SB Nation's Week 7 Power Rankings: Who Dat?

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SB Nation's Week 7 Power Rankings: Who Dat?

With Week 6 in the books, SB Nation's NFL bloggers are back with their latest batch of Power Rankings. For the first time all year, the Manning brothers have surrendered their grip on the top two spots, as the Saints' beatdown of the Giants vaulted New Orleans into the top spot.

While Ravens fans may be soul-searching after their third consecutive close loss, SB Nation's NFL bloggers actually moved Baltimore up a few spots, as the rest of the teams around them stumbled as well.

Meanwhile, the race for the bottom four spots has been intense, with a host of putrid teams vying to "impress" with their poor play.

NFL Power Rankings

Rank (LW)	Record	Comments
1 (3)	New Orleans Saints 5-0	With Lance Moore and Mike Bell back and contributing, the Saints finally have their full complement of offensive weapons healthy. Here's a prediction: there will be more 40-point plus weeks to come.
2 (1)	Indianapolis Colts 5-0	Aren't professional athletes supposed to peak at age 28? Seems no one told Peyton Manning. If WR Anthony Gonzalez returns in the next few weeks, the Colts could become even more efficient offensively. Scary.
3 (4)	Minnesota Vikings 6-0	The Favre magic continues - at least for another week. While not quite Favre-to-Greg-Lewis-esque, Favre's game-winning field goal drive certainly did more to endear him in the hearts of Vikings' fans.
4 (5)	Denver Broncos 6-0	While Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall and Knowshon Moreno have garnered the most attention, it's been the Broncos' defense that has sparked their resurgence. With eight new starters, the Broncos are clamping down on teams, especially in the second halves of games. Look out boys and girls - the Broncos are for real.
5 (2)	New York Giants 5-1	There's no shame in losing on the road to a rested Saints team. But there should be some alarm bells going off given the ease with which Drew Brees dissected the Giants' top-ranked pass defense.
6 (9)	New England Patriots 4-2	The bullies are back. After overthrowing open receivers and missing reads the last few weeks, Tom Brady looked more like his 2007 than at any other point this year. And Bill Belichick showed he's still in full "eff-you mode" when he trotted Brady out for the first series of the third quarter...with the score 52-0. Just be careful, Pats fans: running up the score like this usually invites bad karma.
7 (7)	Atlanta Falcons 4-1	Ho-hum. Another week, another win over a decent, but not great team. While the Falcons have shown they can take care of business in the games they should win, the question remains whether they can compete with the league's elite.
8 (11)	Pittsburgh Steelers 4-2	Pop quiz, hotshot: who is leading the NFL in passing yardage? If you said Ben Roethlisberger, you'd be correct. With the passing game clicking, Rashard Mendenhall emerging, and Troy Polamalu back from injury, the Steelers look poised to make a serious run defending their title.
9 (8)	Cincinnati Bengals 4-2	"It" ran out last week. And losing leading sackman DE Antwan Odom is certainly a blow as well. But the Bengals did bounce back from the Brandon Stokley tip pass in Week 1, so they've shown they're a resilient bunch.
10 (12)	Baltimore Ravens 3-3	Who said there's no such thing as a moral victory? Despite falling short in their furious fourth quarter comeback after K Steven Hauschka missed a kick as time expired, our bloggers have moved the Ravens up a few spots. Maybe they're just impressed with the Ravens' 2008 draft: Joe Flacco and Ray Rice look like they will be a formidable pair for quite some time.
11 (10)	Chicago Bears3-2	While the Bears are apparently pleased with Jay Cutler, they have to be worried about the disappearance of Matt Forte. Yes, the Bear's run-blocking has been bad, but Forte has largely been invisible, outside of two big runs he broke against the woeful Lions.
12 (16)	Green Bay Packers 3-2	Despite blowing out the Lions, there are still plenty of reasons for concern in Green Bay. LT Chad Clifton had to leave after reinjuring his ankle, and the beleaguered Packers' offensive line gave up another five sacks.
