NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Where Did ESPN Experts Get It Wrong or Right?

ESPN.com released their Week 7 NFL Power Rankings on Tuesday, so let's dive into their list to see where ESPN's panel of experts got it right and wrong.

1-10

1. Green Bay Packers

2. New England Patriots

3. Baltimore Ravens

4. San Francisco 49ers

5. New Orleans Saints

6. Detroit Lions

7. San Diego Chargers

8. Pittsburgh Steelers

9. Oakland Raiders

10. Buffalo Bills 

Comments

No complaints from the top three, as the Packers, Patriots and Ravens have been the best three teams and were expected to be near the top when the season started. The 49ers might have a case to be in their somewhere, but they're still winning the trust of the league after so many disappointing seasons, so No. 4 seems fine for the Niners.

It's hard for me to see the 4-2 Saints being ahead of the 5-1 Lions, but I think that again comes down to where people saw the two teams coming into this season. I still would say that the Lions have been a more impressive team in 2011.

The trade for Carson Palmer might have swayed a few voters, as the 4-2 Raiders sit one spot ahead of the 4-2 Bills. But remember, the Bills already won a head-to-head matchup with the Raiders. They should be flip-flopped.

No. 11-20

11. New York Giants

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

13. Tennessee Titans

14. Chicago Bears

15. Washington Redskins

16. New York Jets

17. Houston Texans

18. Cincinnati Bengals

19. Atlanta Falcons

20. Philadelphia Eagles

Comments

ESPN has the Texans in a free fall, and that's probably justified considering they've lost their top two players in Mario Williams and Andre Johnson. Very few teams could internally handle that kind of loss. The Jets have done nothing to make me think they deserve the No. 16 spot.

The Redskins could have fallen further down the list after falling to the Eagles and making a quarterback switch. And why no love for the Bengals? They've matched their win total from a year ago, and Andy "Red Rifle" Dalton has made people forget about Carson Palmer even as the Bengals were shipping him out to the West Coast.

The Eagles sneak back into the top 20 with a must-have win over Washington. 

No. 21-32

21. Dallas Cowboys

22. Seattle Seahawks

23. Cleveland Browns

24. Kansas City Chiefs

25. Carolina Panthers

26. Arizona Cardinals

27. Denver Broncos

28. Minnesota Vikings

29. Jacksonville Jaguars

30. Miami Dolphins

31. St. Louis Rams

32. Indianapolis Colts

Comments

I have a real hard time seeing the Cowboys as the No. 21 team. How in the world did they drop six spots for losing on the road at the No. 2 team? That makes no sense to me.

Cowboys fans should have a real problem with that placement. The only other real gripe in the final third is with Arizona, who was walloped by the Vikings in their last contest and should be lower.

One final thought: It's going to be interesting to see how the basement of the NFL ends up this season. The Dolphins and Colts don't look capable of winning more than one or two games. The Rams still don't have a win and both the Jags and Vikings are riding rookie quarterbacks from here on out.

It could get really ugly at the bottom of the standings in 2011.