Ricky Dimon
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The Rams remained undefeated and every other team in the top five of last week’s power rankings also found the win column. With that, it’s time to go from No. 1 through No. 32 of the NFL Power Rankings heading into Week 8.
1. Los Angeles Rams (7-0) – Don’t tell Karen to calm down! These Rams may be on their way to a title and any fantasy owner with Todd Gurley II is on the way to a championship.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (6-1) – The Chiefs won’t have a head-to-head tiebreaker with New England because of a last-second loss, but they stayed ahead in the standings with a rout of Cincinnati.
3. New England Patriots (5-2) – Needing to survive a Hail Mary against the Bears isn’t that bad, as the Bears are actually good this season. New England has now won four in a row.
4. Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) – London called the Chargers and the Chargers answered—barely. A win is a win (even by one point over Tennessee), and L.A. has also won four straight.
5. New Orleans Saints (5-1) – You know you’re living right when Justin Tucker of all kickers misses an extra point to hand you a win. Drew Brees still hasn’t been picked off.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1) – The Steelers were off in Week 7, but they still enjoyed a big Sunday. Every other team in the AFC North took a loss.
7. Minnesota Vikings (4-2-1) – No team in the NFC North has a losing record. It will be a fun race, and Minnesota remained in front with a 37-17 road beatdown of the Jets.
8. Carolina Panthers (4-2) – The Eagles are not the Eagles of 2017, but coming back from 17-0 in the fourth quarter on the road to win 21-17 is still an amazing feat.
9. Baltimore Ravens (4-3) – Losing to the Saints—even at home—is not terrible. When it comes on a missed extra point by Tucker, well, that’s just a fluke. Baltimore stays at No. 9.
10. Chicago Bears (3-3) – Like the Ravens, the Bears can’t get punished for losing a close one to New England. But the defense must get back on track after surrendering 38 points.
11. Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) – We are about to find out a lot about the Packers, who just had a bye to get ready for back-to-back road games against the Rams and Patriots.
12. Washington Redskins (4-2) – The Redskins actually beat Dallas for once, thus taking a 1.5-game lead in the NFC East. This division figured to be a roller-coaster ride the whole way.
13. Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) – Philadelphia is by no means out of it in what is a thoroughly unspectacular division at this point. But the collapse against Carolina is troubling.
14 Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) – The schedule has gotten tougher, and with it Cincinnati has fallen from 4-1 to 4-3 (losses to Pittsburgh and Kanas City). The Bengals play their next two at home.
15. Seattle Seahawks (3-3) – Playing only for a wild card at this point, Seattle better win its next two games because it then has the following stretch: at Rams, vs. Packers, at Panthers.
16. Houston Texans (4-3) – The Chargers did Houston a solid by edging Tennessee. With Jacksonville slumping and the Colts at 2-5, the red-hot Texans are the class of the AFC South.
17. Atlanta Falcons (3-4) – Atlanta is still saddled with a losing record and they are dealing with injuries all over the field, but 3-4 looks a lot better than 1-4.
18. Dallas Cowboys (3-4) – The Cowboys’ results so far: loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss. Now home vs. Tennessee and then at Philadelphia, this trend is likely to continue.
19. Denver Broncos (3-4) – A date with Arizona proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Denver, which had no trouble ending a three-game losing streak.
20. Detroit Lions (3-3) – In the last three weeks, the Lions have won twice and enjoyed a bye. But watch out, because they do not play another team with a losing record until Week 14.
21. Miami Dolphins (4-3) – The Dolphins had no bad losses (at New England and at Cincinnati) prior to last weekend. That changed with a 32-21 setback against Detroit at home.
22. Tennessee Titans (3-4) – It was hard to take the NFL seriously when Tennessee was one of the division leaders. That is no longer the case following its Week 7 loss.
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3) – The Bucs fired defensive coordinator Mike Smith and then gave up “only” 23 points to the Browns. Hey, it’s an improvement!
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) – No team is falling as fast as Jacksonville, which has lost three straight to K.C., Dallas, and Houston. Blake Bortles is terrible; and now he’s benched.
25. New York Jets (3-4) – Sam Darnold has been intercepted a ridiculous 10 times in his rookie year, including three last week during a blowout loss to Minnesota.
26. Cleveland Browns (2-4-1) – A 2-4-1 record is a smashing success by Cleveland’s recent standards. But it could be so much better, with three losses coming by three points.
27. Indianapolis Colts (2-5) – Andrew Luck has twice thrown four touchdowns and no interceptions in a game this season. But he has been picked off a total of eight times.
28. New York Giants (1-6) – How bad are the rest of the NFL’s worst teams? Well, let’s just say that the Giants climbed three spots in these rankings despite losing to Atlanta.
29. San Francisco 49ers (1-6) – There are three 1-6 teams in the league. One has Saquon Barkley. The 49ers (and the Cardinals, for that matter) do not have Saquon Barkley.
30. Arizona Cardinals (1-6) – Arizona had played four straight competitive games, even winning one. Then last Thursday happened (a laughable 45-10 home loss to Denver).
31. Buffalo Bills (2-5) – With Josh Allen hurt, the Bills picked their poison between Derek Anderson and Nathan Peterman. Amazingly, Anderson looks just as bad as Peterman.
32. Oakland Raiders (1-5) – The Raiders are at least doing a good job of stockpiling future first-round draft picks. At present, though, they got even worse by shipping Amari Cooper to Dallas.
