Tom Brady didn’t wait long to shake up his latest NFL top 10.
After an eventful Week 3, the former quarterback unveiled his updated rankings through FOX Sports ahead of Week 4, and the biggest move came at the very top. Brady bumped the San Francisco 49ers from No. 2 to No. 1 after their 3-0 start, while Seattle, which had held the top spot, slid all the way to No. 6 after Washington handed the Seahawks their first loss of the season.
Brady singled out Brock Purdy in the process and made it clear he thinks the 49ers quarterback belongs in the league’s upper tier. “Purdy’s playing as well as anybody; anybody.” He also pointed to Purdy’s accuracy, decision-making, and the way he’s running San Francisco’s offense without negative plays.
The Chiefs also climbed, moving from No. 4 to No. 2 after a 14-point win over Miami, even with Kansas City losing the time-of-possession battle. Buffalo stayed put at No. 3 after another undefeated week, though Brady noted the Bills turned it over five times against the Chargers. Minnesota rounded out the top four, jumping from No. 8 to No. 4 after opening 3-0.
Another eye-catching rise came from the Las Vegas Raiders, who surged from No. 9 to No. 5 after their own 3-0 start. Brady brushed aside any idea that hometown ties played a role and leaned on the record itself. “Undefeated gets you in the top five.”
The full top 10 from Brady followed that same recent-results-first approach, and it didn’t take long for fans to fire back with opinions of their own. Some agreed with the list, while others questioned where certain teams landed.
One fan pointed to Jacksonville and wrote, “So the Jags who have the 2nd best point differential in the NFL just behind the Niners aren’t even a top 10 team? Yeah ok,” while another asked, “Brady has the Raiders tucked in the top 5… but where will they be when the put a beat down on the Chiefs next week?”
Others praised Brady for weighing what’s happened on the field instead of leaning on preseason assumptions. “The only person that does actual power rankings based on the actual games.
Everyone else has their list before the season starts they honor for the most part,” one wrote. Another added, “Really… literally the team with a top-three record since last year is not a top-10 team after destroying both 2-1 Cleveland and the former AFC champs Patriots,” and a fifth said, “Hearing Tom say Purdy should be in the top QB discussions gives me goosebumps.
LFG!!!”
Brady’s latest list made one thing obvious: recent results are driving the conversation.
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Chiefs Suddenly Have A Real Kahlil Benson Decision To Make
Kahlil Bensons rise has given the Chiefs something they did not expect to be weighing this early in the season: a real decision about where he belongs. After joining Kansas City following a successful rookie minicamp tryout, Benson has held down left tackle despite never making a college start there, and the early results have been hard to ignore. The NFL named him AFC offensive rookie of the month after he allowed only seven pressures on 108 pass-blocking snaps through three games.
Now the question is less about whether Benson has earned a role and more about which role best fits the roster as it changes around him. With other players working back from injuries and new additions filtering in, the Chiefs are looking at possible positional shuffles for Benson, a sign that his quick emergence has created both a boost and a puzzle for a team trying to keep its offensive line settled. [Read more 🡒]
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If Powers-Johnson cannot go, the Raiders would likely turn to Caleb Rogers, a 2025 third-round pick, to fill in. Las Vegas also brought in Tyler Linderbaum as a major offseason addition up front, but any change along the interior line is the kind of opening the Chiefs will be paying close attention to in a meeting between unbeaten teams with division implications hanging over every snap. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Trade Suddenly Looks Different With Ex-Corners Thriving In LA
The offseason cornerback swap that sent Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to the Rams already looked like a move worth revisiting, and early returns have only sharpened the conversation. McDuffie has settled in quickly in Los Angeles, making life difficult for opposing quarterbacks by limiting both completions and targets in coverage, while Watson showed enough quality before a shoulder injury sidelined him to suggest the Rams added more than just depth.
For the Chiefs, the story is less about what left the building than what those departures mean in the bigger defensive picture. Los Angeles has been better in pass coverage since adding both corners, and the way McDuffie has translated his game so quickly in a new uniform gives the trade a different feel than it did in the spring. Kansas City can only watch for now, and wait to see whether the long view on the deal matches the short-term results. [Read more 🡒]