NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Predictions for Post-Monday Night Football Standings

Week 6 of the 2016 NFL season is almost a thing of the past. We've had our fair share of excitement and surprise over the weekend, and things will continue on Monday night when the Arizona Cardinals host the New York Jets.

Unfortunately, all that excitement and surprise from Week 6 has only muddied the proverbial big picture in the NFL. Teams we thought were legitimate contenders—such as the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers—were embarrassed over the weekend. They were bested by teams—the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins, respectively—widely considered laughable.

The Seattle Seahawks squeaked out a 26-24 win against the Atlanta Falcons, but the Falcons might have had a chance at victory if not for a controversial finish. We might not know which of the two is really the better team.

The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, went into Green Bay and roughed up the Packers. Is this Dallas team for real, or are the Packers worse off than we might have imagined?

At least we can feel safe knowing the Cleveland Browns are still winless.

Today, we're going to add up what we learned in Week 6 in order to forge the Week 7 power rankings. We will be basing our choices primarily on what has happened through the first six weeks of the season and what we think will happen on Monday night. Other factors—such as level of competition and injuries—will also be considered.

We will also take a look at some of the more notable rankings heading into Week 7.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Minnesota Vikings	5-0
2	New England Patriots	5-1
3	Dallas Cowboys	5-1
4	Seattle Seahawks	4-1
5	Atlanta Falcons	4-2
6	Denver Broncos	4-2
7	Buffalo Bills	4-2
8	Pittsburgh Steelers	4-2
9	Houston Texans	4-2
10	Kansas City Chiefs	3-2
11	Arizona Cardinals	3-3*
12	Washington Redskins	4-2
13	Oakland Raiders	4-2
14	Green Bay Packers	3-2
15	Detroit Lions	3-3
16	New York Giants	3-3
17	Los Angeles Rams	3-3
18	Tennessee Titans	3-3
19	Philadelphia Eagles	3-2
20	Baltimore Ravens	3-3
21	New Orleans Saints	2-3
22	Cincinnati Bengals	2-4
23	San Diego Chargers	2-4
24	Jacksonville Jaguars	2-3
25	Miami Dolphins	2-4
26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2-3
27	Carolina Panthers	1-5
28	Indianapolis Colts	2-4
29	Chicago Bears	1-5
30	New York Jets	1-5*
31	San Francisco 49ers	1-5
32	Cleveland Browns	0-6

Notable Rankings

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

2. New England Patriots

We have the Minnesota Vikings at No. 1 right now for the sole fact that the team has been dominant in recent weeks and remains undefeated. I won't blame anyone who believes the New England Patriots deserve the top spot, though. They might be the best team in the NFL.

The Patriots have been impressive in the two weeks since Tom Brady returned from his suspension. New England beat the Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals by a combined 38 points. However, the Patriots haven't only been impressive because of Brady.

Even though the Week 4 shutout loss to the rival Buffalo Bills was ugly, the Patriots made it look relatively easy to get to 3-1 with Brady on the sideline. Part of this came from the coaching of Bill Belichick, and part came from the sheer amount of talent the team has compiled.

The Patriots are rated eighth in overall offense and third in overall defense by Pro Football Focus.

Adding Brady to the mix, though, makes the team appear virtually unstoppable. The guy has thrown for 782 yards and six touchdowns with no turnovers in two games.

Sure, the Bengals briefly held a second-half lead, but once again, Brady and Co. made the winning look relatively easy.

"I think we're at a decent place," Brady said after the game, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. "So we've just got to keep stringing these games together. They made it challenging on us, but we're trying to figure out what we're made of, and it was good to get going there in the second half."

The Patriots will next visit the Pittsburgh Steelers.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

The upcoming game between the Patriots and the Steelers looked to be an exciting one—at least before Sunday.

The Steelers' embarrassing loss in Miami was bad for the overall outlook of the team for a couple of reasons. For one, it proved that this is an inconsistent team that looks like championship material one minute and like the color-swapped Browns the next. Pittsburgh has won its last two home games by a combined 47 points and lost the last two road games by 46 combined points.

The other reason the loss was bad for Pittsburgh's place in the standings is that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was injured during it.

Even if Roethlisberger is able to make a fast recovery, he's going to miss the Patriots game, which is huge. This game could have a major impact on playoff seeding down the line, and a loss will drop Pittsburgh to 4-3.

This means the 3-3 Baltimore Ravens and even the 2-4 Bengals could be back within striking distance in the AFC North. This is especially true if Roethlisberger's injury causes him to miss more than the one game.

It could be a mistake to chalk up next week's game as a loss for the Steelers, but it doesn't look promising. The team's defense isn't consistently good enough—it gave up 474 yards of offense to Miami—to shut down New England. And we're not sure that a Landry Jones-led offense can keep pace with the Patriots on the scoreboard.

27. Carolina Panthers

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

It probably wouldn't be a mistake to chalk up this season as a washout for the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers. The team that only lost twice in 2015—one of those losses being in the Super Bowl—is the proud owner of a 1-5 record.

Even worse, the Panthers are now 0-3 in the NFC South.

This is not a terrible football team, but the Panthers are not playing good football. Carolina's latest loss, a 41-38 road affair against the New Orleans Saints, showed just how incomplete the team is.

Cam Newton (322 yards passing, three total touchdowns, one interception) was more than solid in his return from a concussion. The offense played well enough to come all the way back from an early 21-point deficit to tie the game at 38 late. Ultimately, though, it wasn't enough.

“We scored 38 points,” tight end Greg Olsen said, per Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer. “We should have had 50.”

The Panthers may need to produce 50 points in games in order to win down the stretch because their once-feared defense is bad. Carolina is ranked 30th in points allowed, with an average of 29.3 per game.

The rest of Carolina's season will likely be spent searching for some things to build upon.