13 (6)	Philadelphia Eagles 3-2	Um, Andy Reid might want to look into an offensive innovation called "running the ball". The Raiders can't stop the run, and Brian Westbrook only got 8 carries. Does not compute.
14 (14)	San Francisco 49ers 3-2	With Michael Crabtree set to start in his first game, the Niners suddenly boast a bevy of talented offensive playmakers. But the bigger question moving forward is whether a defense that got shellacked two weeks ago can bounce back and carry this team to an NFC West title.
15 (17)	Dallas Cowboys 3-2	Sometimes the bye is good to you...
16 (19)	Arizona Cardinals 3-2	The Cardinals made the NFC West a two horse race with their dominating win over the Seahawks last week. With Anquan Boldin banged up, they'll need Larry Fitzgerald to pull his usual Superman act and Steve Breaston to build on last year's breakout year.
17 (15)	Miami Dolphins 2-3	...And sometimes the bye isn't as kind
18 (20)	Houston Texans 3-3	Matt Schaub is on pace for 4800 yards and 37 TDs. And if the Texans could just punch the ball in from the 1, they could very well be 5-1. Watch out for the Texans: they could be a second-half darkhorse.
19 (13)	New York Jets 3-3	Remember when Mark Sanchez was "poised"? Turns out that, like 99% of all rookie quarterbacks, he's dealing with a steep learning curve. Unfortunately for Sanchez, the loss of space-eating NT Kris Jenkins for the year only puts more pressure on the Jets' offense to put points on the board.
20 (18)	San Diego Chargers 2-3	Norv Turner looking confused? Check. LT sulking? Check. Philip Rivers jawing? Check. The Chargers are already in mid-season form. Unfortunately for them, a sub-par offensive line and toothless defense make it seem unlikely the Bolts will recover from this year's slow start, as they have in the past.
21 (22)	Jacksonville Jaguars 3-3	Giving up 20 points to the punchless Rams is not exactly a confidence booster for a vulnerable defense. But at least they remembered to give MJD the ball this week.
22 (23)	Carolina Panthers 2-3	For one week at least it felt like 2008 back in Carolina; Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart took turns gashing the Bucs' defense, as the Panthers eked out the win. But Jake Delhomme is still a mess and Steve Smith has become a non-factor. Good thing the Panthers traded away their 2010 first-rounder...
23 (21)	Seattle Seahawks 2-4	T.J. Houshmandzadeh might want them to just throw him the damn ball, but that's hard to do if Matt Hasselbeck is on his back. The Seahawks' offensive line isn't good enough to protect Hasselbeck, and that means the Seahawks aren't good enough to win most games.
24 (26)	Buffalo Bills 2-4	The Bills can thank Mark Sanchez for refusing to let them lose last week.
25 (30)	Oakland Raiders 2-4	Where did that come from? The defensive line pressured McNabb all game, and Jamarcus Russell almost looked like an actual NFL quarterback.
26 (25)	Detroit Lions 1-5	Last week's shutout loss was a reminder of how much the Lions rely on WR Calvin Johnson to carry their offense. With Megatron out of the lineup the Lions don't have any players - on either side of the ball - who scare opposing coordinators.
27 (29)	Kansas City Chiefs 1-5	The Chiefs improved to 3-28 in their last 31 games, courtesy of last week's unwatchable win over the hapless Skins. We can build on this!
28 (24)	Washington Redskins 2-4	Will Dan Snyder put Jim Zorn out of his misery this week? Will the bingo-caller be a good play caller? Tune in next week to find out on: As The Skins Season Implodes.
29 (28)	Cleveland Browns 1-5	Although Skins faithful might have something to say about it, Browns fans are probably nodding in agreement about Eric Mangini possibly being the worst head coaching hire ever. It's been that bad.
30 (31)	Tampa Bay Bucs 0-6	The Bucs take home the honor of being the highest-ranked winless team. So at least they've got that going for them. Now it only seems like a matter of time before first-round pick QB Josh Freeman gets onto the field. At this point, there's clearly nothing to lose.
31 (27)	Tennessee Titans 0-6	13-3 never seemed farther away. Who can blame Jeff Fisher for trying to introduce a little levity into what has been a dreary season in Tennessee.
32 (32)	St. Louis Rams 0-6	At least the Rams scored some points last week. Maybe one of these weeks Steven Jackson will actually score a touchdown.