Conor Orr’s Week 7 NFL Power Rankings: Rams Take a Tumble

Good morning and welcome to the Week 7 Power Rankings. Jim Nantz punched a football as hard as he possibly could and looked really mad at J.J. Watt after it appeared he broke his wrist. Troy Aikman and Joe Buck are apparently fighting but not really hashing it out and existing like the perfect couple not discussing their marriage counseling. No announcer seems signed through next season and football on your screens will never be the same as you know it. Four people in the last week have had to come out and apologize for saying players are faking injuries. The Washington Commanders never know what down it is. 

Professional football is the weirdest reality show on the planet. Let’s talk about it while we rank power:

1. San Francisco 49ers (6–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: beat Commanders, 23–17
This week: at Falcons

A clinical dispensing of the Commanders keeps Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers atop the Power Rankings and Brock Purdy at the forefront of the MVP conversation. Aided by Dan Quinn, it also very well may have kept Raheem Morris in the running for assistant of the year, even if toppling Brian Flores feels like a tall order right now. 

2. Kansas City Chiefs (5–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: beat Chargers, 22–6
This week: at Seahawks

Asking this seriously: Kenneth Walker is the best free agent signing through six weeks of an NFL season since…Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos? Walker is averaging one hundred and thirty three yards and more than twenty attempts per game. That’s just wild stuff. 

3. Buffalo Bills (5–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: beat Raiders, 33–30
This week: idle

Josh Allen proved once again that he is the closest thing to a superhuman in the sport. The Raiders had him bracketed so severely that I couldn’t imagine him completing a pass, nevermind flicking a touchdown effortlessly. What a treat.

4. Green Bay Packers (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: beat Cowboys, 23–13
This week: at Lions

With Micah Parsons en route at some point and the defense having posted back-to-back weeks of all-out swarming, the mood has shifted demonstrably in Green Bay. The Jordan Love MVP conversation will soon round into shape. 

5. Chicago Bears (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: beat Falcons, 31–23
This week: vs. Patriots

Caleb Williams's return was spectacular. But so, too, was bringing Kyler Gordon back into this defense as a no-nonsense nickel blitzer that will make Chicago not only the most fun offense to watch in the NFL, but one of the most unpredictable and enjoyable defenses as well. 

6. Seattle Seahawks (3–3) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: lost to Broncos, 17–14 (OT)
This week: vs. Chiefs

Zach Charbonnet is (likely) back. With a completely new offensive coordinator and similar run philosophy, we’ll see if it makes the kind of difference we expect it to. 

7. Minnesota Vikings (5–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: idle
This week: vs. Colts

When Brian Flores is on a bye, a quiet calm settles over the NFL landscape. One (very) unlucky individual—in this case, Shane Steichen of the Colts—gets him after an extra week of preparation. Maybe it can get worse for the Colts. 

8. Jacksonville Jaguars (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: lost to Texans, 34–31
This week: idle

It’s hard to penalize the Jaguars that much for a shootout loss to the heating-up Texans. But if Travis Hunter can do this and this in the same game, and we can inch him on the field more after possibly trading Brian Thomas Jr., I like the ceiling for this team. 

9. New England Patriots (4–2) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: beat Jets, 26–19
This week: at Bears

While it’s a very, very small sample size, the A.J. Brown drop rate being on par with Quentin Johnston is not what you want. My bold prediction is that Drake Maye gets him into the end zone twice against the Bears on Thursday night. 

10. Denver Broncos (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: beat Seahawks, 17–14 (OT)
This week: at Cardinals

It’s wild that we just worked ourselves out of the “I guess it’s dumb to say Drake Maye is terrible” conversation only to walk right into the “I guess Bo Nix and Matthew Stafford are terrible” conversations. If it weren’t my job to analyze the NFL on a daily basis I would try and place a moratorium on commentary without a four-week sample size. 

11. Detroit Lions (3–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: idle
This week: vs. Packers

The Packers and Vikings are next on Detroit’s post-bye schedule. We’ll find out immediately if the defense was fixed, has the potential to be fixed, or if Jared Goff is going to continue needing to score 30-plus a week to keep the Lions in the conversation. 

12. Cincinnati Bengals (3–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: idle
This week: at Ravens

Another post-bye team, the Bengals are technically in last place in the AFC North with the Ravens up next on Sunday. We’ll see if Zac Taylor was able to solve whatever blockage is keeping the running game from becoming a legitimate second weapon in this offense. 

13. Carolina Panthers (3–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: beat Eagles, 25–14
This week: vs. Buccaneers

Brad Idzik has unquestionably joined the field of Declan Doyle and Grant Udinski when it comes to young playcallers who will field a good number of permission slips this winter if current trends hold. Idzik used to chart tendencies for Dave Canales in Seattle and Tampa Bay, which is an obvious reason why the Panthers’ offense seems so delightfully unpredictable. 

