NFL Week 7 Power Rankings

We’re onto Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season after a wild Week 7 which, while not providing a plethora of closely contested matchups, gave several shocking results which continue to shape the murky landscape of the NFL.

Most impressively, the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans left Week 7 with huge wins over playoff rivals, asserting themselves as true contenders in a crowded AFC. While in the NFC, the top five teams feel significantly ahead of the rest of the conference as we head into November.

Parity continues to reign in the NFL, as virtually every team flips flops between looking like an elite team and one riddled with issues. Read on to see my take on how the league stands heading into Week 8.

1.       Arizona Cardinals (7-0)

It took a little while for Arizona to get going against the Houston Texans thanks to an aggressive and effective pass rush. It didn’t end up mattering as the Cardinals ultimately cruised to victory. Zach Ertz’s early returns suggest he could be an excellent addition and makes their offensive weaponry even more daunting to face. This team doesn’t seem it’ll slow down anytime soon.

2.       Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-1)

The biggest fight against the Bucs on Sunday came from the fan who got Tom Brady’s 600^th touchdown ball, and he didn’t really put up a fight. In the end, he has netted quite the haul, whereas the Chicago Bears did not. The Bucs brutalized Matt Nagy and co.

3.       Los Angeles Rams (6-1)

The Detroit Lions certainly had the Rams sweating a lot more than they were expecting. Despite everything the Lions gave this game, the Rams' quality reigned supreme. When it came down to it, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald, and Jalen Ramsey took over with pivotal plays to seal an important win for the Rams to keep pace with their NFC rivals.

4.       Green Bay Packers (6-1) +1

I’m not sure about everyone else, but I thought the Packers' throwback uniforms were awesome. Their play wasn’t quite as awesome, but Green Bay continues to take care of business. They now face the Cardinals on Thursday night in a huge NFC matchup, but they’ll likely be without at least Adams as they deal with COVID issues.

5.       Buffalo Bills (4-2) +1

The Bills had a bye following their loss to the Titans in Week 6. They’ll enter Week 7 in a logjam of two-loss teams atop the AFC.

6.       Dallas Cowboys (5-1) +1

Dallas also had a bye this week. It couldn’t have been much better timing as Dak Prescott had to recover from a calf strain he suffered on the game-winning play against the New England Patriots.

7.       Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) +3

Who Dey think gon’ beat them Bengals?! Certainly not the Baltimore Ravens. Cincinnati asserted themselves in Baltimore behind a historic performance from their offensive cornerstones. Ja’Marr Chase is already one of the premier receivers in the NFL, and Joe Burrow is making sure he isn’t forgotten when speaking about the quality of young quarterbacks in the NFL. The Bengals are really for real.

8.       Tennessee Titans (5-2) +3

After a very rocky and concerning start to the season, the Titans now have very impressive performances in consecutive weeks. The Titans dominated the Chiefs, in every way, for the entire game. Most impressive was the defense, who have made strides in the last few weeks. The Titans are overcoming their early struggles and are locked in among the AFC’s best.

9.       Baltimore Ravens (5-2) -5

After the incredible highs of last week’s drubbing of the LA Chargers, the Bengals thoroughly humbled the Ravens. The loss hammered home how severe some of the Ravens’ issues are. Fortunately, they now have their bye week, which has treated the Ravens very well under John Harbaugh – they are 10-3 after the bye in his tenure. The Ravens need to figure some things out.

10.   Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) -2

LA was another of the six teams with their bye this week. With the Las Vegas Raiders winning, the pressure is on for the Chargers to keep pace.

11.   Las Vegas Raiders (5-2) +3

The Raiders have found their form again and appear to be rolling again. Derek Carr has taken his play up another notch and played a near-flawless game against the Philadelphia Eagles. A quiet first quarter was quickly overcome as the Raiders scored 30 unanswered points by the end of the third quarter, comprehensively ending the game.

12.   Cleveland Browns (4-3)

Sans an ailing Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum led the Browns to a scrappy win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night football. In truth it wasn’t as close as the score suggested, but it was a pretty bleak affair. The Browns must get Mayfield, Nick Chubb, and Kareem Hunt healthy, and Mayfield must play better on his return to keep pace in the AFC.

13.   Indianapolis Colts (3-4) +4

Something is happening in Indy. The Colts have now won two straight games in impressive fashion, albeit in different ways. Facing truly terrible conditions in San Francisco, the Colts’ defense overcame early struggles to limit the 49ers, and Carson Wentz found a way to make enough plays – he did have a horrible turnover, but he’s shown improvement over the last three weeks. The Colts are taking shape and pushing to make noise in a crowded AFC.

14.   Kansas City Chiefs (3-4) -5

It seems the Chiefs are being hit by a hangover from the last two years combined. The revamped offensive line which looked to be so strong before the season has not had been the upgrade they needed. Patrick Mahomes is still under a lot of pressure, and he and the rest of the offense are just trying to do too much. I think this week just gone will prove to be the low watermark, and the Chiefs will be competing for the playoffs deep into the season, but this is an incredibly alarming start.

15.   New Orleans Saints (4-2) -2

The Saints managed to leave a blustery Seattle with a win, but it was far from convincing and should leave more questions than answers about this team. The defense played well, as it should have against Geno Smith, but the offense was seriously underwhelming, and the gameplan seemed to suggest there isn’t a huge amount of faith in Jameis Winston – as did Drew Brees’ discomfort when speaking about the differences between his offense and the one Winston is currently running.

16.   Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3) -1

The Steelers had their bye week as they look to build from their previous two outings. Last we saw, the run game showed signs of life, as did Ben Roethlisberger’s arm. If the Steelers heat up the AFC will become even more fiesty as the playoffs approach.

