Week 5 of the NFL gave us a definitive answer about the league’s entire landscape.
With the formerly undefeated Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles falling, there is no true juggernaut. Everyone, even if they’re still good, has a fatal flaw they have to mask to win.
The Bills’ defense can’t stop a nosebleed. The Eagles have no offensive juice. The Detroit Lions are only as good as the success of their high-powered offense. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are incapable of playing a normal game. The Indianapolis Colts are still led by Daniel Jones. The Green Bay Packers probably can’t trust Jordan Love and Micah Parsons does too much to prop up their otherwise average defense. The Denver Broncos do not yet have the sort of offense you could trust in January.
I could go on and on, but that would belabor the point. We’re a little over a month into the season, and not a single undefeated team remains. That should speak volumes in itself. It’s gonna be a fun season, dearest readers. And it probably won’t make a lick of sense. We can’t wait.
Note: These rankings are being published before Monday Night Football. NFL teams playing on Monday night will have their rankings added after the fact accordingly.
32. Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 21
I’m sorry, but if you lose to the Tennessee Titans because two different players forget to hang on to the ball, you deserve to be the worst team in the NFL for at least one week. That’s just Day 1 stuff. — Christian D’Andrea
31. Tennessee Titans
Last week: 32
Cam Ward led a game-winning drive. He also threw what could have been a game-sealing red zone interception, only, you know, the Cardinals promptly dropped it (after possessing it), kicked it into the end zone, and gave away a free touchdown moments after giving away a different free touchdown. Tennessee will escape the 30s when they beat a team that isn’t easily distracted by shiny objects on the field. — CD
30. Cleveland Browns
Last week: 30
Dillon Gabriel threw two touchdowns in his Browns debut. That’s nice! Surely, Cleveland won? Oh, the Browns converted 20 percent of their third downs. Oh, they committed 10 backbreaking penalties for 78 yards in a one-score loss. Browns football, ladies and gentlemen. Feel the fever! — Robert Zeglinski
29. Miami Dolphins
Last week: 28
The Carolina Panthers spotted them a 17-0 lead, and it still made no difference. The CAROLINA PANTHERS. Mike McDaniel, you are gonna be one hell of a coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles next winter. —CD
28. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 24
What tips you off about Geno Smith being thoroughly cooked? Is it the nine interceptions he’s thrown in just 20 quarters of football? Is it how he seems like a replacement-level quarterback if he isn’t throwing to Brock Bowers? Is it the highest sack percentage since he was still a backup in Seattle? Uh, yes. —RZ
27. New York Jets
Last week: 27
Justin Fields is still doing his thing!* (*Getting sacked for long, baffling losses). —CD
26. New York Giants
Last week: 25
So much for all the goodwill from Jaxson Dart’s first start. Any time you lose by double digits to the 2025 New Orleans Saints, I’m going to doubt your credibility. Dart’s Giants remain a work in progress. Not that anyone should be surprised. —RZ
25. New Orleans Saints
Last week: 31
Spencer Rattler is one of the league’s sneaky fun quarterbacks. Now, Kellen Moore has Taysom Hill and his never-ending supply of trick play [expletive] to try and exhaust. The Saints aren’t good, but they are entertaining. That’s the best they could have hoped for this fall. —CD
24. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week: 19
Ja’Marr Chase was the Bengals’ leading receiver AND their third-leading tackler on Sunday. Wow, what can’t he do?! (Holds hand to earpiece) Oh, right, he probably won’t save the Bengals’ season by himself. —RZ
23. Carolina Panthers
Last week: 29
Bryce Young had about as rough a start as he could have. Through six dropbacks, he was good for negative-seven points of expected value thanks to a fumble and an interception. But he stabilized, used Tetairoa McMillan’s leverage to bust open a shoddy secondary, and eventually rallied the Panthers from a 17-0 hole for the win. The degree of difficulty was low, but it was an encouraging display of fortitude for a team that badly needs all the silver linings it can get. —CD
