My first weekly NFL rankings of the 2026 season are here! Kansas City takes the top spot in my power ratings, followed by San Francisco, Denver, Jacksonville and Las Vegas. With only three games per team, the ratings still have plenty of room to move as the schedules fill out.

I’ll cover Team Offense, Team Defense, Quarterback Ratings and Skill Player Ratings in separate posts. For this weekly overview, I’ve included a quick top five in each category, with skill players separated into running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.

Power Ratings

Kansas City is 3–0 and has outscored its opponents 88–50. It has a power rating of 113.098. San Francisco is also unbeaten, with a 98–50 scoring advantage, and sits second at 110.311.

Denver is the interesting team near the top. The Broncos are third despite being outscored 70–60, with a 2–1 record against the second-toughest schedule in the power ratings. Jacksonville has allowed just 36 points in three games and ranks fourth. Las Vegas rounds out the top five at 3–0.

Rank Team Won Lost Tied PF PA Rating SOS
1 KANSAS CITY 3 0 0 88 50 113.098 102.602
2 SAN FRANCISCO 3 0 0 98 50 110.311 100.909
3 DENVER 2 1 0 60 70 109.953 108.572
4 JACKSONVILLE 2 1 0 82 36 107.941 103.754
5 LAS VEGAS 3 0 0 88 54 106.301 98.387
6 MINNESOTA 3 0 0 71 41 106.049 97.157
7 LA RAMS 1 2 0 61 63 104.677 106.367
8 CHICAGO 2 1 0 89 53 103.521 100.587
9 BUFFALO 3 0 0 101 78 103.453 96.078
10 CLEVELAND 2 1 0 54 71 101.352 100.538
11 DETROIT 2 1 0 93 95 101.184 98.853
12 NEW ORLEANS 1 2 0 81 83 100.900 102.657
13 SEATTLE 2 1 0 75 50 100.853 98.029
14 BALTIMORE 2 1 0 92 78 100.486 98.642
15 NEW ENGLAND 1 2 0 36 51 99.957 102.444
16 MIAMI 0 3 0 36 86 99.920 109.903
17 NY GIANTS 2 1 0 46 55 98.837 96.761
18 CAROLINA 1 2 0 89 83 98.602 99.629
19 PITTSBURGH 2 1 0 53 60 98.537 97.345
20 ARIZONA 1 2 0 63 81 98.130 101.835
21 CINCINNATI 2 1 0 80 63 98.064 95.439
22 INDIANAPOLIS 1 2 0 72 91 97.934 102.098
23 PHILADELPHIA 2 1 0 55 69 97.112 96.012
24 DALLAS 1 2 0 88 82 97.094 98.442
25 WASHINGTON 1 2 0 75 92 96.002 98.353
26 TAMPA BAY 0 3 0 62 79 95.071 101.822
27 LA CHARGERS 0 3 0 44 76 94.342 102.628
28 ATLANTA 1 2 0 51 68 94.014 96.672
29 GREEN BAY 1 2 0 56 91 92.878 97.423
30 HOUSTON 0 3 0 54 75 92.709 99.817
31 NY JETS 1 2 0 64 61 92.205 94.192
32 TENNESSEE 0 3 0 37 59 88.514 96.052

Minnesota and Buffalo are the other unbeaten teams, ranking sixth and ninth. The Rams are seventh despite a 1–2 record; their schedule ranks third toughest so far.

Full power ratings

Elo Ratings Top 10

Seattle leads Elo at 1622.512, followed by Jacksonville, Buffalo, San Francisco and New England. Seattle’s first-place Elo ranking and 13th-place power ranking are the biggest disagreement near the top of these two lists. Remember, Elo ratings are a continuation of the previous season. That’s why Seattle remains at the top. They hadn’t lost since last November before losing to Washington Sunday.

Rank Team Record Elo
1 SEATTLE 2–1 1622.512
2 JACKSONVILLE 2–1 1576.999
3 BUFFALO 3–0 1573.793
4 SAN FRANCISCO 3–0 1569.338
5 NEW ENGLAND 1–2 1562.250
6 LA RAMS 1–2 1560.041
7 DENVER 2–1 1547.681
8 CHICAGO 2–1 1540.796
9 MINNESOTA 3–0 1540.110
10 HOUSTON 0–3 1530.466

Full Elo ratings

Wins Above Average Top 5

Wins above average compares actual wins with the wins a league-average team would be expected to earn against the same opponents. These rankings use the version with home-field advantage included.

Kansas City leads at +1.794, ahead of San Francisco and Denver. An average team would be expected to win just 0.451 games against Denver’s schedule; the Broncos have won two. That puts Denver third here as well as third in power.

Rank Team Wins Expected Wins (HFA) WAA (HFA)
1 KANSAS CITY 3.0 1.206 1.794
2 SAN FRANCISCO 3.0 1.379 1.621
3 DENVER 2.0 0.451 1.549
4 LAS VEGAS 3.0 1.729 1.271
5 MINNESOTA 3.0 1.89 1.11

Full wins above average rankings

Team Offense Top 5

Scoring Average

Buffalo leads in points per game, followed by San Francisco, Detroit, Baltimore and Carolina. Scoring average is total points scored divided by games played, without an opponent adjustment. Carolina and Chicago are tied for fifth.

