Phil Agius
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Everyone deserves a second chance, and frankly the candidates aren’t exactly forming a line to take over at the top of the Pickswise NFL Power Rankings, so the no-longer-undefeated San Francisco 49ers remain in the #1 spot, albeit much closer to the chasing pack than they were last week after losing to the Browns.
The other team to start 5-0 is also now 5-1 after the Philadelphia Eagles were grounded by the Jets, and while the Dolphins, Chiefs and Lions are all in contention, they’re going to need to do more to oust the 49ers.
Among the teams moving up the board this week are the Dolphins, Browns, Jets and Texans, while the Seahawks, Buccaneers and Colts are among those heading in the opposite direction.
You can also check out our early pick for NFL Week 7 , find out the latest NFL injury news and look at the NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.
Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 7
1 (-) San Francisco 49ers
We said last week that the 49ers’ average result this season was win by 19.8 points, but they didn’t even score that many this week as they ran into the brick wall that is the 2023 Browns defense. Brock Purdy had been accused of being a robot, but it turned out he is actually made of papier-mache and dissolves into mush when it rains. Who knew? The 49ers have only 3 other cold-weather road games to play, though, so they should be fine on that score. They would still have won had rookie kicker Jake Moody converted a late field goal, but they need to hope injuries to Deebo Samuel and particularly Christian McCaffrey don’t prove to be long-lasting. They are still Super Bowl favorites with the sportsbooks.
2 (up 4) Miami Dolphins
We had been holding the Dolphins back behind the Bills since their heavy loss 3 games ago, and while they haven’t beaten much since in seeing off the Giants and Panthers, they’ve looked good in doing so. The Eagles game on Sunday night should have major implications for the rankings. They are only 5th favorites for the Super Bowl at FanDuel and 4th in DraftKings’ odds.
3 (-) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs stay where they were last week after a fairly uninspiring TNF win over the lowly Broncos. They now have the equal-best record in the NFL, however, and oddsmakers still have them 2nd in the Super Bowl betting, with Caesars offering the best price of +525.
4 (down 2) Philadelphia Eagles
Like the 49ers, the Eagles had their unbeaten start ended by a team missing its starting quarterback but boasting an elite defense as they lost to the Jets. They get an immediate change to redeem their reputation with the game against the Bills and are early 2-point favorites for that game. They also bolstered their WR options on Tuesday by signing Julio Jones.
5 (-) Detroit Lions
The Lions are mixing it with the elite group of 5-1 teams now and they even have a win over one of them after beating the Chiefs on opening night. David Montgomery’s injury has come at a bad time, however, as they have a tough test this week against the Ravens.
6 (up 1) Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars adapted to playing back in America well enough after back-to-back London wins, completing a quick sweep of the Colts. They have a worry over Trevor Lawrence’s knee injury heading into Thursday’s game against the Saints, for which they are 3-point road dogs, but it seems likely that he will be able to play.
7 (down 3) Buffalo Bills
This is the controversial call this week, where we have a team that won moving down 3 spots, but a narrow win over the Giants while picking up an injury to QB Josh Allen doesn’t scream top-5 team. The credit from the win over the Dolphins has expired and it now seems fair to put them below the Jaguars, who beat them more recently.
8 (-) Baltimore Ravens
Six Justin Tucker field goals in London was nice for people who like that sort of thing but the Ravens’ win over the Titans was not exactly exciting, so they can stay where they were.
9 (up 4) Cleveland Browns
It’s fair to say we did not expect to be moving the Browns up the list this week, but they showed tremendous spirit, and defense, to claim the scalp of the 49ers while PJ Walker came off the practice squad to become their third starting quarterback in their first 5 games. With their schedule beginning to ease up after a tough start, things are looking up for the Browns if they can get Deshaun Watson healthy soon. They are tied for 10th in with the Bengals in the Super Bowl betting at FanDuel and second-favorites in the AFC North.
10 (-) Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the job done eventually against the Chargers with Dak Prescott having a strong night. They will have enjoyed the losses for the 49ers and Eagles, but remain 3rd in the NFC betting at +500 odds.
11 (-) Los Angeles Rams
The Rams got back to 3-3 with a win over the Cardinals but they’re running out of running backs with both Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers getting hurt this week. We should know a lot more about their potential after they’ve played the Steelers, Cowboys, Packers and Seahawks in their next 4 games.
12 (up 2) Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are also back to .500 but the advances their offense seemed to have made against the Cardinals the previous week weren’t evident as they scrapped to a 17-13 win over Seattle. They have 2 weeks now to prepare for facing the 49ers and Bills in back-to-back games.
