Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, Jonathon Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts, Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL power rankings entering Week 7 of the 2025 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4): If the season ended today – it doesn't – they'd have home-field advantage and the bye in the NFC playoff field. If the season ended today – it doesn't – QB Baker Mayfield would very likely be the deserved league MVP. Mayfield and Co., who took their first game-ending kneeldowns of the season Sunday, have also consistently shown they can win in crunch time and without all of their top players. Still not convinced? Maybe you will be if the Bucs pass their next test – in prime time against a wounded Lions team in Motown.

2. Green Bay Packers (5): If this seems lofty for a team that hadn't won in a month prior to Sunday, then acknowledged – but it's also partially a function of other clubs failing the Pack up the board. But there's no denying the talent present here or the fact that they got much healthier during their bye. And when your best offensive player is upchucking on the field … while racking up 150 total yards and two TDs? Legit.

3. Los Angeles Rams (8): WR Puka Nacua's ankle sprain comes at an unideal time, the team parked in Baltimore before it continues east to London. Glass half full, the team's bye week arrives following this weekend's U.K. matchup with the Jags.

4. Seattle Seahawks (12): A team of road warriors, one that was philosophically built to play nasty defense (check) and run the ball, arguably – and surprisingly – has what's probably the league's most potent quarterback-receiver duo at the moment. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba has overtaken Nacua as the league leader in receiving yards (696) and is just a tick off the elusive 2,000-yard pace. Sam Darnold continues to be deadly efficient (116.0 QB rating), while maximizing his opportunities with a league-best 13.5 yards per completion.

5. Indianapolis Colts (9): If the season ended today – it doesn't – they'd have home-field advantage and the bye in the AFC playoff field. If the season ended today – it doesn't – QB Daniel Jones would very likely be the deserved Comeback Player of the Year. Yet it's hard not to remain a touch skeptical, Indy's Week 2 win over Denver still the only one that's come against an opponent that currently has more than two victories.

6. Denver Broncos (10): A week after knocking off an undefeated team, they nearly got knocked off by a winless one. Still, this defense may be the league's single most dominant unit – its 90 sacks since the start of last season 28 more than any other team. With a league-high 30 in 2025, the Broncos are on pace to smash the 1984 Bears' single-season record (72).

7. Buffalo Bills (2): In fairness, they're missing a lot of key guys at the moment. And, in fairness, their four victories came against clubs with an aggregate 3-21 record.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (3): A team with RB Saquon Barkley and QB Jalen Hurts in its backfield is on track to rush for nearly 400 yards fewer … than Barkley alone did in 2024? What? Is? Happening? Here?

9. Jacksonville Jaguars (6): Talented, young teams six days removed from defeating an active dynasty are prone to letdowns. Let's see how the Jags rebound against the potentially depleted Rams to conclude their three-game "homestand" in London.

10. Kansas City Chiefs (14): Talented, older teams six days removed from the banana peel against an upstart apparently respond with a crisp effort – four TDs, no penalties, no turnovers – against a fellow league power. And reinforcements are on the way now that WR Rashee Rice's suspension has been served while LT Josh Simmons should return from his one-game absence.

11. Detroit Lions (1): This is an appropriate place to take a pause − and ask if it's appropriate to drop a team from first overall to 11th merely because a dominant four-game winning streak was snapped? Maybe not? But 1) the Lions, after feasting on lesser competition, were unequivocally handled in their losses by the best teams they've faced so far (Packers, Chiefs) and 2) the apparent upper echelon of the league is so tightly packed, with 14 teams sporting a winning percentage of .667 or better (plus three more that are 3-2), that it's tough to distinguish those currently clustered together – as next Monday's matchup with the Bucs will likely attest. DB Brian Branch's self-inflicted suspension hardly helps, either.

12. Pittsburgh Steelers (13): You've got to love Mike Tomlin going fully petty mode and atypically blistering an opponent − namely Cleveland's trade of QB Joe Flacco to the Bengals, which costs Pittsburgh a Jake Browning matchup on a short week. Shouldn't matter given the Steelers are right at home next to Cincy's one river, where they've won 10 of their past 12.

13. New England Patriots (15): Mike Vrabel next takes his surging squad – off to at least 4-2 start for the first time since Tom Brady's final year in Foxborough (2019) – to Nashville … where he won't even get the satisfaction of beating the coach who was hired to replace him.

14. Chicago Bears (19): What's currently a three-game heater could see a spike in temperature given the next four weeks will bring opponents who currently have two or fewer wins. Rookie coach Ben Johnson knew it would take time for his system and culture to take root, but this could be the point where it anchors down.

