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Let the 2026 season serve as a good lesson to any NFL team anointed as a heavy preseason Super Bowl favorite in the future.
No matter how you dress up your state-of-the-art, er, “ship,” no matter the stunning technological advancements you adorn it with, all it takes is your captain carelessly missing an iceberg in pitch-black darkness to get the whole thing sinking to the bottom of the ocean before your story is turned into a pop-culture romance phenomenon decades later.
Sean McVay’s overhyped, crumbling Los Angeles Rams, now besieged by even more devastating injuries, will assuredly not receive such treatment from some of the finest film performers of their generation before they really blew up, but you get the gist here. The Rams are a sinking ship in the middle of a dark ocean after losing to the lowly Arizona Cardinals at home, and there are only so many lifeboats to go around. That’s because the all-in Rams never planned on sinking in the first place. Oh well.
As we near Halloween, there’s a lot to discuss about the flailing Rams and some interesting developments across the NFL. Let’s see where everyone in the league stands in For The Win’s NFL Power Rankings for Week 7.
The Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals both got upset wins. The Dolphins were left to watch, like Squidward staring wistfully at a frolicking SpongeBob and Patrick Star, thanks to their bye week. Well, maybe Caleb Douglas's return can help Malik Willis finally win a game with Miami in Week 7. — Christian D'Andrea
By most relevant metrics, Justin Herbert has been one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks this season. Maybe he was a tad overrated to begin with, but he certainly was never, ever this bad. His downfall lies mainly at the feet of Mike McDaniel, which, in turn, also reflects poorly on Jim Harbaugh, who chose to bring in the offensive coordinator in the first place. In other words, the winless Chargers have entered "the finger-pointing" phase of their nightmare season. It won't end well for anyone. — Robert Zeglinski
The Titans converted three third downs Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts more than doubled their total yardage. Nothing is fixed, but the defense is useful while the quarterback stinks, in case you had any doubt about whether or not Robert Saleh was in charge of things in Nashville. — CD
The Commanders acted like they learned a lesson from last week's embarrassing tie against the New York Giants. Then they went out and played mistake-riddled football that erased any hope of an upset win in Santa Clara. Head coach Dan Quinn might be fired in the space between the final whistle and the time these rankings publish in the morning. Honestly, it might be the best thing Washington does this season. — CD
Mishandling Jalen Hurts' blood clot diagnosis feels like a fireable offense. But it could also be another excuse for Nick Sirianni in a season where first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion can have the blame for this team's shortcomings deflected onto him. It's not only the offense, however. The Eagles' defense ranks 26th in the NFL in expected points added (EPA) allowed through six games. — CD
Is Jalon Daniels someone the Buccaneers can build around, or an interesting but short-lived stopgap while Baker Mayfield is sidelined? For now, it's definitely the latter. The rookie UDFA is running a simplified playbook and still only barely keeping the Buccaneers above water. His play so far isn't promising enough to justify benching the newly extended and extremely expensive Mayfield. At least, not yet. — RZ
The Jets are competent and even slightly entertaining, which is a significant step up from 2025. But they still aren't good and will need young prospects to step up in order to get there. Omar Cooper Jr. put his best foot forward in Week 6 with the first 100-yard game of his career, and David Bailey appears to be some sort of fairy-tale monster. But Kenyon Sadiq and DeAngelo Ponds still have a ways to go. If all four of those guys emerge as plus starters, Glenn might get a shot at a third year in northern New Jersey. — CD
Goodness gracious, the Giants really might do it. They really might turn away from Jameis Winston and make Jonathan James McCarthy (!) their starting quarterback moving forward. Just when you thought this middling team at the top of a frayed NFC East couldn't serve up a hilarious, unexpected plot twist, the Football Gods obliged and served up a real treat. — RZ
The Cardinals are undefeated in the city of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they play in Arizona, where they haven't won a game in more than a calendar year. Still, in a week ruled by disappointment, let's give this team the mildest of flowers and appreciate their ability to sow havoc in Inglewood. — CD
Carlie Irsay-Gordon did the right thing by finally canning Chris Ballard, one of the NFL's worst front office execs over the last half-decade. She also did something more important for the franchise in the process. The Colts, without a desperate GM trying to save his job, are officially open for business ahead of this year's NFL trade deadline. Indy needs a new foundation across the board, and an earnest fire sale of win-now veterans should help build it. — RZ
