The New England Patriots and San Francisco continued their undefeated seasons as expected, but teams like the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, and even the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts also stayed hot. My Top 10 had a major shakeup after the Ravens beat the Seahawks and the Colts beat the Texans. (By the way, I predicted both of those winners last week.)

There’s no change at #1, #2, or #32, but inbetween, there was a lot of movement as the season nears the halfway point. Dive in below to my Post-Week 7 Power Rankings: now including a short blurb for each team.

Power Rankings After Week 7

1. New England Patriots (7-0) [Last Week: 1]
   • The Patriots stay at the top for the third straight week. Playing at a historic pace, it will likely take more than just one loss for New England to fall from this spot.
2. New Orleans Saints (6-1) [Last Week: 2]
   • New Orleans holds down the #2 spot, winning five straight games with Teddy Bridewater under center.
3. San Francisco 49ers (6-0) [Last Week: 5]
   • The Niners 9-0 win over the Redskins may have been ugly, but they get the job done again to stay undefeated. Tougher test vs. Panthers next week.
4. Green Bay Packers (6-1) [Last Week: 4]
   • While other teams have shuffled, the Packers have stayed at #4 for three straight weeks.
5. Minnesota Vikings (5-2) [Last Week: 9]
   • The Vikings have rose from #19 to #9 all the way to #X in this week’s power rankings.
6. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) [Last Week: 15]
   • Baltimore is back in the Top 10 after an impressive win over the Seahawks. The Ravens have already proved they can play with pretty much anyone.
7. Indianapolis Colts (4-2) [Last Week: 16]
   • Indy catapults up the rankings after back-to-back wins over Patrick Mahommes’ Chiefs and Deshaun Watson’s Texans.
8. Houston Texans (4-3) [Last Week: 7]
   • The Texans dropped a close game to the Colts, but are still a likely playoff team who can play with *almost* anyone in the AFC. Just not the Patriots.
9. Seattle Seahawks (5-2) [Last Week: 3]
   • After coming in at #3 last week, Seattle suffered a reality-check loss against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
10. Buffalo Bills (5-1) [Last Week: 8]
    • The Bills fall a couple spots despite a win. They’re a good team, likely headed for the playoffs. But there’s still (at least) eight teams I trust more to win when it counts. Barely beating Miami didn’t add any confidence.
11. Los Angeles Rams (4-3) [Last Week: 12]
    • The defending-NFC champions rise a spot after getting a much-needed win to end their three-game losing streak. There’s still a lot of questions surrounding this team.
12. Dallas Cowboys (4-3) [Last Week: 14]
    • After blowing out the Eagles to end their three-game skid, the Cowboys rise to #12. Even in their three losses, they didn’t play horrible. A potentially dangerous team against any opponent.
13. Carolina Panthers (4-2) [Last Week: 13]
    • The Panthers stay put after their bye week. They have a tough game against the 49ers next week.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) [Last Week: 6]
    • These are in the moment Power Rankings: so the loss of Patrick Mahommes greatly outweighs the win over the Broncos. I still think the Chiefs can beat many teams with Matt Moore under center.
15. Detroit Lions (2-3-1) [Last Week: 11]
    • I’ve had the Lions around #10 and #11 for the past three weeks. Back-to-back losses to the Packers and Vikings really hurt their playoff odds. But Detroit could’ve won both games, and haven’t played bad, so they don’t slide too far.
16. Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) [Last Week: 10]
    • The Eagles lack of showing up for the biggest game of their season against the Cowboys is nothing short of alarming. This team still has a lot of talent though, and rank slightly higher than some middle-of-the-road teams.
17. Chicago Bears (3-3) [Last Week: 17]
    • I’m becoming embarrassed I picked the Bears to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The offense just doesn’t look like it will ever be efficient enough to beat the NFC’s best teams.
18. Oakland Raiders (3-2) [Last Week: 18]
    • The Raiders stay in the same range. They have a winning record and aren’t as bad as I expected, but still not sold on them as a good team.
19. Cleveland Browns (2-4) [Last Week: 19]
    • Another team staying in place after a bye week. The Browns aren’t a bad team but look like they have no clue how to win consistently.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) [Last Week: 22]
    • Beating the winless Bengals isn’t a huge accomplishment, but Garder Minshew notched his 3rd win of the season, raising the Jaguars a couple spots.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4) [Last Week: 23]
    • The Steelers earned two wins in three games, and play the Dolphins next Monday night. But injuries are piling up, making it tough to see this Pittsburgh team going on a run.
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4) [Last Week: 21]
    • Tampa Bay’s resume isn’t horrible this season: wins over the Rams and Panthers, and one-score losses to the Saints and Giants. But when they’re bad, they’re bad.
23. Arizona Cardinals (3-3-1) [Last Week: 25]
    • Don’t look now, but Kyler Murray has less losses to his name than Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, Jameis Winston, and Baker Mayfield this season. The Cardinals have won three straight: over the Bengals, Falcons, and Giants. It only gets tougher from here.
24. Denver Broncos (2-5) [Last Week: 20]
    • After back-to-back wins, the Broncos showed their true colors again, being blown out by the Chiefs.
25. Tennessee Titans (3-4) [Last Week: 26]
    • An NFL team benched their starter for Ryan Tannehill and it… worked? The Titans won a tight one after Melvin Gordon’s goal-line fumble. Tennessee is up to three wins, but won’t finish with too many more.
26. Los Angeles Chargers (2-5) [Last Week: 27]
    • The Chargers don’t really deserve to rise, even though they had every chance to beat the Titans. But that will probably be the tune of this season for LA.
27. New York Jets (1-5) [Last Week: 28]
    • No shame in losing to the Patriots for the 789th time. The Jets leap above their MetLife Stadium co-tenants by virtue of the Giants playing bad football. Yes, the Jets were shut out, but I’m still slotting them at #27.
28. New York Giants (2-5) [Last Week: 24]
    • After Daniel Jones 2-0 start to his career, the Giants hovered around #23 and #24. Even with some losses, I held out hope the Giants could win a few more games. But losing against the Cardinals at home pushes New York to a season-low.
29. Washington Redskins (1-6) [Last Week: 31]
    • After two straight weeks at #31, the Redskins rise two spots despite their sixth loss. They can thank the ineptitude of the Bengals and Falcons for that. Holding the undefeated 49ers to 9 points was also impressive, even considering the weather.
30. Atlanta Falcons (1-6)
    • I had the Falcons as high as #26 in my initial power rankings (Post-Week 4), holding out hope the team would get another win. It’s clear now Atlanta will be a bottom-dweller all season despite Matt Ryan’s best efforts.
31. Cincinnati Bengals (0-7) [Last Week: 29)
    • After hovering between #29 and #30, the Bengals are officially the second-worst team in the NFL. I don’t see them going winless this season though.
32. Miami Dolphins (0-6) [Last Week: 32]
    • After playing back-to-back games were they had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, maybe this Dolphins team won’t go 0-16. The Dolphins have came in last place in all of my Power Rankings so far.

More

Preseason Predictions: Standings, Playoff Teams, Super Bowl Matchup

Weekly Picks: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Power Rankings: Post-Week 4, Post-Week 5, Post-Week 6

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