Published: Oct 24, 2024 at 10:57 AM
Eric Edholm Lead Draft Writer
And then there was one. Unbeaten team, that is.
Kansas City tops the board once again, having once again beaten San Francisco in a grinder. After the Vikings suffered their first loss of the season to the Lions in a tremendous, back-and-forth contest during Sunday’s early window, the Chiefs were just fine winning ugly in the later set of games, further tormenting the 49ers in the process.
That leaves a semi-power vacuum in the NFC, or at least a shakeup. The Lions and Vikings are the two one-loss teams in the conference, and all four NFC North squads are in position to make a move. Outside of the NFL’s best division, questions abound.
Jayden Daniels’ rib injury hit the pause button on the Commanders’ projection, at least momentarily. Do the Eagles or Cowboys have anything to say about the NFC East race? Over in the NFC South, the Buccaneers were bitten hard on Monday night by the Ravens, as were the Falcons on Sunday by the Seahawks. The NFC West remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
The NFC is well represented near the top of this week’s rankings, but there is still a lot of potential for shifting, especially with most divisional showdowns remaining in the loaded North.
NOTE: Up/down arrows reflect movement from the Week 7 Power Rankings.
Rank 1 Kansas City Chiefs 6-0
Did you realize Patrick Mahomes has fewer TD passes (six) than the Panthers this season, or that he’s tied for the league lead in interceptions (eight)? One reason why you might have been unaware: The Chiefs are 6-0 and apparently have mastered the art of winning ugly, which is almost always the hallmark of a great team. (The Patriots had this script down cold in the later stages of their dynastic run.) Mahomes’ two picks against the 49ers on Sunday were probably not entirely his fault, and he had ample support with a fruitful and diverse run game — seven players ran with the ball — and a defense that keeps on choking out its opponents each week. The three interceptions of Brock Purdy all happened inside the Kansas City 34-yard line, with the final one in the end zone. Plenty of people doubted the Chiefs’ ability to hoist another Lombardi Trophy when they were winning games this way a year ago, but I doubt many of those folks feel similarly now.
Rank 2 Baltimore Ravens 5-2
In a prime-time showdown at The Pirate Ship, the Ravens played the hits. Lamar Jackson was terrific, Marlon Humphrey had his first two-pick game, Derrick Henry came on late to close it out, and, as it turns out, Mark Andrews‘ demise was greatly exaggerated. Baltimore’s defense showed some signs of trouble prior to Mike Evans leaving the game, but the Ravens clamped down hard with interceptions on back-to-back Buccaneer drives. We say it all the time, but NFC teams that don’t regularly face Jackson always look shell-shocked at some point by the electric signal-caller. For a moment in the second half, I considered whether Baltimore should rise all the way to No. 1. But the late-game defensive breakdowns, plus the early miscues, held me back enough.
Lamar Jackson’s best plays in 5-TD game | Week 7
Rank 3 Detroit Lions 5-1
After staking the Vikings to a 10-0 lead, committing five penalties in an ugly first quarter, the Lions ripped off 21 unanswered points in the second quarter. Things also got dicey late, as the 11-point lead evaporated and the Lions fumbled twice (with one run back for a touchdown) in the final six minutes of the game. But when Detroit absolutely had to have it, Jared Goff delivered some clutch throws on the game-winning field-goal drive, and the Lions got out of Minnesota with a gutsy two-point win. The stats say the Lions sacked Sam Darnold four times, and that’s true, but there were times when the Vikings’ offense was heating up where you looked around for Aidan Hutchinson, waiting for him to make a game-saving play. Those aren’t coming anytime soon. If Hutch returns this season, it’ll be for the Super Bowl, and even that’s no guarantee, so the Lions might want to consider adding more pass rushers. But they have the requisite fearlessness and explosiveness befitting a championship-level team, and that can’t at all be dismissed.
Rank 4 Minnesota Vikings 5-1
It has to be a little concerning to the Vikings that the Lions moved the ball with ease through the middle part of the game, especially against a defense that had been borderline elite this season, but in no way, shape or form should Sunday’s 31-29 loss be discrediting of Minnesota. Kevin O’Connell’s team lost its first game in the final seconds to a highly motivated, highly talented division rival. This group never had realistic designs on 17-0; things are not much different today than they were Sunday morning. Aaron Jones gutted through injury to give this team an offensive boost. The Vikings dealt some blows and took a few more, but they never wavered. Sam Darnold rebounded from his worst outing this season before the Week 6 bye to have arguably his best on Sunday, even with an interception. Three of the next four are on the road, but all four are eminently winnable, so I expect this team to continue stacking successes, even after the first setback.