Dak Prescott got the tar beaten out of him by the Packers' pass rush, some of which even came via legal hits. The blocking ahead of him is a concern, especially when he has a defense prone to setting up shootouts. The Cowboys gave up a 37.5 percent pressure rate as blitzes found home in time to throttle the Dallas deep ball rate and ensure a Green Bay win (and an increasingly poor draft position for the first-round pick still owed from the Micah Parsons trade). — CD
Even after a win over the Giants, it's clear the Saints are going nowhere this season. So, if they truly believe Tyler Shough is their quarterback of the future, they should probably let him rest his broken non-throwing hand rather than keep exposing him to vicious pass-rushers who are only capable of exacerbating his injury and risking whatever promise he might have. Oh, well, I suppose no one has ever accused the modern Saints of being proactive or forward-thinking. — RZ
Michael Penix Jr.'s mobility is a problem, which is why he can thrive with big throws from a clean pocket and is rushed into inaccurate targets and brutal mistakes once that integrity has been compromised. The Chicago Bears invested heavily in stopping Drake London and Bijan Robinson while daring the rest of Atlanta's skill players to make them pay. They failed, and now the Falcons are staring down another "too good to tank toward a franchise quarterback, not good enough for the playoffs" season despite encouraging gains from a depleted defense. — CD
C.J. Stroud has quietly pieced together a pretty solid season for the Texans so far. That's the good news in Houston after the fourth-year signal-caller led his team to a huge AFC South win in London. The bad news is that DeMeco Ryans' defense keeps getting gashed against any team with a halfway decent quarterback. The Texans' season is officially alive after two straight wins, but the good times won't keep rolling if a group expressly built around its defense can't get stops in big games. — RZ
Sean McVay called out the Rams for beating themselves, which is accurate but also includes his too-clever-by-half playcalling. Kyren Williams is visibly annoyed with his role, which is what happens when you forsake a run game averaging nearly 4.9 yards per carry, give one of the league's best platoons only 19 carries and, most egregiously, hand off on 4th-and-1 to a fourth-year tight end who has never had an NFL handoff before. Ah well, I look forward to him baffling Al Michaels on Amazon next winter. — CD
It feels impossible to figure out what the Steelers are. On the one hand, they're 4-2, which, hey, a winning record! On the other hand, Aaron Rodgers is an immobile statue who has somehow lost all his pocket awareness, and a once-great defense now flexes its muscles like someone who just finished a single workout at the gym. For now, the Steelers seem like a product of a cupcake schedule. Two of Pittsburgh's next three games come against competitive AFC North rivals. That's when we'll find out their true identity. — RZ
Cleveland won in spite of Deshaun Watson, who has retreated back into the low-impact shell he built to insulate him from more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what an NFL investigation deemed "predatory behavior" dating back to his time with the Texans. The Browns have one of the league's worst run games, but young playmakers and a quickly congealing defense give them legitimate playoff hopes, especially when you consider how weird and sloppy the AFC North is this season. — CD
Are the Raiders … good?! I know a 3-3 record isn't anything to write home about, but that's also not where anyone expected these Raiders to be in late October, who have now hung very well with both Kansas City and Buffalo. Kirk Cousins has turned back the clock, Maxx Crosby is leading a playmaking defense, and Klint Kubiak's staff might already have one of the NFL's best-coached teams. A crushing collapse is probably just around the corner, but I'm starting to think we won't see Fernando Mendoza get any meaningful playing time during his rookie year. Why? Because the playoffs, or at least a playoff push, could be a distinct possibility for Las Vegas. — RZ
A week off should help Joe Burrow's top targets get healthy and, ideally, give Zac Taylor a chance to figure out what's wrong with Chase Brown. But Cincinnati's playoff hopes hinge on a defense that's been uplifted by new veteran arrivals. The Bengals' pass rush will have to keep crunching pockets with efficiency for this team to be anything more than a feisty out en route to the Super Bowl. — CD
A bye week came at the perfect time for the Lions and their fledgling defense. They now have to figure out whether they have enough horses on that side of the ball ahead of a daunting schedule featuring dates with Green Bay, Minnesota, and New England in three of their next four games. Since they probably don't, Dan Campbell might be forced to make a tough midseason change at defensive coordinator. — RZ
Is Sam Darnold finally Sam Darnold again? Or is he suffering the effects of a shallow offense that has little to offer behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba? Zach Charbonnet will be tasked with redeeming the run game once healthy, and the space (and RPO/play action calls) that creates could be exactly what the veteran needs to prove he's more than just a nice story and footnote in the Seahawks' history book. — RZ
