Nolan Anderson’s NFL Power Rankings: Post Week Seven
It’s hard to make heads or tails of this NFL season. Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers lost to former XFL quarterbacks, the New York teams are dominating, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With that in mind let’s break down this week’s power rankings.
CONTENDERS
- Eagles (last week #1)
The Eagles got to stay home and watch their position at top of the NFL remain untouched.
- Bills (last week #2)
Another top team with the week off, the Bills got a week to bask in the glow of that Chiefs win.
- Vikings (last week #3)
A tough week for the bye week, our top three teams all got their designated rest in Week Seven.
- Giants (last week #4)
Every single win has been decided by one possession. Just one! The Giants are scrappy and play every team to the very last whistle. Look for Brian Daboll to snag that Head Coach of the year honor.
- Chiefs (last week #5)
Patrick Mahomes against the statistical top defense in the NFL? Not a problem. Mahomes dropped a season high in yards and completion percentage, and absolutely torched the 49ers D.
PLAYOFF HOPEFULS
- Bengals (last week #8)
The Bengals offense lives and dies with the deep ball, and this Sunday the Bengals were truly living. It won’t be long before Joe Burrow grabs the record for most passing yards in a single game.
- Jets (last week #7)
The Jets have had a roller coaster these past few days. A gritty win on Sunday, followed by the news of running back Breece Hall’s season ending injury, followed by the trade for James Robinson. Despite the ups and downs, the Jets are winning games! We will learn how legit this with back-to-back divisional games coming up against the Pats and Bills.
- Cowboys (last week #10)
Dak is Back! While he didn’t wow in his return, when Prescot steps on the field, the ceiling raises significantly.
- Ravens (last week #9)
To win in January, a team needs to be able to win in multiple ways. On Sunday the Ravens relied on the running backs and defense and showed how they can win without Lamar having to be superman.
- Seahawks (last week #11)
There is a lot I could say here to highlight how good the Seahawks have been this season, but one sentence sums it up perfectly. The Seahawks are leading the division heading into week eight!
PLAYOFF HOPEFULS (that I don’t feel good about)
- Titans (last week # 15)
It looked rocky the first few games of the season, but thanks to the quirks of the schedule, the Titans have basically wrapped up the division with the sweep of the Colts.
- Dolphins (last week #20)
The eyes of the NFL fandom watched the return of Tua this past Sunday night. Despite the genuine worry we collectively felt watching him back on the field after that scary concussion, Tua did not flinch, and looked great in his return. It will take time to get back to top form. But with Tua at the helm, the Dolphins must be taken seriously.
- Chargers (last week #6)
The Chargers came into the season with high hopes for a revamped defense, behind free agent acquisitions of cornerback J.C. Jackson and Khalil Mack. On Sunday the Chargers lost J.C to a season ending injury and Mack has recorded less than 25 tackles on the season.
- Rams (last week #12)
The biggest loss for the Rams this week was losing the bidding war with the 49ers for running back Christian McCafferty
- Falcons (last week #14)
The Falcons offense is fun! It might not be traditional, it might not create wins, but man is it fun. The Falcons are the best bad team of the season.
- Cardinals (last week #23)
The Cardinals can’t even win without controversy. The Cards grinded out a tough win against the Saints this past Thursday, yet the story post game was the blow up on the sidelines between Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury and QB Kyler Murray.
- Bears (last week #29)
A funny thing happened Monday night, the Bears decided to treat QB Justin Fields as an actual offensive weapon, and the results were kind of great! Fields had easily the best game of his professional career, and the Bears finally have some offensive momentum.
- 49ers (last week #18)
For one quarter, the 49ers looked like the class of the NFC against the Chiefs. Then Jimmy Garoppolo threw a pick and reminded us all why the 49ers traded three first round picks to move on. But hey! It was fun seeing Christian McCafferty in a new uniform.
- Patriots (last week #13)
Was anyone surprised when Belichick benched Mac Jones after one pick? Was anyone surprised when it didn’t work? Jones, Zappe, doesn’t matter. Both are mediocre.
- Jaguars (last week #21)
How much benefit of the doubt should QB Trevor Lawrence continue to get? Did Urban Meyer really screw up his development this bad?
- Bucs (last week #18)
The only reason the Bucs are still a playoff hopeful is how dismal their division is. But losing in back-to-back weeks to Steelers and Panthers is a bad look.
MAYBE NEXT YEAR
22. Raiders (last week #22)
The Raiders started the season with running back Josh Jacobs on the trading block. After Sunday night we are having genuine conversations about Jacobs being a top back in the entire league.
- Commanders (last week #24)
Taylor Heinicke brings something to the table that elevates the Commanders that Carson Wentz has not shown. His stats don’t jump off the page, but his teammates love him.
- Packers (Last week #17)
I think we are past the whole, “The Packers will turn this around!” After losing to the Commanders on Sunday, I saw a team that is floundering on offense with an ageing QB behind center. It’s not looking good/
- Browns (last week #25)
The Brown’s fans may point to a few questionable calls as to why they lost this game, and they may be right. But, The Browns had more than a few chances to put this game away, and an offense led by Jacoby Brissett is not good enough to win the close games.
- Saints (last week #29)
For years, the Saints kicked a bill down the road to go all in during the twilight of Drew Brees’ career. Manoeuvring the cap and sacrificing depth has left the Saints vulnerable in the secondary and along the line. The rest of this season should be dedicated to roster evaluation with an eye for a full rebuild in 2023.
- Steelers (last week #27)
Mike Tomlin is not just as a good, but a great head coach, but not even he is going to be able to coach this team to a winning season.
- Broncos (last week #26)
The best thing that could have happened to the Broncos was getting their bye. Russell Wilson gets an extra week to recover, and the team gets to avoid the “Bronco’s Country” memes for a week.
- Colts (last week #16)
The Colts lost to the Titans twice in the last four weeks, and subsequently lost the division and their playoff hopes for the season. By Monday morning QB Matt Ryan was benched for the remaining of the season and the Colts are turning to second year and sixth round pick Sam Ehlinger. Not the best week.
- Lions (last week #30)
No matter how many ‘kneecaps’ Dan Campbell and the Lions try to bite off, the offense isn’t putting up enough points to win games.
- Panthers (last week # 32)
The Panthers traded away their top player on offense, trotted out a former XFL quarterback against Tom Brady, and they completely dominated!
- Texans (last week #31)
There hasn’t been too many highlights this season for the Texans, but they have found a genuine star in running back Damien Pierce.
