NFL Power Rankings – Week 5
- 1/33
Week 5 Power Rankings
Who’s up, who’s down? Frank Schwab surveys the NFL landscape following the Week 4 slate.
- 2/33
32. Arizona Cardinals (0-4, Last Week: 32)
As a whole the Cardinals looked better with Josh Rosen at QB, and a game at San Francisco next week gives them a decent shot at a win. (David Johnson)
- 3/33
31. San Francisco 49ers (1-3, LW: 31)
C.J. Beathard threw for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a long one to blossoming tight end George Kittle. (George Kittle)
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- 4/33
30. Buffalo Bills (1-3, LW: 28)
They lost 47-3 in the opener, were behind 28-3 in Week 2, lost 22-0 in Week 4 at Green Bay and … absolutely blew out the Vikings in Minnesota a couple weeks ago. Huh? (LeSean McCoy)
- 5/33
29. New York Jets (1-3, LW: 27)
It’s common to get a Week 1 result that doesn’t match up with anything else we see in Weeks 2-17, and this year’s wonky Week 1 game might have been the Jets’ win in Detroit. (Jordan Leggett)
- 6/33
28. Oakland Raiders (1-3, LW: 30)
Through four games, tight end Jared Cook has 26 catches for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Strangely enough his breakout seems to be happening at age 31. (Jared Cook)
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- 7/33
27. Cleveland Browns (1-2-1, LW: 26)
Did the Browns get cheated on the reversal of what would have been a game-clinching first down? Maybe. But when you’re punting to a team with no timeouts, leading by eight points, with 1:38 to go, you still should win. (Baker Mayfield)
- 8/33
26. New York Giants (1-3, LW: 24)
Saquon Barkley, a healthy Odell Beckham and new coach Pat Shurmur were supposed to fix NY’s offense, but that hasn’t happened yet. (Odell Beckham Jr.)
- 9/33
25. Houston Texans (1-3, LW: 29)
A lot of people in Houston, especially Bill O’Brien, should feel lucky this week that the heat is on Indianapolis for how Sunday’s game ended. (Bill O’Brien)
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- 10/33
24. Detroit Lions (1-3, LW: 25)
The difference between the Lions winning in Dallas and getting back to .500 after an 0-2 start, and blowing it in the final minutes, seems bigger than it should for Week 4. (Golden Tate)
- 11/33
23. Indianapolis Colts (1-3, LW: 21)
There’s a difference between being bold and being reckless, and going for it on fourth-and-4 in your own territory late in a tied overtime game is on the reckless side of that line. (Andrew Luck)
- 12/33
22. Atlanta Falcons (1-3, LW: 19)
Matt Ryan’s last two games: 55-of-74, 793 yards, eight touchdowns, zero interceptions, 144.7 passer rating. The Falcons have lost both games. (Duke Riley)
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- 13/33
21. Dallas Cowboys (2-2, LW: 23)
Ezekiel Elliott had 240 yards on Sunday and he’s a fantastic talent, but eventually opponents are going to give him the Rob Gronkowski treatment and refuse to let him beat them. (Ezekiel Elliott)
- 14/33
20. Seattle Seahawks (2-2, LW: 22)
Earl Thomas’ injury is brutal for Seattle, drama notwithstanding. Now the Seahawks, who Sunday barely beat a team most would consider the worst in the NFL, move on without a Hall of Fame-level talent at safety. (Bradley McDougald)
- 15/33
19. Denver Broncos (2-2, LW: 13)
Denver is not a patient place when it comes to quarterbacks, and Case Keenum isn’t off to a wonderful start. (Case Keenum)
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- 16/33
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2, LW: 16)
The Ryan Fitzpatrick story was great, but it has always been in the best big-picture interest of the franchise to start Jameis Winston. (Jameis Winston)
- 17/33
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2-1, LW: 15)
The Steelers gambled on giving Bell another one-year deal. They lost that gamble because their one-dimensional offense is not the same without Bell. (Ben Roethlisberger)
- 18/33
16. Miami Dolphins (3-1, LW: 9)
The Dolphins probably shouldn’t have been as high as ninth last week, but you can’t justify putting one of three 3-0 teams too low.
