Updated: October 19
Learn where each NFL team stacks up in our updated power rankings and among the best NFL teams for the 2026 season.
2026 NFL Power Rankings: Best NFL Teams Week 7
| Power Rank | Team | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | 0 |
| 2 | San Francisco 49ers | 0 |
| 3 | Buffalo Bills | 0 |
| 4 | Denver Broncos | +3 |
| 5 | Jacksonville Jaguars | -1 |
| 6 | New England Patriots | +3 |
| 7 | Baltimore Ravens | -1 |
| 8 | Seattle Seahawks | -3 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | +1 |
| 10 | Detroit Lions | +1 |
| 11 | Chicago Bears | +2 |
| 12 | Minnesota Vikings | 0 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Rams | -5 |
| 14 | Carolina Panthers | +1 |
| 15 | Green Bay Packers | +3 |
| 16 | Houston Texans | +3 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | -1 |
| 18 | Cleveland Browns | +4 |
| 19 | Dallas Cowboys | -2 |
| 20 | Las Vegas Raiders | 0 |
| 21 | Atlanta Falcons | 0 |
| 22 | New Orleans Saints | +4 |
| 23 | New York Giants | +1 |
| 24 | Philadelphia Eagles | -10 |
| 25 | New York Jets | 0 |
| 26 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | +1 |
| 27 | Arizona Cardinals | +3 |
| 28 | Washington Commanders | 0 |
| 29 | Tennessee Titans | +2 |
| 30 | Indianapolis Colts | -7 |
| 31 | Los Angeles Chargers | -2 |
| 32 | Miami Dolphins | 0 |
Week 7 NFL Team Rankings:
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The NFL schedulers were nice to give the Chiefs back-to-back bye weeks. They did not really have to get out of neutral in a 22-6 win over the Chargers. Kenneth Walker continued his torrid start, rushing for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Chiefs will get a much better test in the next two weeks. They face the Seahawks on Sunday night before matching up with the Broncos again in Week 8.
2. San Francisco 49ers
It got a little too close for comfort at the end, but the 49ers rode a dominant first-half performance on Monday night to their sixth win of the season. Unfortunately, Mike Evans left that game after aggravating the Achilles injury that limited him in practice during the week. Evans has played through injury most of the year, even as every receiver around him on the depth chart has gone down, but it might make sense for the 49ers to let him rest through their Week 8 bye. San Francisco has a date with the Falcons before that rest week.
3. Buffalo Bills
The Raiders are solid, and the Bills were coming off an overtime win on Monday night. That made their game in Las Vegas a classic trap spot, but they survived with a 33-30 win. Even shorthanded without D.J. Moore, who should be back after the bye, the offense has remained elite. The concern remains on the other side of the ball. Buffalo heads into the bye in the bottom three in EPA per play allowed, success rate allowed, and points per drive allowed. Josh Allen is Superman, but the defense simply has to play better for the Bills to reach their ceiling.
4. Denver Broncos
Despite having arguably the toughest opening schedule in the league, Denver sits at 4-2 following a win over the Seahawks on Thursday night. That is the good news. The bad news is the offense. Denver is bottom five in success rate, yards per play, and points per drive through six games, and nothing has improved since Sean Payton took over play-calling. The Broncos still have some tough games left, including the Chiefs in two weeks, but the schedule eases up considerably moving forward. Even so, they have to improve on offense if they want to be real contenders.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
On the surface, the Jaguars lost to a 1-4 team, but the reality is the Texans are much closer to the top of the league than their record suggests. That might make the loss easier to swallow, but the fact remains that Jacksonville missed out on the opportunity to take a massive lead in the division. Concerns about Jacksonville's pass defense remain. Some of the counting stats against them are inflated because their run defense is impenetrable, but the Jaguars are squarely in the bottom five in yards per pass attempt allowed.
6. New England Patriots
The Patriots continued to build on their season-changing win over the Bills in Week 4, taking down the Jets 26-19. The performance was not as comprehensive as their demolition of the Raiders, though. New England lost two fumbles, A.J. Brown looked rusty in his return to action, and the defense finished bottom-10 in success rate allowed for the week against a Jets offense that had been struggling. A Thursday night matchup against the Bears will be a good test for both teams.
7. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens lost because the offense could not get going against a strong defense without Lamar Jackson. That is not a reason to raise alarm, but it is concerning that the running game continues to struggle even without considering Derrick Henry‘s game-changing fumble on Sunday. Over the last four weeks, Henry ranks 33rd in yards per carry, 34th in yards before contact per carry, and 49th in negative run rate among 53 qualified backs. Jackson returning healthy should help, and the Ravens will get offensive line reinforcements once Cam Jurgens is ready to play. Still, it is an area of concern.
8. Seattle Seahawks
Turnovers have been the story for the 2026 Seahawks. Sam Darnold threw 2 more picks Thursday night, and Rashid Shaheed lost a fumble. Seattle now has 12 turnovers this season, and 10 of them have come in their three losses. Darnold's current 4.7% interception rate would be a career worst. The good news is the defense is still top three in every important metric, and even with those turnovers, they've lost those three games by 2, 3, and 3 points. Seattle is still clearly one of the best teams in the league. They just have to limit the turnovers, especially with tough games against the Chiefs and Bears coming up.
9. Cincinnati Bengals
Even at 3-2, the Bengals emerge from the bye in last place in the AFC North, with the Ravens, Browns, and Steelers all at 4-2. They can change that with a win over the Ravens, who are coming off a tough loss to the Browns and should have Lamar Jackson back. If Jackson plays, it will be a good test for a defense that has been up and down to start the season.
10. Detroit Lions
Detroit's troublesome defense looked much better against the Cardinals before the bye, and they should get back Brian Branch in Week 7. Will that be enough to turn around a secondary that ranks 29th in EPA per pass play allowed? Perhaps not completely, but any improvement would be welcome given what the offense has done early in the season. The Lions were tied for first in points per drive over the first five weeks.
11. Chicago Bears
Chicago concerningly let the Falcons back into the game after seemingly having them dead and buried, but they still emerged from Atlanta with a win in Caleb Williams‘ return to the lineup. Williams took a few sacks late, but he was an efficient 30 of 36 for 305 yards and a touchdown. That, along with 3 fumble recoveries, helped the Bears dominate the time of possession. The defense gave up some big plays and points late, but overall it was a good win. Chicago has a good test against the Patriots on Thursday night.
12. Minnesota Vikings
Through the first five weeks, Minnesota's defense ranked first in EPA per play allowed and success rate allowed. Through the first five weeks, their offense ranked 31st in offensive EPA per play and offensive success rate. That is the story of their season so far. Despite those offensive struggles, the Vikings are 5-0, and they should get Jordan Mason back to face the Colts.
13. Los Angeles Rams
Before Week 6, two of the Rams' three losses were close games against teams most people believe to be good. That changed with a disheartening 18-16 loss to the Cardinals. Sure, a controversial late flag helped set up Arizona's game-winning field goal, and sure the Rams drove the field to score what at the time looked like the winning touchdown. But it never should have gotten that far, and the loss was not a fluke. The Cardinals had a better success rate, a better EPA per play, and won the time-of-possession battle. There was not a massive turnover differential, the Rams did not get hurt by a ton of penalties, and Arizona struggled in the red zone. The Rams simply lost at home to a team that was better on the day. Now they are 2-4 and might have lost Davante Adams to a serious injury.
14. Carolina Panthers
It was not as clean or easy a win as it should have been – Carolina gained 177 more yards than the Eagles but gave up 149 yards in penalties – but the Panthers never really had to worry in their 25-14 win on Sunday. Bryce Young continues to play at a high level, ranking eighth in EPA per dropback among 33 qualified quarterbacks. Carolina faces the Bucs, who could have Baker Mayfield back, this week before tough games against the Packers and Broncos. We should have a better idea of how real they are after that run.
