Week 7 NFL Standings: New Leaders Emerge in AFC East, NFC North; Chaos Continues Out West

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Oct 14, 2025
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye lets the offense line know what he sees during first half action at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Oct. 5, 2025.

The first third of the NFL regular season has come and gone.

As we head into Week 7, chaos has continued to reign supreme throughout the NFL as we have new leaders in both the AFC East and NFC North this week, and very tight races across most of the divisions in the league. Here is a look at the updated NFL standings.

A Look at the NFL Standings Heading into Week 7

NFL Standings
Sep 21, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) warms up before the game aginst the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

AFC East

  1. New England Patriots (4-2)
  2. Buffalo Bills (4-2)
  3. Miami Dolphins (1-5)
  4. New York Jets (0-6)

Well, so much for this guy’s assumption that the AFC East belonged to the Bills again this year. Buffalo has now lost two games in a row, and the New England Patriots have gotten red-hot with three straight wins. Drake Maye’s emergence over the past month has been incredible, and the Patriots have figured things out defensively unlike Buffalo. Looking at New England’s remaining schedule, this division race is probably going to go down to the wire.

AFC North

  1. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1)
  2. Cincinnati Bengals (2-4)
  3. Baltimore Ravens (1-5)
  4. Cleveland Browns (1-5)

The Steelers are continuing to run away with the AFC North after getting another win this past weekend, this time over the Cleveland Browns. On top of that win over their division rivals, each of the Bengals and Ravens lost as well this past weekend, extending Pittsburgh’s division lead to 2.5 games. Of course, the Ravens are expected to get Lamar Jackson back this weekend, but we’ll see if it is too little, too late for Baltimore to make a comeback.

AFC South

  1. Indianapolis Colts (5-1)
  2. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)
  3. Houston Texans (2-3)
  4. Tennessee Titans (1-5)

Something finally broke in the deadlock atop the AFC South as the Jacksonville Jaguars took a loss to the Seattle Seahawks this weekend. Meanwhile, the Colts kept the good times rolling with an impressive win over the Arizona Cardinals, which gave them sole possession of not only the AFC South but the AFC in general. Houston keeps lurking in the shadows, though, so we’ll see what they can do following their bye against Seattle.

AFC West

  1. Los Angeles Chargers (4-2)
  2. Denver Broncos (4-2)
  3. Kansas City Chiefs (3-3)
  4. Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)

It was a great week in the AFC West as all four teams got wins this weekend, meaning the division is staying as crazy as ever for the foreseeable future. However, the most notable of these victories came from the reigning AFC champs as the Kansas City Chiefs toppled the Detroit Lions, winning virtually wire-to-wire on Sunday night. Are they back for real this time? We’ll see if they can replicate the performance against Las Vegas this weekend.

NFC East

  1. Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)
  2. Washington Commanders (3-3)
  3. Dallas Cowboys (2-3-1)
  4. New York Giants (2-4)

Unlike the AFC West, it was all losses for the NFC East save for the team at the bottom of the division as the New York Giants beat the defending Super Bowl champs in a dominant Thursday night performance behind three touchdowns from rookie Cam Skattebo. However, just like the AFC West, this division is looking chaotic with all four teams separated by two games. Could we soon see a new leader after two consecutive losses by the Eagles?

NFC North

  1. Green Bay Packers (3-1-1)
  2. Detroit Lions (4-2)
  3. Minnesota Vikings (3-2)
  4. Chicago Bears (3-2)

Speaking of chaos, no division race is tighter than the NFC North after the Packers and Bears won, the Lions lost, and the Vikings rested on their bye. Remarkably, only half a game separates these four teams that are all above .500 through six weeks for the second straight year. Each team has at least four divisional games left on their schedule too, so there could be a lot of shuffling in the coming weeks.

NFC South

  1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1)
  2. Atlanta Falcons (3-2)
  3. Carolina Panthers (3-3)
  4. New Orleans Saints (1-5)

The New Orleans Saints were unable to put together another win this weekend despite a scrappy showing against the New England Patriots. It was their third loss this season by seven or fewer points. Meanwhile, all three of the teams in front of them won, including a very impressive win by the Falcons over the Bills. Tampa Bay owns the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but they shouldn’t feel too comfortable quite yet. Still, Baker Mayfield deserves to be the MVP favorite at this point.

NFC West

  1. San Francisco 49ers (4-2)
  2. Seattle Seahawks (4-2)
  3. Los Angeles Rams (4-2)
  4. Arizona Cardinals (2-4)

How about a three-way tie to wrap things up this week? That’s where we find ourselves with the NFC West. After the San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5 to take sole possession of the division lead, they lost to the Buccaneers and find themselves in a tie with the Seahawks and Rams again after both teams won this weekend.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.

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By Josh Frey
Josh Frey is a senior writer at both PurplePTSD.com and VikingsTerritory.com, with a fascination for the NFL Draft. To ... More about Josh Frey