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- 19/33
15. Washington Redskins (2-1, LW: 18)
Washington is in first place and, with a favorable schedule, don’t be too shocked if we see an 8-3 Redskins team traveling to the Eagles for a big Dec. 3 showdown. (Josh Norman)
- 20/33
14. Tennessee Titans (3-1, LW: 20)
It’s not surprising, once his quarterback looked like he could throw the ball again, that Corey Davis had a big game. (Corey Davis)
- 21/33
13. Minnesota Vikings (1-2-1, LW: 8)
The Vikings will get things turned around. But they also can’t afford to wait, especially since it doesn’t seem the Bears are going anywhere. (Xavier Rhodes)
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- 22/33
12. Cincinnati Bengals (3-1, LW: 14)
Don’t forget the Bengals put up 37 points and got a big road win without Joe Mixon, who looked great to start this season. (A.J. Green)
- 23/33
11. Los Angeles Chargers (2-2, LW: 11)
Aside from one half at Buffalo this season, the Chargers haven’t played anywhere near their talent level. They should not be grinding out a two-point win at home against a 49ers team without Jimmy Garoppolo. (Melvin Gordon)
- 24/33
10. New Orleans Saints (3-1, LW: 12)
It hasn’t been pretty, but the Saints are in good shape after four games and have Mark Ingram returning. Alvin Kamara is a great player but Ingram provides the depth that was lacking. (Alvin Kamara)
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- 25/33
9. Chicago Bears (3-1, LW: 17)
In a weird scheduling quirk, the Bears have four games in a row against the AFC East after their bye. The good news is the AFC East stinks, and the one tough game against the Patriots is in Chicago. (Mitchell Trubisky)
- 26/33
8. Baltimore Ravens (3-1, LW: 10)
On Sunday night, 11 different players caught a pass for the Ravens. Last season, and probably the season before, the Ravens barely had a handful of capable offensive players around Joe Flacco. (John Brown)
- 27/33
7. Green Bay Packers (2-1-1, LW: 7)
Through four weeks, Aaron Rodgers has 1,130 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. Nothing wrong with that, but not exactly Rodgers-esque numbers. (Ha Ha Clinton-Dix)
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- 28/33
6. Carolina Panthers (2-1, LW: 5)
It’s from last week but it should be repeated as often as possible: The story of Panthers defensive end Efe Obada is the best in the NFL this year. (Donte Jackson)
- 29/33
5. New England Patriots (2-2, LW: 6)
Just 10 catches and 105 yards for Rob Gronkowski the past three weeks. That’s usually a good day for him. Gronk hasn’t fallen off, but it’s clear teams won’t let him beat them. (James White)
- 30/33
4. Philadelphia Eagles (2-2, LW: 3)
They’re a fourth-down play in overtime from being 3-1, so it’s not like the Eagles are crumbling. But it’s not a surprise that a team that went 16-3 including playoffs is experiencing some regression. (Jordan Matthews)
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- 31/33
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1, LW: 4)
Leonard Fournette’s health is becoming a big issue. Not every second-year player who has had some bad luck with injuries is destined to be nagged by injuries his whole career, but it’s concerning with Fournette. (Calais Campbell)
- 32/33
2. Kansas City Chiefs (4-0, LW: 2)
Patrick Mahomes looks like he’s going to be the face of the NFL for the next decade. I’m not sure what else can be said about him. (Patrick Mahomes)
- 33/33
1. Los Angeles Rams (4-0, LW: 1)
It has been a while in these power rankings since the gap between the No. 1 and 2 team has been so large. There’s no realistic case you can make for any other team being No. 1.
(Brandin Cooks)