Admin October 22, 2024
Lions hand Vikings first loss, Russell Wilson cooks in Steelers debut
Mackenzie Salmon breaks down the top storylines from Week 7 in the NFL.
Sports Seriously
NFL power rankings entering Week 8 of the 2024 season (previous rank in parentheses):
1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): Patrick Mahomes joined Peyton Manning (2015) as the only quarterbacks in the past 30 years to guide their teams to 6-0 starts despite throwing more INTs than TDs. Manning’s Broncos won the title that season. Sunday, the Chiefs return to Allegiant Stadium, where they’re 5-0 (including their overtime triumph in Super Bowl 58). Good bet K.C., which hasn’t lost on the road to the Silver and Black in seven years, progresses to 7-0.
2. Baltimore Ravens (2): Barring a very viable appearance in Super Bowl 59, they’re only scheduled to play two more games against NFC opponents this season – notable given QB Lamar Jackson is now 23-1 against the conference with a record .958 winning percentage since the AFC and NFC materialized in 1970. With his fifth five-TD passing performance Monday night in Tampa, Jackson is in the midst of a strong push toward his third MVP award.
3. Detroit Lions (4): The very early leaders for home-field advantage in the NFC, they might actually be more dangerous on the road – where they’re undefeated with an average margin of victory of 15.7 points.
4. Minnesota Vikings (3): They’re also still unblemished on the road – and that’s where they’re going to live in the near term, four of their next five away from U.S. Bank Stadium, but only one of those trips (Chicago) to visit a club .500 or better.
5. Green Bay Packers (7): Drilling the game-winning field goal while playing at Lambeau Field for just the second time in his 11-season NFL career, new K Brandon McManus might prove the final piece to what just might be a championship roster.
6. Houston Texans (8): Sophomore slump claims are premature, but – coming off his least-productive game as a pro – QB C.J. Stroud’s numbers are generally down across the board. At least his rough run through the NFC North is almost over.
7. Buffalo Bills (9): They trade for WR Amari Cooper … and, naturally, rookie Keon Coleman has Buffalo’s first 100-yard receiving day of the season in Sunday’s victory.
8. Atlanta Falcons (5): Aside from QB Kirk Cousins’ 509-yard explosion in Week 5, this offense is only netting 213.5 passing yards per game.
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6): Monday night started out nicely for the wideouts, Mike Evans catching his 100th TD and actually remembering to keep the ball. It ended with Evans in agony with an exacerbated hamstring issue, and Chris Godwin apparently suffering a season-ending leg injury (very) late in the game himself.
10. Washington Commanders (10): Though it was certainly boosted by Sunday’s rout of Carolina, you might be surprised to learn that Washington’s +66 point differential paces the league. But that obviously won’t be easy to maintain if rookie QB Jayden Daniels misses starts with his rib injury.
11. Philadelphia Eagles (11): Among the many things that went well in Saquon Barkley’s first visit to the Giants, he clocked 21.93 mph on his 55-yard run Sunday – fastest this year by a running back, per Next Gen Stats.
12. Chicago Bears (14): How good has CB Jaylon Johnson been this season? Among defenders targeted at least 20 times, quarterbacks have a league-low 20.8 passer rating against him.
13. Dallas Cowboys (15): No place like the road. The ‘Boys will play their next two away from their AT&T Stadium house of horrors – which is a plus. This team is 3-0 outside of Texas and hasn’t allowed more than 17 points in any of those games.
14. Pittsburgh Steelers (16): Did you know? QB Russell Wilson’s 20-game streak of throwing at least one TD pass is currently the league’s longest. Next up, a Giants defense that’s only allowed two TDs through the air in its past three games.
15. Arizona Cardinals (21): If RB James Conner is, in fact, the most underappreciated star in the league, it won’t be because we don’t love him. Don’t be surprised if this gritty team mimics the personality of its gritty back and translates that into an NFC West crown.
16. Cincinnati Bengals (19): Look who’s almost back to .500 after an 0-3 start to the season. Interestingly, neither WR Ja’Marr Chase nor Tee Higgins has had a 100-yard game in a win this season.
