NFL Power Rankings after Week 7: Lions back on top, Chiefs right behind, Bills drop out of top five

For the third straight week the No. 1 team in our NFL Power Rankings goes down and for the the fifth straight week we have a new No. 1. The only thing I can guarantee is that next week our top team in the Rankings won’t fall, because they are on a BYE week. Aside from that I’m not promising anything, because the NFL season has proven to be about as unpredictable as a Miami Dolphins players only meeting. The Colts have the best record in the league? The Patriots are leading the AFC East? The Panthers are above .500? Nothing seems right, so here we are to try and make sense of the nonsensical.

These are our Power Rankings after Week 7.

1) Detroit Lions (5-2), last week 2

The Lions bounced back after their loss to the Chiefs like they always bounce back after a loss. Sure Jahmyr Gibbs was fantastic, rushing for 136 yards with an additional 82 yards receiving, but make no mistake Monday night was all about Detroit’s D. Without a single Week 1 starter in the secondary they shut down one of the best offenses in the league and made sure not to give Baker a chance to lead the Bucs to a late game saving drive. Talk about the offense all you want, but nothing is going to make Dan Campbell happier than seeing his second and third string step up like they did on Monday night.

2) Indianapolis Colts (6-1), last week 3

The Colts went into Los Angeles as the underdog against a Chargers team that had been struggling over the few three weeks. I’m assuming this will be the last time the odds makers underestimate Indy until someone derails this freight train that is now our second ranked team. Johnathan Taylor had his third 3 TD game of the season and continues to lead the league in rushing yards and TDs by a country mile, with 10 TDs and 697 yards. Indiana Jones continues to play flawless football, and this starless defense knows they don’t have to win games, they just can’t lose them and so far that’s exactly what they are doing.

3) Kansas City Chiefs (4-3), last week 4

Everyone went into the Chiefs-Raiders game remembering how tough the Raiders have played KC over the last few games. Mahomes and Andy Reid remembered as well, and they made a point of shutting the door on Vegas in the first half. Rashee Rice is back, Worthy is back and Patrick Mahomes is looking like the MVP of the league. We wondered what this team would look like when healthy, and the answer is they look like the Chiefs of a couple years ago. They look like the Chiefs that might be the favorites to win the Super Bowl. And they look like a Chiefs team that is only going to get better as the season progresses. Dynasty done? Keep dreaming.

4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2), last week 1

First I’d like to apologize to the Bucs for putting them at the top of the Rankings last week. There is a growing trend with our No. 1 teams losing as soon as they reach the top spot, but I humbly can’t take all the blame. The Bucs non existent run game with Bucky Irving sideline had a little more to do with it. So did the fact that Baker Mayfield couldn’t figure out how to move the ball down the field against the Detroit defense. They had less than 40 yards in the first 29 minutes of the game, and even when they started picking up some first downs, they couldn’t turn those drives into points against the Lions D. It’s not time to panic after a loss to a good team, but it is time to respond and show what this team is made of.

5) Philadelphia Eagles (5-2), last week 5

It happened last year when the Eagles were on the brink of crisis mode, and history repeated itself on Sunday. After two straight losses, Philly was on the verge of erupting but Jalen Hurts and the passing game woke up from a six week slumber and as DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown finally got a chance to make an impact. Smith had 183 yards and a TD, and Brown had 121 with two TDs, but that still wasn’t enough to put the Vikings away until late. This team isn’t going to hit stride until we see Saquon recapture even a fraction of last year’s form. He has yet to rush for 100 yards this season, and that’s a big reason all of Philly’s wins have come in one possession games.

6) Buffalo Bills (4-2), last week 6

BYE

7) Seattle Seahawks (5-2), last week 8

With the Seahawks defense rolling like they are, it’s going to be nearly impossible to beat them if Sam Darnold and the offense build up a little lead in the first couple quarters of the game. That’s what happened in the late Monday Night kickoff against the Texans. If the Bucs and the Niners are going to be in the conversation for best team in the NFC, then the Seahawks need to be in that conversation too. Darnold is a better QB, and more settled in the offense than he was in the Week 1 loss to the Niners, and the defense is leaps and bounds better than the unit that gave up 38 points to the Bucs three weeks ago.

