[Fox News] Fox News Digital Sports NFL power rankings after Week 7 of 2024 NFL season
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The Kansas City Chiefs remain the only undefeated team in the NFL.
Spoiler alert: They remain No. 1 in our Power Rankings through Week 7. However, there was some shakeup after a wild week for some top teams.
Last week featured matchups that had our second-ranked team against the No. 3 squad, and there was another top 10 matchup.
And some teams near the bottom early on are starting to find permanent homes at the top.
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Read below for the latest rankings.
After five wins that all felt lucky, the Chiefs validated everything with a statement win in a rematch of the 2024 Super Bowl. Now, as the league’s last undefeated team standing, there isn’t an argument left to keep Kansas City out of the top spot.
Even without Defensive Player of the Year favorite Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions knocked off the undefeated Vikings on the road in a massive win for Detroit. They are the favorites to win the NFC and for good reason.
Lamar Jackson has won two MVP awards, and it feels like this year’s version of the Ravens’ quarterback is the best we have seen. Jackson carved up the Buccaneers secondary on “Monday Night Football,” throwing for 281 yards and five touchdowns. Derrick Henry continued his dominant start with 169 yards on the ground in the Ravens’ fifth straight victory. The Ravens’ 0-2 start feels like a lifetime ago. This team is firing on all cylinders right now.
Can we fast-forward to the end of January and Buffalo trying to beat the Chiefs in Kansas City? Feels like everything else in the AFC is just white noise.
Seeing Jordan Love lead the team on a game-winning field goal drive in the final two minutes against a good Houston team had to provide a huge boost of confidence to an already confident squad. The fact Green Bay is the third-best team in the NFC North right now is a testament to the strength of the division.
While the Vikings finally lost, they put up a good fight against one of the league’s best teams. They showed a ton of grit after entering the fourth quarter against the Lions down by double-digits. There are no moral victories in the NFL, but that’s about as close as a team can get.
A walk-off field goal was needed for the Packers to take down the Texans, handing them their second loss of the season. The AFC South, though, is still in the Texans’ hands after they went into a tough Lambeau Field environment, without one of their key offensive weapons in Nico Collins, and fought until the end. It is worth noting that C.J. Stroud was held under 100 yards passing despite putting up 22 points. Joe Mixon was a workhorse on the ground for the second straight week, but Collins’ absence was clearly felt by Houston in this one.
The scare they had with Jayden Daniels hurting his ribs didn’t matter in a blowout against the Panthers, but it speaks to the tenuous nature of having a QB who needs to bulk up yet insists on running the football.
Mike Tomlin’s decision to bench Justin Fields after a 4-2 start and start Russell Wilson was widely criticized. Wilson proved his coach right, leading the Steelers to victory over the Jets. Wilson added a different element to the offense that Fields hadn’t brought, and the offense clicked, scoring 31 unanswered points to close out the game. Beanie Bishop Jr. intercepted Aaron Rodgers twice, and the Steelers’ defense held strong against the Jets.
The defense is playing lights out but is overshadowed by running back Saquon Barkley entering the MVP race.
Niners players are dropping like flies. Time is running out, and they will see where they stand when they face the Cowboys, who are coming off a bye week, Sunday night.
The Bears had their bye week ahead of a big showdown against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. But if Daniels can’t play due his injury, it opens the door for Chicago, which has benefited from its schedule already. We might not know what this team is made of until it plays the three other NFC North teams in consecutive weeks next month.
Early on, things looked promising for the Buccaneers during their Monday night game against the Baltimore Ravens. But the game quickly took a dramatic turn. Star wide receiver Mike Evans dropped a would-be touchdown pass before exiting the game with a hamstring injury.
Baker Mayfield seemed to be unsettled the rest of the night without his top receiver. Meanwhile, Derek Henry sprinted 81 yards to set up a Ravens score, and Baltimore did not look back. Tampa Bay also lost Chris Godwin with less than a minute remaining in the game. The Buccaneers will have to regroup on a short week. The winner of Sunday’s Buccaneers-Falcons game will take control of the NFC South division.
This was a much-needed rebound by Seattle, which had lost three straight. Atlanta had been on the rise, and the Seahawks were the much better team from start to finish. They’ll have another legitimate test when the Bills visit this weekend.
After winning three consecutive games, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said the team “came out flat … for whatever reason” in its game against the Seahawks. Mistakes proved to be too much for Atlanta to overcome Sunday. Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions and was stripped in the third quarter, which lead to a 36-yard scoop and score. Atlanta can’t afford to enter this Sunday’s divisional matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a lackadaisical approach.
