NFL power rankings, Week 7: Bears rise, Patriots fall

The Chicago Bears are limited offensively, but they’re proving to be a contender regardless. The New England Patriots? Not so much.

This team stinks beyond all comprehension.

Kyle Allen, Dwayne Haskins, doesn’t matter. Washington has no offense.

Everyone thought Jacksonville was awful, then it won Week 1 and threw people off the scent. Turns out the Jaguars are terrible.

A win? A win! Daniel Jones was awful, but the Giants finally get a victory.

A 21-0 lead barely lasted to halftime against Philip Rivers. Rough.

Light a candle for Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt. The Texans can’t play defense at all.

Kirk Cousins signing an extension before this season is an all-time disaster for Minnesota.

The Eagles are stuck with Carson Wentz, have a billion injuries and can’t consistently play defense. Otherwise, things are great.

The Falcons are 1-0 under Raheem Morris. If they could close games out, they’d be 3-3.

Dallas is only this high because these power rankings are about who can win it all, and have you seen the NFC East?

The Chargers fall victim to some poor teams rising with wins. Keep an eye on them coming out of the bye week.

Big game for the Lions, who stay alive with a win out of the bye. The question now is if they can beat decent teams?

Nice win, but let’s also be real. Drew Lock completed 10 passes and threw two horrid interceptions. The offense didn’t score a touchdown. Still, this is a huge win, setting up a major opportunity at home against Kansas City.

Blown chance for the Panthers this weekend. Teddy Bridgewater struggled mightily, and the offense couldn’t make enough plays against the Bears.

Biggest fall of the week. New England — outside of its loss to the Seahawks — has been bad offensively. At some point, Cam Newton and the Pats need a few chunk plays.

Suddenly, Miami is in second place of the AFC East and in the conversation.

Jimmy Garoppolo was excellent, the defense swarmed and the 49ers won a huge tilt against their in-state rivals.

Look, the Colts won, but that was a hideous showing.

Ugly, ugly game. The Browns have faced two contenders in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and been outscored 76-13.

The Raiders creep closer to the top 10. Derek Carr and Co. have been fairly impressive thus far.

Arizona hammered the Cowboys on Monday night. The defense has really been a nice surprise for Kliff Kingsbury and Co.

New Orleans has to get it cranking out of the bye week. The Saints can’t wait around, or they’ll be fighting to make the playoffs.

Are the Rams good because they’re 4-2, or bad because they’ve only beaten NFC East teams?

Buffalo is a good team with the Jets on deck, but getting handled by a pair of AFC heavyweights isn’t a great look for a group trying to prove itself.

Chicago gets its due. The Bears are tough to watch offensively, but the defense is great and Nick Foles, while not good, is an upgrade over Mitch Trubisky.

The Packers are a really good team, who had a really bad day. Look for them to bounce back in Houston.

The Buccaneers put it all together against the Packers. If the offense can get rolling, they might go on quite a streak.

At some point, the Titans need to be considered legitimate contenders. Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry make for a great combination, and Mike Vrabel can coach.

A week off for the Seahawks, and they see losses for the Rams and Packers. Not bad.

Nobody has a more imposing defense. The loss of Devin Bush is huge, but this group is absurdly talented.

The offense isn’t great, but the defense has been, and Lamar Jackson is making it happen with his legs again.

Kansas City decided not to force the issue and run. It worked. The defense was terrific for the fifth time in six games, Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 161 yards and here comes Le’Veon Bell.