14. Houston Texans (2–4) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: beat Jaguars, 34–31
This week: vs. Giants

Forget about the defense. The narrative heading into the trade deadline should be: How much more help can Houston provide C.J. Stroud, who is playing at a top-10 level over the course of the last month and seeing the field better than he has in two years. My take? Call Philadelphia and see what Saquon Barkley has left in the tank.

15. Baltimore Ravens (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: lost to Browns, 13–10
This week: vs. Bengals

Cool-ass play call alert. 

16. Los Angeles Rams (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: lost to Cardinals, 18–16
This week: at Raiders

I don’t know what is happening with the Rams, but I know that we’ll all wish these takes vanished when the team beats the Raiders, Chargers, Commanders and Cardinals in successive weeks. There’s still time for the “trade Sean McVay to the Jets for three firsts” fan forum post to come down! 

17. Pittsburgh Steelers (4–2) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: beat Buccaneers, 26–19 (OT)
This week: vs. Saints (France)

Aaron Rodgers and I disagree on many, many things. But I think we’re on the same page about hurling this aged Steelers team into Paris in the middle of the season. 

18. Cleveland Browns (4–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: beat Ravens, 13–10
This week: at Titans

This will be an interesting trade deadline for Andrew Berry. Does he invest some of the future draft capital the team seems to always covet into a team that is currently in first place in the AFC North? My one thought: At the very least, shore up the backup quarterback position now that the Giants—I’m purely guessing—beat them to J.J. McCarthy. 

19. Las Vegas Raiders (3–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 33–30
This week: vs. Rams

Piggybacking on that point, an interesting thought experiment: What if the Raiders decided that Fernando Mendoza was ready? Would the Browns be at all interested in having Cousins back up/challenge Deshaun Watson for snaps down the stretch, especially if Cleveland keeps gutting out victories? 

20. New York Giants (3–2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: lost to Saints, 34–27
This week: at Texans

My column on why I think Jameis Winston deserves one more week—a take that I fear John Harbaugh isn’t much interested in listening to. 

21. Dallas Cowboys (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: lost to Packers, 23–13
This week: at Eagles

The Jerry Jones referendum on hiring Brian Schottenheimer as head coach has been delayed long enough. Lose multiple times against the Eagles, Cardinals and Colts over the next three weeks and we might be talking about must-see Jones press conferences on a weekly basis from here on out. 

22. Arizona Cardinals (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: beat Rams, 18–16
This week: vs. Broncos

Nick Rallis joined the legion of defensive coordinators who have felt the absolute power and joy of blitzing with reckless abandon. This one happened to net the Cardinals one of the most shocking upsets of the season. 

23. Atlanta Falcons (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: lost to Bears, 31–23
This week: vs. 49ers

The Falcons’ handling of the blitz, and seeing how uncomfortable Michael Penix looked with consistent pressure from the secondary, is going to produce a lot of copycats until Penix can be smoother to respond to chaos. 

24. New York Jets (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: lost to Patriots, 26–19
This week: vs. Dolphins

Aaron Glenn was asked Monday about his halftime interview with the broadcast crew in which he insisted he was getting the ball to start the third quarter (he was not). When he went to answer that question, the screen went black. 

25. New Orleans Saints (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: beat Giants, 34–27
This week: vs. Steelers (France)

Kellen Moore pulling his starters (because of Paris, which is a fine reason in retrospect) and nearly giving up a 24-point comeback to J.J. McCarthy was very nearly the move that would have defined Moore’s coaching tenure in New Orleans. 

26. Washington Commanders (1–4–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: lost to 49ers, 23–17
This week: idle

Dan Quinn had one directive for the remainder of this season: Do not follow up one of the most egregious instances of clock mismanagement ever with another high-profile standalone game gaffe that shows an inability to handle game management. 

27. Philadelphia Eagles (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: lost to Panthers, 25–14
This week: vs. Cowboys

Column on the Jalen Hurts mess, and why the team is forcing Nick Sirianni to answer for the strangest story in sports. 

28. Indianapolis Colts (2–4)

Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Titans, 26–20
This week: at Vikings

Column on Carlie Irsay-Gordon, why I’ve been in support of her wearing the headset, and why it matters now more than ever. 

29. Tennessee Titans (1–5)

Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: beat Colts, 26–20
This week: vs. Browns

Losing to the Titans will absolutely break you as a person. DeForrest Buckner is proof. 

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1–5) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Steelers, 26–19 (OT)
This week: at Panthers

Jalon Daniels trying to find Baker Mayfield like a lost puppy after he scored a touchdown to put Tampa Bay up 10 points is the straight-up good stuff.

31. Los Angeles Chargers (0–6)

Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: lost to Chiefs, 22–6
This week: idle

Column on the mess at offensive coordinator and why Mike McDaniel is not the right candidate to solve the Justin Herbert puzzle. Will the Chargers make a change during the bye week, or does McDaniel get the extended time to try and smooth out the wrinkles?

32. Miami Dolphins (0–5) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: idle
This week: at Jets

This may end up looking crazy in a few weeks or months, but I really like the Jeff Hafley-Dolphins fit. This clip felt as authentic as anything you’ll see from a head coach talking about his roster.