NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: Ravens hit top three, while Lions drop following Aidan Hutchinson injury
By virtue of their divisional loss to the Vikings in Week 4, the Packers are technically a last-place team. And yet, they check in on this week's Power Rankings at No. 7 overall.
That's because the NFC North is off to a record start, with each team sitting at 4-2 or better -- the first time since 1970 that every club within a single division has four or more victories through six weeks.
Now, part of that is because of the schedule; that Vikings-Packers game has been the only divisional matchup to this point, so there will be some attrition within. In fact, this coming Sunday features a colossal NFC North clash between the Nos. 1 and 5 teams in the pecking order below, with the unbeaten Vikings hosting the Aidan Hutchinson-less Lions. The rematch in Detroit falls in Week 18, a potentially massive showdown to close out the regular season.
In a strange twist, the Bears -- my lowest-ranked North team at No. 13 -- won't play their first division game of the season until Week 11 (the election will already be over!), when they'll host the Packers at Soldier Field. The Week 18 rematch will be at Lambeau Field, creating the opportunity for another legendary chapter in the rivalry's storied history.
Will the North continue overpowering non-division opponents and defining the 2024 NFL campaign? Well, as Hutchinson's injury unfortunately showed, a team's trajectory can change in a single play. It felt dirty moving the Lions down a couple spots in this week's rankings after such a dominant road win, but I earnestly hope they make me look silly for doing so.
NOTE: Up/down arrows reflect movement from the Week 6 Power Rankings.
Life is pretty good. The Vikings rolled into the bye at a perfect 5-0 and were able to enjoy some downtime. Head coach Kevin O'Connell rang a big bell prior to a Dodgers-Padres playoff game, while quarterback Sam Darnold led his USC Trojans out of the tunnel for their bout with Penn State. The Vikes had earned the off-week rest and rewards, as it was a pretty wild first third of the season, with trips to New York, London and even upper Wisconsin. Now the stakes are raised. Four of the next six contests are on the road, and they kick off this next spate of games with a big showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium, hosting a Lions team that just put up 47 points in Dallas but lost Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg. The Vikings need to clean up the offensive turnovers and special teams mistakes to keep the perfect run going.
This hierarchy's top two teams each face a marquee matchup in the return to action after a bye week. The Chiefs must go to San Francisco and face a semi-rested 49ers team eager to keep getting back on track -- and perhaps exercise a small measure of revenge for this past February's Super Bowl loss. The latter makes for great headlines, but coaches will use that stuff to motivate players, too. The 49ers are 3-3 and still won't have Christian McCaffrey, but their offense remains highly flammable when it's not turning the ball over. The Chiefs' excellent defense will have something to say about that, but will the offense have enough to exploit a shorthanded Niners defense? The unit must show it can survive and even thrive without several pieces, having passed the first post-Rashee Rice test pretty well in Week 5. If Hollywood Brown eventually returns, it will likely only be for the stretch run. But we might be just a handful of games from Isiah Pacheco's return, which certainly would be a boost.
The Ravens have traditionally been a team guided by a north star of defense and special teams, but this offense has become virtually impossible to defend for merely mortal foes. During the current four-game win streak, the Ravens have averaged 33.5 points and 471.8 yards (including a rushing average of 224), dissecting division rivals, AFC contenders and non-conference opponents with the same measure of punishment. Sunday was also a positive step for both Zay Flowers, who has now stacked consecutive strong games after a slow start, and Mark Andrews. Although Lamar Jackson's one interception Sunday went off Andrews' hands in the first quarter, the veteran tight end responded with a touchdown and his best overall showing of the year. Defensively, Baltimore still has some holes, but no one is doubting this team anymore, with the 0-2 start a distant memory.
The difference between Houston and New England was noticeable on Sunday, but it was also a welcome sign that the Texans slammed on the gas pedal early and pretty much threw the Patriots into the rearview window right after halftime. That was what we wanted to see from DeMeco Ryans' team after it let too many of its earlier wins stay a little too close for comfort. One obvious glow-up was the return of Joe Mixon, who showed no signs of the ankle injury that kept him out for three games. Mixon had several big runs, including a 59-yarder, and Dameon Pierce fed off that with his own 54-yard touchdown late. The Texans let Drake Maye drive down the field on them a few times in the quarterback's first NFL start, but Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter were in his face most of the game, helping frazzle the rookie plenty in a mostly-solid defensive performance. Outside of the Vikings game, the Texans have looked pretty good this season -- and keep getting better.
