NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Bill bump Chiefs down, Eagles at two and Panthers bottom out

It’s been a month and a half since Kickoff Thursday back in early September, and we have reached the point where teams start to work around the bye week in their schedule. After six weeks, there is one undefeated team, three one loss teams and 12 three win teams. The parity in the league is certainly making for some interesting changes in the Power Rankings on a week to week basis. After Los Angeles’s win over Denver on Monday Night Football, here are our Power Rankings heading into Week 7.

1) Buffalo Bills 5-1, last week 1

It was the game of the year for good reason, and the Bills came out on top over the Chiefs to solidify their position at the top of the NFL Power Rankings. Throwing for 329 yards and three touchdowns, Josh Allen won the the battle of MVP candidates in a game that could determine the top seed in the AFC, and eventually the conference representative in the Super Bowl come February.

2) Philadelphia Eagles 5-0 last week 3

Okay. Okay. Okay. I have to move the Eagles up to the two spot. I’m not sure what it will take to knock the Bills out of the top spot if they keep winning, but Philadelphia went into a primetime rivalry game with the eyes of the nation on them and proved they are ready to win big games when the pressure is on. Got to say, love Coach Siriani’s reaction after a questionable hit late in the game from Odighizuwa.

3) Kansas City Chiefs 4-2, last week 2

The Chiefs went blow for blow against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Arrowhead. While it wasn’t the thriller we saw in the playoffs last year, it was evident that there is not much separating the Chiefs from the top team in the league. I doubt I’m the only one who thinks this won’t be the last time these two squads meet this season.

4) New York Giants 5-1, last week 5

We all know New York is a second half team. They have proved that all year long, and proved it again in their Week 6 win over the Baltimore Ravens. One thing is to be a good team, but it’s another thing to be a good team that believes in their coach and believe they can come out of any game with a win. Brian Daboll is quickly becoming one a fan favorite around the league, and the Giants are suddenly a top five team in the NFL.

5) Dallas Cowboys 4-2, last week 4

The magic carpet ride is over for the Dallas Cowboys and Cooper Rush and it was the Eagles that happily gave the the Boys a dose of reality. While a loss is never a good thing, it certainly eases the mid week questions directed at Mike McCarthy concerning who will start next week as Dak Prescott’s return nears. They don’t drop down too far, because the defense has proved that they can do it with or without Prescott. But obviously they’d prefer their nine figure QB under center.

6) Los Angeles Chargers 4-2, last week 10

On paper Monday Night’s will look like a great win against a tough defensive team in a prime time divisional rivalry game, and that’s exactly how the Chargers will see it. Were there things the Chargers could have done better? Of course, Justin Herbert and the offense need a bit more polishing. They went 1-4 in the red zone, but with Keenan Allen on the verge of a comeback some of those problems could be solved soon.

7) Minnesota Vikings 5-1, last week 11

Minnesota are masters of coming out on top in tight games. Four of their five wins have been decided by one possession, and when you have a QB like Kirk Cousins who is a game manager who does not make mistakes that cost his team the game (we will glance over the loss to the Eagles where he had 3 picks). Instead the defense are masterminds at creating turnovers, having forced 10 all season, for a second ranked +4 TO differential.

8) Cincinnati Bengals 3-3, last week 12

Slowly but surely the Bengals are starting to recuperate their winning form from last year. Joe Burrow begged for calm after the 0-2 start knowing that better days were to come. Since then the Bengals are 3-1, and the only loss in that span came on a last second field goal to the Ravens on a divisonal night in Baltimore.

9) Baltimore Ravens 3-3, last week 6

The Ravens were looking like one of the most potent offensive sides in the league for the first three weeks of the season. In their last two games, Lamar Jackson and Baltimore are just 2-6 in the red zone, and they haven’t scored more than 20 points since Week 3. Justin Tucker is the best kicker of all time, but the Ravens have to figure out a way to keep him on the sidelines until the PAT.

