LRN Power Rankings: Week 7

The week 7 Power Rankings are out.

After the New York Giants fall from the ranks of the unbeaten, the top five has a newcomer, the Patriots. After a 59-0 blowout of the Titans it looks as if the Patriots have a small piece of their swagger back.

Two of the biggest tumbles of the week are given to the previously ranked (8) New York Jets and previously ranked (11) Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams had winnable games against Buffalo and Oakland, yet both teams came out flat and out thought even themselves. For Rex Ryan & Andy Reid, I love the forward pass it is a great invention but the NFL is still about running the ball and playing defense. Go ahead, try it.

Enough is enough, to the Power Rankings:

1. New Orleans Saints (1) Drew Brees; 23 of 30, 369 yards passing, 4 touchdowns against those previously undefeated New York Giants. Abusing the secondary, who wants some?

2. Indianapolis Colts (3) I don't care that they didn't play this week, Peyton Manning has looked that good.

3. Minnesota Vikings (2) Sure, they did let the Baltimore Ravens back in the game on Sunday, but like most things Brett Favre, they found a way to hold on. Is the dome the deciding factor for these Vikings? The thing that puts them over the top? Your call.

4. Denver Broncos (5) Winning on the road is good, convincingly winning on the road against a division rival, well it doesn't get much better than that. The Broncos are on an emotional high that can't be stopped. Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson, meet Kyle Orton.

5. New England Patriots (10) They had to be reminded of who they were. After the bully got punched in the mouth, he had to deliver a blow to remember who he was. Making the Titans look like a peewee football team did just that. Tom Brady may not be 100%, but don't give him a reason to prove you wrong.

6. Atlanta Falcons (6) I'm going to gush for a moment, forgive me. Matt Ryan is a top five quarterback in this league, try to argue, I'll give you time to think . . . . nothing?!? That's because no second year quarterback has ever looked as calm and poised as Ryan does. I'll take Tony Gonzalez for his word, this kid is as good as it gets.

7. Baltimore Ravens (9) Jump two in a loss? I'll credit my co-host on TheRightNowPodcast, Joe Flacco is very impressive. 28 of 43 for 385 yards passing in a 33-31 loss, Joe Flacco did his part, and believe it or not, the Ravens defense didn't. Losing three straight, they've hit a speed bump but don't be alarmed, they are still very dangerous.

8. New York Giants (4) Listen, please! The Giants have played six games, two against good offenses, Dallas and New Orleans. The Cowboys ran for 251 yards in their game, good for eight yards per carry. The Saints threw all over the Giant defense, 369 yards through the air from MVP candidate Drew Brees. Maybe their vaunted defense just isn't that good, maybe.

9. Cincinnati Bengals (7) Back to Earth. After allowing Andre Johnson to exploit their secondary (8 catches, 135 yards), in a 28-17 loss to Houston, the Bengals won't have any rest. Chicago, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh coming up.

10. Pittsburgh (14) After stumbling out of the gate, (1-2) the Steelers have rebounded to win three straight putting up 27 points or more in each game. 2nd year back Rashard Mendenhall is the piece that will put this together for Pittsburgh. Statements can be made against Minnesota this week.

11. Green Bay Packers (15) The only reason I'm jumping the Packers this high after a win over Detroit is because Philadelphia lost to Oakland, the Jets lost to Buffalo, and San Francisco was on a bye. However I like Aaron Rodgers, expect some good things from him.

12. Chicago Bears (13) I really don't like this team. Whoever is calling plays in Chicago is punch drunk with Jay Cutler. In their Sunday night loss to Atlanta, last seasons 1,000 yard rusher, Matt Forte, touched the ball just 15 times. All while Jay Cutler was asked to throw the ball 43 times. RUN THE BALL!

13. San Francisco 49ers(12) Welcome to the NFL Michael Crabtree, pick up your notebook and pencil, when Andre Johnson is sprinting by DB's and wrestling the ball from safeties this weekend. That's where you want to be.

