The NFL Blog: Power Rankings (After Week 7)

Power Rankings After Week 7

1. Tennessee 6-0 (1st)
2. Buffalo 5-1 (2nd)
3. Pittsburgh 5-1 (3rd )
4. Washington 5-2 (4th)
5. New York Giants 5-1 (5th)
6. Tampa Bay 5-2 (NR)
7. Carolina 5-2 (NR)
8. San Diego 3-4 (7th)

-Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis;

Out: Indianapolis (6th); Dallas (8th);

Explanation: Following the blowout week of week 7 my power rankings were more stable than they have been in weeks. The top 5 spots in my top 8 remained the same, as all 5 times won in week 7. Tennessee remained the League’s only unbeaten team, blowing out Kansas City to get to 6-0. Since jumping to my #1 spot from off the board following week 4, the Titans have been the top team in my rankings for the last 4 weeks. Buffalo stayed in the number 2 spot in my rankings after beating San Diego at home to get to 5-1. They’ve been ranked in my top 3 for 4 weeks straight now since jumping to the #2 spot from off the board after week 4. They’ve been ranked 2nd in 3 of the last 4 weeks. Pittsburgh hammered the Bengals on the road to get to 5-1 on the season and I kept them at #3 in my top 8. The Redskins sneaked by the Browns at home to get to 5-2 and I kept them 4th in my rankings. Since jumping to #3 in my rankings from off the board after week 4, the Redskins have been in my top 4 for the last 4 weeks. The Giants rebounded from their loss to Cleveland with an easy win over the Niners at home to go to 5-1 on the season. They are again ranked 5th in my top 8 and since moving to 6th in my rankings after week 4, the Giants have been in my top 6 for each of the last 4 weeks. So as you can see, the top 5 teams in my rankings have stayed basically at the top for a month. But beyond that it’s been a little scattered and unsure. The Colts had been 6th in my rankings going into week 7 but they were soundly beaten by the Packers and fell out of my top 8 this week. Moving into my top 8 and taking the Colts’ place in the #6 spot this week are the Bucs, who beat Seattle on Sunday night to go to 5-2 on the season. Fellow 5-2 NFC South team Carolina climbed back into my top 8 this week. I have the Panthers ranked 7th in my top 8 after their blowout win over the Saints in week 7. In my week 6 power rankings the two final teams in my top 8 were the Chargers at #7 and the Cowboys at #8. The Cowboys were blown out by the Rams and lost for the 3rd time in 4 games on Sunday and they will be without Tony Romo until mid-November. Thus they fell out of my power rankings this week. I moved the Chargers out of the #7 spot but I ended up keeping them in my rankings in the 8th and final spot. SD really got the final spot by default. To me there is a big drop off right now after Carolina and Tampa. I thought it didn’t make much sense to have a 3-4 team ranked ahead of teams that were 4-2 but I base these rankings on who I think would win a head to head matchup on a neutral field and I just favored the Chargers over all the other teams. The Patriots blew out the Broncos in week 7 to get to 4-2 but after seeing what the Chargers did to them in week 6 I can’t rank them ahead of San Diego. I would favor the Chargers over the Falcons or Cardinals as well. And I would favor them over any of the other half way decent teams in the League such as the Bears, the Packers, and the Eagles. And while they’ve been a major disappointment so far, the Chargers are still a very dangerous team and at this point that’s about as good as my #8 team is going to be. There just aren’t that many truly great teams in the League.