NFL Power Rankings Week 7: The North remembers

The NFL is now one-third of the way through its season, so we think we should have a pretty good idea of how each team is getting on at this point. With that being said, let’s take a look at where every team is ranked in the NFL after week six.

There are a few teams in contention for the 32nd spot, but the Panthers being here just feels right. They’re awful, devoid of talent and ideas, and just not looking likely to win another game this season.

The Bears demolished the Jags in their second home last Sunday with receivers dropping Trevor Lawrence’s passes all afternoon. However, reports out of Duval County suggest Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke aren’t going anywhere just yet.

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The Browns, like the Jags, are sticking with what isn’t working by continuing to back Deshaun Watson, who according to Bill Barnwell is currently 558 out of 566 QBs since 2007 in total QBR. Inspiring stuff for a franchise that looked to have turned a corner last season

The Pats started Drake Maye on Sunday, and there was some optimism in the air for the first time in a while. He made some mistakes, but the arm talent was on full display.

We just don’t get what the Titans are doing offensively. Will Levis showed glimpses of something last season with his aggressiveness. This season, he has gone off the deep end offering almost nothing, which is a disservice to Dennard Wilson, who is doing a great job in his first season as a defensive coordinator.

If Tua is done for the year, the Dolphins may as well pack it in. Tyler Huntley has had some good moments as an NFL backup, but he isn’t able to turn around this car crash of a season.

We were questioning the decision to go into the season with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell as their QB options all offseason, and it continues to confound us.

If the Rams get healthy, they could go on a run given the talent available to them. It’s a big “if” though considering the injuries they’ve suffered so far. Time will tell, but we don’t see this as a playoff team right now.

As writes Pete Prisco for CBS Sports, “The defense just isn't talented enough, and it shows up on a weekly basis.” Kyler Murray has played well at times, but so far it hasn’t been enough, with his team sitting at 2-4.

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There is an air of competency around the Giants, and that’s led by their defensive line that leads the league in sacks with 26, per ESPN. Competency will only get you so far in the NFL, which explains their 2-4 record.

The Saints have had one of the funniest starts to an NFL season we have ever seen, coming out of the blocks like the Greatest Show on Turf before losing four straight, conceding a 50 Burger to the Bucs en route. Bizarre and hilarious.

The Jets are 2-4 despite playing some good football at times. Aaron Rodgers has four interceptions in his last two games, which isn’t good enough. When firing your head coach doesn’t lead to a bounce-back win, we aren’t sure what will.

The Bengals won against the Giants, but it wasn’t convincing. It may be time to accept this isn’t the Super Bowl-contending Bengals team we had expected in the offseason.

Joe Flacco keeps stacking up the wins for the Colts, who are expecting Anthony Richardson back for their week seven matchup against the lowly Dolphins. There’s a decent chance this is a playoff team come January.

Losing Pat Surtain is significant for a Broncos team that rely on him to shut down nearly half the field. There’s not too much to write about the Broncos currently, they’re just sort of existing.

Is there a team with worse vibes than the Cowboys right now? Ok, maybe a few, but this is a team bereft of confidence or a plan. As Brent Sobleski writes for Bleacher Report, “The Cowboys' offensive line was a problem this offseason. It remains a problem that's only getting worse,” long gone are the days of offensive line dominance in Dallas.

It’s not exciting, or especially fun, or joyful, or any other positive adjective, but it is effective. The Chargers have become a hard-nosed, fundamentally-sound football team this season which has the hallmarks of Jim Harbaugh all over it. Next season, they could be amongst the top teams in the AFC.

The defense hasn’t quite clicked yet under Mike Macdonald, which we find surprising and Geno Smith is throwing some back-breaking interceptions. There is a good chance this team finds itself in contention for a Wildcard spot, so let’s wait and see.

The Bears are 4-2 and look close to what we expected of them in preseason. Caleb Williams is playing some really good football which should fill Bears’ fans with hope, something that’s been lacking for some time.

The Eagles are one Saquon Barkley drop away from having the least convincing 4-1 record we’ve ever seen. Something’s not right in Philadelphia, yet they have so much talent they keep grinding out wins. Maybe they’ll figure something out, otherwise it’ll be curtains for Nick Sirianni.

The Steelers beat up on a woeful Raiders team, which is a good sign. Justin Fields should remain the starter even if Russell Wilson is back and healthy, as his running transforms this offense into something dangerous.

We have liked what we’ve seen from the Falcons in the last few weeks, we just think there’s an air of fragility that we can’t ignore. Perhaps we’re wrong, in which case we’ll bump them up our rankings over the next few weeks. Kirk Cousins looks like he’s back and playing good football again, which is the main thing.

We certainly didn’t expect to have the Commanders in the top 10 after week six at the start of the season. They’ve been a good football team through six weeks, even the loss to Baltimore showed they can hang with the big boys. Let’s see how long it can continue.

We remain bullish on the Niners, even if they don’t seem like the all-conquering teams of the past few years. Next week’s Super Bowl rematch should be a good yardstick for where they are as a team.

As Maurice Moton writes for Bleacher Report, “The Buccaneers offense has become a powerhouse with Liam Coen calling the plays and Baker Mayfield under center.” We didn’t think Baker had it in him to be this good.

The preseason hype around the Packers is looking more and more accurate as the season goes on. Jordan Love has settled into the season and is looking better and better with each passing week. The NFC North is looking ridiculous so far.

Please, please trade for a wide receiver. Josh Allen is good enough to win games by himself, but it would be so much easier if you went and got him another weapon or two.

The Texans could, justifiably, be a couple of spots higher than this after an impressive demolition of the Patriots. For now, we’re going to keep them at five, as we feel the teams above them are just a tiny bit better.

Lamar Jackson may be the best player in football through six weeks of the season. The Ravens are now 4-2 after a weird 0-2 start, and we just don’t see them losing many games.

Going into Jerry World and winning 47-9 while pulling out all the tricks in the book is one of the funniest things we’ve seen in the NFL for quite some time. The Lions are a team capable of beating anyone, maybe even the Vikings who they play next week…

The Vikings sit atop FTN Fantasy’s DVOA rankings by a huge margin. It’ll take a monumental collapse for this team not to be battling for the division title all season long. Can Sam Darnold continue his high-level play throughout the rest of the season?

The Chiefs sit 5-0 and haven’t played anywhere near their best football. The 18-week preseason continues for a team that will only play three games that matter all year, the divisional round, conference championship, and the Super Bowl.

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