week 9 power rankings

ESPN: 10th (11th)

Player who needs to step up: Todd Gurley II, RB

Gurley has yet to have a signature game in 2019, which perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise given the amount of offseason speculation about the health of his left knee and his tempered workload throughout training camp. However, the Rams and Gurley have repeatedly stated that his health is fine, which means it’s time — with eight games remaining in the season — for the Rams to turn up his workload and for Gurley to prove that he still remains a dynamic playmaker who can power his team to a deep playoff run.

NFL.com: 12th (14th)

How about Cooper Kupp? Last year around this time, Kupp was getting his left knee reconstructed on an operating table. Now? He just might be the best of all the Rams’ skill players. He certainly was on Sunday, when he piled up over 200 receiving yards and a touchdown in a win over the Bengals. Right now, he’s my choice for Comeback Player of the Year. The Rams will need Kupp to continue to produce after the disappointing news that Brandin Cooks suffered yet another concussion against the Bengals. That’s now four concussions for Cooks since Super Bowl LII and two in the span of 24 days. This could lead to an extended absence for Cooks, which would be a significant loss for a Rams offense that counts on the speedy wideout to stretch the field.

CBS: 10th (13th)

They have found their offense the past two weeks. Jared Goff has piled up big numbers against two bad defenses.

Yahoo!: 12th (12th)

Cooper Kupp has at least 100 yards in five games this season and had 220 on Sunday. He’s on pace for 116 catches, 1,584 yards and 10 touchdowns. And he’s coming off a torn ACL. Quite an amazing season.

Pro Football Talk: 10th (12th)

They’ll need to play better than they did against the Bengals in London if they hope to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

USA Today: 11th (13th)

Todd Gurley is tracking toward 811 rushing yards (and 997 from scrimmage) projected over 16 games. But don’t worry … nothing’s wrong with him.

SI’s MMQB: 12th (12th)

London games are a crapshoot, so tough to knock the Rams for only winning by 14. Big game from Cooper Kupp (7 receptions, 220 yards, 1 TD) and another steady outing from Jared Goff have the Rams feeling better as they hit the bye.

The Athletic: 11th (14th)

What to make of the Rams as they head into their post-London bye week? Are the defending NFC champs back on track after back-to-back wins, or should we put asterisks beside the last two games because those wins came against the woeful Falcons and Bengals? The only thing we can say for sure is that Cooper Kupp is ridiculous and should be the midseason leader for the NFL’s comeback player of the year award after his impressive return from last year’s torn ACL. He is currently second in the NFL in receiving yards, tied for second-most receiving touchdowns and third with 99 receiving yards per game.

Washington Post: 10th (13th)

Being the NFL’s best third-place team doesn’t completely change the fact that you’re still a third-place team. Beating the Bengals in London keeps things from getting worse for the Rams but shouldn’t convince anyone that they are back on track. At least not yet.