13 (down 4) Seattle Seahawks
We’ll slot the Seahawks in below the team that just narrowly beat them. They managed just 2 field goals the rest of the way after taking an early 7-0 lead.
14 (down 2) Los Angeles Chargers
It was there once again for the Chargers on Monday night, but they fell short once more. At 2-3 with a divisional game against the Chiefs next, we need to see more if they are going to be contenders rather than frustrating pretenders.
15 (up 9) New York Jets
If you want respect in the rankings, then an upset win over a leading team is exactly the way to do it. They have a week off before facing the Giants and who knows, Aaron Rodgers may even be sprinting by then going by his apparent miraculous recovery.
16 (up 4) Houston Texans
The Texans have 3 wins and a narrow loss in their last 4 games, so they deserve a top-half spot. They are second-favorites for the AFC South now at +320 odds.
17 (-) Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are unchanged for a second week even though it would have been nice to see a more convincing win over the Bears. They got the job done but now face a much more daunting test against the 49ers on MNF.
18 (-) Green Bay Packers
The Packers and Steelers are also staying where they are in the next 2 spots after having their byes this week. The Packers visit the Broncos this week looking to put back-to-back losses behind them.
19 (-) Pittsburgh Steelers
It must have been a frustrating Sunday for the Steelers, sitting at home while the Ravens, Browns and Bengals all won. They return to action with an interesting trip to the Rams as 3-point underdogs.
20 (down 5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are top of the NFC South but have been exposed both times they have run up against strong teams, losing to the Eagles and Lions, so they still look a mid-pack kind of team. They stay at home this week for a key home game against the Falcons.
21 (down 5) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts probably lose less in terms of expected wins than most teams in moving from one of the weaker starters in the league to one of the stronger backups, but the likely loss of Anthony Richardson, replaced by Gardner Minshew is still unwelcome. The Colts have conjured up a couple of upset wins already, though, and are only 2.5-point home dogs against the Browns.
22 (-) Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons are lucky there was no one coming for this spot after a disappointing loss to the Commanders. They are 3-3, so there’s still plenty to play for, but while that’s the case the calls for Taylor Heinicke to replace Desmond Ridder (who had 300+ passing yards this week but 3 expensive picks) will be growing.
23 (-) Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders moved up 5 places last week, so we’re not feeling too guilty for leaving them where they are after they scrambled to a win over the Patriots. They at least have solid options in Brian Hoyer and rookie Aidan O’Connell if Jimmy Garoppolo misses time with his back injury.
24 (down 3) New Orleans Saints
It’s now 3 losses in 4 games for the Saints after a 2-0 start and their big win over New England was soon forgotten. They are favorites for the NFC South at +150 odds in a division that’s entirely contained in our last 12 places.
25 (up 1) Washington Commanders
A cautious rise of 1 place for the Commanders, who have fooled us before. The win over the Falcons was their best of the season, though, with a much-improved defensive performance.
26 (-) Tennessee Titans
The Titans probably thought they were stacked at QB this season, but none of their options look great if Ryan Tannehill is ruled out for an extended time. Or if he’s healthy.
27 (up 1) New York Giants
There’s not much movement in the bottom 6 slots, as you’ll see, in fact the only team moving up are the Giants and they lost this week. It was a better effort from the Big Blue in the game against the Bills, though, as they got a lot closer than expected as 14-point underdogs.
28 (down 1) Arizona Cardinals
To further justify the move above, the Cardinals did not come close to covering in their loss to the Rams as the answer to the question of who would be their leading rusher in the absence of the injured James Conner proved to be QB Josh Dobbs.
29 (-) Denver Broncos
Spoiler alert: the bottom 4 are staying where they were last week after going 0-4 in Week 6. The Broncos made a case to move up with a more competitive effort against the Chiefs, although they scored zero points in the first 3 quarters.
30 (-) New England Patriots
The Patriots did at least manage to end their run of losses by 30+ points but they still failed to beat a Raiders team quarterbacked by their old friend Brian Hoyer in the second half. They may wish they still had him on the roster.
31 (-) Chicago Bears
Well, things were briefly looking more positive for the Bears but now they’ve lost to the Vikings and Justin Fields is injured. It seems wild that the Bears don’t have a better backup plan if Fields is out for some time than an undrafted rookie but apparently that is the situation. The Bears are +550 odds at DraftKings to be the first team that the Panthers beat this season — they play on November 10 — and that could be worth a sprinkle.
32 (-) Carolina Panthers
0-6 baby! While the NFL no longer has any unbeaten teams, it does still have a winless team. If the Panthers don’t beat the Texans, Colts or Bears in their next 3 games, this slot will be a weekly update of their 0-17 odds — currently +1700 at DraftKings, since you ask.
