NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Ravens Surging

Week 6 featured many blowouts, with the average margin of victory almost 14 points. The week ended with the Titans upsetting the Bills 34-31 in a game with seven lead changes. It also caused a shakeup in the AFC standings, with Buffalo falling behind Tennessee. Check out our updated NFL power rankings ahead of Week 7.

The two best Week 6 games on paper (Chargers-Ravens and Cardinals-Browns) proved to be one-sided routs decided early and much of the slate was lacking as four teams (49ers, Saints, Jets, and Falcons) were on their bye week.

With several teams starting to distance themselves from the pack and several more struggling to compete, we see three games on the Week 7 schedule with a spread of at least two touchdowns and the Packers (-9.5) may move into double digits against Washington. That means Week 7 could actually have more blowouts than Week 6 did.

Here’s a look at the updated NFL power rankings going into Week 7:

(1) Arizona Cardinals (-, 6-0 SU, 5-1 ATS)
Just beat a playoff contender (Cleveland) on the road by 23 points without their head coach.

(2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (↑1, 5-1 SU, 2-4 ATS)
The 28-22 win in Philadelphia was not as close as the score suggests.

(3) Baltimore Ravens (↑3, 5-1 SU, 2-4 ATS)
A huge statement win over the Chargers as the defense shut down an MVP candidate.

(4) Dallas Cowboys (-, 5-1 SU, 3-3 ATS)
Tough overtime win in New England still leaves Dallas as the only perfect team against the spread.

(5) Los Angeles Rams (-, 5-1 SU, 4-2 ATS)
Matthew Stafford was thinking ahead to destroying the Lions during halftime of that 38-11 win over the Giants.

(6) Buffalo Bills (↓4, 4-2 SU, 4-2 ATS)
It’s official: No defense is truly elite in 2021 as Derrick Henry exposed the Bills in primetime.

(7) Green Bay Packers (↑1, 5-1 SU, 4-1-1 ATS)
Still not as efficient as the 2020 Packers, but another steady performance in Chicago for a fifth straight win.

(8) Kansas City Chiefs (↑1, 3-3 SU, 2-4 ATS)
Can we ignore the turnovers and focus on the 499 yards, 11-of-17 on third down, and a second-half shutout?

(9) Los Angeles Chargers (↓2, 4-2 SU, 4-2 ATS)
No fourth-down magic this time as the Ravens outrushed the Chargers by 161 yards in a shockingly easy 34-6 win.

(10) Tennessee Titans (↑5, 4-2 SU, 4-2 ATS)
Henry really is just that special and this offense is legit when A.J. Brown and Julio Jones are both healthy.

(11) Cincinnati Bengals (-, 4-2 SU, 3-2-1 ATS)
The old Bengals lose or barely win in Detroit — these Bengals win 34-11.

(12) Cleveland Browns (↓2, 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS)
Too many injuries up front led to chaos around Baker Mayfield in an ugly 37-14 loss to a hot Arizona team.

(13) Minnesota Vikings (-, 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS)
Piled up 571 yards in an overtime victory and are very close to being 5-1 with a win over Arizona (missed FG) right now.

(14) New Orleans Saints (↓2, 3-2 SU, 3-2 ATS)
The hardest team in 2021 to figure out had a bye in Week 6 but will be tested in primetime on Monday against Seattle.

(15) Las Vegas Raiders (↑3, 4-2 SU, 3-3 ATS)
An impressive road win against the division rival Broncos after a tumultuous week (to say the least).

(16) Pittsburgh Steelers (↑3, 3-3 SU, 2-4 ATS)
Classic Mike Tomlin game — barely win in primetime at home against a team with a backup QB, but back to .500.

SEE ALSO: Week 7 Opening Line Picks

(17) Seattle Seahawks (↓3, 2-4 SU, 3-3 ATS)
Aaron Donald and T.J. Watt may have derailed their season, but there’s still some hope to get to 4-4 before the bye.

(18) Indianapolis Colts (↑5, 2-4 SU, 4-2 ATS)
Good rebound from blown lead in Baltimore, but Houston is not much of a measuring stick.

(19) San Francisco 49ers (↑1, 2-3 SU, 1-4 ATS)
Hopefully the bye week has been helpful to the health of Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle.

(20) Denver Broncos (↓4, 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS)
They doubled their season turnovers (four) and allowed a season-high 34 points and 426 yards to the Raiders.

(21) Carolina Panthers (↓4, 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS)
The defense can’t stop good offenses and Sam Darnold turned into a pumpkin once October hit.

(22) New England Patriots (↓1, 2-4 SU, 2-4 ATS)
Good enough to play the Bucs and Cowboys close at home, but not good enough to win those games anymore.

(23) Philadelphia Eagles (↓1, 2-4 SU, 3-3 ATS)
The only identity Nick Sirianni’s team has is that they are a bad football team with some good players.

(24) Chicago Bears (-, 3-3 SU, 3-3 ATS)
The worst 3-3 team in the league as the offense continues to fail under Matt Nagy.

(25) Washington Football Team (-, 2-4 SU, 1-5 ATS)
No team has allowed more points, and Taylor Heinicke has been bad the last two weeks.

(26) Atlanta Falcons (-, 2-3 SU, 2-3 ATS)
Few points for beating the New York teams, but Miami is another winnable game this week.

