NFL Power Rankings, Week 11: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 10

24. Carolina Panthers (3-7)

How about the Carolina Panthers?  This team has now surpassed their 2023 win total.  They won two games in all of 2023 and have now won their third game of the season and second in a row.  Now yes, they did beat the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, but a win is a win, so this should be an encouraging sign for the Panthers.

What I see with this team is bits and pieces that can contribute to the long-term.  I am not sure they have the franchise QB in the building, but they have some nice, young pieces on offense and some pieces here and there on defense.  I can most definitely see the vision for the Panthers, and General Manager Dan Morgan may be tasked with trying to find a franchise QB in the 2025 NFL Draft.  This is the hardest thing to do in professional sports in the non-player sense.  The Panthers are 24th in our latest power rankings.

23. New England Patriots (3-7)

The New England Patriots kind of blew out the Chicago Bears in Week 10.  I do like what Drake Maye has done thus far.  He’s a rookie, so please do not expect anything special.  Guys like CJ Stroud are the outliers, so Maye was never going to be a CJ Stroud in his rookie season.  The Pats did make the right move in the 2024 NFL Draft by taking Maye, and I really hope they are aggressive this coming offseason in building around him.

New England is most definitely another two seasons away from being a contending team, but they could make some noise next season if de-facto GM Eliot Wolf is able to put some new offensive line pieces around him.  The Patriots also need some more help at wide receiver.

The Pats won in Week 10 and land at the 23rd spot in our latest NFL power rankings.