They didn’t lose last week. But they also didn’t play. But at least the bye allowed a team sorely in need of recovery from numerous injuries to get close to relative health.
Don’t let the Bengals get hot. They won two in a row to get to 3-4 after a dismal 1-4 start. Joe Burrow is starting to click with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and the offense is starting to get going again. The Bengals’ defense held the Browns in check, allowing just 14 points in the win. The Bengals can get back to .500 with a win over the Eagles next week.
Denver is starting to look like a franchise taking sizable steps out of the basement of the league under Sean Payton. It wasn’t going to come all at once, but wins like the one they notched against New Orleans, anchored by a strong defense, are indicative of a team that could be serious again soon.
The Colts were able to handle the lowly Dolphins, though the return of Anthony Richardson at quarterback didn’t produce the offensive output Joe Flacco has been providing since taking over for the injured second-year signal-caller. Richardson did lead the Colts in rushing, while Tyler Goodson scored the lone touchdown on offense for Indy with 51 yards on 14 carries. But Richardson’s struggles in the pass game (10-for-24, 129 yards) remain an issue for head coach Shane Steichen, who needs to see more development considering the Colts are in the playoff hunt.
This is still a pretty inconsistent team, but we won’t punish it for taking care of business. It was a scrappy two-point win in a low-scoring game, but the schedule got a bit tougher after their next opponent, the Dolphins, announced Tua Tagovailoa is likely to play Sunday.
The Chargers can’t shake the choker label, not even with Jim Harbaugh. Their latest late-game disaster against the Cardinals went a long way in bolstering that reputation. Justin Herbert has been a solid passer, but he’s not delivering results for the offense the way a quarterback with his salary is expected to.
This Rams team, without Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, just can’t do much. The high-powered Vikings pay a visit on Thursday, which is a cause for concern.
Running back Alvin Kamara admitted fans were “fed up” after many booed before leaving the Superdome well before the blowout loss to the Denver Broncos came to an end. Veteran quarterback Derek Carr could return to the starting lineup as early as this Sunday for a game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Whenever Carr is fully recovered from his oblique injury, he should give New Orleans a boost. But the Saints still have a host of other issues to correct if this team wants to turn its season around.
Aaron Rodgers is getting a lot of blame for New York’s bad start, but coaching, receiver play and a defense not being as strong as it should have contributed.
Tua Tagovailoa is returning, but it feels like the season is already a lost one in Miami. The yo-yo of Tua’s availability cannot be a long-term strategy of success for the Dolphins.
The two decisions that defined the offseason — not replacing QB Daniel Jones and letting RB Saquon Barkley go — are looking rough right now.
Was this the “get right game” for the Jaguars in London? They dominated a struggling Patriots squad, especially on the ground, where Tank Bigsby rushed for over 100 yards with two touchdowns in his start for the injured Travis Etienne Jr. Trevor Lawrence also looked more efficient, going 15-for-20 through the air for 193 yards with a touchdown to trusted rookie Brian Thomas Jr.
The Raiders now have a quarterback controversy after signing Desmond Ridder. On top of that, the Devante Adams trade might not be the team’s last big deal either. Rumors are swirling about more Raiders stars being traded before the deadline.
Mason Rudolph started for the injured Will Levis, and though things started off hot on the road in Buffalo the Bills ran away with this one. Rudolph threw 40 times because of the deficit, completing 25 of them for 215 yards with a touchdown and an interception. But this squad can’t seem to find momentum as it moved to 1-5, digging itself in the AFC playoff picture.
It’s rock bottom in Cleveland right now. The Yankees eliminated the Guardians in the ALCS, Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles and it feels like the fire sale has begun for the Browns after they traded Amari Cooper. Expect more players to get traded out of Cleveland over the next few weeks as they look toward the future.
It seems like a race between Jerod Mayo and Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson for the next coach to be fired, and Mayo might win (lose?) that.
When the Panthers made the switch from Bryce Young to Andy Dalton, the team appeared to be betting on the veteran quarterback’s experience and hoped he could help them at least be competitive for most games. But Carolina’s latest loss proved to be anything but competitive. At one point during the blowout loss to the Washington Commanders, the Panthers were down 37-0.
Surprisingly, the coaches did not pull Dalton at that point. The decision suggested the staff is not interested in going back to Young this season. Young did eventually see some action, albeit limited. He finished the game with two pass attempts for -4 yards.
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