Sunday’s game was shaping up to be one of the banner victories of the Dan Campbell era … before a devastating injury to Aidan Hutchinson abruptly put a huge damper on the day. If Hutchinson’s sack of Dak Prescott is the last we see of the Pro Bowl edge rusher this season, it will be a brutal loss for a Lions team that was firing on all cylinders in Dallas, ultimately destroying the Cowboys, 47-9. To the Lions’ credit, the defense played inspired ball after Hutchinson left the game, and it's that Campbell-fueled spirit that should have even the most jaded observer believing in this team, despite such a wicked injury loss. If the offense has to carry the burden for the remainder of the season, Sunday was a pretty good reminder of what is possible. The Lions busted out all the tricks, and not all of them worked, but almost everything else did in a vicious, thorough and diverse beatdown of a broken Cowboys defense. How will the Lions respond this week against the unbeaten Vikings in Minnesota? Win or lose, I expect to see their trademark resolve in that massive divisional showdown.
Monday night featured a little of everything -- and a lot of laundry. There were 22 accepted penalties, half by the Bills, who did some additional foot shooting with a pair of missed kicks (an extra point and a 47-yard field goal). But they escaped New Jersey alive and remained atop their perch in the AFC East. It took a heroic effort from rookie running back Ray Davis (filling in for the injured James Cook), a two-sack night from A.J. Epenesa (who didn't start Monday night) and a late, acrobatic interception from Taron Johnson (who had missed the previous four games due to injury) to sew it up. Aaron Rodgers ate up the Bills' defense for much of the night, but Josh Allen was just a little more efficient in a game where both quarterbacks faced a lot of second- and third-and-longs. If you look at Buffalo's upcoming schedule, it lines up pretty nicely prior to the big showdown with the Chiefs in Week 11.
EDITOR'S UPDATE: The Bills are acquiring WR Amari Cooper and a 2025 sixth-round pick from the Browns in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday.
Jordan Love has looked progressively better with each game since returning from his knee injury. Sunday against the Cardinals, he was in an early rhythm, dicing them up for three first-half touchdown passes. Even the interception wasn't Love's fault, as his intended target fell down. As the game went on, Love went from playing a patient, controlled game to taking smart shots -- and they worked. This was the Love we saw from November on last season, and the Packers are suddenly a serious contender again. Having two of those TD passes go to Romeo Doubs didn't hurt, either, after the wideout's suspension. That feels like yesterday's news now. Everything feels pretty darn solid with this team, save for the kicking situation. I have to imagine a change will come.
Had they made the field goal before the half and scored a touchdown -- not a field goal -- at the start of the third quarter, the Commanders would've had a far better chance of winning in Baltimore. This was a mostly-strong showing in a tough environment; the Commanders held firmer than, say, last season's upstart darlings, the Lions, did in Baltimore about a year ago. All told, Sunday was another strong showing by Jayden Daniels and the offense, with the 30-23 loss being more of an indictment on the defense allowing big plays all game. This is clearly the biggest issue with Washington right now. Without a viable pass rush or the ability to create turnovers (plural), the Commanders are going to struggle against the league's higher-caliber offenses, especially after the reported season-long loss of DT Jonathan Allen. But are the Commanders still a contender in spite of this? I maintain an emphatic yes. Daniels couldn't match Lamar Jackson's lethality level but was darned good in defeat.
Eleven minutes into Sunday's contest, the Buccaneers led 17-0, but eight minutes before halftime, they trailed the Saints, 20-17. The operative theme after the giveaway game in Atlanta had to be "finish," and Tampa Bay did just that against New Orleans with six touchdown drives of 58 yards or longer. Sean Tucker stepped up with a massive performance (192 total yards, two TDs), and the Bucs also pitched a second-half shutout after giving up a whopping 27 points in the second quarter. This was the shakiest I've seen Baker Mayfield early in a game in quite some time, with the veteran throwing three first-half interceptions, although one went off his receiver's hands. Mayfield was jittery at the outset, even with the Saints' tepid pressure, but he settled down after halftime, as did the defense. It was a strong response; the game easily could have gone sideways. But that type of loosey-goosey play won't cut it next Monday against the suddenly scorching Ravens.
You can’t say that Justin Fields played a pristine game Sunday, with the shadow of Russell Wilson growing larger by the day now that the veteran's been cleared to play. It’s hard to gripe too much about a 19-point road win, even against a shorthanded opponent, and it should be noted that Fields ran for two scores and didn’t turn the ball over. That said, he had a would-be INT called back on a roughing-the-passer penalty, went cold in the middle 30 minutes of the game and didn’t always handle pressure effectively. Najee Harris and Fields did enough to grind away at the Raiders on the ground, and the Steelers’ defense took care of the rest. But with each so-so performance by Fields -- even as Pittsburgh keeps winning -- the questions about a QB switch will hang in the air.
EDITOR'S UPDATE: After publishing on Tuesday, Tom Pelissero reported that Russell Wilson will receive first-team reps in practice this week, putting him in line to start Sunday night's game against the Jets.