22. Baltimore Ravens
Last week: 13
Oh, so that’s what the Ravens look like when they’re without their MVP quarterback, top linebacker, top interior pass-rusher, top cover cornerback, and their starting left tackle. Oof. The Ravens have the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings on their upcoming schedule. Anything less than a 3-1 record will probably be a death sentence for their already teetering season. — RZ
21. Houston Texans
Last week: 26
What 0-3 start? The Texans did exactly what they were supposed to against the shorthanded Ravens: Turn them into a fine paste. Significant concerns remain about Houston’s viability against opponents who don’t literally have all their best players injured, but at least DeMeco Ryans’ team is finally digging itself out of a deep hole. — RZ
20. Chicago Bears
Last week: 20
Our quest to figure out what the Bears actually are was derailed by a bye week. Now Ben Johnson has two weeks to prep a rising offense for a Washington Commanders defense that just had Justin Herbert in hell. If Chicago can remain supercharged in Week 5, it may be time to believe at least some of the hype. —CD
19. Atlanta Falcons
Last week: 15
Is Michael Penix Jr. the quarterback who flambéed the Commanders’ helpless defense? Or is he the guy who couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn against the Panthers? The answer to these questions will ultimately determine whether the Falcons’ transitional season will amount to anything meaningful. — RZ
18. Dallas Cowboys
Last week: 23
Dak Prescott is playing angry, which is the best version of Dak Prescott. CeeDee Lamb’s return to the lineup — and continued returns from a rejuvenated Javonte Williams — could give Dallas the offense it needs to make up for an iffy defense. The Cowboys look like a team destined to be in the thick of the Wild Card race this winter. —CD
17. Minnesota Vikings
Last week: 18
Jordan Addison got benched for the first quarter and responded by catching the game-winning touchdown on Sunday. And Carson Wentz (!) is now 2-1 as Minnesota’s starter. Yes, dearest readers, Kevin O’Connell is going to keep getting away with it. — RZ
16. Los Angeles Chargers
Last week: 7
The passing game has fallen apart thanks to the absence of the team’s two starting tackles. That was expected. The defense has fallen apart for reasons we can’t quite discern, which is much more troubling. Los Angeles gave up 27 unanswered points to the Commanders one week after getting beaten by Jaxson Dart. Now what looked like a clear path to the top of the AFC West may be a bumpy road just to stay in the postseason race. —CD
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 17
Will the Steelers use their bye week to develop a more coherent game plan around late-stage Aaron Rodgers? Let’s be honest, this is a Mike Tomlin team, so probably not! These Steelers are winning 11-12 games anyway because the rest of the AFC North is in tatters and Tomlin knows how to wring out unlikely (and ugly) victories with the best of them. — RZ
14. New England Patriots
Last week: 22
Sure, the Bills are flawed — the secondary is iffy, and the strength of schedule the last three weeks has been less than inspiring. But that was a big boy win for New England, who last won in Orchard Park without the help of an ongoing windstorm all the way back in 2019. Drake Maye was composed and, importantly, unwilling to accept negative plays. And a game where the Pats could have crumbled instead served as the kind of win that props them up as a playoff team. — CD
13. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week: 16
**Rankings for this team will be added accordingly after the conclusion of Monday Night Football.
12. Washington Commanders
Last week: 11
Jayden Daniels clearly still wasn’t healthy in his Week 5 return. That’s what makes the second-year signal-caller cutting up the Chargers’ defense while limited so impressive. The Commanders are bruised and battered, yet they remain above .500. That speaks volumes about the healthy culture Dan Quinn has instilled in Washington. —RZ
11. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 8
**Rankings for this team will be added accordingly after the conclusion of Monday Night Football.
10. Seattle Seahawks
Last week: 9
We weren’t wrong about Sam Darnold and 2018 draft mate Baker Mayfield being franchise quarterbacks. We were just early. Also, neither is employed by the Jets or Browns anymore. Sunday’s Seahawks loss boiled down to an unfortunate bounce off a Buccaneers defender that turned an accurate Darnold pass into a game-losing interception. Nothing more. PLEASE don’t look at Mayfield surgically dicing up Mike Macdonald’s highly-touted defense. There’s nothing to see there. —RZ
9. Los Angeles Rams
Last week: 4
Matthew Stafford is still cooking with gas, but the defense that carried this team early in the season is beginning to show cracks. The Rams have given up 300-plus yards just twice this season, but that was in Weeks 4 and 5 against offenses led by Joneses Mac and Daniel. And if you can’t handle questionable, generally middling quarterbacks with name value, then the NFC West is a terrible place to be. — CD
8. Denver Broncos
Last week: 12
The young Broncos needed a signature win to stamp themselves. They got just that after scoring 18 unanswered fourth-quarter points to shock the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on the road. When push came to shove, Denver’s elite defense got the stops it needed, and an inconsistent Bo Nix was nails in the clutch. As flawed as they remain, it’ll be hard for everyone to dismiss the dangerous threat that the Broncos are quickly becoming. —RZ
7. San Francisco 49ers
Last week: 14
Well, we now know that if the 49ers had drafted Mac Jones over Trey Lance, it would be Jones with a $265 million contract instead of Brock Purdy. Jones is the kind of risk-averse, efficient quarterback who can thrive in a Kyle Shanahan offense even as his blocking breaks down. There probably isn’t a quarterback controversy in San Francisco, but it’s at least a situation worth monitoring. — CD
6. Green Bay Packers
Last week: 5
Did we anoint the Packers too quickly after an impressive 2-0 start? For the time being, Jordan Love has fallen back to Earth while Micah Parsons’ gargantuan impact has slowed down (by his high standards). I’d still be surprised if the Packers didn’t make a deep playoff run, but it certainly does not resemble the juggernaut it was after the first couple of weeks of the season. —RZ
5. Indianapolis Colts
Last week: 10
Daniel Jones thrived with Saquon Barkley in 2022. Now he’s thriving with Jonathan Taylor in 2025. But the Colts’ passing attack is different than the Giants’ checkdown-heavy approach. Jones’ average target distance is up to 8.2 yards downfield — tied with his rookie 2017 as the longest of his career to date. That suggests this could all be more sustainable than we could have imagined when Jones was signed last offseason. — CD
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 6
Yes, the Baker Mayfield Buccaneers are incapable of playing a normal game. Yes, it would be nice to see them distance themselves from an opponent for once. Even still, this crazy trait is showing off Tampa Bay’s most valuable quality: It doesn’t panic when the chips are down. (Oh, and Emeka Egbuka might be the Offensive Rookie of the Year.) These Buccaneers are a real superpower built for the long haul. Doubt them at your own risk. —RZ
3. Buffalo Bills
Last week: 2
Drake Maye out-Josh-Allen’ed Josh Allen. That’s all it took to slice through a patchy defense that should have feasted on New England’s shoddy blocking. Instead, neither Allen nor his defense could land a knockout punch and Stefon Diggs’ return to western New York resulted in Buffalo’s first loss of the season. Concerns about that D could haunt this team all the way through January. —CD
2. Philadelphia Eagles
Last week: 1
The cracks in the offense turned into fissures as a 17-3 third-quarter lead shattered into a 21-17 loss to the Broncos. Saquon Barkley’s run game has slowed back to average, and Jalen Hurts struggled to make downfield throws work unless he was picking on Riley Moss Sunday. But this was against the league’s best defense, and Philly has the personnel to figure things out sooner rather than later. —CD
1. Detroit Lions
Last week: 3
The Lions have scored at least 34 points per game over the last four weeks. Between Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, and David Montgomery, they have a multitude of weapons to throw at teams. And even without Ben Johnson, Jared Goff is playing arguably the finest football of his career. Questions remain about their average defense, but the Lions are quickly proving that their general resiliency and vast offensive firepower are enough to maintain their status as a Super Bowl-caliber heavyweight. —RZ
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Colts unsustainable, Broncos validated
