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

18. Denver Broncos

After dropping a home game in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Denver Broncos bounced back quickly with a huge win against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night. It was a triumphant return for Sean Payton to the city of New Orleans, where he became a Super Bowl-winning head coach.

The Denver Broncos clearly have one of the top defenses in the NFL and if their offense can figure things out on a consistent basis, this team could be a factor in the AFC. They are currently 4-3 with a home game against the Carolina Panthers on deck.

As bad as the Broncos have been the last handful of years, this team might have finally turned a corner and when Bo Nix plays mistake-free football, this team is undefeated (4-0 in games where Nix has no INTs).

We’ll see how Nix and Sean Payton’s offense – which may need a playmaker at the NFL trade deadline – continue to evolve as the year goes along.

17. Los Angeles Chargers

Plays Monday night against Cardinals

The Los Angeles Chargers came out of their bye week against the Denver Broncos and put together a pretty dominant offensive game plan, at least in the 1st half against Denver. The Chargers built an insurmountable lead against one of the league’s best defenses, utilizing a great mix of running the ball effectively and allowing Justin Herbert to cook on third downs to get to 3-2 on the season.

On Monday night, the Chargers will be 1.5-point favorites against the Arizona Cardinals and we’ll see if they can continue to keep pace, at least a little bit, with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. 

The Chargers have continually struggled with injuries, but this team is physical on both sides of the ball and I expect them to stay in the mix so long as Herbert is on the field and playing as well as we saw against Denver.