10. Las Vegas Raiders, 4-5
The Las Vegas Raiders come in at No. 10 in our power rankings and are a perfect example of how a team looks with a pretty lethal offense but a shaky defense. However, the Raiders might go in a bit of a tailspin, as they traded Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings, so the Raiders will now turn to Fernando Mendoza, the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
This is a major move for Vegas, as they are kickstarting the Mendoza era, but he is a rookie QB making his first starts in the NFL, so it is probably going to look a bit rough at first, but that's also how it typically works.
The Raiders 2026 season was not going to be a playoff one, so this was a wise move to get something for Cousins by the Raiders front office. The team still has some pretty major defensive concerns, but this is still a franchise rather early on in their rebuilding attempt.
9. Cleveland Browns, 5-4
The Cleveland Browns are starting to slip a bit. Now down to 5-4 on the season, the Browns are still hanging around, but it's clear that this is a very flawed team that may have just had a bit of a honeymoon period to kick off the 2026 season.
Cleveland isn't a great team, but they're not a bad team - perhaps firmly in that average tier. Cleveland getting to at least six wins would, at least in my estimation, would be a successful season, but they will have to make some sort of decision at QB, as neither Deshaun Watson nor Shedeur Sanders are viable long-term options.
The Browns 2026 season could be a lot worse, though, so this is a team that has exceeded expectations thus far.
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