There’s a LOT of Movement in Rich’s Brand-New NFL Power Rankings Heading into Week 7

Rich has seen the comments. The ones about how much he likes the Los Angeles Rams, how he thinks they are championship quality. They come from his feeds, his comment sections, even Vinnie Pasquantino in the text chain for their guillotine league.

So here is the twist in his Week 7 power rankings on The Rich Eisen Show: the Rams are not on it. Neither are the Seahawks or the Broncos. A 2-4 team is. Here is the list, in the order Rich delivered it.

**10. Houston Texans (2-4)**

Rich knew this one would draw grief. "I'm putting a two and four team on my power rankings," he said. He would have them even higher if he could look people in the face and explain why their winning team got leapfrogged.

The case is C.J. Stroud. Rich compared his situation to Joe Flacco's, the last time a quarterback was told to do his thing and the team would fill up the bag for him. The difference, as Rich noted, is that Flacco won the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl MVP. Still, going from 0-4 to 2-4, the Texans are playing well.

**9. Baltimore Ravens (4-2)**

Down five spots, but Rich refused to drop them out. "I'm not kicking the Ravens off my top 10. Just not." He still cannot believe Derrick Henry fumbled that ball in Cleveland. Lamar Jackson was not seen practicing, and the Ravens have a home date with Cincinnati, which Rich called a big game.

**8. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)**

Rich almost kicked them off. "London stunk for the Jaguars. Stunk," he said. They almost lost to the Eagles and made "tons of mistakes," looking nothing like the team that went 3-1 heading overseas. But he could not kick off a 4-2 team to make room for another 2-4 team, and Jacksonville is two games ahead of Houston. "Let's get them back in the continental United States and see if they'll return to that form."

**7. Green Bay Packers**

Back on the list. "I like the way they are playing, man, a lot," Rich said, arguing they might have the best one-two punch at wide receiver this year in Matthew Golden and Christian Watson. The defense has been balling out, Micah Parsons is coming back soon, and Rich wondered whether Josh Jacobs will hit the field this week. "What a big game against the Lions this week."

**6. Chicago Bears**

Also back on the list, at least when they play like this: Caleb Williams "blowing the doors off you" and the defense showing up. "They got a Super Bowl formula if they can do that," Rich said. The crew called the Bears' run game the best in the NFL, and Rich agreed it is hard to argue, because it is not a run game hiding a weak offense. They have more than one back, including Kyle Monangai, D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson.

**5. New England Patriots**

Up three spots into the top five, which drew a nervous "I'm so worried about tomorrow" from the crew, with New England headed into Chicago on national TV. As for the Drake Maye of the first three weeks, Rich asked, "Where did that guy go? Who knows? Who cares?" "Who was that guy? Cuz it's not the guy we've seen the last three weeks." He pointed out that Ben Johnson was singing Maye's praises, and that the defense is getting better, along with Milton Williams' sound bite calling Mike Vrabel an a-hole before adding that he loves him. "They're getting some vibes." Rich called the matchup a big test, because this year's Bears should hold serve at home.

**4. Minnesota Vikings**

Down one spot from third even though they did not play. Rich simply thinks the team above them would win the head to head.

**3. Buffalo Bills**

The Bills beat the Rams, then took care of business against the Raiders while Minnesota was off. "Allen's out of his skull. James Cook is out of his skull," Rich said. The crew noted they still give up too many points. Rich called that "a season long storyline arc, not a week to week thing."

**2. Kansas City Chiefs**

The crew pointed out the Chiefs do not get much credit for beating that Chargers team. But Rich could not get past Kenneth Walker's numbers for his new team. Through five weeks, Walker is running at the pace Eric Dickerson set in his first five weeks as a rookie out of SMU in 1983. "It's like he was running for a car this time."

**1. San Francisco 49ers**

Rich would not drop them for struggling in the second half against Washington, "which is a desperate team." The 49ers played their worst game of the year and still came up with the win. "I got to keep the Niners number one."

## Who Got Left Out

Rich knocked off the Seahawks, Broncos and Rams. The Broncos won and still fell off, because "they don't look good enough." The Seahawks are 3-3, which Rich figured would be the loudest objection after ranking a 2-4 Houston team.

The crew had another guess: Steelers fans. Pittsburgh is 4-2 after "a great gutty road win." Rich turned it into a question, asking whether these Texans could beat the Steelers. The two teams meet on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, and the call in the room was a slight edge to Pittsburgh.

That brought Rich to his favorite Aaron Rodgers moment of the week. After a game, Jayden Daniels walked up and started, "Hey A-Rod, I hate to be that guy." Rodgers cut him off before he could ask for the jersey. "I'll send it to you." And as Daniels left, Rodgers added, "I want yours, too."

Rich called it "extremely gracious." He knows Rodgers can carry a chip about how the media sees him, but he gave him full credit here. "He knew what the kid was going to ask him."