LA Chargers: AFC power rankings after Bolts Week 7 bye
By Jason Reed
AFC power rankings, no. 13-10:
13. New York Jets (Last week: 13)
The New York Jets got shelled by the New England Patriots in Week 7 but no team below them did anything to move ahead of them on the list. Things are not going to get better any time soon as Zach Wilson is out for 2-4 weeks, paving the way for Mike White.
The Jets proved yet again that they are a poorly run football team as they traded an actual draft pick for Joe Flacco to be the backup. Just sign a practice squad guy!!! What are we doing here? At least they have the most surprising win of the season over the Tennessee Titans.
12. Denver Broncos (Last week: 12)
It may have seemed harsh to rank the Denver Broncos all the way down at 12 last week after they started with a 3-0 record but Week 7's results only justify it. The Broncos beat three of the worst teams in the league to start the season and have looked like one of the worst teams since.
They could not beat a hobbled Cleveland team that was starting Case Keenum and wsa without both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. That is a really ugly loss. Denver has a winnable game against Washington in Week 8 at home.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 9)
The Pittsburgh Steelers did not even play last week and they fell two spots in our rankings. Sure, they have a 3-3 record on the season but their wins are not the most impressive and Ben Roethlisberger is playing like one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.
The two teams that leap-frogged the Steelers showed enough in Week 7 to justify jumping the team that did not even play. After an early bye week, Big Ben now has to piece together 11 straight weeks of football, which seems extremely daunting for him.
10. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 11)
Last week I theorized that the Colts were better than people thought and backed it up by putting actual money on the Colts to beat the San Francisco 49ers. They did just that, winning 30-18.
Carson Wentz is playing much better football than he was with the Philadelphia Eagles. I still would not rank him in the top half of the league, but he deserves credit for how he is playing. This probably is not a playoff team but it is a team that should at least be on the "in the hunt" graphic in Week 15.
Next up, the 9-6 ranked teams