17. San Francisco 49ers (12): With WR Brandon Aiyuk lost to a season-ending ACL injury, it’s now apparent this crew will never be whole in what is something of a “The Last Dance” situation. Depending on which wideouts can answer the bell in Week 8 against Dallas, the Niners might be relying on the likes of rookies Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing.
18. Seattle Seahawks (23): Their most impressive win of the season coincided with their first turnover differential of at least +2. The ‘Hawks will only have to leave their formidable nest once more until December.
19. Los Angeles Chargers (17): You could say a lot of things about the Bolts over the years, but rarely that they were boring. Welp. HC Jim Harbaugh’s Big Ten approach probably further lowers this team’s already limited ceiling.
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20. Denver Broncos (20): Did you see the grin on Courtland Sutton’s face after Thursday’s trampling of the Saints? Oh, and he had zero targets for the first time in his career. Truly a rare kind of receiver.
21. Indianapolis Colts (13): They’re 4-3 and have moved into wild-card position in the AFC. But Indy simply isn’t passing the eyeball test with sophomore Anthony Richardson, the league’s least-accurate (48.5%) and efficient (60.0 rating) quarterback among those with at least 100 passes. (Though apparently the NFL likes what it sees, flexing the Colts into a Sunday night date at Minnesota in Week 9.)
22. New York Jets (18): Looking for a scintilla of good news, NYJ fans, if LB Haason Reddick’s return just ain’t doing it for ya? Then how about this: In five of the six previous seasons, a team that started 2-5 nevertheless found its way into the playoff field.
23. Los Angeles Rams (24): WR Cooper Kupp (ankle) is set to play Thursday for the first time since Week 2. But former OC Kevin O’Connell will be back at SoFi Stadium for the first time since 2021, with an eminently superior Vikes squad in tow.
24. Miami Dolphins (29): How bad has this offense been? Try a league-worst 1.04 points per drive. It should certainly help to get QB Tua Tagovailoa back, but – don’t forget – the Fins weren’t playing very well when he was in the lineup, either.
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (32): You’d think they’d want the bye after two weeks in Europe … but maybe it’s just as well they try to maintain momentum coming off their best win of the season and two victories in the past three outings. As for London? Trevor Lawrence now has the most career passing yards (1,401) and QB wins (4) there, erasing beloved Blake Bortles from that record book deep cut.
26. New Orleans Saints (25): What shambles could QB Derek Carr be returning to? The Saints lost their past two games at home by more than 20 points in each … matching the number of times such Superdome blowouts occurred during the entirety of former HC Sean Payton’s tenure.
27. New England Patriots (30): They never had a chance when rookie QB Drake Maye attempted to recruit British fans to the Pats with this logic: “I think it comes with the team name, New England. I think it’s easy for UK fans to be attracted to that. Our colors are pretty sweet, they represent a lot of different things.” FWIW, Maye studied business administration at UNC, not history. As for what he’s doing on the field, pretty encouraging.
28. Carolina Panthers (26): They’ve been outscored by 133 points, 57 more than any other team. One key reason is their league-worst 11.5% pressure rate.
29. Las Vegas Raiders (27): Chins up, Raider Nation – you might soon be cheering for newly signed QB Desmond Ridder, whose 8-9 NFL record is pretty heady stuff as far as you’re concerned these days.
30. New York Giants (22): One of the season’s more remarkable storylines is that typically double-teamed, 340-pound DL Dexter Lawrence II leads the league with nine sacks … and is on pace for 22.
31. Tennessee Titans (28): Good thing you’ve got all those veteran wideouts when you can’t pass for even 150 yards per week. Two words: Trade and deadline.
32. Cleveland Browns (31): Whatever his football future is at this point, injured QB Deshaun Watson will at least remain financially tethered to this franchise for two more seasons. But if he’s played his last down with the Browns, Watson will almost doubtless be remembered for settling 24 lawsuits during his stint, juxtaposed to the 22 TDs he generated.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.