NFL Power Rankings: Regular Season Week 7 from the Sports Mac

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 2): Good teams always find a way to win; regardless of the call, Miami had a chance to win and Pittsburgh made the stop.

2. New York Jets (LW: 1): This could really be 1 and 1A with them and the Steelers; their showdown in a few weeks should be phenomenal.

3. New England Patriots (LW: 4): Somehow they managed to get the win, even though they gave San Diego every chance to force overtime.

4. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 3): The only blessing for the Colts is that they’ll have had two weeks to figure out how to play without Dallas Clark.

5. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 6): They almost got caught in the perfect trap scenario, but were able to survive and get the win over a plucky Buffalo team.

6. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 7): They might be ready to be in the discussion of the top teams in the NFC so far this season.

7. New York Giants (LW: 8): A four-game winning streak after the shaky start has them looking like the team to beat in the NFC East.

8. Tennessee Titans (LW: 9): How much does Jeff Fisher love the fact that the ageless Kerry Collins can still come and win games for this team?

9. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 9): After another Chargers stumble, they may be ready to break San Diego’s division winning streak.

10. New Orleans Saints (LW: 5): Drew Brees needs to get some of those running backs healthy and fast, or we may see more games like last week.

11. Green Bay Packers (LW: 13): Despite all of the injury problems, they now look like the team that could stay on top of the NFC North.

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 16): I know their wins have not been over the best competition, but they are winning games and that is big for them.

13. Houston Texans (LW: 11): The AFC South is wide open right now, and Houston needs to come out strong off their bye.

14. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 10): How quick will Andy Reid pull Michael Vick if he comes back and has a bad game this week?

15. Washington Redskins (LW: 20): They haven’t been particularly pretty wins, but they are just a game behind in the division race.

16. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 21): They might have to be one of the surprises of the season now leading the NFC West after only seven weeks.

17. Miami Dolphins (LW: 17): They made a game effort against the Steelers, but you need to win games when given the opportunity to do so.

18. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 14): This season is just like a bad car wreck; you don’t want to look, but you just can’t stop staring at it.

19. Chicago Bears (LW: 15): The Jay Cutler/Mike Martz experiment: Not so good; it’s hard to see the Bears have any kind of offensive identity this year.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 18): They’re not just inconsistent from week to week; they’re inconsistent from half to half, like last week in Atlanta.

21. Oakland Raiders (LW: 26): They showed how truly explosive they can be; now they need to reach that level on a more consistent basis.

22. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 19): It’s a toss-up right now between them and the 49ers in who has had the more nightmare season.

23. Detroit Lions (LW: 27): They’re the beneficiary of what happens when all the teams above them lose last week.

24. San Diego Chargers (LW: 22): I think there’s no coming back from this start this year; they can’t find a way to win games, and that’s a killer.

25. Cleveland Browns (LW: 30): A win like that will go a long way toward the confidence of rookie QB Colt McCoy.

26. St. Louis Rams (LW: 23): While the Rams defense has been good this year, you can’t fall apart and let a team drive for a winning TD like that.

27. San Francisco 49ers: (LW: 24): This may now turn into a season that actually takes the 49ers back a couple of steps instead of a big leap forward.

28. Denver Broncos (LW: 25): When things spiral out of control that quickly against Oakland, it’s good to have a game the next week to make up for it.

29. Carolina Panthers (LW: 29): Getting a win in dramatic fashion could have some carry over for the Panthers, who are back on the road this week.

30. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 28): The QB carousel is going at full speed in the desert; how fast does it have to spin for Derek Anderson to get thrown off?

31. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 29): That win over the Colts is long in the rearview mirror now; it doesn’t help when you have to start the third-string QB also.

32. Buffalo Bills (LW: 31): Yes, they don’t have a win, but they are getting close, which will probably lead to one or two victories at some point this season.