NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Patriots And Jets Skyrocket, Packers Plummet
It's time for your Week 7 Power Rankings, and this week's edition saw a lot of teams falling from grace.
The NFC continues to be a head scratcher. Many people thought Atlanta was the class of the conference, but the Eagles gladly snuffed out that thought, and did themselves a favor in the process.
The team that was supposed to be among the cream of the NFC, meanwhile, has turned out to be awful. Indeed, America's Team isn't doing a very good job of representing our nation.
The AFC is clearly superior right now, and it's only a question of how badly the elites will beat each other up throughout the course of the season. It's already started with Baltimore and New England doing a number on each other on Sunday, and Big Ben's return could automatically spell doom for Pittsburgh's remaining opponents.
Here are your Week 7 power rankings.
The Bottom of The Pack
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No. 32 Buffalo Bills: Well, at least the Bills didn't lose this weekend. They had a bye. Until they elevate their defense from the bottom of the well, and until they find a better quarterback than Ryan Fitzpatrick (not likely), they're the worst team in football.
No. 31 Carolina Panthers: The Panthers also used a bye to avoid running their record to 0-6. Jonathan Stewart is killing fantasy owners everywhere.
No. 30 Cleveland Browns: Colt McCoy wasn't all that bad in his debut (281 yards and one TD), but he was certainly no answer for Big Ben and the Steelers.
No. 29 Detroit Lions: Jahvid Best's Cal teammate Zack Follet went down with a nasty injury, and Shaun Hill is the latest victim of a porous offensive line.
No. 28 Oakland Raiders: Jason Campbell disappeared for two quarters as the Raiders lost to a winless team. Not a very good way to build on a win against San Diego.
No. 27 San Francisco 49ers: They got their first win of the season on Sunday, but wins over the Oakland Raiders only count for so much.
No. 26 Denver Broncos: They played the Jets tough, but their inability to run or stop the run hurt them once again.
No. 25 Cincinatti Bengals: A big win against Baltimore notwithstanding, the Bengals need to use their bye week to improve on what has been a vastly disappointing showing so far. Owens is starting to run his mouth again.
No. 24 St. Louis Rams: Sam Bradford has already tripled last season's win total. Big win over a befuddling San Diego team.
No. 23 Arizona Cardinals: They have two weeks to enjoy their win over New Orleans, and they still sit atop the worst division in football.
No. 22 Dallas Cowboys: They can't do anything right and really showed a lack of discipline against Minnesota on Sunday. Jerry Jones says he won't make a change, but can we trust him?
No. 21 San Diego Chargers: Norv's early season struggles are striking again, but they look a heck of a lot uglier than usual. They've dropped two games that should have been easy wins for such a talented team.
No. 20: Seattle Seahawks
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Pete Carrol's squad just keeps winning games they're not supposed to win. And even more surprising is the fact that their big win over a 4-1 Chicago squad looks even more convincing if Hester doesn't return that punt late in the fourth quarter.
They have the luxury of playing in a terrible division and should easily be able to displace Max Hall and the Arizona Cardinals.
No. 19: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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The team that woke up a slumbering Saints offense will probably be on their way out of the Top 20 before very long. And we shouldn't be surprised.
Josh Freeman, the rookie quarterback out of Kansas State, just doesn't look like the kind of player who can turn a franchise around that quickly. They also can't stop the run, as evidenced by Saints' rookie Chris Ivory's 158 yards and 10.5 yard average.
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No. 18: Jacksonville Jaguars
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Behind the broad shoulders and stout legs of Maurice Jones-Drew, the Jaguars can certainly run the ball. Their average of 146.8 rushing yards a game is third best in the NFL.
The problem is that they're giving up over 27 points and 385 yards per game. And with all respect to David Garrard, the Jags just don't have the kind of offense that can pass their way back into games.
The Jaguars face a tough task against Chris Johnson and division rival Tennessee tonight. If they win, maybe those blowout losses to Philly and San Diego can be forgiven.
Nevertheless, they certainly don't look like they can run with Indy, Houston or Tennessee for very long.
No. 17: Kansas City Chiefs
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They faltered late against the Texans, who always seem to win on a last-second catch by Andre Johnson. As such, the Chiefs' two game skid is not the most embarrassing one in the world.
Putting them this far down may be unfair, but the fact of the matter is that they're sitting atop the worst division in the AFC. Their defensive numbers may have been unfairly inflated thanks in this past game, but you still have to wonder how much longer they can keep it up.
No. 16: Green Bay Packers
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Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have to be one of the biggest disappointments in the early goings of the 2010 season. What happened to the offense that was supposed to score 50 points a game? Does losing Ryan Grant really negate that many plays in the play book?
Yes, they have injury problems. But that's why they probably should have let Rodgers sit the Miami game out. He didn't have a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but the Packers should be wary about sending him out behind a line that let him get sacked five times.
No. 15 Washington Redskins
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The Skins probably shouldn't feel too bad about losing to the Colts, and the only really bad loss they've suffered to far was to St. Louis.
There's still some life left in Donovan McNabb's arm. He's third in the NFC with 1,561 passing yards, but he should probably put some distance between his TD and INT totals (both stand at five).
Shanahan is definitely making improvements to his new team, but they're still not as good as Philly or New York.
No. 14: Tennessee Titans
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The Titans can certainly score. They're fourth in the league with 26.4 points per game, and their only offensive hiccup came in an 11-point effort against Pittsburgh. What should be really scary is that Chris Johnson is lingering pretty well below the league's leading rushers. Surely, he can't be kept down for too long.
The wild card for the Titans is, as always, Vince Young. He's been pretty good since he came back from that nasty hit against the Steelers, but you just never know with him...
Regardless, they have their work cut out for them if they want to overtake the Colts or the Texans.