14. Miami Dolphins (16) Alright, now after a bye the Dolphins have some serious work to do. Miami will travel to The Meadowlands and Foxborough for divisional games, AFTER they play the unstoppable Saints. It is very likely that the Dolphins could be 2-6 by mid-November, whoops.

15. New York Jets (8) The unraveling has begun. After three wins, the Jets have lost three straight. In games 1 through 3, Sanchez had thrown 4 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. In games 4 through 6, Sanchez is at just 5 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. OUCH!

16. Philadelphia Eagles (11) That's the Eagles we know and love. Too smart for their own good. Against the leagues 28th best rush defense, the Eagles run the ball just 14 times and pass the ball 46 times. Good call Andy Reid.

17. Arizona Cardinals (17) The Super Bowl hangover is in full motion. However, the 3-2 Cardinals got a division win this week in Seattle and travel cross country to New York this weekend, it'll be interesting to see if they can throw on the Giants.

18. Dallas Cowboys (18) The Falcons present some problems for the Cowboys this weekend. A balanced offense that will force the Cowboys to put pressure on the quarterback if they plan on winning. Based on what we've seen thus far, this is a .500 ballclub.

19. Houston Texans (22) When I picked Houston as a sleeper this year I forgot about one thing: THEY'VE NEVER BEEN OVER .500! Through six weeks the Texans season has gone like this, loss, win, loss, win, loss, and win. Notice a pattern?

20. Seattle Seahawks (19) Tough team to figure out, Jim Mora Jr. is experiencing some coaching pains in his first year as head man in Seattle. Kind of like when he was in Atlanta, no?

21. San Diego Chargers (20) I may be a card carryng member of the Phil Rivers fan club, but I know a team with no identity when I see one. The Chargers have played three playoff bound teams, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Denver, and they've let up 30 plus points in each loss.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (21) 3-3, the Jaguars are unpredictable and lose points this week for allowing St. Louis to hang around and push them to overtime.

23. Carolina Panthers (23) After an 0-3 start, the Panthers took the bye week and came back with two straight wins against terrible teams, Tampa Bay and Washington. Next up, the Bills. See Jon Fox, things do have a way of working themselves out.

24. Kansas City Chiefs (24) If I didn't have an insane amount of disrespect for the teams below them, the Chiefs would be lower. The fact is when you partcipate in a game that gives the fans six field goals and a safety, no touchdowns, it disgusts me.

25. Detroit Lions (25) Things were just beginning to look so good. Then Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper replaced the injured Matthew Stafford. That's what happens in Detroit.

26. Buffalo Bills (29) I just don't buy you made Mark Sanchez look bad, I think alot of that was on him. However, I like Ryan Fitzpatrick more than Trent Edwards so you move up three spots this week.

27. Oakland Raiders (31) The Raiders are out of my dog house. If JaMarcus Russell can string together two or three weeks where he completes some passes and manages the game, I won't totally hate this team.

28. Cleveland Browns (27) The Browns will go 1-7 through their first eight games. They've traded the majority of weapons they had on offense, and Brady Quinn sits on the bench. I don't know if Derek Anderson is the guy, but you should have stuck with Quinn.

29. Washington Redskins (28) It's awful what is going on in Washington. Fire Jim Zorn, end it for him. The type of decisions which are made in Washington make it seem like Lindsay Lohan is in charge, not billionaire Daniel Snyder.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (30) As if things couldn't get worse for the winless Buccaneers, here are your plane tickets to England now go face the Patriots.

31. St. Louis Rams (32) Clapping, off the terrible seat! For the first time this season the Rams aren't the worst team in the LynchyRightNow Power Rankings. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with how you've played. See below.

32. Tennessee Titans (26) Whatever you want to say about how dominant New England was on Sunday, say it. However, in 26 years of watching NFL football, I've never seen a team quit like the Titans just did. Veteran linebacker, Keith Bullock and 2nd year back Chris Johnson were the only two players on that team who wanted to be there, who wanted to win a game. The rest of them? Who knows? I like Jeff Fisher very much as a head coach, but at some point you have to ask yourself where your going with this?