled the Giants. Their performances couldn’t have been more different, as the Cowboys finished third in team offense grade (85.7), while the Giants earned the lowest team offense grade (46.9). The Cowboys converted 41% of their plays into a new set of downs or a score, the highest rate of Week 10.

Kyler Murray returned from injury to secure the Cardinals' second win of the season. The Cardinals earned their second-highest team offense grade (71.0) and their best team defense grade (69.7) of the year. Granted, it was against the Falcons, but a win is a win.

The Bills struggled against the Broncos on Monday night, generating a season-low -0.14 EPA per play in a performance that ultimately cost offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey his job. According to PFF Greenline, the Bills have a 34% chance of making the playoffs as things stand.

Biggest Riser: Houston Texans

C.J. Stroud and the Texans have been on a hot streak over the past two weeks. Since Week 9, they've generated 0.171 EPA per play, fifth among the league's offenses, while their 7.9 yards per play ranks second to only the Lions. Stroud's 90.5 passing grade ranks second to only Brock Purdy‘s 90.8 over the last two weeks.

According to PFF Greenline, Houston has the second-easiest schedule remaining, setting them up for success.

Biggest Faller: New York Jets

The Jets defense is once again dominating opposing offenses, but the offense has struggled. This was far too apparent in their Sunday night loss, as they failed to score a touchdown for the second consecutive game despite facing the Las Vegas Raiders‘ bottom-tier defense.

Zach Wilson has a lowly 56.9 passing grade on the season, and he is certainly not being helped by an offensive line that has earned a bottom-three pass-blocking grade.

WAR Lost to Injuries

Notable injuries this week include Steelers linebacker Kwon Alexander, Ravens offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Giants tackle Andrew Thomas and defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux and Bengals edge defender Trey Hendrickson.

Late-Down Decision-Making

The Lions continue to be aggressive on late downs. They punted only once and converted four of their five fourth downs against the Chargers. Detroit ranked first in team offense grade (88.4) and second in EPA per play (0.67) on late downs in Week 10. They were even aggressive when maybe they shouldn't have been.

The Panthers converted all three of their fourth-down attempts in Week 10. They’ve gone for it 21 times through Week 10 (26.3% of fourth downs) and have been successful on almost half of them. It’s pretty aggressive for a team that ranks 31st in team offense grade.

Game Finishers

The Jaguars failed to convert any of their five second-half drives to points against the 49ers. This hasn’t happened all season.

For the fourth time this season, the Giants converted none of their first-half drives to points. Through Week 9, they’ve converted only 15.8% of their first-half drives into points, the lowest rate in the league. The Giants also generated the lowest team offense grade (39.1) and EPA per play (-0.63) of the week over the first half.

The Trenches

The Bengals offensive line allowed pressure on 44.7% of their pass-blocking snaps, the third-highest pressure rate of Week 10. Through Week 9, they allowed a pressure rate of 28.2%.

The Lions offensive line continues to be the gold standard. This season, they have allowed pressure on just 23.2% of their pass-blocking snaps and rank first among teams in pass-blocking grade and run-blocking grade.

Defensive Success

This week's defensive highlight was Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton’s pick-six in the first quarter against the Browns. The Browns allowed six sacks against the Ravens, the most they’ve allowed all season.

The Raiders had the highest pass-rush win rate (63.8%) and highest pass-rush grade (84.3) of Week 10.

The Patriots had the lowest pass-rush win rate this week (19.4%). Through Week 9, they were 30th in pass-rush win rate at 34.7% and 30th in pass-rush grade at 61.0. 

The Texans earned their best pass-rush grade this season (80.4). Tackle Sheldon Rankins earned the highest PFF grade of the week (93.8).

Perfectly Covering Plays

We finally have a new leader in terms of perfectly covering plays on defense, with the Indianapolis Colts taking first place through 10 weeks. The 49ers move further away from everyone, though, and they are coming off the best performance of the season from a perfectly covered play perspective.

In Week 10, the Jaguars perfectly covered only 7% of the 49ers' dropbacks, the lowest mark of any defense in 2023.

Sustaining Drives on Offense

We finally have a new leader in terms of three-and-out rate on offense, with the Giants taking the throne from the Steelers.

The Jaguars could potentially be in trouble, as they rank fifth in the percentage of drives that go three-and-out. While three-and-out rate isn’t fully indicative of how good or bad an offense is, it’s still not a metric you want to be near the top of.