10) San Francisco 49ers 3-3, last week 8

You figure on a day where Jimmy Garoppolo is the best player on the field, the Niners would cruise to victory, but that wasn’t the case in Atlanta. The San Fran D had an off day on their second straight trip to the east coast, and could have used some more help from their offense, but the offense couldn’t find the end zone. Jimmy G will get the blame, but there were some key drops that hurt the Niners mount a comeback.

11) Green Bay Packers 3-3, last week 7

Remember the days where Lambeau used to be a fortress for the Packers? Well Green Bay might be starting to lose their strong hold on that historic home field advantage, as the Packers have lost back-to-back regular season games for the first time in the Matt LaFleur era. Losing to the Jets is understandable. Losing to them at Lambeau is tougher to swallow, but a blowout at Lambeau will get you dropped down the Rankings in a hurry. The Pack are 3-3 but Aaron Rodgers’ offense seems to be regressing as the season goes on.

12) Miami Dolphins 3-3, last week 14

The Dolphins know what it’s like to go through long winning streaks and long losing streaks in the same season. They won 7 straight and lost 7 straight last year. They are in the midst of a three game skid at the moment without starting QB Tua Tagovailoa. The Fins QB1 is expected to return next week after clearing concussion protocol, but will the Miami offense still have that same bite they had in the first three games of the season?

13) Los Angeles Rams 3-3, last week 13

The defending champions came into Week 6 on the heels of a two game losing streak, but luckily the Panthers came to town and that allowed the Rams to breeze back to 3-3. The offense was far from impressive in the first half, depending on the defense to give them the first touchdown of the game. The 24-10 win over the Panthers isn’t going to do any convincing, but they have the the losing skid in the rear view.

14) Indianapolis Colts 3-2-1, last week 17

Crazy what a couple weeks can do. There have been spans in this season where the Colts looked like one of the worst teams in the league, and there have been spans this season where the Colts have looked like playoff contenders. Which team will take the field on each Sunday is anyones guess. With Indy still licking their wounds from the 24-0 stomping at the hands of the Jags in Week 2, they they came out and got their revenge on Jacksonville while jumping them in the division standings. Matt Ryan had 389 yards and three TDs in the win, and the Colts offense is just starting to gear up as Johnathan Taylor is set to return next week against the Titans in a game between AFC South leaders.

15) New York Jets 4-2, last week 16

It was just a few weeks ago that the Jets were still considered a laughing stock in this league. We all know about Coach Saleh keeping receipts of all those who poked fun at his team, and now he seems like he and the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS are shelling out the punishment after taking inventory. Zach Wilson only had 110 yards passing in the win over Green Bay, but Breece Hall is turning out to be everything the New York fans were hoping.

16) Tennessee Titans 3-2, last week 15

The Titans seemed to have weathered the storm. A lot obviously depends on how they come out of the bye week, but Tennessee looked down right wretched at times to start the season. Three straight wins have calmed the waters in Tennessee, but if they can’t get Derrick Henry going soon they will have a rough time finding other ways to win football games.

17) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-3, last week 9

For the first month of the season, the Bucs struggles seemed like they were temporary as the defense carried the Tom Brady led offense. Tampa’s problems moving the ball seem a little more permanent than we first expected. The off field distractions will make or break this team, and at the moment it looks like they are doing the latter.

18) New England Patriots 3-3, last week 20

Bailey Zappe etched him name onto another page of the Patriots history books with a 300 yard performance in New England’s 38-15 win over the Browns. It was far from a perfect performance from the Pats who committed 12 penalties, but their defense forced four turnovers. Bill Belichick has kept his team afloat in Mac Jones’ absence, and Zappe deserves a load of credit for that.

19) Cleveland Browns 2-4, last week 24

For the first month of the season, the Browns looked like their running game was going to be able to keep them alive until Deshaun Watson came back, but they have lost three straight. The good news is the rest of the division looks just as suspect as Cleveland, and the Browns sit just a game behind the top of the division.

20) Seattle Seahawks 3-3, last week 28

How can you not pull for this Seahawks team? They should have no business being at .500 through six weeks, but Seattle keeps coming up with ways to win. One week it’s their offense putting up 40+, another it’s the defense getting six sacks and holding their opponent to nine total points.

