NFL Power Rankings, Week 8: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 7

22. Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are such an odd team, but they’ve now won their fourth game of the season. We have to talk about them as a legitimate playoff option in the AFC, but in order to have that discussion, we need to look at their upcoming schedule.

The Colts got a win against the Miami Dolphins this past weekend, who played Tim Boyle and basically just couldn’t outlast the Colts. Indy only managed to put up 16 points and didn’t exactly play lights out vs. Miami.

The next five games the Colts play are really going to give us an indication of what this team is made of. They play in Houston next, then they go to Minnesota. They follow that up with a home game against the Bills and a road game against the Jets, followed by a home game against the Lions.

I don’t know that there is another team with a more brutal five-game stretch upcoming. The Colts legitimately play four of the best teams in the NFL, and we’ll see how the Jets look with Davante Adams. Time for this Colts team to sink or swim.

21. Arizona Cardinals

Cardinals play Monday night vs. Los Angeles Chargers

We won’t get a chance to see the Arizona Cardinals play on Monday night before these NFL Power Rankings are published, but this is another one of those teams that I just can’t quit at this point. 

The Cardinals are just 2-4 heading into that Monday night matchup against the Chargers, but when things really click for them and when Kyler Murray has the connection going with Marvin Harrison Jr., this team can be really explosive offensively. 

Arizona is a home underdog on Monday (+1.5) against the Chargers and I think that’s probably pretty fair. They haven’t done anything consistently enough this season to be worthy of being home favorites against the 3-2 Chargers, but there have been signs that the Cardinals could be a factor as the season rolls along.