17.   San Francisco 49ers (2-4) -1

Welcome back to the lineup, Jimmy G, here is a downpour to play in! The conditions were truly miserable for Garoppolo, even so, the performance left a lot to be desired. The secondary struggled, severely, and the offense just couldn’t cope with the elements. The 49ers must figure something out offensively and in their secondary before they slip too far behind the pack in the NFC.

18.   Minnesota Vikings (3-3)

The Vikings had their bye week. At 3-3, they’re well within the playoff race but they need to find consistency going forward to stay ahead of the pack.

19.   New England Patriots (3-4) +2

Bill Belichick really hates the New York Jets, huh? The Patriots destroyed the Jets and piled on late as they continued to throw the ball and attack the defense once Brian Hoyer relieved Mac Jones. The Patriots are playing well – they’re well-coached – but they still don’t really have the talent to challenge the elite in the AFC.

20.   Carolina Panthers (3-4) -1

It’s going from bad to worse for the Panthers as their season seemingly falls apart at the seams. Sam Darnold was wretched on Sunday as his team fell to a shoddy 15-3 deficit before pulling him from the game. The New York Giants eventually won 25-3, handing Carolina a fourth straight loss. Darnold will retain his job, but without Christian McCaffrey this offense is bad, and Darnold is on a worrying downside trajectory.

21.   Denver Broncos (3-4) +1

Like the Panthers, the Broncos have slumped to four straight losses after three wins to start the season. The Broncos look bad. On Thursday night in Cleveland, the offense was unable to get anything going, and the defense couldn’t do enough to keep a Browns offense without Mayfield, Chubb, and Hunt at bay. Vic Fangio has a bunch of work to do with this team to get them back to winning ways.

22.   Seattle Seahawks (2-4) +1

After the very high standard in primetime games to start the season, we have been punished with two straight Geno Smith-led Seahawks games. The Seahawks are not a good team, they have gaps in the roster and are not playing good football, and Smith having the reigns only emphasizes how much this team has relied upon Russell Wilson. Next, they’ll face the Jags and must find a way to win to keep this team afloat before Wilson’s return.

23.   Chicago Bears (3-4) -3

If you’ve ever played youth sports, you’ve absolutely witnessed the kind of drubbing the Bucs put on the Bears. Those two teams should not have been on the same field, and only served to remind how much work the Bears must do. Justin Fields was not equipped to succeed in this game, in any way. They must do a better job of protecting him, and it seems time for the Matt Nagy era to end.

24.   Atlanta Falcons (3-4) +3

The Falcons are starting to string together wins. After their 48-25 loss to the Bucs in Week 4, Atlanta had a friendly stretch of games against equally struggling opponents. They came out of that stretch with a 3-1 record and now find themselves just on the cusp of a Wild Card spot as we get into the business end of the season. The Falcons don’t look like a playoff team, but they’re playing themselves into the conversation. Arthur Smith is doing a good job.

25.   Philadelphia Eagles (2-5) -1

The Eagles are the best team in the NFL at making the score look better than the performance dictated. After taking a 7-0 lead into the second quarter, Philly proceeded to give up 30 unanswered points and lose the game by the start of the fourth quarter. Fortunately, the Eagles are positioned to almost guarantee two top-10 picks, they just must make sure they hit on them.

26.   New York Giants (2-5) +2

Despite a decimated offense, the Giants got back in the win column. Is Daniel Jones Josh McCown 2.0? An athletic, dangerous runner who will woo you with some impressive passing performances, with ability at wide receiver, but never the ‘franchise’ quarterback. I am intrigued to see how this offense functions with an extended clean bill of health for its weapons.

27.   Washington Football Team (2-5) -2

One of the biggest disappointments of the season has been the Washington defense. The defensive front was shaping up to be one of the most disruptive and explosive units we’ve ever seen. Against the Packers, they weren’t bad, but this was the game you would have loved to see them take over. WFT is underwhelming and needs more than just Terry McLaurin on offense to be threatening.

28.   Miami Dolphins (1-6) -2

The Dolphins just aren’t a good team this season. The defense can’t get off the field, Tua Tagovailoa makes some seriously troubling decisions, and the offense isn’t talented enough to bail him out. The Deshaun Watson to the Dolphins talk is really heating up, but any expectation a deal will get done should be toned way down. No matter what the league says, his legal situation will not wrap up in time before the November 2^nd trade deadline.

29.   Houston Texans (1-6)

Despite their struggles, the Texans played well early against the Cardinals – at least defensively. Tyrod Taylor has returned to practice, starting his 21-day window to return to the lineup, which will undoubtedly boost the offense but won’t have much bearing on the overall result of this season in Houston.

30.   Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) +1

After their victorious trip to London, the Jaguars had a bye. Given the drama off the field for this team (coach), it will be interesting to see how they follow up their first win since Week 1 of the 2020 season.

31.   New York Jets (1-5) -1

The Jets were thoroughly beaten and lost first-round pick Zach Wilson for 2-4 weeks. The team dodged a bullet, avoiding serious injury, but they are highlighting the risk of starting a project at QB on a team that isn’t ready to compete. At this point, protecting Fields and preserving his development must be priority number one.

32.   Detroit Lions (0-7)

If nothing else, you cannot fault the Lions' effort. They threw everything they had at the Rams, recovering an onside kick and converting a fake punt on their first two drives of the game, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. Jared Goff is not the QB to elevate the quality of this offense, and there aren’t many defenses who can keep up with Kupp and Stafford when they play like they did on Sunday. They are, at least, keeping games competitive, though.