21) Las Vegas Raiders 1-4, last week 18

There may not have been a team that needed a bye more than the Raiders. Let’s see if this week off gets them on track after winning just once in five tries.

22) Atlanta Falcons 3-3, last week 25

Perfect game plan for Falcons and Arthur Smith. They kept the Niners defense on edge with plenty of run/pass options with Mariota, who would dink and dunk his way down the field completing 13/14 passes on the day. Atlanta’s run game is quickly showing they are a top unit in the league, with or without Cordarrelle Patterson. Who would have thought ATL would be atop the NFC South and have the same record as the Bucs though six weeks.

23) Denver Broncos 2-4, last week 21

When the offense can’t score, you need to be flawless in every other aspect of the game. Unfortunately for Denver their defense was almost perfect, but the special teams made the detrimental mistake in OT when Montrell Washington muffed a punt in the overtime session. Denver’s offense is dreadful, and if that game was played in the Mile High City the Rockies would be rattling from all the boo birds.

24) Jacksonville Jaguars 2-4, last week 23

There were always going to be ups and downs for the Jags this season. They are still a young team. After a 2-1 start, the hopes, and expectations started to grow to an unreasonable level. A three game losing streak reminds us that this is a growing team that needs time to turn into a consistent team.

25) Pittsburgh Steelers 2-4, last week 27

In his first two starts, Kenny Pickett has had to square off against the best quarterback in the league last week (Josh Allen) lost week, and the greatest football player to every put on the pads (Tom Brady) this week. Not to mention two of the top defenses in the league. He didn’t wow with his stats but an opening drive TD gave the defense the chance to take the reins. Mitch Trubisky came in to finish off the game after Pickett suffered a concussion, and the Steelers are just a game out of first place in the AFC North, with T.J Watt expected to return in a week or two.

26) Arizona Cardinals 2-4, last week 19

The clock might be starting to tick for Kliff Kingsbury, who came into this season on a short leash after multiple late season collapses over the last couple years. You can’t have a late season collapse if you have been terrible all season.

27) New Orleans Saints 2-4, last week 26

The Saints offense has been revamped under Andy Dalton. He may not have had a huge game, but the New Orleans had 228 rushing yards against the Bengals. The Saint problem over the last three weeks has been the defensive side of the ball. Since Dalton took over as a starter, they are giving up 30 points a game. Dennis Allen is going to have some thinking to do when Jameis Winston gets back to 100% in the next week or two.

28) Chicago Bears 2-4, last week 22

Chances to win will come few and far between for the Baby Bears this year. But when they make late mistakes like muffing a punt in the fourth quarter, those chances get ever slimmer. The Washington game was the type of game that if the Bears win, it matures the team in an expedited fashion, but losing those games works in the opposite manner.

29) Detroit Lions 1-4, last week 29

The Lions couldn’t have gone into their bye week with a worse taste in their mouths. They lost to Seattle by three in a shootout last week and then got blanked by the Patriots 20-0. on Sunday Dan Campbell will have his side coming out of the break hungry to get in the win column and erase that taste from their mouths.

30) Washington Commanders 2-4, last week 31

The Commanders will be ok with winning games by any means necessary. Being in the best division in football, they will take all the help they can get. Their defense looked good against the Bears, but that’s not exactly headline news when you play Chicago this season. Ron Rivera will be hoping to see his side play a complete game on both sides of the ball, but that won’t be easy after x rays showed QB Carson Wentz broke a finger on his throwing hand and will be out for 4-6 weeks.

31) Houston Texans 1-3-1, last week 32

The Texans bye came at a terrible time. They had just picked up their first win of the season and that opening win high will be fading quickly after an off week.

32) Carolina Panthers 1-5, last week 30

The Steve Wilks era got off to a rocky start in LA over the weekend. The Panthers were without Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, but the offense didn’t look too different from when their starter is available. PJ Walker started the game, but injured his back, and the fourth stringer Jacob Eason came into the game. The two combined for 110 yards and an INT, and the Panthers had just 203 yards of total offense. On top of that Wilks threw Robbie Anderson out of the game after a side line dust up, and now Anderson is no longer with the team.