15. Green Bay Packers
The Packers looked like one of my biggest misses of the season through three weeks – love you, Chargers – but they have now won three in a row, the last two in convincing fashion over the Bears and Cowboys. After getting pressured on nearly 45% of his dropbacks in the first three games, Jordan Love has been pressured on just 28.7% the last three weeks. The running game still doesn't work, but they will get back Josh Jacobs this week. Will they keep leaning into a passing game that is working once Jacobs is back (4.7% above pass rate expectation, 6th)? Is the defense as good as their recent performances? Time will tell with big tests against the Lions, Panthers, Patriots, and Vikings before the bye.
16. Houston Texans
Can they do it again? After starting 0-4, Houston has won two in a row, including a massive divisional win over the Jaguars in London. C.J. Stroud was excellent against the Jags, continuing his outstanding splits with Nico Collins healthy. On Stroud's 125 dropbacks with Collins this season, he averages 9.1 yards per attempt, with 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The defense does remain a concern. The unit currently ranks 23rd in success rate allowed and finished near the bottom of the league in that metric again in Week 6. They have the talent to clean up that side of the ball, though, and a decent chance to get to 3-4 at home against the Giants this week.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh's offense was simply not good enough for most of the day on Sunday, but it did enough when it mattered. The Steelers scored 16 points in the fourth quarter against the Bucs, aided by multiple short fields, and then had a 70-yard, nearly seven-minute drive in overtime to get the win. The defense ranks in the top 10 in most important metrics, but their only good win was over the Bengals back in Week 3. They do have an interesting run before the bye, getting the Saints in Paris this week before a rematch with the division-leading Browns.
18. Cleveland Browns
I honestly don't know what to do with the Browns. Their wins this season are by 4, 3, 3, and 3 points. In those wins, they averaged 4.7 yards per play (26th) and a 40.2% offensive success rate (21st). They are the only team in the division with a negative point differential (-19), but they lead the division and have beaten the Steelers and now the Ravens. This does not really feel sustainable, but they get the Titans this week before a Steelers team that will have played in Paris the week before. A 6-2 start is definitely in the cards.
19. Dallas Cowboys
Given what is going on in Philadelphia, the Cowboys are still the favorites for the NFC East (we will see if J.J. McCarthy has something to say about that), but they have suffered two straight demoralizing primetime losses. A letdown game on Thursday night after a big win is one thing, but the Packers shut down the passing game on Sunday night. Dak Prescott has thrown 4 interceptions in the last two games and is in the bottom third of qualified quarterbacks in EPA per dropback over that span. Dallas' defense did hold the Packers to 23 points and 4.5 yards per play, but Green Bay also left plays on the field. We have a solid track record of this offense being good, and Dallas is still only one win behind the Giants for the division lead. They also get the crumbling Eagles in another primetime game on Monday night. The path to the playoffs is wide open, but this has not looked like a quality team the last two games.
20. Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bounced back from their lopsided loss to the Patriots, playing the Bills close but ultimately losing 33-30. It was the second time in three games the Raiders lost by 3 points to a team most view as one of the league's best. That's the positive view. The negative view is that they have lost three games in a row and get a desperate Rams squad next time out. After a promising start to the season, Las Vegas' defense is bottom-three in most important metrics over the last three games. Kirk Cousins and the offense are doing their job, but the defense needs to improve if the Raiders want to take the next step and beat a good team.
21. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons showed a lot by scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to make it a game against the Bears, but they dug too deep a hole in the first three quarters with turnovers and an offense that looked out of sync with a clearly limited Michael Penix at quarterback. Atlanta signed Andy Dalton on Monday, perhaps hinting at real concern about Penix's health. The Falcons offense was a train wreck early in the season without Penix. Any missed time from their starter would be a real concern, even as the defense continues to surpass expectations.
22. New Orleans Saints
The Saints bounced back from two bad losses to beat the Giants 34-27 in Week 6. They led 34-10 at one point in the fourth quarter before letting New York back into the game, which is a concern, and they built their lead on the back of turnovers. Tyler Shough threw 3 touchdown passes, but he averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt. Since Week 3, he is 27th among 30 qualified quarterbacks in yards per attempt (5.4) and 29th in explosive play rate (3.3%). This felt more like a one-off win rather than the start of a turnaround, but the Saints could prove otherwise against the Steelers this week in Paris.
