Saints Among NFL’s Best in This Week’s Power Rankings

Here we’ll look at five major NFL news outlets and their weekly Power Rankings to see where the New Orleans Saints stack up week-to-week. Here’s where ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, Bleacher Report and NFL.com rank the Saints after their Week 9 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

ESPN - #9 (+/-)

The Saints are just the third team in the Super Bowl era to win six straight games immediately following an 0-2 start. That winning streak has led to one of the most significant rises in our rankings, but there's better news for New Orleans: The two other teams to win six straight following an 0-2 start both went on to win the Super Bowl.

CBS - #5 (+2)

They continue to improve on defense, which is a good sign. They face a be-careful game this week in Buffalo.

Yahoo - #4 (+2)

Who would have thought Saints at Rams on Nov. 26 would be a possible NFC championship game preview? The Saints probably suffer from a perception issue because a lot of their wins are against bottom-half NFL teams, but they’re good. The defensive improvement is the biggest reason but the emergence of Alvin Kamara as a true difference maker has been fun too.

Bleacher Report - #3 (+/-)

The New Orleans Saints are one of the best teams in football. The defense has gotten better each and every week, and the offense is able to beat you in a variety of ways. The addition of Alvin Kamara in the draft has added balance to the offense.

Kamara is one of the most special backs in football, both as a runner and a receiver. The Saints can beat you on the ground or through the air.

This is no longer a team that has to rely solely on Drew Brees to win each week. That's big because Brees had a tendency to make mistakes late in games last season while being forced to attempt comebacks. The defense is keeping things close and allowing the offense to stay balanced and avoid mistakes.

Of course, Brees is capable of taking over games with his arm if needed. The fact it isn't always needed makes the Saints a much more dangerous team and a legitimate title contender.

NFL - #5 (+3)

That's six wins in a row, for those scoring at home (or abroad). Maybe it's time for folks (the world!) to notice what the Saints are accomplishing. Your hack writer covered the defense way back in the Week 1 Power Rankings, but even the most ardent proponents of New Orleans' prospects must be a smidge surprised at this performance. Offensively, Alvin Kamara's rookie campaign has been overshadowed by those of Desahun Watson and Kareem Hunt, but the Saintsback was integral to yet another win, providing 16 touches, 152 yards and two touchdowns against the Bucs on Sunday. That's 9.5 yards per touch, man.

Average Power Ranking Composite: #5 (+2)