2019 NFL power rankings, Week 9: Eagles rebound, Panthers humbled

Recap: The Browns, off last week, were hoping to avoid a third straight loss when they took on the undefeated New England Patriots in a late afternoon tilt on Sunday. In their first six games, Freddie Kitchens’ squad had turned over the football a disappointing 14 times – 12 of those miscues by quarterback Baker Mayfield. And vs. the Pats, the club wasted no problem picking up when it came to dropping the ball. The Brown committed three turnovers in the first quarter, including a pair of lost fumbles from running back Nick Chubb, and Kitchens’ club played from behind all afternoon. Chubb would run for 131 yards on 20 carries while Mayfield was sacked five times.

Next Week: The Browns are back in Denver for the second straight year and look to make it two straight wins at Denver Mile High City. A season ago, Cleveland snapped an 11-game losing streak in this series via 17-16 Saturday night victory in the Mile High City (Week 15). It’s the third meeting between the teams dating back to 2015.

Playoff hopes: So make it three consecutive setbacks for a Browns’ team with high hopes this year. Still, the one saving grace for this club is the fact that they have only played one game vs. the division to date and it resulted in a victory over the first-place Ravens. But Mayfield and the Cleveland offense have to eliminate the many mistakes.

Recap: Off two straight losses and now closer to the NFC North basement than first place in the division, Matt Nagy’s club was home once again and took on the struggling Chargers. The Bears had gained fewer than 300 total yards in each of their first six games regardless of who was playing quarterback. But it was Chicago’s run defense that had taken some lumps the previous two games. The Bears would wind up squandering a 16-7 third-quarter lead and still had a chance to win late when quarterback Mitch Trubisky put kicker Eddy Pineiro in position for a 41-yard field goal. But the attempt went wide left and the team now finds itself in the divisional basement.

Next Week: A year ago at Soldier Field, Nagy’s team was “doinked” out of the playoffs courtesy of a heartbreaking 16-15 setback to the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild card round. Now, these teams clash in the City of Brotherly Love and the Bears will look to snap a four-game overall losing streak in this series dating back to 2013.

Playoff hopes: Make in three straight losses for the defending NFC North champions, who also dropped to 1-3 at Soldier Field this year. And the Bears have now dropped as many games as they did during all of 2018. The club looks stagnant on offense and the talented Chicago defense just hasn’t shown the bite that it did a season ago.

Next: Nos. 18 and 17