NFL Power Rankings – Week 6

Who’s up, who’s down? Frank Schwab surveys the NFL landscape following the Week 5 slate.

When you’re No. 31 and you lose to the No. 32 team at home, no matter how much you outplay them, there’s only one place to go. (C.J. Beathard)

The 49ers had 33 first downs and the Cardinals had 10. The 49ers more than doubled up the Cardinals in yards, 447-220. The only thing the Cardinals won was the final score, but after an 0-4 start, they weren’t looking for style points on their first win. (Josh Bynes)

It’s a funny footnote that the Raiders passed at the 1-yard line with Marshawn Lynch in the backfield. (Dwayne Harris)

Frank Reich and his staff are getting the most out of a bad roster. It’s early but despite a 1-4 start, the Colts made a good hire. (Eric Ebron)

The Bills aren’t exciting on offense, but LeSean McCoy is still a great talent. (Jordan Poyer)

Pat Shurmur handled the Odell Beckham situation well. They’re not going to stop the madness entirely, but they can avoid fueling it. (Odell Beckham, Eli Manning)

Vance Joseph’s job security and the predictable calls for Chad Kelly to replace Case Keenum — no group loves its backup quarterback more than Broncos fans — will be the talk of Denver this week. (Vance Joseph)

The highlight for a very good day by the Jets was Sam Darnold’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson down the left sideline. The rookie hasn’t been consistent yet, but his good moments are very promising. (Isaiah Crowell)

Theoretically, the Falcons’ upcoming schedule allows for them to dig out of this hole. The trick will be actually winning those games with perhaps the worst defense in the NFL. (Kemal Ishmael)

The clock started ticking on Jason Garrett when he punted on fourth-and-1 in Texans territory in overtime Sunday night. (Dak Prescott)

I respect Deshaun Watson’s toughness and his willingness to sacrifice his body to make a play. But the Texans need to do a better job protecting him. (DeAndre Hopkins)

First-round pick Rashaad Penny played one snap Sunday, and it was on special teams. That draft pick was questionable at best when Seattle made it and looks really bad at the moment. (Tyler Lockett)

The Browns are legitimately a handful of plays from being 5-0. Really. (T.J. Carrie)

The Titans offense really misses Delanie Walker, who is on injured reserve. He kept the chains moving for the Titans, and they really could have used someone to fill that role in a brutal 13-12 loss at the Bills. (Taywan Taylor)

Kenyan Drake had six carries Sunday, half of what Frank Gore got. Gore has been a great player, and played well Sunday too. But why does the Dolphins coaching staff refuse to give Drake an honest chance to be their featured back? It’s strange. (Kenyan Drake)

It hasn’t gotten enough attention as Le’Veon Bell, but defensive end Ezekiel Ansah is on a one-year franchise deal and has played just one game this season due to a shoulder injury. (Kenny Golladay)

Jameis Winston is by far the most important story with this team, but rookie running back Ronald Jones is a big one too. (Jamies Winston)

Maybe they just got a terrible scheduling spot, having to play the Saints on prime time when the Mercedes-Benz Superdome would be rocking on Drew Brees’ record-setting night. The Redskins better hope that’s the case because they looked really bad on Monday night. (Chris Thompson)

Signs of life? Pittsburgh at Cincinnati seems like a good test of whether the Steelers can steer out of the skid or if the win over a 1-4 Falcons team was a mirage. (Antonio Brown)

The Ravens aren’t the type of team that should be throwing 57 times in any game that isn’t a blowout loss. Joe Flacco completed just 29 of those passes for 298 yards. It’s not the Ravens’ best path to victory, and probably something that won’t continue. (Alex Collins)

Mason Crosby had missed one field goal before Sunday’s four-miss debacle. That’s as many misses as he had in four of the last five seasons. (Mason Crosby)

The Bengals are still hard to figure out. They didn’t look very good late in the third quarter Sunday when they trailed the shaky Dolphins 17-0. But they won, they’re 4-1, and that’s tough to overlook. (Bengals defense)

The Chargers are a tough team to gauge because their losses were to the two best teams in football so far but the wins are against three of the worst teams. It sets up a surprisingly fascinating game at Cleveland. (Austin Ekeler)

If the Bears are for real, this week is a good test. They travel to face a beatable Dolphins team in Miami on Sunday. Playoff teams win those kinds of games. (Taylor Gabriel)

This is what the Jaguars are. Some weeks they’ll look like a championship contender. Others, they’ll look awful and Blake Bortles will throw interceptions off his offensive lineman’s helmet. (Blake Bortles)

Jay Ajayi’s torn ACL doesn’t help the Eagles, but you’d think they have the depth at that position to overcome it. If Corey Clement can stay healthy, he has a real chance to become a breakout star. Or … Le’Veon Bell? (Jay Ajayi)

Kirk Cousins’ numbers through five games: 1,688 yards, 11 touchdowns, two interceptions, a 71.2 completion percentage and a 105.1 rating. Pretty, pretty good. (Adam Thielen)

Curtis Samuel isn’t going to be a high-volume receiver, but a dynamic 25-yard touchdown in his first game this season was a great sign. (Graham Gano)

It’s always best to find ways to win while you iron out problems. The Saints were not an impressive 3-1, but they were 3-1. And after a complete domination on Monday night, their 4-1 record allows them to move way up in the rankings. (Drew Brees)

We’re seeing why Sony Michel was a first-round pick. He has 210 rushing yards and two touchdowns the past two games. If Michel is going to give the Patriots balance on offense, they’ll be tough to beat. (Julian Edelman)

The scary thing about the dominant win against the Jaguars is the Chiefs’ defense played its best game. If the defense can make a few big plays each week like it did Sunday the Chiefs can go to another level. (Travis Kelce)

The Rams keep winning but they have given up 31 points in back-to-back games. It’s not a cause for panic, but shouldn’t be ignored either. (Ndamukong Suh, Aaron Donald)