8) Los Angeles Rams (5-2), last week 9

No Puka, no problem. That was at least the case for Matt Stafford who hit 8 different receivers in the first few drives of the game. He would end up tossing five TDs, three to Davante Adams, and the defense pitched a near perfect game in London. Those aren’t easy games to play, and that’s not a short trip, but LA made Wembley look like their back yard. This team could be 7-0 had a few things gone a little differently at their end of their two losses. They should be getting Puka Nacua back soon, and this Rams team has proven to be worthy of being considered one of the top teams in the NFC.

9) San Francisco 49ers (5-2), last week 17

A depleted defense, Brock Purdy still sidelined with turf toe and George Kittle back, but without a catch in his return. No need to fear Niners fans. Sunday night showed that a healthy Christian McCaffrey can carry even the most injury plagued team. He had 201 total yards and 2 TDs in his first game of the year with 100+ rushing yards. The Niners needed every one of those yards, as Mac Jones struggled against the Falcons sturdy defense. More importantly, the defense that lost Fred Warner and Joey Bosa in back to back weeks held strong, allowing just 10 points to the Falcons on Sunday night. Can we start to give a little credit to Kyle Shannahan who gets his guys ready to fight and compete every week no matter if he has to put the hot dog vendors at Levi’s Stadium in at linebacker a few games.

10) New England Patriots (5-2), last week 13

Mike Vrable going back to Tennessee in a long awaited revenge game against his former employer. It was close for the first two quarters, but as Vrable would have it, it was the defense that made the game changing play mid way through the third quarter. K’Lavon Chaisson took a Cam Ward fumble to the house to close out the Titans, but even before that Drake Maye had the offense rolling, and the running game went for nearly 200 yards. That’s four straight for the Pats and the thing that is going to make coach Vrable the happiest is his defense which hasn’t given up more than 20 points in any of those four straight wins.

11) Green Bay Packers (4-1-1), last week 11

The Pack are the only remaining one team loss in the NFC, but there is something about this team that makes me not want to believe. It shouldn’t look this hard for a squad with this much talent. After losing to the Browns, and then tying to the Cowboys, a BYE week should have straightened the ship, but they struggled against the Bengals and needed a fourth quarter comeback to beat Arizona. They have a former rushing champ, and they need to incorporate him more in the offense. That will make everything easier for Jordan Love, and he’s going to need that with a tough November on the horizon.

12) Denver Broncos (5-2), last week 12

I was so ready to rip Bo Nix and Sean Payton and the Broncos offense for the first 45 minutes of football they played on Sunday. Turns out I have to sing their praises for scoring 33 points in the last 15 minutes in what was one of the wildest comebacks you’ll ever see. It was 26-8 with 5:20 to go in the 4th, but Bo Nix became the first player ever to throw for 2 TDs and run for two TDs in the fourth quarter. The win was the most important thing, but coach Sean Payton knows this was not the formula to winning on a week to week basis.

13) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2), last week 7

Things looked like they we’re going perfectly for the first 15 minutes of the game as the Steelers defense stopped the Bengals for the first two drives, and went up 10-0. Then the defense let up and Flacco punished them with five scoring drives in their final six possessions. The worrying thing for Steelers fans is Rodgers did enough to put his team in the lead with just over 2:00 to go, but the defense couldn’t get a stop with the game on the line. It’s either Rodgers, or the defense coming through when the Steelers win. So far they haven’t come out and played a complete game. Once we start seeing that there will be a little more reason to believe.

14) Chicago Bears (4-2), last week 20

You don’t often hear revenge games when it comes to coordinators meeting their former employer, but Dennis Allen got a crack at the team he used to coach. His defense was dominant, forcing four turnovers. Caleb Williams wasn’t fantastic but with a run game that went for over 200 yards he didn’t have to be. That’s four in a row for the Bears, and we are already seeing the effects of Ben Johnson on the sideline. Don’t forget he had David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs for the last few years in Detroit. He’s going to try establish the run game before he turns Williams into a killer.

15) Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3), last week 10

Talk about your all time flop. Two weeks after one of the biggest wins in recent memory when Trevor Lawrence led his team to a primetime victory over the Chiefs, the Jags bubble has burst. A flat performance against Seattle last week, and a game in London that they shouldn’t have even got on the plane for. It’s behavior we have come to expect from the Jags, but it’s still shocking that they can get flattened so quickly after looking like a team that can compete in the AFC.

16) Atlanta Falcons (3-3), last week 15

After a couple weeks of Peach State bliss with Penix Jr. looking like a Pro Bowler, and Drake London and Bijan Robinson and even Kyle Pitts starting to look like certified stars the Falcons came down from cloud 9. It’s all came to a screeching halt in San Fran on Sunday night. The defense gave them a shot at the end of the game, but Penix and the Falcons couldn’t deliver on a night that Robinson was limited on the ground. They are coming off a couple big wins, and another win over a playoff caliber team would have sent shockwaves around the league, but the Falcons will rebound and get ready for the Dolphins next week.

17) Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1), last week 21

It seems like a pretty simple ask of the Cowboys defense. If they can keep the opposing offense to under 35-40 points, the team has a pretty good chance of winning. Like always, Dak came out firing with CeeDee Lamb back from injury and George Pickens showing us the kind of player he should be and is becoming now that he left Pittsburgh. Lamb had 110 yards and a TD, Dak had 3 TD passes, and the defense held Washington to 22 points as the Cowboys improved to 3-3-1 after a rough start to the season. The question is, who is this team? Is it the team that beat the Commanders on Sunday or is it the teams the lost to the Panthers two weeks ago?

18) Minnesota Vikings (3-3), last week 18

One more week with J.J. McCarthy on the sidelines and it doesn’t seem like there is much clarity as to who is going to be the starter once he gets back to full strength. Wentz has been under constant pressure since taking over the starting job, and even though he was getting beat up he’s keeping his team in games. Both Pittsburgh and Philly went up big on Minnesota, but Wentz kept the team in the ball game. Their downfall was their red zone offense. They got inside the 20 six times and had to settle for five FGs. It’s hard to beat teams when you leave that many points on the field, especially if you sprinkle in a pick six in between all of those empty possessions.

19) Los Angeles Chargers (4-3), last week 19

A lot has been asked of Justin Herbert since he’s been in LA, but with no running backs and a defense that’s giving up almost 30 points a game over the last month, Herbert has to go out and try to win every game almost on his own. He had 420 yards, and 3 TDs, and led the Chargers in rushing, but this isn’t Madden. You can’t just let your QB lead you to wins. The Chargers are still a game above .500, but this is a far cry from the team that beat the Chiefs back in Week 1.

20) Carolina Panthers (4-3), last week 22

You’ve got to feel for Bryce Young. Just when things are looking like they are turning around and building some momentum, he suffers a an ankle injury in the late stage of the game against the Jets. Now we have to wait to see how long that might keep him out, but the good news is the Panthers won and now have rattled off three straight and won four of their last five. Now they get ready for a true test next week against the Buffalo Bills. That will give us an idea of just how ready they are to be considered a playoff team.

21) Washington Commanders (3-4), last week 14

It looks like our fears of a sophomore slump are coming to life in the nation’s capital. I root for Jayden Daniels and hope he does well and stays healthy, but the sensational rookie has spent more time trying to get healthy than he has on the practice field prepping for Sunday during this season. They have lost three of their last four and that’s with Daniels back under center for the last two of those games. The good news is the second year QB avoided serious injury, but the question is when will he be back to 100% healthy?

22) Cincinnati Bengals (3-4), last week 27

Joe Freakin’ Flacco. Second game in 10 days, barely knows the guys names he is throwing to and what does he do? He leads his new team to a massive win over a division rival on a short week. He had 342 yards, 3 TDs, and put the Bengals into position to win the game with a field goal to keep them at 3-4 and with a couple of easy games coming up. That was a make or break game for Cincy, and they held strong against the Steelers.