(27) Jacksonville Jaguars (↑5, 1-5 SU, 2-4 ATS)
It took a trip to London for this long national nightmare to be over — the 20-game losing streak has ended.

(28) New York Giants (↓1, 1-5 SU, 2-4 ATS)
Quarterbacks probably shouldn’t play the week after a concussion… is anyone still healthy on this roster?

(29) Miami Dolphins (↓1, 1-5 SU, 2-4 ATS)
A brutal loss to the Jags and a bottom-four ranking on both sides of the ball puts Brian Flores on the hot seat.

(30) New York Jets (↓1, 1-4 SU, 1-4 ATS)
Let’s see if Zach Wilson learned anything during the bye about his four-interception game against Bill Belichick.

(31) Detroit Lions (↓1, 0-6 SU, 3-3 ATS)
Dan Campbell wisely chose the Rams week to publicly call out Jared Goff to do better. Now he faces Sean McVay.

(32) Houston Texans (↓1, 1-5 SU, 3-3 ATS)
The last 14 Texans-Colts games prior to Week 6 were decided by nine points or fewer. Then the 2021 Texans happened.

Biggest Risers

Tennessee Titans (+5)

For the second year in a row, the Titans beat the Bills at home in a primetime game. Henry was magnificent again with 143 yards and three touchdowns, and Brown shook off an illness to catch seven balls for 91 yards in the second half alone. The Titans scored on all six of their last possessions and stopped Josh Allen cold on a fourth-down sneak with the game on the line. While it’s easy to laugh at this team for losing to the Jets, the fact is they still have a dangerous offense when Jones and Brown are healthy as they were on Monday night. After beating red-hot Buffalo, the Titans can really make a move with the Chiefs coming to town on Sunday.

Jacksonville Jaguars (+5)

While they didn’t quite hit Urban Meyer’s goal of 250 yards passing and 250 yards rushing, the Jaguars finally ended their 20-game losing streak with the first fourth-quarter comeback win of Trevor Lawrence’s career. The defense got it together after a slow start and kicker Matthew Wright made the team’s first two field goals of the season in epic fashion — a 54-yard game-tying kick with an incredible curve and a 53-yard game-winning field goal. That was good enough to see them jump five spots in this week’s NFL power rankings.

Indianapolis Colts (+5)

Over the last three games, Carson Wentz is averaging 9.8 yards per pass attempt and the Colts would be 3-0 had they made one more stop (or field goal) in Baltimore. T.Y. Hilton made his season debut and promptly hit up the Texans for 80 yards in an easy 31-3 win. Now we get to see the Colts on Sunday night against the 49ers, a team Wentz led a comeback win over in 2020 with the Eagles.

Baltimore Ravens (+3)

The Ravens and Chargers have had some incredible comebacks this season, but Sunday’s showdown was a one-sided affair won easily by the Ravens. Baltimore had three different running backs score walk-in touchdowns against Los Angeles’ bottom-ranked run defense. Justin Herbert really struggled against a veteran pass rush and the Chargers managed just one touchdown. This was a statement game from Baltimore.

Biggest Fallers

Buffalo Bills (-4)

This is why Super Bowls are not won in October. The Bills had been playing historically great football with four straight games of 35-plus points and four wins by 18-plus points. But the defense that was so impressive in Kansas City a week ago failed to get any stops on Tennessee’s last six drives. The offense still scored 31 points, but Josh Allen was stopped twice on runs on the final drive, including a brutal attempt at a quarterback sneak on fourth down. The Bills are still going to be an elite team this year, but the offense is not even in the top 20 in red zone touchdown percentage and that area of the game killed them in this one. As a result, they are tied for the biggest drop in our NFL power rankings.

Denver Broncos (-4)

So much for Teddy Bridgewater’s ball security. He had four turnovers against the Raiders, doubling the number of giveaways the Broncos had all season. Denver also is the only offense under 30 percent at converting on third down this season, so the passive version of Bridgewater is not doing enough to sustain drives. And Sunday’s version that had to be aggressive — after the Raiders hit big plays on the defense — had too many turnovers. This team is fading fast after a 3-0 start that was the result of playing the Jags and both New York teams.

Carolina Panthers (-4)

Meet the NFC equivalent of the Broncos, as Carolina is winless in October. September success story Sam Darnold has thrown six interceptions and is averaging 5.85 yards per attempt this month. While the team has been missing star running back Christian McCaffrey, there are enough weapons on offense to do better than this. Also, the defense has been exposed. As it turns out, playing high-powered offenses such as Dallas and Minnesota is much different than facing the Jets, the Bizarro Saints, and Davis Mills on a short week.

Seattle Seahawks (-3)

In their first game without Russell Wilson since 2011, the Seahawks were lifeless and fell behind 14-0 in Pittsburgh. But a strong running game got things going to Pete Carroll’s delight, and the Seahawks almost pulled one out in overtime. Unfortunately, T.J. Watt was the latest All-Pro defender to blow up Seattle’s 2021 season by forcing Geno Smith to fumble in overtime, setting up Pittsburgh’s easy game-winning field goal. For an offense built around Wilson’s off-script plays and beautiful rainbows to D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, the Seahawks are going to have to allow Geno to cook more than they did. But chances are they won’t have a good meal until Wilson returns.

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