Rank Team Points Per Game
1 BUF 33.67
2 SF 32.67
3 DET 31.00
4 BAL 30.67
T5 CAR 29.67
T5 CHI 29.67

Adjusted Scoring

Adjusted scoring puts that production in the context of the defenses each team has faced. It measures how much more or less a team scores relative to what its opponents typically allow. A positive offensive rating means scoring above that benchmark; a negative rating means scoring below it. Carolina’s +12.50 represents scoring 12.50 points per game above its opponents’ defensive benchmark, rather than a scoring average of 12.50 points.

Carolina narrowly leads Chicago in adjusted scoring, +12.50 to +12.33. San Francisco is third, while Buffalo and Detroit share a displayed rating of +9.50. These rankings use adjusted scoring, with higher values better.

Rank Team Points Per Game Adjusted Scoring
1 CAR 29.67 +12.50
2 CHI 29.67 +12.33
3 SF 32.67 +10.67
4 BUF 33.67 +9.50
5 DET 31.0 +9.50

Full team offense ratings

Team Defense Top 5

Scoring Average Allowed

Jacksonville leads in fewest points allowed per game, followed by Minnesota. Kansas City, San Francisco and Seattle are tied for third. This is total points allowed divided by games played, with lower averages better.

Rank Team Points Allowed Per Game
1 JAX 12.00
2 MIN 13.67
T3 KC 16.67
T3 SF 16.67
T3 SEA 16.67

Adjusted Scoring

On defense, adjusted scoring measures how far a team holds opponents below their usual scoring output. The sign is reversed from points allowed so that higher ratings are better: positive values mean preventing points relative to the opponents’ scoring benchmark, while negative values mean allowing more. Minnesota’s +14.00 means holding opponents 14.00 points per game below that benchmark. This adjustment gives context to the raw averages by accounting for the offenses each defense has faced.

Minnesota leads the adjusted defense ratings at +14.00. New England and Chicago follow, ahead of Jacksonville and Houston. Jacksonville has allowed fewer points per game than Minnesota, but Minnesota ranks higher after the opponent adjustment. Higher adjusted defensive values are better.

Rank Team Points Allowed Per Game Adjusted Scoring
1 MIN 13.67 +14.00
2 NE 17.0 +9.50
3 CHI 17.67 +9.33
4 JAX 12.0 +7.00
5 HOU 25.0 +4.67

Full team defense ratings

Quarterback Ratings Top 5

Brock Purdy leads my Quarterback Efficiency Ratings (QER) at 99.5, with nine touchdown passes, one interception and 9.5 yards per attempt. Lamar Jackson is second, followed by Jared Goff, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

QER combines passing efficiency and production with a bonus for qualifying rushing performance. The current minimum is 42 pass attempts.

Rank Quarterback Team QER Pass Yards Pass TD INT
1 Brock Purdy SFO 99.5 789 9 1
2 Lamar Jackson BAL 90.5 745 4 1
3 Jared Goff DET 84.5 802 8 0
4 Josh Allen BUF 79.8 786 5 2
5 Patrick Mahomes KAN 76.8 812 7 2

Full quarterback ratings and methodology

Skill Player Ratings Top 5

My Scrimmage Performance Ratings (SPR) compare players within their positions using production, per-game output, efficiency and ball security. Each position gets its own top five.

Jahmyr Gibbs leads the running backs with 463 scrimmage yards and six touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba tops the receivers with 405 yards and six touchdowns, while Travis Kelce leads the tight ends at 78.6 SPR.

Running Backs

Rank Player Team Scrimmage Yards TD SPR
1 Jahmyr Gibbs DET 463 6 94.7
2 Kenneth Walker III KAN 442 4 83.8
3 Bijan Robinson ATL 467 3 80.4
4 Derrick Henry BAL 339 6 74.5
5 James Cook BUF 362 2 63.8

Wide Receivers

Rank Player Team Scrimmage Yards TD SPR
1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba SEA 405 6 95.8
2 Chris Olave NOR 375 1 72.7
3 Davante Adams LAR 358 2 71.4
4 CeeDee Lamb DAL 309 3 70.1
5 Christian Watson GNB 284 4 68.1

Tight Ends

Rank Player Team Scrimmage Yards TD SPR
1 Travis Kelce KAN 231 2 78.6
2 Dalton Kincaid BUF 263 1 74.5
3 George Kittle SFO 174 3 72.5
4 Juwan Johnson NOR 173 3 70.1
5 Trey McBride ARI 211 2 68.3

Full skill player ratings and methodology

Strength of Schedule

Miami has played the toughest schedule according to the SOS column in my power ratings, followed by Denver, the Rams, Jacksonville and New Orleans. The Jets have played the easiest schedule so far, followed by Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Tennessee and Buffalo.

These are schedule ratings for games already played. With three games per team, they can change considerably as we learn more about each opponent.

All of the team and player rankings are available on the 2026 NFL rankings page.