NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Atlanta Falcons slip again after loss to Arizona Cardinals
If you're finding it harder to figure out who the top teams are in the NFL with each passing week, you aren't alone. Six of the Top 11 teams on our power rankings list from last week either lost or had a bye in Week 6, leading to a jumbled group of teams ranked No. 6 to 20 this week.
Of course, one of the teams continuing to slide away from that group is our Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta showed fight in Week 6 and only lost by a point, but ultimately, any kind of defeat to another bottom-six team is going to drop you in the rankings. The Falcons come in at No. 29 on our Week 7 power rankings.
The only teams below the Falcons are the Washington Redskins, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins. This may be rock bottom for Atlanta, as those three teams have only combined to win one game, and that was a Washington win against Miami this past Sunday.
But back to our jumbled top half of the power rankings, there are several preseason darlings severely underperforming at the moment, which has thrown a wrench in the rankings. The Cowboys and Rams took nose dives on our rankings this week with both teams on three-game losing streaks. Both are sitting outside the top half on our list, which doesn't seem right given the talent on those teams, but it's just not producing at the moment.
Maybe the Falcons will be catching the Rams at the right moment in the schedule when they visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday although from the Rams perspective, they are probably looking at the matchup with Atlanta as a chance to get their passing game back on track. Jared Goff threw for just 78 yards in the loss against the 49ers on Sunday.
Furthermore, the Kansas City Chiefs have lost two straight, which has taken them nearly out of the Top 10. The Chiefs offensive line is beat up and without defensive tackle Chris Jones, they can't stop the run. The Philadelphia Eagles aren't the team we expected before the year either, so they have dropped out of our Top 10. With each passing week, Philadelphia's loss to Atlanta keeps looking worse.
That's allowed the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans to all assume spots in the Top 10. Kirk Cousins was terrific Sunday against the Eagles. While I still have my doubts about him, if he finds some consistency, the Vikings will be a very dangerous team.
The Carolina Panthers and Oakland Raiders are also steadily rising since slow starts. Both the Panthers and Raiders sit in the top half of the rankings for the first time this season.
Check out our entire power rankings list for ahead of Week 7:
1. New England Patriots (6-0)
2. New Orleans Saints (5-1)
3. Seattle Seahawks (5-1)
4. San Francisco 49ers (5-0)
5. Green Bay Packers (5-1)
6. Minnesota Vikings (4-2)
7. Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
8. Houston Texans (4-2)
9. Chicago Bears (3-2)
10. Kansas City Chiefs (4-2)
11. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3)
12. Buffalo Bills (4-1)
13. Detroit Lions (2-2-1)
14. Baltimore Ravens (4-2)
15. Carolina Panthers (4-2)
16. Oakland Raiders (3-2)
17. Los Angeles Rams (3-3)
18. Dallas Cowboys (3-3)
19. Cleveland Browns (2-4)
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4)
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4)
22. Denver Broncos (2-4)
23. Los Angeles Chargers (2-4)
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4)
25. Tennessee Titans (2-4)
26. New York Giants (2-4)
27. Arizona Cardinals (2-3-1)
28. New York Jets (1-4)
29. Atlanta Falcons (1-5)
30. Washington Redskins (1-5)
31. Cincinnati Bengals (0-6)
32. Miami Dolphins (0-5)
