NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: 49ers, Texans make statements as contenders

Here’s the latest NFL Power Rankings for Week 7, with the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers continuing to make statements as strong contenders.

As expected, there are plenty of great topics to discuss in the NFL Power Rankings Week 7 for the 2019 season, whether it happens to be the New York Jets upsetting the Dallas Cowboys or simply the Washington Redskins finally earning that first win.

However, when it comes to the most surprising stories from over the weekend, it’s difficult to top both the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers earning big statement wins to prove they deserve to be considered two of the top contenders in the NFL.

After earning an impressive victory the week before in a shootout with the Atlanta Falcons, the Texans knew Sunday’s meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs could end up being one of their toughest challenges of the young season.

Rightfully so, the Chiefs entered the weekend as one of the top Super Bowl contenders in the AFC since Patrick Mahomes is reigning MVP for a reason, and while this may still end up being the case, Houston certainly gave Kansas City a major wake-up call on Sunday.

Thanks to another strong outing by Deshaun Watson (three touchdowns), the Texans were able to knockoff the Chiefs 31-24 in front of their own fans, and send a message to the rest of the teams across the league about having what it takes to compete with the best of teams.

Similar to Houston, San Francisco was looking to make a statement of their own on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, and watching the 49ers defeat their rivals 20-7 makes it seem like there’s a new top team to beat within the NFC.

Obviously, both the Texans and 49ers have a lot to prove over the next few weeks to make sure they don’t suffer any setbacks, but just the fact that each team is finding this kind of success in the middle of October has been incredible to witness.

Once again, another weekend of exciting actions means there’s plenty of changes in the latest NFL Power Rankings, so instead of wasting anymore time, it seems only fair to jump right in, starting with the Miami Dolphins yet again.