2011 NFL Power Rankings: Week 7

1. (1) Green Bay Packers (6-0). Another ho hum afternoon for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers throws 310 yards and 3 touchdowns. Yawn. Seven different Packers haul in receptions. Zzzzz. The Packers win by 21 points, but if they didn't go into cruise control after the first half they could have won by 42 points. Snore.

2. (2) Baltimore Ravens (4-1). You will hear people calling the Lions and even the 49ers a great team more then you will the Ravens. Baltimore is flying under the radar, but probably playing the best football of any team in the AFC. Since their week 2 loss to the Titans, they have ran through their opposition, not being challenged at all.

3. (3) New England Patriots (5-1).
4. (4) New Orleans Saints (4-2).
5. (5) Detroit Lions (5-1). I know I say this all the time, but I absolutely hate ESPN. They are talking about the post game handshake pretty much non stop, but I haven't heard more then a couple words about the actual game involving two teams that were a combined 9-1.

6. (6) Buffalo Bills (4-2). I won't penalize the Bills here. They had a great chance to win, but lost a close game on the road against a good team. Their two losses are close losses to teams with a combined 8-4 record.

7. (10) San Francisco 49ers (5-1). Ugh. The Niners are not as good as their record indicates. Alex Smith is leading the team, after all. I don't care that he has only thrown 2 interceptions this year, it's hard to pick off the ball when the QB throws it for 3 yards a completion. But whatever, they stand at 5-1 and in the division they play in, they have a real chance to work for a first round bye. I sound like a real hater there, the defense and running game have both been stellar. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens they are not, but they could realistically win 12 games with their schedule. I knew they had this in them, as I picked them to go to the NFC Championship game last year.
8. (7) San Diego Chargers (4-1).
9. (11) New York Giants (4-2).
10. (9) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2).

11. (12) Oakland Raiders (4-2). Trading a first round pick for Carson Palmer is absolutely insane, but it's nothing new for Oakland. They have a great chance to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade and can't rely on Kyle Boller to help them get there.

12. (8) Houston Texans (3-3). The Texans are in trouble without their best defensive player for the rest of the year and their best offensive player for at least the next few weeks. Fortunately for them, they are in a very easy division.

13. (13) Dallas Cowboys (2-3). Is Jason Garrett in over his head? You can't lose faith in your quarterback because everyone is taking about him on sports radio. But that seems to be what happened, when he didn't even let Romo try to get a touchdown then a first down late in the fourth quarter. Tom Brady predictably won the game late.

14, (17) Cincinnati Bengals (4-2). Cam Newton is going to get all of the Rookie of the Year hype, but Andy Dalton should not be forgotten. He is doing a great job and is more then just a game manager. It is quite stunning because he looked absolutely horrible during the pre season. Then again, so did Newton.
15. (16) Tennessee Titans (3-2).
16. (18) Philadelphia Eagles (2-4).
17. (19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2).

18. (15) New York Jets (3-3). Yes, the Jets won but I am dropping them. If they played anyone else besides the horribly coached Dolphins they would have lost. They look absolutely awful on offense and the defense is simply average this year.

19. (20) Atlanta Falcons (3-3).
20. (23) Chicago Bears (3-3).

21. (14) Washington Redskins (3-2). How fast things have come crashing down for the Washington Redskins. Or maybe they are who we thought they were. There was a reason I was never going to move them into my top ten. They barely beat the terrible Cardinals and Rams, and they stand no chance of finishing with a winning record with Rex Grossman or John Beck behind center. Grossman is so bad that Redskins fans were actually happy to see John Beck in the game. J-O-H-N B-E-C-K. And that is a shame because the defense is playing very well.

22. (24) Carolina Panthers (1-5).  I am running out of Cam Newton/Ron Rivera fantasy football jokes. Jonathan Stewart has looked great all year. So he gets.....7 carries. I am out of words to describe what the Panthers are doing. And they were leading for most of the game. Newton threw another 35 times. I am really not sure what these coaches are doing. Maybe they want to be the best 1-5 football team in the NFL. If so, mission accomplished.

23. (21) Cleveland Browns (2-3).
24. (25) Seattle Seahawks (2-3).
25. (22) Minnesota Vikings (1-5).
26. (27) Kansas City Chiefs (2-3).
27. (28) Arizona Cardinals (1-4).

28. (29) Denver Broncos (1-4). Take note Dolphins and Colts management, this is how you properly tank a season. Finally give Tim Tebow a chance to start then trade away his top receiver, and perhaps another weapon. Josh McDaniels troll face would be very proud.

29. (26) Miami Dolphins (0-5). These last four teams can be ranked in any order. They are the four teams in the NFL right now that I will be surprised if/when they win any given game.
30. (31) Indianapolis Colts (0-6).
31. (32) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5).

32. (30) St. Louis Rams (0-5). The Rams have not even put up a fight at all this year. They have scored four touchdowns in five games and seem to be completely outmatched on a weekly basis. Sure, they have played a very tough schedule but even the Jaguars and Dolphins have shown life against good teams. The Rams have shown nothing. No other team deserves to be dead last right now.

Jonathan Carrano

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