Winning wasn’t enough to keep the Buffalo Bills from sliding in USA TODAY’s NFL power rankings.
The Bills fell two spots this week despite beating the Las Vegas Raiders 33-30 to improve to 5-1. Buffalo surrendered 30 points and 313 passing yards, including two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Kirk Cousins, as its defense again struggled to put away an opponent.
Here are the NFL power rankings entering Week 7 of the 2026 season (previous rank in parentheses):
1. San Francisco 49ers (1): It wasn't pretty, but they held off Washington on Monday night to become the league's first 6-0 team. However with Mike Evans limping off before halftime with an Achilles injury, will GM John Lynch have to delve into the wideout trade market?
2. Kansas City Chiefs
(2): Andy Reid is now 23-5 in the regular season following bye weeks. Sure looks like he might get the opportunity to coach after another bye a few months from now.
3. Minnesota Vikings (9): Coming out of their bye week, they enter their Colts bye week. After that, the tests come fast and furious − the undefeated Vikes set to face opponents all currently above .500 through Christmas, the lone exception the formidable Falcons.
4. Chicago Bears (10): They looked awfully good after getting a key guy back … and we're referring to DB Kyler Gordon, who had three sacks − again, he's a DB − and two forced fumbles in his 2026 debut on Sunday, all in 17 snaps. He's the first player at his position to have such a game in 26 years.
5. Denver Broncos (4): They are fortunate to be 4-2 after emerging from a brutal stretch of their schedule. But 2.9 yards per play in a game, the lowest ever by a Sean Payton-coach team? C'mon, Bo!
6. Seattle Seahawks (3): Can't have QB Sam Darnold throwing a career-high 51 times − and getting beaten to a pulp in the process − and expect to win. Sure would help to get injured RBs Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet back.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (5): CB/WR Travis Hunter played a season-high 71 snaps Sunday, quite a few of them impactful, and the Jags lost − through no fault of Hunter, who's played nearly every defensive snap the past three weeks. Still trying to find his sweet spot, but we may finally be near it. Same can't be said for WR Brian Thomas Jr.
8. New England Patriots (6): Given all the injuries they sustained Sunday, gonna be tough to sustain a three-game winning streak with a trip to Chicago on Thursday night next up on the docket − especially if WR A.J. Brown drops four more balls.
9. Buffalo Bills (7): They've won seven straight regular-season games when allowing at least 30 points. Good thing they've got Josh Allen. Imagine if they played a lick of defense.
10. Carolina Panthers (11): It's truly wild that QB Bryce Young leads the NFL with 309.8 passing yards per game − same guy who never averaged better than 190 yards in any of his first three seasons.
11. Detroit Lions (12): Still 3-2 after their bye week, they've fallen into the NFC North basement … but that can change fast with the Packers and Vikings coming to Ford Field the next two weeks.
12. Las Vegas Raiders (15): After dropping their third in a row, they're the most .500 team ever − now 3-3 with 162 points scored and 162 surrendered. Surely a tie with the Rams on Sunday is in the works.
13. Los Angeles Rams (8): As they enter a new Bill Parcells reality − "You are what your record says you are" − the Rams (2-4) have also added injuries to Sunday's (latest) insult. Moving forward, they won't have WR Davante Adams (hamstring) or DL Kobie Turner for at least the next month. NT Poona Ford is out for the year. And the kicker? Sean McVay needs another one of those, too.
14. Cleveland Browns (16): Look who's in first place at the latest point of a season since 2014. Will a team scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET for the rest of the season get a prime-time flex at some point?
BROWNS WIN AND ARE IN FIRST PLACE pic.twitter.com/rTec7Vizin
— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026
15. Baltimore Ravens (13): Rookie TE Josh Cuevas comes off a big game, catching his first NFL TD and illustrating the boundlessness of Declan Doyle's offense.
This is sick: #Ravens OC Declan Doyle lined up TE Josh Cuevas at LG, then released him into a route for a 29-yard gain.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 18, 2026
Because Cuevas was off the line of scrimmage, he was eligible to go downfield.
This is brilliant. pic.twitter.com/jN4icyVvEG
16. Atlanta Falcons (14): Would you have guessed that, per Next Gen Stats, they have the most pressures (114) in the league and the second-highest pressure rate (42.7%)? Probably not given the Falcons don't have a player with as many as four sacks.
17. Green Bay Packers (19): Things are very suddenly looking up. Three straight wins, the Pack allowing 14 points or fewer in each − they haven't had that kind of stretch in a decade − and RB Josh Jacobs has rejoined a team averaging a league-worst 59.8 rushing yards per game. Just wait until they get OLB Micah Parsons back, and/or their wideouts stop dropping gimme TD passes.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (17): He's only had the benefit of two starts, but WR Germie Bernard already ranks second among all rookies with 24 receptions (17 in those two starts, including 11 in Sunday's win at Tampa.)
19. Cincinnati Bengals (18): Still 3-2 after their bye week, they've fallen into the AFC North basement. Did you know QB Joe Burrow only has one fourth-quarterback comeback since the start of the 2023 season?
20. Houston Texans (26): They continue to have one of the league's least-efficient run games. But that defense, QB C.J. Stroud's inspired play and an upgraded wideout corps − not to mention DeMeco Ryans calling the defensive plays again − suggest this team could go on another long heater.
21. New Orleans Saints (20): A team that's been infinitely better on the road this season heads to Paris for the league's first regular-season game in France … and might even get rookie WR Jordyn Tyson on the practice pitch.
22. New York Giants (22): Channeling former SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne, J.J. McCarthy's passing output Sunday projected to nearly 1,000 yards over four quarters − that would be a record or something. Easier to throw on every play when you're in the ditch and denying Cam Skattebo any touches.
23. Arizona Cardinals (29): The wildest stat of a still-young NFL season? The Cards have more wins (2) at SoFi Stadium than the Chargers and Rams … combined.
24. New York Jets (21): A starter the past two weeks, first-round WR Omar Cooper Jr. is quickly making his presence felt. Now the Jets need to get a little more from Cooper's former IU teammate, CB D'Angelo Ponds.
The rookie Omar Cooper Jr. makes the 48-yard touchdown catch!
— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026
NYJvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/y88N5gruHa
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (23): The next two games start their inter-divisional schedule (at Carolina, vs. Atlanta), and you can put a fork in these Bucs if they don't sweep them.
26. Dallas Cowboys (24): "GOTI," aka, Greatest Offense There Is? It's nice to have goals. Not always wise to publicly reveal them.
27. Washington Commanders (28): After their Week 5 debacle and a nearly as uninspiring first half Monday night, Jayden Daniels and Co. finally came to life, almost derailing the Niners' still-perfect season … and maybe laying the groundwork for their own surge in the eminently winnable NFC East.
28. Philadelphia Eagles (27): Their four-game losing streak aside, don't sleep on this team. Or maybe do, still not sure.
29. Tennessee Titans (32): Nice that they finally broke into the win column. How many more times is that possible with QB Cam Ward averaging 166.3 passing yards per game, fewest among all QBs with at least 100 attempts this season?
30. Indianapolis Colts (25): Sunday's loss to the Titans sealed the fate of since-fired GM Chris Ballard. Where does this organization go now? A fire sale would seem to be the logical route, though it doesn't sound as if CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon is quite ready to embrace that.
31. Miami Dolphins (31): Still winless, but at least they've been a lot more competitive in recent weeks.
32. Los Angeles Chargers (30): Still winless, and … well, the bye week is currently favored by 9½ points.
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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NFL power rankings Week 7: Bills won again but was it enough to impress?