23. New York Giants
Despite being down 34-10 at one point against the then 1-4 Saints, the Giants have reason for hope coming out of Week 6. First, J.J. McCarthy led three scoring drives after taking over for Jameis Winston in the fourth quarter, connecting on several long plays and getting the team within 14 yards of a game-tying score on his final possession. Second, the NFC East looks as winnable as any division in football. McCarthy still threw an interception in his quarter of action and had another overturned on replay, but the Giants have to see what he can do as the starter.
24. Philadelphia Eagles
The story for the Eagles is at quarterback. Jalen Hurts missed this game with blood clots in his legs, and we learned on Monday that he will miss the rest of the season. Any hopes that Tanner McKee would be a better fit for the new offensive scheme were dashed when he averaged 4.8 yards per attempt against the Panthers. The 25-14 scoreline did not reflect the Carolina's dominance on Sunday. The Eagles are still only one win behind the Giants in the worst division in football, but this is looking like a completely lost season.
25. New York Jets
It has been an up-and-down season, but the Jets played the Patriots relatively close on Sunday. Some of that was down to New England miscues, but New York now has a win over the Browns and has played close games against the Packers, Lions, and Patriots. The coaching raises big questions, but the roster has talent. Rookie Omar Cooper had a massive game in his first real NFL action, and the defense still ranks fifth in yards per play allowed.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Despite a terrible day on offense, the Bucs probably should have won against a Steelers team that somehow was worse. Pittsburgh turned things around in the fourth quarter and overtime, though, sending Tampa Bay to 1-5. There is no guarantee Baker Mayfield will be back this week to face the Panthers, and the offense did not work even when he was healthy early in the season. On the other hand, the defense ranks in the top 10 of EPA per play allowed and success rate allowed, and they are only two wins behind the Panthers in the division.
27. Arizona Cardinals
A week after looking lifeless against the Lions, the Cardinals took the road and delivered one of the season's biggest upsets, beating the Rams 18-16. As mentioned above, it was not really a fluky win, either, despite the controversial late call. The Cardinals could have put the game away by converting on red-zone drives. I still expect Arizona to finish last in the division, and it will still be difficult for them to compete given their schedule (11th-toughest remaining). But this was a good rebound performance.
28. Washington Commanders
The Commanders made it a game late, but they made more questionable game-management decisions against the 49ers a week after literally giving away a win. They wasted a timeout late in the fourth quarter and could have taken better advantage of the two-minute warning with a little more urgency on that same drive. More concerningly, Dan Quinn did not appear to know what down it was on a failed fourth-down play in the first half, a play in which Jayden Daniels threw the ball away. That's quite a combo. The good news is Washington has a bye week to get things settled down.
29. Tennessee Titans
Tennessee's offense was still really bad against the Colts, but the defense forced 3 turnovers, and the special teams unit returned a blocked punt for a touchdown to get the win. The offense has not shown anything to suggest this victory is a sign of things to come, though Carnell Tate looks like a real weapon at receiver, so I am not moving the Titans too far up the rankings. Still, it was nice to see the team get a win.
30. Indianapolis Colts
Shane Steichen survived the Colts' terrible loss to the Titans, but GM Chris Ballard was not as lucky. The team fired Ballard on Monday after 10 years with the organization. The Colts outgained the Titans by 212 yards and held Cam Ward to just 102 passing yards, but 3 turnovers and a blocked punt touchdown sank their chances on Sunday. An already struggling Daniel Jones gets the Vikings this week.
31. Los Angeles Chargers
What is there to say about the Chargers at this point? Justin Herbert throws the same interception every week. The offense is hurt, and it did not work even when it was healthy. The real question is what coaches emerge from the bye week with their jobs still intact.
32. Miami Dolphins
The good news is the Dolphins could not lose on their bye week. They also made it something of a game late against the Bengals before the break, and Ollie Gordon has been a spark for the running game.