Power Rankings: Who's the top team in the NFC?
Chris Simms and Tank Williams rank the top-performing teams from the NFC and debate if one squad has shown enough to be dubbed No. 1.
Video Transcript
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CHRIS SIMMS: All right, Tank, we got a good matchup this week on Sunday Night Football.
TANK WILLIAMS: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: I'll be on the pregame show if you want to check me out, all right? Just saying. I mean, shameless plug, all right?
TANK WILLIAMS: You'll be wearing your little gloves.
CHRIS SIMMS: But we got the Packers-49ers, certainly two teams that are the cream of the crop in the NFC. The NFC is deep this year. I mean, really, really talented. And I kind of ranked my top four, OK? And before I even rank my top four, I'm just gonna tell you that I'm leaving the Cowboys and the Vikings out of that top four for right now.
I'm going with the Green Bay Packers as number four. I'm going Seattle Seahawks number three. I'm going the New Orleans Saints number two. And I'm still going with the San Francisco 49ers number one in the NFC. Thoughts?
TANK WILLIAMS: Well, let me just throw mine out, and then we can discuss. I have the 49ers--
CHRIS SIMMS: OK.
TANK WILLIAMS: --number four, the Seattle Seahawks number three, the Green Bay Packers number two, and the New Orleans Saints number one. And I believe the reason why I have the team that's the best in the NFC at number four is because at the same time nothing is proving yet. Like they really haven't done it yet.
I can look at the Green Bay Packers, they have Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback who's already won a Super Bowl. They have a really solid defense where he doesn't have to do it all by himself now. Davante Adams is getting healthy. So I can see that path there.
As long as Russell Wilson is healthy, then the Seahawks have a shot. So that's why they're at number three. And with the Saints, it's the same narrative where Drew Brees has won the championship. They got last year, the pass interference.
CHRIS SIMMS: I get you
TANK WILLIAMS: Oh, we're still struggling with that. And then the Pope tweeted them this year. I almost feel like they're destined to win the Super Bowl.
And so you look at the 49ers, their offensive line is banged up. They dealing with Emmanuel Sanders. George Kittle is banged up as well. Jimmy G's still dealing with the knee. And so I feel like there's a lot of uncertainty.
Even though they were able to know pull out some wins early in the season, they have a tough slate down the stretch. And so it's gonna be interesting to see if they can keep that momentum going.
CHRIS SIMMS: I get you. But, OK, all right, first of all, you're in Crazyville. You're in Crazyville. Drew Brees won the damn Super Bowl 10 years ago.
TANK WILLIAMS: True.
CHRIS SIMMS: Close the yearbook, OK? That's the first thing I'll say to you. Did you already forget that they just got shellacked at home two weeks ago against the Atlanta Falcons?
TANK WILLIAMS: The Falcons are playing decent ball now, though, the past couple of weeks.
CHRIS SIMMS: They are. I get it. They still got shellacked at home by the Atlanta Falcons, so I can't make them number one. What scares me about Green Bay right now a little bit, they don't have great receiver play. It's Davante Adams and that's really it.
TANK WILLIAMS: True.
CHRIS SIMMS: And can they win a shoot--
TANK WILLIAMS: But they can run the ball now.
CHRIS SIMMS: They can run the ball. There's no doubt about that, and I do like that. So that certainly gives them a chance. And again, we're being picky here because the NFC is the real deal Holyfield--
TANK WILLIAMS: For sure.
CHRIS SIMMS: --this year. I mean, you almost can look--
TANK WILLIAMS: And I kind of feel bad for leaving Minnesota out, too, because I understand that Kirk Cousins can be hot and cold. But when he's hot, Adam Thielen's healthy, you have Diggs, and you have Dalvin Cook, who's arguably the best back in the league-- it's between him and Christian McCaffrey-- they can be lethal on offense.
CHRIS SIMMS: I'm with you with Russell Wilson and the magic he can make. I guess my reservation a little with the Seahawks-- and I just want to see a little bit more. Because that game against the San Francisco 49ers, all right, that was the first time their defense really showed up--
TANK WILLIAMS: True.
CHRIS SIMMS: --all year long.
TANK WILLIAMS: Yeah.
CHRIS SIMMS: So I just want to see a little more evidence to go, are they really that defense here going forward or was that just a one-game thing? But ultimately I'm still going with the 49ers. They're the second best defense in football. They're dominant that way. They're gonna get healthy. None of those guys you mentioned are out for the year.
TANK WILLIAMS: True.
CHRIS SIMMS: They're coming back in the next two to three weeks. They do have a tough schedule, you're right. Our only question is Jimmy Garoppolo, and I get that. But he did lead them to a game-winning drive this week. He did lead them to a game-tying drive the week before against the Seattle Seahawks.
Now there were some hiccups in between, and I get all of that. But I'm still gonna put them there. When you only have one loss and it was a overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson, I just feel like I got to give them the respect of still being the cream of the crop in the NFC.
TANK WILLIAMS: But one thing I know for that Niner defense, I believe they're a Mike Tyson uppercut waiting to happen because they're that good along the front line. But you have Dee Ford, who's probably gonna miss a few games, and they have been a little leaky the past three weeks.
And so it's gonna be interesting to see if they can maintain that momentum that they had early in the year, especially when their schedule gets tougher. Because, man, they have to face Aaron Rodgers coming up here this week, and Lamar Jackson is around the corner. We gonna find out--
CHRIS SIMMS: And the Saints.
TANK WILLIAMS: --about that defense real quick-like.
CHRIS SIMMS: You are. You're right. We're gonna know what they're all about.