After just six weeks, no team remains undefeated in the NFL. I’m not sure which game may have been the bigger upset, but either way both the 49ers and Eagles took their first losses of the season and the 1972 Dolphins could be heard popping open a bottle of champagne.
For the second straight week, the rankings did not see a ton of movement. The Texans saw the biggest jump as they moved up six spots, while the Seahawks and Bucs took the biggest fall, dropping four spots each. It was a consistent week for the worst in the league, as all of the bottom five teams lost and held their spot from the prior week.
The Prime Time Pick’em came close to a 3-0 week but the Cowboys ruined that, as we suspected they might. Nonetheless, another week over .500 puts us at 14-6 overall on the season. Week 7 gets us started with the Jags against the Saints and gives us our first “I’ll take Team A if XYZ plays, and Team B if he doesn’t” scenario. Trevor Lawrence is dealing with a knee injury and at the time of this publication, is listed as questionable. If he plays, I’ll take the Jags, if he doesn’t then I will take the Saints. The Sunday night game is easily the game of the week as the Dolphins travel to Philly in what could be a Super Bowl preview. Give me Miami to get the big road win and send the Eagles to their second consecutive loss. And lastly, I’ll take yet another road team on Monday night. Despite dealing with a few injuries, I’ll take San Francisco to win a close one against the Vikings.
Here are the rankings as we head to Week 7. Teams’ previous ranking in ( ).
1. San Francisco 49ers (1): It was their ugliest game in recent memory, but they lost several players to injury during the game and were facing one of the best defenses in football. No reason to think this isn’t still the best team in the NFL.
2. Miami Dolphins (3): Down 14-0 and this team didn’t blink, rattling off 35 unanswered points against the winless Panthers. The only thing I can see getting between this team and a date in Vegas in February is injuries.
3. Detroit Lions (5): The Detroit Lions are for real, if you haven’t figured that out by now. They will face another tough test this week as they travel to Baltimore but I have no reason to believe they can’t walk out of there with another win.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (4): They’re not winning pretty but, in the NFL, you don’t need to. However, we will get a better idea of how good they can be this year when they face Miami in a few weeks.
5. Philadelphia Eagles (2): Before the season, I don’t think Eagles fans would have been all that upset if you told them they were going to lose to the Jets. However, losing to Zach Wilson instead of Aaron Rodgers probably has Eagles fans a bit worried. Not much time to worry though, as they must turn around and face the streaking Dolphins.
6. Buffalo Bills (6): Considering how much talent this team has, they have a hard time with consistency. One of our bold predictions at the beginning of the season was that this team would miss the playoffs, and had they lost to the Giants on Sunday night (like they probably should have) that wouldn’t seem all that bold at this point.
7. Dallas Cowboys (7): They got a win against a good team, but you have to imagine they haven’t gotten the taste out of their mouth from that butt-kicking they received by the 49ers.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (10): After a surprise loss to the Texans, the Jags have rattled off three straight wins. They’ll look to make it four straight as they travel to face the Saints this week, but if Trevor Lawrence doesn’t play, I don’t like their chances.
9. Cleveland Browns (12): The Browns pulled off the surprise of the season. I don’t think anyone truly thinks PJ Walker is going to lead them to the promised land, but assuming Deshaun Watson gets fully healthy, then the Browns are going to find themselves playing meaningful football in January.
10. Baltimore Ravens (11): I’m not sold on the Ravens, despite their 4-2 record, so I am very interested to see how Baltimore does this week against the Lions.
11. Cincinnati Bengals (15): The Bengals have bounced back after a very slow start, as they have the past couple of years, and head into their bye at 3-3. The bye comes at the perfect time as it should allow Joe Burrow additional time to rest his calf, especially since they will face the 49ers and Bills immediately following the bye.
