NFL POWER RANKINGS – WEEK 7

1. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (6-0)

Two of this season’s more surprising teams met on Sunday Night Football in front of a national audience when the Eagles hosted the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles quickly showed the nation why they are undefeated. They possess a smothering defense and a relentless offense. They won the game by 9 points, but it felt like more than that. 

2. BUFFALO BILLS (5-1)

I suppose you could say that Buffalo exacted their revenge from last season’s playoff loss to the Chiefs. They went into Arrowhead and left with a 4-point victory – which is no mean feat. However, if I’m Sean McDermott, I’m telling this team that in order to fully avenge that loss they need to do it in the postseason. If this team stays hungry then I’m not sure if anyone will be able to stop them. 

3. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (5-1)

I probably have the Vikings higher than most people, but I’m on record saying that I believe this team has another level to them. Going into Miami and winning by 8 in 120-degree heat is impressive – Tua or not – but I feel like these guys should be winning games by double digits.

4. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (4-2)

It’s tough to punish the Chiefs for losing such a close game to the Bills, even if they’re only dropping 1 spot. If they had lost to Buffalo on the road then I probably would have kept them at #3, but a home loss is a more punishable offense in my humble opinion.  

5. NEW YORK GIANTS (5-1)

I was waiting for these guys to beat a real quality opponent. They’ve now done that in back-to-back weeks. Not to mention their win at Tennessee looks more impressive than it originally did. They lost at home to Dallas, but I’ll blame recency bias for putting them ahead of the Cowboys. 

6. DALLAS COWBOYS (4-2)

Not a pretty game this week. The defense was forced to defend some short fields due to the offense being cooped up. However, a bevy of Top 10 teams lost, so Dallas only drops 1 spot in these rankings. (Still undefeated on Cooper Rush puns).

7. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (4-2)

This was a great week for the Bolts. They secured an overtime victory over a division rival, and they also saw Kansas City drop a home game to Buffalo. That loss puts the Chargers back into a tie for 1st place in the AFC West. Kansas City still holds the tie breaker, however. 

8. BALTIMORE RAVENS (3-3)

Edgar Allan Poe, the author from whom the Baltimore Ravens nickname was derived, wrote “Never to suffer would never to have been blessed”. That seems apropos for how the past couple seasons have gone for the Ravens – except it feels like the suffering has been outweighing the blessings a little bit. 

 9. CINCINNATI BENGALS (3-3)

Joe Burrow & Ja’Marr Chase’s return to Louisiana was a joyous homecoming. Burrow threw for 30 yards & 3 TD’s with 132 of those yards and 2 of the TD’s to Chase. This helped propel the Bengals to a 30-26 win to get back to .500. 

 10. LOS ANGELES RAMS (3-3)

The Rams won by 14 this week. But they played the Panthers in their first game without Matt Rhule and with PJ Walker at QB, so it’s hard to put a lot of stock in that victory. 

11. NEW YORK JETS (4-2)

There have been a lot of questions about how good this Jets team truly is. After Sunday I’m sure they converted some doubters into believers. A 17-point victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field will do that. 

 12. GREEN BAY PACKERS (3-3)

At this point I think it’s safe to say the Packers are missing Davante Adams just a tad. 

 13. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (3-3)

Tom Brady is 45 years old and still playing at a high level, so I never would have thought there would be questions about his commitment to his team. But after seeing him miss practice after attending Robert Kraft’s wedding, here we are. Chances are the result would have been the same had he been present for practice, but his absence has certainly cast shadows of doubt in the media.

14. TENNESSEE TITANS (3-2)

The Titans were able to sit back and watch some film on their divisional opponents this weekend. It should come in handy when they host Indianapolis this week.  

15. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (3-2-1) 

This was big win for Indy. It looks like the AFC South could end up being somewhat congested, so this was a big victory for tie breaking purposes (should it come to that).  

16. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (3-3)

Were the Niners caught sleeping here with a matchup against Mahomes & the Chiefs looming? Or was this just one of those weeks where Jimmy Garoppolo’s faults were on full display? 

17. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (3-3)

Two weeks ago when the Patriots dropped to 1-3, NFL fans outside of New England breathed a collective sigh of relief believing that the Patriots would finally have to suffer through a bad season. Well… not so fast. 

18. MIAMI DOLPHINS (3-3)

There’s no way the Dolphins would be able to get away with rushing Tua back into action again, is there? I’m sure it’s in the back of their mind at the moment. 

19. ATLANTA FALCONS (3-3)

Here’s one of the bigger surprises of the season. The Falcons, led by QB Marcus Mariota, were able to knock off the 49ers on Sunday to even up their record. They now find themselves tied for 1st in the division with Tampa Bay.

20. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (3-3)

Seattle is tied for the division lead. Who saw that coming? 

21. DENVER BRONCOS (2-4)

These aren’t wild Broncos. They have definitely been broken in. 

22. ARIZONA CARDINALS (2-4)

This was just an ugly, back-breaking loss. It doesn’t matter how late you stayed up playing Call of Duty the night before – there is no excuse for only putting up 9 points against the Seahawks. 

23. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (1-4)

The Raiders need to come out of this bye week as an improved team. Their 1-4 record is bad, but the season is still salvageable. The AFC West isn’t as good as inspected, but the Raiders will be walking a tight rope from here on out. 

24. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (2-4)

The Jags had a glimpse of optimism a few weeks ago, but they’ve now dropped 3 in a row and need to pull the ripcord on this free fall before things get even uglier. 

25. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (2-4)

It’s hard not to feel for the Saints. With better play from the QB position they would probably find themselves in 1st place in the NFC South.  

26. CLEVELAND BROWNS (2-4)

Browns fans will want to forget this weekend as quick as possible. It probably felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone as their defense was sliced up at home by… Bailey Zappe. Yikes.

27. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (2-4)

The Steelers were one of the dogs that were barking on Sunday. They entered the game as 9.5 point underdog against Tampa Bay and won outright. Kenny Pickett left the game with a concussion, and Mitch Trubisky came in and played the hero. Weird way for Pickett to get his first NFL win, huh? 

28. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (2-4)

The Commanders were able to score late to hand the Bears a loss on Thursday Night Football at Soldier Field. This was their lone TD of the evening, but it was enough behind their defense that apparently adopted the “bend but don’t break” mantra for the game.  

29. CHICAGO BEARS (2-4)

It seems like a lot of folks who believed in Justin Fields are now jumping ship. I’m staying put, however. Let me be clear – he could very well end up being a gigantic bust. After all, the sample has not been pretty. But I feel like the sample size isn’t large enough yet to make that determination. 

30. DETROIT LIONS (1-4)

I’m really hoping the Lions used this bye week to spruce things up on the defense. 

31. HOUSTON TEXANS (1-3-1)

The Texans entered their bye with only 1 win, but they have some things to be optimistic about. If they kept a positive attitude throughout this bye week, I think we could see a decent performance from them in Week 7. 

32. CAROLINA PANTHERS (1-5)

This is an NFL team, but the Panthers most important games occur on Saturdays, not Sundays. Every week that Bryce Young finishes healthy should be viewed as a win for the Panthers.