No. 13: Minnesota Vikings
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While we probably shouldn't read too much into the Vikings' victory over the dreadful Cowboys, they do seem to finally be figuring things out. Brett Favre's rating has increased in each of his last four outings, and he has had no problem making Moss his go-to guy.
Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson is still the best runner in the NFC.
With Green Bay and Chicago struggling, the division can still be had.
No. 12: Chicago Bears
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"Heck," said Bears fans everywhere last week, "if we can win with Todd Collins at quarterback, then we can beat anybody!"
Not so fast, as it turns out. Jay Cutler was certainly an upgrade over the four-interception man, but he's still just not the best quarterback in the world. You can tell by his 43.6 completion percentage against Seattle.
Nevertheless, Chicago will still be competitive going forward thanks to their defense, which is allowing fewer points than anybody in the NFC.
No. 11: Atlanta Falcons
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Last week, many people thought the Falcons were the class of the NFC. Michael Turner was having a huge bounce back year, Matt Ryan was as steady as they come, and they always seemed to get a big play when they needed it (see Roddy White's strip of Nate Clements).
And despite the fact that these things all remain true, we should realize that the Falcon should probably have three losses at this point. And because the Saints seem to finally find their offense on Sunday, the Falcons probably won't be able to sit on them for very long.
No. 10: Miami Dolphins
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The Dolphins aren't the sexiest team in the league, but maybe it's time to give them their due after they were able to beat Green Bay in Lambeau.
The weird thing is that the Dolphins are 3-0 on the road, yet 0-2 at home. Basically, once they start winning at home, they might start turning some heads.
No. 9: Philadelphia Eagles
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Never a dull moment in Philly. First it was Mike Vick getting it done under center, and now Kevin Kolb is making it tough for Andy Reid to go back to Vick.
No matter what happens in the future, the Eagles are sitting pretty right now. They're right there with the Giants in the division, and look like they could very well be their equal.
The DeSean Jackson injury could have been huge, but Jeremy Maclin did a heck of a job picking up the slack.
No. 8: Houston Texans
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They always seem to make it interesting, but they deserve their due for their weird ability to pull out a win.
We knew what we were getting in Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, but there's probably very few people outside of the Foster family that thought Arian Foster was going to be the biggest difference maker on the team. He still leads the NFL in rushing, and has had only one bad game all season.
They definitely need to do some work on that defense, however. Giving up more than 400 yards and 27 points each game is just not going to cut it for long.
No. 7: New York Giants
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New York's other team may not have gotten off to the start they did last season, but they're doing a good job of quietly going about their business.
After demanding a trade earlier in the season, you have to appreciate the way in which Brandon Jacobs has once again gotten involved in the offense. He's scored in three straight games. Outside of his three pick game against Carolina in the opener, Eli Manning has been pretty consistent this year.
Their defense is performing as they should, giving up the fewest number of yards in the NFC (254.8 yards/game). It should be fun watching them duke it out with Philly later in the season.
No. 6: Baltimore Ravens
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A lot of people thought they were the best team in football heading into their tilt against the Pats, and it looked like the Ravens were going to live up to that designation through three quarters.
But you have to finish, and the Ravens did not.
Aside from that one terrible game against Cincinatti, Joe Flacco has been remarkable this year. But their inability to run the ball is a bit confusing. Only five teams in the AFC rush the ball more inefficiently than Baltimore, who was supposed to be one of the better rushing teams in the league.
They're still good, just probably not as good as we thought they were.
No. 5: New Orleans Saints
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Has the Saints offense finally arrived?
Indeed, only with the Saints is the inability to score 30 points every game considered an overwhelming failure. And while beating up on the Buccaneers is not the best harbinger of success the Saints could have created, it's certainly not a bad sign.
On defense, the Saints haven't been forcing as many turnovers so far this year. They have only four picks and nine forced fumbles to this point. They don't have a shut-down defense and forcing turnovers sure worked for them last year.
No. 4: New England Patriots
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Tom Brady doesn't take your crap, Justin Bieber. Heck, he doesn't even take it from Terrell Suggs. How do you like them apples?
Once again, the Patriots looked determine to avoid obliging all the haters, who would prefer them to fade back into the rest of the pack.
The Pats are one of three teams with just one loss so far. The bad news is that it was to the team ahead of them in the AFC East.
No. 3: Indianapolis Colts
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We know by this point that their opening loss to Houston isn't as bad as we initially thought. Houston is a good team. And so, once again, is Indy.
It's another ho hum season for the best quarterback in football. Third in the league in passing yards (1,916), and first in touchdowns (13).
It will be interesting to see how badly that London Fletcher hit injured the already banged up Joseph Addai. He hasn't been a major cog in their offense for several years, but they'd probably still rather have him than not.
No. 2: New York Jets
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The Jets are for real after all.
The leash is off Mark Sanchez, and the former Trojan looks like he just might be worth that fifth overall pick. Bringing in a not-quite-washed-up LT has paid big dividends. He's third in the AFC in rushing and has taken the featured back role for himself.
Good luck running against the Jets. Only the Steelers allow fewer rush yards per game than New York's average of 90. If Revis Island can get his hammy healthy, it follows that their passing defense would come along as well.
The how do you beat them?
No. 1: Pittsburgh Steelers
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They went 3-1 without Big Ben. Just imagine what they could do with him.
We were all thinking it, and the early returns are certainly good. All Roethlisberger did in his return was throw for 257 yards and three scores. After having virtually no passing attack through their first four games, having Big Ben to compliment their solid ground attack make the Steelers offense very tough to defend.
As always, it's very difficult to score on Pittsburgh. They allow a league-low 12 points a game and can take the ball away with the best of them.
On balance, it's hard to find a more complete team in the league than Pittsburgh.
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