NFL Power Rankings Week 7

Just like anyone else, the NFL Power Rankings enjoy a good meme. So, in trying to devise a way to sum up the first trimester of the NFL season (thanks, new schedule), we decided to do our variation of the “How it started vs. How it’s going” meme using the confidence ratings of our NFL Nation writers.

In our weekly takeaways, we have our writers give the confidence ratings of the teams they cover on their own personal 1-10 scale based on how they feel about their team moving forward at that time. We decided to compare their ratings from Week 1 (when everyone is fresh and the possibilities are endless) to how they feel after seeing six weeks of action (five weeks for teams that have had their bye) while detailing the process that caused the confidence evolution. Some are happy evolutions (how about those Arizona Cardinals?), some have skewed toward heavy disappointment (not looking great on South Beach right now), while others have a bit of a steadier track. Either way, it serves as a good trimester progress report.

How we rank our Power Rankings: Our power panel — a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities — evaluates how teams stack up throughout the season.

Previous rankings: 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Preseason

Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

Previous ranking: 2

Week 1 confidence rating: 9.0
How it’s going now: 9.4

The Cardinals just keep winning and, in the process, they keep getting better and better. First, it was stopping Titans running back Derrick Henry in Week 1. Then it was dismantling the Rams in Week 4. And on Sunday, it was beating up on the Browns without coach Kliff Kingsbury. To win games like they do, and to do it on the road, is a sign that this team’s success is here to stay. If the Cardinals can continue with their current average of 32.3 points per game, there will…