NFL power rankings, Week 7: The NFC North is setting the pace
An arms race between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers was the expectation for the NFC North. The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears making it a four-team horse race for the division crown comes as a surprise.
Last season, the AFC North became the first division in the Super Bowl era to finish with four winning records. Since then, the Browns have completely melted down and the Bengals are working hard just to get back to .500.
There's still plenty of time for an NFC North team to turn into a pumpkin, but for now -- it's another division with four winning records. And that'll still be true next week, regardless of Week 7 results.
With six weeks in the books, that's the division to catch. But not much changed this weekend. Seven of the 10 teams at the top of last week's power rankings won. The other three were two teams on bye and the Washington Commanders, who kept it close against the Baltimore Ravens, another top 10 squad.
Here's our latest power rankings, which don't look too much different than last week's:
The contenders
Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) [Last week: 1]
Detroit Lions (4-1) [Last week: 3]
Minnesota Vikings (5-0) [Last week: 2]
Houston Texans (5-1) [Last week: 4]
Baltimore Ravens (4-2) [Last week: 5]
The pair of undefeated teams had the week off, but the other three solidified their place among the top tier of contenders. The Lions and Texans blew their doors off their respective competition, and the Ravens out-dueled the fast rising Commanders.
Probably playoff teams
6. Green Bay Packers (4-2) [Last week: 8]
7. Atlanta Falcons (4-2) [Last week: 7]
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) [Last week: 9]
9. Buffalo Bills (4-2) [Last week: 10]
10. Washington Commanders (4-2) [Last week: 6]
11. San Francisco 49ers (3-3) [Last week: 13]
12. Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) [Last week: 12]
Like the last tier, there aren't many changes here because all but one of the teams in this group won in Week 6. The exception was the Commanders, who managed to once again show their Jayden Daniels-led offense is legit, even if couldn't do enough to slow down Derrick Henry at the tail-end of their 30-23 loss in Baltimore.
On the fringe of contention
13. Chicago Bears (4-2) [Last week: 18]
14. Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) [Last week: 15]
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) [Last week: 20]
16. Denver Broncos (3-3) [Last week: 11]
17. Seattle Seahawks (3-3) [Last week: 14]
18. New Orleans Saints (2-4) [Last week: 17]
19. Cincinnati Bengals (2-4) [Last week: 23]
The wins have come against lackluster competition, but it's impossible not to think the Bears' arrow is pointing up after their third straight win with at least three touchdowns scored in each. Couple an offense that's finding its way, especially with Keenan Allen added to the mix, with a stingy defense and Chicago's got every reason to be excited about its future.
A lot of work to do
20. Dallas Cowboys (3-3) [Last week: 16]
21. Arizona Cardinals (2-4) [Last week: 19]
22. Indianapolis Colts (3-3) [Last week: 27]
23. New York Giants (2-4) [Last week: 21]
24. New York Jets (2-4) [Last week: 22]
25. Tennessee Titans (1-4) [Last week: 24]
26. Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) [Last week: 25]
27. Miami Dolphins (2-3) [Last week: 28]
The Cowboys suffered their worst home loss of the Jerry Jones era and clearly have significant issues running the ball and stopping much of anything on defense. Yet their free fall is limited by the fact that most of the teams in the latter half of last week's power rankings didn't do much anything to show they deserved to make a jump.
The race for the No. 1 pick
28. Los Angeles Rams (1-4) [Last week: 29]
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) [Last week: 26]
30. New England Patriots (1-5) [Last week: 30]
31. Carolina Panthers (1-5) [Last week: 31]
32. Cleveland Browns (1-5) [Last week: 32]
The Browns offense isn't just bad. It's historically terrible and they're on the hook for astronomical amounts of money, regardless if they keep Deshaun Watson around or not. Times are bleak in Cleveland, which has essentially been the norm for decades.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: NFL power rankings, Week 7: The NFC North is setting the pace
