Cowboys, Bills plummet, 49ers rise in Nick Wright's NFL Tiers
The upsets of Week 10 have reverberated through the NFL and sent some teams tumbling down the rankings, according to Nick Wright and his committee on "First Things First." Meanwhile, steady teams who have been chipping away at their competitors are climbing up the ladder.
Where did the previously unbeaten Eagles and Nick's beloved Chiefs land? Let's get into the tiers.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, Kevin Wildes and James Jones reveal Nick's NFL Tiers entering Week 11 in the NFL.
Eliminated: Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos
Wright's thoughts: "Two new ones, the Rams and the Saints. Something interesting about this tier, four of those 10 teams do not have their first-round pick next year. The Browns, the Broncos and the Rams traded a quarterback for it, and the Saints traded it so they could have Chris Olave. Well done, Saints. You’re not going to be in the wilderness forever now, or anything."
Single Elimination: Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals
Wright's thoughts: "Any of these teams lose this week, they become eliminated. Two of them play each other. Chicago and Atlanta play each other. The Cardinals play the Niners on Monday Night Football. The Jags are on a bye, so they’re going to be safe."
Run The Damn Ball!: Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers
Wright's thoughts: "Do what you do best at this point. You can’t trust any of these quarterbacks right now, what they’ve shown us. Even though I like [Taylor] Heinicke more than [Carson] Wentz. By the way, I feel like the committee did give the Packers a lot of respect, because we have them elevated far higher than their actual win-loss record would suggest."
Just Get In: Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks
Wright's thoughts: "These three teams, any of them would be thrilled, they just want to get in the playoffs. It’s sad that the Chargers are on this tier. They had legitimate Super Bowl expectations this season, but they’re incredibly banged up. The Jets — Robert Saleh keeping those receipts. I hope he doesn’t watch this show. And then Seattle’s going to get in because Geno Smith is in the MVP periphery of the conversation."
Occasionally Dominant: Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys
Wright's thoughts: "Sometimes they look great, other times they look like a 6-3 team, which is fine. The Cowboys, sometimes they look amazing. The Titans, it’s like, oh my God, Jeffery Simmons running around the field, Derrick Henry is running for 200 yards, and then the Bills, it’s like, Josh Allen, he hasn’t thrown an incompletion in the last 17 minutes of football. And then sometimes it looks like, oh, anybody can beat them."
NOT The Standings: Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants
Wright's thoughts: "These three teams are a combined 23-4. Good for them. I like them. They’re all good. They are not nearly as good as their record suggests, none of them. And they’re not as good as the six teams ahead of them. I’m happy for these teams. They will all make the playoff, and their fans should be thrilled with what they’ve done thus far."
Legit Scary: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals
Wright's thoughts: "No one wants to face any of these three teams in the playoffs. I have been called a Bucs hater. The committee overruled me on it."
Co-No. 1 Contenders: Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers
Wright's thoughts: "Weapons galore on both of these teams. Miami obviously has the better quarterback. San Francisco has the better defense."
Irritatingly Excellent: Kansas City Chiefs
Wright's thoughts: "Kevin Wildes has gotten me to start perusing the YouTube comments of this show. Do you know what’s a very common motif? ‘I can’t stand Nick. He’s so arrogant when he talks about the Chiefs, and it’s actually made me dislike the Chiefs, and it’s so frustrating because he’s right.’ Oh, it is irritating how excellent they are. Even more irritating when all of a sudden, they turn Kadarius Toney into the player the Giants thought he was going to be. When all of a sudden, is Chris Jones going to win the Defensive Player of the Year? Oh, he might."