NFL Power Rankings: Week 7 Edition

Now that Week 6 of the 2021 NFL season is in the books, it’s time for everyone’s favorite meaningful exercise: NFL Power Rankings! What differentiates these rankings from others is that they’re the only truly accurate ones in the entire universe. Let’s take a look at how all 32 teams stack up entering Week 7. Even more power rankings discussion in this week’s episode of The ODDcast on The SB Nation NFL Show.

BLG’S WEEK 7 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 - Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 2) - The Cards should be the consensus No. 1 after blowing out Cleveland on the road. Kyler Murray continues to be the MVP. And now he gets the benefit of working with Zach Ertz in addition to the other weapons on his team.

2 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 3) - The Rams didn’t even need to bring their A-game to stomp the G-Men. They’re worthy of the top spot in a vacuum but the context of a three-possession loss to the Cards obviously keeps them below Arizona.

3 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 7) - The Ravens holding Justin Herbert to the second-worst passer rating of his career was pretty impressive. Baltimore is the top team in the AFC Playoff Picture. Given the way he’s playing, perhaps this is the year Lamar Jackson delivers big in the playoffs.

4 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 5) - Tom Brady’s thumb injury didn’t really slow him down in Philly. Leonard Fournette seems to be hitting his stride and proving himself as a nice complement to the Bucs’ passing attack.

5 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 1) - Even though they didn’t get it, Sean McDermott was right to have the Bills go for the first down from 4th-and-1 at the 3-yard line instead of settling for a field goal to send the game to overtime. It’s too bad for him that he chickened out earlier in the game kicking a field goal from 4th-and-3 at the 5-yard line. Seems to me like the Bills underestimated the Titans.

6 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 8) - “All my f***ing life. I own you. I still own you. I still own you!” Awesome stuff from Aaron Rodgers. The NFL needs more of this.

7 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 9) - Mike McCarthy’s questionable decision-making has been overshadowed by an elite offense that’s able to cover up his mistakes. The Cowboys are running away with the NFC East.

8 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 4) - Brandon Staley is taking heat for aggressive fourth-down decisions but they were the right calls. His forward-thinking will pay off in the bigger picture. Tough loss for the Chargers but they’ll bounce back with some winnable games coming up.

9 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 10) - The Chiefs are playing some real sloppy football. It didn’t cost them in Landover, Maryland because they faced a bad opponent. But it’s going to prevent them from beating better teams.

10 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 6) - Things could go south for the Browns with Baker Mayfield and their running backs banged up. They could quickly lose ground to Baltimore and Cincy in the AFC North.

11 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 11) - Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase has been a lethal connection. Cincy is proving a lot of doubters wrong. Will be very interesting to see how they fare in Baltimore this week.

12 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 14) - There was thought that the Raiders might fall apart after Jon Gruden resigned in disgrace. They did just the opposite by blowing out a division rival on the road. The ceiling for this team might only be so high but the floor isn’t low.

13 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 19) - Derrick Henry is such a badass. How is he still producing like this after logging so many touches?

14 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 13) - The 49ers get a home game against Indy coming out of their bye. It looks like Jimmy G might be starting, which isn’t very inspiring.

15 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 17) - The Vikings have stabilized at .500 after getting off to a 1-3 start. Probably going to be tough for them to catch Green Bay in the NFC North but they have a chance to push for a wild card spot.

16 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 16) - The Saints return from their bye to play in Seattle against Geno Smith. Winnable game.

17 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 20) - The Stillers are flawed but they’re not going down without a fight. Pittsburgh’s version of bottoming out isn’t going to have them as one of the league’s *very* worst teams.

18 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 12) - Shocker: the Seahawks miss Russell Wilson. And Wilson clearly misses playing considering his very interesting pregame workout routine where he’s practicing being in a huddle by himself. Love you, Russ, but just chill out a little, dude.

19 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 15) - Sam Darnold had a big drive to get the Panthers to OT but he stunk for most of the game. The Panthers trading three picks (2021 sixth, 2022 second, 2022 fourth) to get him was an obvious overpay. Carolina is going nowhere with him at the helm.

20 - New England Patriots (LW: 18) - Bill Belichick punting at 4th-and-3 from New England’s 46-yard line in overtime was pretty dumb. What made him think the Cowboys couldn’t at least move get to field goal range? Tom Brady doesn’t let Belichick not go for it in that spot.

21 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 23) - Saw a lot of people overrating Carson Wentz’s performance against a bad Houston team. He completed 55% of his attempts for 223 yards. How special.

22 - Denver Broncos (LW: 21) - Teddy Bridgewater just isn’t a viable starting quarterback for a contending team. Three interceptions and one lost fumble in a blowout loss to Las Vegas. Three straight losses after starting out 3-0. Clearly looking like the Broncos’ hot start was a result of playing bad teams.

23 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 22) - Nick Sirianni appears to be in over his head and Jalen Hurts probably just isn’t good enough to be a franchise quarterback. There’s time for these guys to turn things around and they might be able to do as much against weaker competition. But we’ll have to see it to believe it.

24 - Chicago Bears (LW: 24) - Justin Fields has a 67.4 passer rating. Only Zach Wilson’s is worse. Tell me more about how it was definitely dumb for a number of teams to pass on him.

25 - Washington Football Team (LW: 25) - Washington’s defense can’t stop anything. The Football Team is once again an embarrassment both on and off the field.

26 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 26) - The Falcons return from their bye to play a Miami team coming off a London trip. It’s a good opportunity for Atlanta to get to 3-3.

27 - New York Jets (LW: 29) - The Jets get the Pats in their first game back from the bye. Not going to be the best look if/when Mac Jones outperforms Zach Wilson.

28 - New York Giants (LW: 28) - The Giants have the worst record in the NFL since the start of the 2017 season. They are pathetic.

29 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 32) - The Jags are on the board with a win! Their first since Week 1 of last year and it might be their only one this season. Free Trevor Lawrence from Urban Meyer.

30 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 27) - If the Dolphins can’t beat the friggin Jags, they’re legitimate contenders for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Except they’ll be sending that pick to Philly as part of Miami’s ill-advised trade from No. 12 to No. 6 in the 2021 NFL Draft. Brian Flores’s seat is heating up down in South Beach.

31 - Detroit Lions (LW: 30) - The Lions weren’t very talented to begin with and injuries have only exacerbated their dire situation. Detroit could become the first team to ever go 0-17 after previously becoming the first team to go 0-16. The silver lining is that the Lions have a long-term vision in mind.

32 - Houston Texans (LW: 31) - The team that everyone thought was going to be worst in the league indeed looks like the worst in the league. Granted, Tyrod Taylor would be an upgrade on Davis Mills right now.