12. Seattle Seahawks (8): Only scoring 13 points against a Bengals defense that isn’t spectacular is exactly why I had major doubts about this team in the pre-season. I need to see long-term consistency from Geno Smith before I’m truly a believer.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9): I don’t care who you’re playing, you have to score more than six points at home in the NFL. Tampa may still be the favorite in their division, but nobody fears them in a playoff game.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers (14): The Steelers sit at 3-2 as they come out of their bye and while the offense still appears to be trash, I believe they have four straight winnable games if their defense continues to play lights out (Rams, Jags, Titans and Packers).
15. New York Jets (17): All of a sudden, this team is 3-3 and feels like they will absolutely be in the playoff hunt in December. Could Aaron Rodgers, at 39, really make the fastest comeback in history from a torn achilles?
16. Los Angeles Chargers (13): I know people love to hate on the Chargers, but the fact is their three losses have come by a total of eight points. To say they could be 5-0 is extremely reasonable – and then how would we be looking at this team?
17. Los Angeles Rams (18): At 3-3 the Rams are right where they want to be, and they appear to have found a running game. If this was a different generation, their next three games would look like the toughest schedule of all time (Steelers, Cowboys, Packers). Instead, I like the Rams to win at least two of those games.
18. New Orleans Saints (16): Tough loss to the Texans this week but if there was a time for the Saints to get things going, it’s over the next four weeks as the face three straight teams that are likely missing their starting quarterbacks (Jags, Colts, Bears).
19. Washington Commanders (21): Washington is in the midst of a rough travel schedule as they have four road games in five weeks. Nonetheless, I like their chances of being 5-5 after they finish the rough stretch.
20. Green Bay Packers (20): The Packers had 10 days to prepare for the Raiders and it did not go well. They now have 13 days to prepare for perhaps the biggest dumpster fire in the NFL, the Broncos. If they can’t get right in this game – Matt Lafluer should be fired before he gets on the airplane.
21. Houston Texans (27): Houston heads into their bye at 3-3 under rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans, which I don’t think many people would have predicted. They get the Panthers after the bye and have a legitimate chance to be .500 or better when Thanksgiving comes around.
22. Indianapolis Colts (19): Anthony Richardson may be done for the season, which is devastating for Colts fans, but don’t count this team out with Gardner Minshew. While I’m not convinced they have enough talent to actually make the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re playing meaningful into late December.
23. Minnesota Vikings (24): Minnesota is staring 2-5 straight in the face as they face the 49ers this week. However, 5-1 or 6-0 over their next six is certainly within reason, which would put them right back into the playoff mix.
24. Las Vegas Raiders (25): Don’t look now but the Raiders have won two straight and face the Bears next with a chance to get to 4-3.
25. Tennessee Titans (22): The Titans head into their bye at 2-4. They’ll face the Falcons at home after the bye, but then face three consecutive road games (Steelers, Bucs and Jags), though luckily for them they won’t leave the Eastern time zone during that stretch.
26. Atlanta Falcons (23): After a 2-0 start, the Falcons have won just one of their next four and have three of their next four on the road.
27. New England Patriots (26): I’m setting the Patriots over/under win total for the season at 3.5. Currently they sit at 1-5 and frankly I think if I was betting, I might take the under.
28. New York Giants (28): How the Giants won a playoff game last year is truly mind boggling based on how 2023 has gone. There’s a legitimate chance they finish with three wins or fewer this season – and you have to wonder at that point if Saquon Barkley may decide to take his talents elsewhere.
29. Chicago Bears (29): As if the Bears weren’t bad enough, they now turn to a division II quarterback, Tyson Bagent, as Justin Fields is dealing with a hand injury.
30. Arizona Cardinals (30): The Cardinals were expected to be one of the worst teams in football this year and, other than their beatdown of the Cowboys, they have not disappointed. They’ve played hard and been competitive in most of their games, but I fully expect them to have a top 3 pick at the end of the season (and likely move on from Kyler Murray).
31. Denver Broncos (31): When your only win on the season is against the Bears, you know things haven’t gone as planned. Luckily for Denver, they get another struggling NFC North team this week as they face the Packers.
32. Carolina Panthers (32): I don’t expect the Panthers to go winless this season, but if they don’t get a win in one of their next three games (Texans, Colts, Bears), the possibility certainly increases.
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