15. Washington Commanders (11): They doubled their season turnover total from three to six Monday night. QB Jayden Daniels kept them in their loss to Chicago 'til the end regardless but could really some of his weapons back.

16. San Francisco 49ers (7): We know, they're still in first place with a sweep in the bag after going through the division once. But how is an already middling defense going to survive the losses of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner?

17. Los Angeles Chargers (20): We know, they're still in first place with a sweep in the bag after going through the division once. And they won Sunday, their third and fourth offensive tackles helping to prevent all but one sack of QB Justin Herbert while RB4 Kimani Vidal racked up 138 yards and a TD. But a two-point escape from a dysfunctional Dolphins squad doesn't portend playoff possibilities.

18. Houston Texans (17): How stingy is this defense? It's allowing a league-low 1.19 points per drive, a figure that, if maintained, might ultimately propel Houston back atop this division.

19. Carolina Panthers (23): In case you were wondering, RB1 Chuba Hubbard is in the first season of a four-year, $33.2 million extension – though it only has $4.5 million guaranteed after 2025. Hard to say what it means for revelatory replacement Rico Dowdle, who's getting $2.8 million this year, but stands to reason Hubbard will at least be back in the mix soon.

20. Atlanta Falcons (24): Coach Raheem Morris keeps hammering away that RB Bijan Robinson "is the best player in football." After his career-best 238-yard night, which included an 81-yard TD bolt, beat the Bills, who's to say Morris is wrong?

21. Minnesota Vikings (18): QB1 J.J. McCarthy's return is still TBD. The Vikes' schedule is not, now set to serve up four consecutive opponents who qualified for last season's playoffs. Interesting conundrum.

22. Dallas Cowboys (16): Owner Jerry Jones has (justifiably?) taken a lot of flak for trading DE Micah Parsons and deserves more for failing to make an attempt at retaining Dowdle, Dallas' leading rusher in 2024. But give Jones credit for the acquisition of WR George Pickens, who has 19 catches for 359 yards and four TDs in the three games injured CeeDee Lamb has missed. Of course the next question is how Jones will handle Pickens, who's scheduled to hit free agency in 2026, financially.

23. New York Giants (28): A fun fact for a fun quarterback – Jaxson Dart became the third one in league annals with at least 50 rushing yards in each of his first three starts (Hurts and Lamar Jackson are the others). It will be a tough streak to maintain Sunday in Denver.

24. Baltimore Ravens (21): Their 1-5 start is tied for the worst in team history. But if they're lucky, Jackson – and probably more of his currently injured teammates – will be back on the other side of the Week 7 bye.

25. Cincinnati Bengals (25): Their 2-4 start … mirrors the one they also had in 2024, when they barely missed the playoffs. But if they're lucky, QB Joe Burrow – and perhaps the defense and a run game – will be back … at some point this season.

26. Arizona Cardinals (22): A suboptimal scenario for a team on a four-game slide with most of its top players falling by the wayside? How about a visit from the Pack. Still, worth nothing those four losses have come by a combined nine points, and QB2 Jacoby Brissett led the team to 27 points (tying a season high) and 400 yards (establishing a season high) during Sunday's near miss at Indy.

27. Las Vegas Raiders (29): Nice start for second-year DT Jonah Laulu, who's tied with Maxx Crosby for the team lead with four sacks. Laulu trails only Crosby in the TFL (6) and QB hit (5) departments.

28. New Orleans Saints (27): While the results aren't there – barely – in the win column, second-year QB Spencer Rattler is giving an awfully good account of himself.

29. Cleveland Browns (26): The perfect remedy for an offense that hasn't exceeded 17 points in any of its past 11 games? A visit from a Miami defense that hasn't surrendered fewer than 21 points in any of its past seven games.

30. Miami Dolphins (30): Say this for embattled Mike McDaniel – he won't be the first coach fired this season, as much as QB Tua Tagovailoa has made the case for it … whether on or off the field.

31. Tennessee Titans (31): It's been 47 games since they managed back-to-back wins … so they can only pin half that blame on dismissed HC Brian Callahan. But that run of ineptitude will likely continue, the Titans' next three games against opponents who all currently have at least four wins.

32. New York Jets (32): The cigar seems close, half of the winless NYJ's six defeats by a two-point margin. And given they nearly won Sunday, despite the 82-yard output by the offense? No moral victories in the NFL, but reason here not to let morale circle the drain.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings Week 7: Another new No. 1, losses by Lions, Bills creating disarray

Reporting by Nate Davis, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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