23) Houston Texans (2-4), last week 16

The mid season vacation came to an abrupt end for the Texans as they were snapped out of fantasy land real quick. After a BYE week following wins over the Titans and the Ravens, they took a trip out west and reminded us that this team is loaded with problems on the offensive end. The offense didn’t get into the end zone until there were two minutes left in the game, and by then it was much too late. When CJ Stroud is forced to try and do it all, it’s easy to blame him when he doesn’t do everything, but the fact is there is no run game in Houston. That might work against the Titans or Ravens, but it’s not going to work against the Seahawks.

24) New York Giants (2-5), last week 23

It’s been a wild ride for Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants since he debuted as the QB1 just four weeks ago. Their win against the Chargers was followed by a debacle in New Orleans, and this week they followed their upset over the Super Bowl champs with a Mile High implosion from Denver. Up by 18 with 5 minutes left, and they somehow lost the game. Dart had some big throws, but his INT opened the door for the comeback and the missed PAT with 40 seconds to go laid out the red carpet for the Broncos to cap one of the most improbable comebacks we have seen in a long time. These types of games shouldn’t take away the excitement surrounding these two rookies, but it should bring a dose of reality and serve as a reminder that they are still rookies, and the Giants are still the Giants until they prove otherwise.

25) Cleveland Browns (2-5), last week 25

With a rookie QB, you need some help from everyone else. Cue Quinshon Judkins who had three TDs on 25 carries and cue the defense who at one time was one of the top units in the league and looked like that again on Sunday in Cleveland. Gabriel was protected by his offensive coordinator. Throwing just 18 passes, completing 13 of them and enjoying a relatively light shift. He’s got his first win, and now it’s time to see how he and the Browns build from here.

26) Baltimore Ravens (1-5), last week 26

BYE

27) Arizona Cardinals (2-5), last week 24

Five straight losses, and at this point you can’t take much solace in the fact that none of those losses have come by more than four points. Nor can you take solace in the fact that Jacoby Brissett looks better under center than Kyler Murray has at any point this season. They were up for most of the game against the Packers, but when you’re not a very good team you tend to give up leads in the 4th quarter like Arizona did on Sunday.

28) Las Vegas Raiders (2-5), last week 28

There are bad bets, and then there is the bet the Raiders made on Geno Smith. Not many on the strip will come out as big of losers as the Raiders have after signing Smith this summer. It’s not all his fault, and losing Maxx Crosby in the middle of the game didn’t help, but the game was long gone by that time. Is this the last straw for Las Vegas? Do they go out and find some one to try to fill in at the QB position, or do they let Kenny Pickett get a chance to try and run the offense?

29) New Orleans Saints (1-6), last week 30

It took the Saints a while to wake up in the Windy City, and by the time they did there was too much of a hill to climb against a Bears team that was out for blood. The Saints let Dennis Allen go a year ago, and Allen had his revenge on Sunday. His defense forced a fumble on the second Saints snap of the day and went on to pick off Spencer Rattler 3 times. That’s six losses in seven games, and it might be time to start looking towards the future, and their rookie QB Tyler Shough.

30) Miami Dolphins (1-6), last week 29

Going in front of the media and throwing your team under the bus isn’t exactly what leaders are supposed to do, but then again, neither is going 12/23 for 3 INTs and just 100 yards while throwing more TDs to the other team that to your guys. I like Tua, I’ve rooted for him, but I think that Mike McDaniels isn’t the only one who needs to be on the out in Miami.

31) Tennessee Titans (1-6), last week 31

The rookie blues continue in Tennessee. If the game against the Pats should have showed Cam Ward anything, it’s just to keep his head up this year. Things can change a lot from one year to the next, and Drake Maye is a perfect example for him to follow. Having said that, he’s got to keep those self inflicted mistakes to a minimum. Winning on a bad team is hard enough, but when you gift the other team turnovers and free point, you’re putting yourself in a position to have rough rookie season.

32) New York Jets (0-7), last week 32

For the second straight week, the Jets held their opponents to 13 points. It hasn’t been the case all season, but the defense seems like it’s turning a new leaf in New York. That’s not the case for the offense who has been worse than pitiful over the last few weeks. For the second straight game Justin Fields passed for less than 50 yards, and he was benched for Tyrod Taylor. Taylor didn’t do much better, throwing two picks on a day that New York dropped to 0-7.

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