For once, the Panthers are both good and lucky. Bryce Young's breakout in Dave Canales's offense is extremely real, and also there doesn't seem to be any legit competition for the NFC South crown from the division's other three stooges. When noting the rough state of the NFC East, a top-three playoff seed is officially in play for Carolina. What a time to be alive in Charlotte. — RZ
Bo Nix will be tried for his crimes in Quarterback Court. The defense behind him is snapping back into form, but concerning lapses in the run game could create plenty of late-game situations where Nix is forced to throw his team back into the lead as the clock winds down. The 2026 season has repeatedly shown that's not his forte, at least through the first month-plus. — CD
After a disaster three-game start that saw greater Wisconsin calling for Matt LaFleur to join the unemployment line, the Packers have officially won three straight games. Jordan Love has been brilliant, but it's a Micah Parsons-less defense that has surprisingly excelled of late. The Packers are creating pressure, are showing a capacity for sticky coverage, and have allowed a total of 34 points over their last three games. It turns out that Parsons' looming return may actually complement, instead of save, Green Bay's ascending defense. — RZ
Caleb Williams made his return on Sunday in Atlanta, and he picked up right where he left off. A solid Falcons defense backed off to protect against big plays and gave Williams everything underneath. He took these options and ran with them to the tune of an 83 percent completion percentage with nearly 8.5 yards per attempt. He was calm, composed, and completely in control the whole afternoon. Huh, who would have thought that the Bears would look like a serious team with their star quarterback back in the lineup? — RZ
It's difficult to penalize the Ravens too harshly for losing to the Browns; they've already beaten two other teams that would be in the playoff field if it ended today (Steelers, Panthers) and toppled the Packers and Steelers the season prior. But Derrick Henry has -19 rushing yards over expected (RYOE) over his last three weeks and may, finally, be slowing down as his 33rd birthday approaches. What will the Baltimore offense look like if Henry is merely above average (or worse) rather than an un-caped superhero? — CD
Drake Maye presents a no-win conundrum for opposing defenses. Blitz him, and he'll almost always make the right play downfield. Let him sit in the pocket without sending extra pressure, as the Jets did on Sunday, and he'll carve you up like a surgeon all game long. It's perhaps way too early to say this sort of thing, but another MVP-caliber campaign could be in store for the red-hot, third-year quarterback. — RZ
Was Sunday's loss in London a harbinger of things to come? It depends on how you look at losing to a divisional opponent like the Texans, who know the Jaguars better than anyone. Nonetheless, it's not encouraging that a signal-caller like C.J. Stroud was more or less able to have his way against the Jacksonville defense, the clear Achilles heel of the team. If the contender Jaguars can't slow down Stroud, they certainly won't have any easier time against the likes of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, among others, in the playoffs. — RZ
The bye preserved Minnesota's undefeated record and gave Jordan Mason and Justin Jefferson an extra week to return to full health. But the bigger development may be Kyler Murray's gradual rise back to average quarterbacking, which is all the Vikings need given their stacked receiving corps and a defense that plays every down like their opponent just insulted their personal honor. That may have a short shelf life in the postseason, but it could push this team back to a division title. — CD
The Bills can't stop anyone. That's fine in the regular season because they have a Terminator at quarterback (Josh Allen) who will always take them to 11-13 wins anyway. But the Bills are past celebrating regular-season accomplishments and wins over non-contenders like the Raiders. If Buffalo is to finally get over the Super Bowl hump, it probably needs to make a major defensive splash or two at the trade deadline. In fact, that should be the baseline expectation for the NFL's biggest win-now team. — RZ
Congratulations to the Chiefs for keeping the Chargers in their hole. That didn't tell us much about them other than the fact that Kenneth Walker III still absolutely rules, but it was a tidy three hours of football nonetheless. — CD
The Niners keep winning their war against attrition, but losing Mike Evans meant the team's top available wideouts to wrap up Week 6 were Jordan Watkins and Brandin Cooks. The former had five career targets after being a fourth round draft pick in 2025 and the latter is 33 years old.
A rapid collapse followed, and San Francisco probably wouldn't be undefeated if not for a mistake-prone Washington team. John Lynch might have been dialing up the Jaguars to see what a Brian Thomas Jr. trade would cost at halftime. — CD
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