Battle Red Blog Internal Power Rankings: Week 7

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead!

They got rid of him! I can’t believe it but they actually fired Jack Easterby. After quickly becoming a highly influential member of the organization after Bill O’Brien’s firing during the 2020 season, Easterby has been the éminence grise of the Houston Texans organization, having influence in every terrible, nonsensical, and incoherent decision the Texans have made since entering the building.

Here’s my personal power rankings entering Week 7:

1. Buffalo Bills (5-1) (Last Week: 1) - The pass rush and Josh Allen cure all.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (6-0) (Last Week: 2) - A defense as good as the Cowboys still had difficulty keeping the Eagles in check for a full 60 minutes, but at least they proved a bit more mortal.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (4-2) (Last Week: 3) - Mahomes is starting to get more production from his wide receivers, but it’s clear off of this game and against the Indianapolis Colts that they still haven’t reached their full potential.

4. Minnesota Vikings (5-1) (Last Week: 5) - The Vikings just keep winning, even if it gets a little ugly.

5. Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) (Last Week: 9) - Even I think a ranking this high is a little suspect for the Chargers, but everyone else around them lost so they get to enjoy a top 5 ranking…for now…

6. Cincinnati Bengals (3-3) (Last Week: 10) - Ja’Marr Chase had his first big game, and he was exactly what the Bengals were missing.

7. Baltimore Ravens (3-3) (Last Week: 4) - I know the Giants are supposed to be good now, but losing like that still earns them a demotion.

8. Miami Dolphins (3-3) (Last Week: 6) - That 3-0 start certainly feels far away, but now that Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be back, Miami can return to their original offense.

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3) (Last Week: 8) - Relying on Leonard Fournette and being unable to stop the revenge of the Trubisky represent how precarious of a position the Bucs are in right now.

10. New York Giants (5-1) (Last Week: 15) - The Giants just keep on winning…somehow. Every year, we get a 2014 Cleveland Browns team to wonder about for a few months until they inevitably explode.

11. Tennessee Titans (3-2) (Last Week: 11) - Bye week, so they get to stay put!

12. Los Angeles Rams (3-3) (Last Week: 13) - Yeah, they’re back at .500 but that’s off of beating the Panthers.

13. Green Bay Packers (3-3) (Last Week: 7) - There’s definitely something strange happening in Green Bay this year.

14. San Francisco 49ers (3-3) (Last Week: 12) - The Falcons are definitely better than most are giving them credit for, but the 49ers injuries and quarterback play stand to sink them before they even get started.

15. Dallas Cowboys (4-2) (Last Week: 14) - The defense continued to keep them in games, even against the mighty Eagles, but the Cooper Rush party is over.

16. Atlanta Falcons (3-3) (Last Week: 22) - When the offense is banging on all cylinders, they’re a hard out for any team.

17. New England Patriots (3-3) (Last Week: 23) - Bailey Zappe is upon us!

18. New York Jets (4-2) (Last Week: 26) - With that big win against the Packers primarily coming off the play of rookies, the Baby Jets feel like they might be the bandwagon team of the season.

19. Denver Broncos (2-4) (Last Week: 17) - One good half of offense against the Chargers still isn’t worth $245 million.

20. Las Vegas Raiders (1-4) (Last Week: 20) - Bye week, so they get to stay put!

21. Seattle Seahawks (3-3) (Last Week: 25) - Geno Smith is, by every measure, better than Russell Wilson so far.

22. New Orleans Saints (2-4) (Last Week: 21) - The Andy Dalton/Taysom Hill combo is still looking good, but that defense isn’t performing as well as Saints fans are used to seeing.

23. Arizona Cardinals (2-4) (Last Week: 16) - Scoring 9 points with Kyler Murray is unacceptable.

24. Indianapolis Colts (3-2-1) (Last Week: 27) - A crappy start to the season hasn’t stopped the Colts from snoozing their way back into the playoff hunt.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4) (Last Week: 19) - The hot start to the season is over, but that doesn’t mean Trevor Lawrence can’t improve.

26. Cleveland Browns (2-4) (Last Week: 18) - They could’ve been 5-0 entering Sunday’s game against the Patriots. But now, they absolutely are a 2-4 team.

27. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4) (Last Week: 31) - The Trubiskyssaince is upon us!

28. Houston Texans (1-3-1) (Last Week: 28) - Bye week, so they get to stay put! Next up is Las Vegas, a team so used to choking that even Davis Mills should figure out how to beat them.

29. Detroit Lions (1-4) (Last Week: 29) - Bye week, so they get to stay put!

30. Washington Commanders (2-4) (Last Week: 30) - They practically won by accident yesterday, which could prove costly come April.

31. Chicago Bears (2-4) (Last Week: 24) - They were this close to 3-3, and this close to 4-2, and if they had any chance of turning this season into an improbable success, it is now gone.

32. Carolina Panthers (1-5) (Last Week: 32) - A pick-six off of Matthew Stafford was pretty much the only positive development to come out of Sunday’s game.

Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images

While I was desperate to rank the Texans in the Top 10 exclusively because of firing Jack Easterby, my (ahem) journalistic integrity (ahem) got the better of me. But, with a victory against Las Vegas this coming Sunday, the Texans can start making a case to be a much better team than the sum of their parts. The Jets are really starting the figure it out, so why can’t the Texans?

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