Rank 5 Buffalo Bills 5-2
Amari Cooper woke up after halftime in his Bills debut and clearly added a dimension to the offense that hadn’t been there. That was a highly encouraging development, and it theoretically should get better with time. The veteran’s presence in the lineup also appeared to give rookie Keon Coleman a little boost in his best showing to date, with four catches for 125 yards. The entire offense was incredibly sleepy early in the game, which has been an issue before, so it can’t be blamed on getting Cooper up to speed. Buffalo got going eventually, and the defense also rallied after a shaky start that saw the home team fall into a 10-0 hole against lowly Tennessee. The end product: A 34-10 win. You’d like to see the Bills give a more complete 60 minutes week in and week out against seemingly lesser foes, but that’s not really how they’re built. They’re sort of the boxer who needs to take a few shots before the match really starts. That worked against the Titans and Cardinals, but it didn’t work against Houston and Baltimore. Translation: The Bills need to get this out of their system before the playoffs.
Rank 6 Green Bay Packers 5-2
Sunday’s 24-22 triumph over Houston marked Green Bay’s third straight win and fifth in six games, but this one carried a little extra weight because it was the first W against a quality opponent currently over .500. The Packers lost in Brazil to the Eagles (now 4-2) and were nipped by the Vikings (5-1), so being able to navigate a tight, back-and-forth game against a strong Texans team (5-2 after the defeat at Lambeau) was an important box to check. Green Bay’s defense got after C.J. Stroud, holding him to a career-low 86 passing yards. Jordan Love was hot and cold in the first half but delivered some stellar throws in the win. Josh Jacobs contributed in a big way. And perhaps most pleasingly, fresh signee Brandon McManus stepped up and made a game-winning field goal that eased a lot of the kicking angst that has built up over the past few seasons. In a year where no contender appears close to unbeatable, the Packers are absolutely capable of making a long run.
Rank 7 Washington Commanders 5-2
The rib injury to Jayden Daniels was the only thing to mar Sunday’s thrashing of the Panthers, but if the Commanders have to play without Daniels for any length of time, Marcus Mariota’s performance in Daniels’ place was reassuring. After starting the game 0-for-3, Mariota hit 15 of his next 16 pass attempts, including 11 straight at one point. Washington scored on six straight drives with Mariota at QB; that’s impressive even against Carolina and even with a few red-zone opportunities missed. The Commanders’ defense did its part with another promising performance, picking off Andy Dalton twice, including one run back for a score, while holding Carolina to seven garbage-time points. If Daniels can’t go against the Bears this Sunday, Mariota’s challenge will be much steeper, but the Commanders are showing they’re no one-trick ponies.
Rank 8 Houston Texans 5-2
The loss at Green Bay wasn’t a massive setback in and of itself, but it might have exposed a major concern for a team that harbors Super Bowl dreams. If the Texans can’t protect C.J. Stroud better than they did Sunday, those dreams will go up in smoke. The Packers flummoxed Houston with pressure both real and feigned, keeping Stroud and the offensive line off balance a lot of the game. That has been a season-long storyline (some weeks more than others), and it just wasn’t good enough against the Packers — even with an excellent chance to walk off of Lambeau Field with a win. There was only so much that could be asked of a shorthanded defense missing five starters. The Texans picked off Jordan Love twice in the first half and forced three straight second-half punts but couldn’t close out the game late.
Rank 9 Pittsburgh Steelers 5-2
Leave it to Mike Tomlin to make a move few could fully embrace at the time … only to have it look brilliant retrospectively. Russell Wilson certainly heard it early, when he was 2-for-8 passing for 19 yards, and the Steelers were scuttling on offense. Fans sounded angry. But there was never a whiff of a Justin Fields cameo, whether as a change of pace or any other type of appearance. The Steelers are moving forward with Wilson, and what he did in a dominant showing over the final three quarters Sunday night was his closing argument after the shaky start. It didn’t hurt that Pittsburgh also received two interceptions from rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. and a strong special teams game, but the Steelers looked explosive and dangerous for the first time all season. If Wilson plays this well most weeks, they’ll win a lot of games.
Rank 10 Philadelphia Eagles 4-2
It was another slow start offensively, but Saquon Barkley wasn’t about to be a no-show in his return to New York on Sunday. He took over for an offense that was otherwise limited and inflicted some damage against his former team. The Eagles’ pass rush also took batting practice on Daniel Jones and Drew Lock, racking up eight sacks and holding them to a net 43 passing yards. The Giants’ long gain on the day was 14 yards; Barkley alone had three runs longer than that. And for good measure, Jalen Hurts salvaged a tough afternoon with arguably his best throw of the season on his 41-yard TD connection with A.J. Brown. There were blocking issues early, as Jordan Mailata missed the game, Mekhi Becton left early with an injury and Cam Jurgens had his hands full with Dexter Lawrence, but the Eagles found a way to work through them.