Atlanta Falcons: NFC Power Rankings, Week 7

Oct 18, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Fans cheer during the game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears at Ford Field. Lions won 37-34 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Lions figured something out in Week 6: how to beat a bad team in your division at home. It turns out all that the Lions had to do was repeatedly have QB Matthew Stafford throw deep balls to WR Calvin Johnson. If you do that enough, you can beat the Chicago Bears at home in overtime.

Here’s to the Detroit Lions’ first victory of the season! Detroit might win a few more games in 2015, but with arguably the worst offensive line in football and a defensive line sorely missing Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, this team will be lucky to go 4-12.

Tampa Bay dropped three spots on a bye. Don’t byes normally help and not hurt a team’s position in playoff hierarchy? Yes, but some of the teams that jumped Tampa this week showed some signs of live that could stand as enough to beat the Buccaneers.

Doug Martin‘s return to dominance in the backfield will certainly help the Bucs this fall, but Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 isn’t cutting it in 2015. For Tampa to win games, they will likely have to in a shootout. That’s a recipe for disaster for interception-prone rookie QB Jameis Winston. It’s nearly impossible to see this team finish at .500 this season.

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The Chicago Bears could have been .500 if they could have defended the deep ball. Then we remember there isn’t a defense that needs more fixing than the Chicago Bears in the NFL. It’s too early to tell if the Bears are bad or just mediocre. Their two wins have come against teams with a combined 3-8 record (Oakland, Kansas City).

It seems as though the offensive attack of the Bears with QB Jay Cutler, RB Matt Forte, and OC Adam Gase will keep the Monsters of the Midway in many games this year. However like Tampa Bay, the Bears will have to win shootouts to add another tally to the win column. It’s hard to feel confident about Jay Cutler orchestrating game-winning drives with his proclivity for throwing untimely picks.

I thought this team was good, or at least not terrible. Washington kept giving me an 8-8 vibe early in the year, but now it feels more like a 6-10, 5-11 feel to them. I love the defensive line the Redskins boast, but you have to think if QB Kirk Cousins doesn’t get it together soon, the Washington front office may look for a new leader under center in the 2016 NFL Draft.

However, I think they need to wait at least one more year before going in that direction in the draft. This team is close and may only need one more solid draft of role players before inserting a new savior at QB. With the NFC East being the worst division in the NFC, I still think all four teams can contend in some capacity in 2015. A decent winning streak gets the Redskins back in the East mix.

Next: Tier III: NFC Playoff Pretenders