NFL Week 5 Power Rankings: Bears fall back down to last
For all intents and purposes, we have reached the quarter point of the 2023 NFL season. How did we get here so fast? After four games, only two undefeated teams remain, while two winless teams are still looking for their first victory. In between them are 28 other teams whose season can still go one of two ways at this juncture.
But now into the first week of October, though, only about 7-8 teams can be considered as good, while the rest are average or below average. But who’s who?
Each week of the season, Bears Wire will unveil power rankings of all 32 NFL teams. Here are the rankings entering Week 5.
1. San Francisco 49ers (4-0)
Week 4 result: 35-16 win vs. Arizona Cardinals
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Christian McCaffrey cannot be stopped with the San Francisco 49ers and although they have played lesser competition to begin the season, they’re back at the top of the power rankings this week.
2. Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Week 4 result: 34-31 win vs. Washington Commanders
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
The Eagles are undefeated, but had to gut out most of their wins up to this point. At some point that will catch up with them, but their talent and effective play calling keeps them rolling.
3. Buffalo Bills (3-1)
Week 4 result: 48-20 win vs. Miami Dolphins
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
After an opening week clunker, the Bills are steamrolling opponents thanks to superb play on both sides of the ball. The season-ending injury to Tre’Davious White hurts the defense but they’re too good to be stopped right now.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (3-1)
Week 4 result: 23-20 win at New York Jets
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
The Chiefs didn’t have the same easy victory in front of Taylor Swift like they had a week prior, but got out to a big enough lead to stave off any Jets comeback. Did they get some help from the refs? It’s a delicate conversation.
5. Dallas Cowboys (3-1)
Week 4 result: 38-3 win vs. New England Patriots
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Dallas got back on track this week and did it against Bill Belichick. The Cowboys took it to New England and showed why they’re still legitimate contenders, even when they have a slip up.
6. Miami Dolphins (3-1)
Week 4 result: 20-48 loss at Buffalo Bills
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
We knew the Dolphins weren’t going to repeat their impressive outing last week, but their defense couldn’t stop Josh Allen and the Bills offense. They’re still a great team but it’s safe to say they came back to earth a bit.
7. Detroit Lions (3-1)
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Week 4 result: 34-20 win at Green Bay Packers
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
The Lions are officially the team to beat in the NFC North. They won their fourth game in a row against the Packers and it wasn’t particularly close. They’re getting reinforcements back and will be a tough out this season.
8. Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
Week 4 result: 24-3 win at New York Giants
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Seattle’s defense is a scary unit after they buried Daniel Jones in the MetLife turf with 11 sacks. Devon Witherspoon is a dangerous defender and the Seahawks are off to another strong start for the second year in a row.
9. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
Week 4 result: 28-3 win at Cleveland Browns
Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Cleveland’s defense has stymied opposing offenses all season, but Baltimore was able to break through. Lamar Jackson was efficient as can be and the Ravens defense made life difficult for a banged-up Browns offense.
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)
Week 4 result: 23-7 win vs. Atlanta Falcons (London)
Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Jacksonville still hasn’t reached its potential yet, but they got back on track in London against the Falcons to get back to .500. The Jaguars started slow last year so while they should be better, they can still get there.
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)
Week 4 result: 26-9 win at New Orleans Saints
Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-1. The offense works with him at quarterback and their defense continues to make plays that limit opposing teams from scoring. They were supposed to take a major step back without Tom Brady but they just keep moving along.
12. Green Bay Packers (2-2)
Week 4 result: 20-34 loss vs. Detroit Lions
Last week’s ranking: No. 10
If Green Bay was fully healthy, would they still have had such a poor performance against the Lions? The Packers quickly fell behind and never recovered against their division foe. A poor performance against the Raiders though will have them dropping much further next week.
13. Los Angeles Chargers (2-2)
Week 4 result: 24-17 win vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week’s ranking: No. 19
The Chargers won’t get six(!) sacks out of Khalil Mack every week, but the aging pass rusher showed he can still get it done. The offense wasn’t as proficient without Mike Williams, but Brandon Staley’s team is finally stacking wins. If he can get out of his own way, they might actually be a good team.
14. Tennessee Titans (2-2)
Week 4 result: 27-3 win vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Derrick Henry was back to his old self on Sunday as he powered the Titans offense to victory. But it’s their defense that showed out, holding the Bengals offense to just three points and stopping them on third downs. If the Titans are allowed to play their brand of football, they can be successful.
15. Cleveland Browns (2-2)
Week 4 result: 3-28 loss vs. Baltimore Ravens
Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Deshaun Watson’s absence came out of nowhere and all the progress the Browns made the last week was lost. Their defense also came back to earth at the worst possible time. Assuming Watson is able to come back after the bye, their offense should be able to rebound.
16. Houston Texans (2-2)
Week 4 result: 30-6 win vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Are the Houston Texans for real? C.J. Stroud and the offense are firing on all cylinders, despite dealing with injuries. Their defense also is stepping up after they put the clamps on Pittsburgh. This could be a fun team to watch for the rest of the year.
17. Los Angeles Rams (2-2)
Week 4 result: 29-23 win at Indianapolis Colts
Last week’s ranking: No. 23
The Rams are a resilient bunch this year, even when they falter late in games. They were cruising to an easy victory before Indianapolis stormed back to force overtime. But Puka Nacua continues to be a force and sealed the win, making them a scrappy team going into the second month of the season.
18. Atlanta Falcons (2-2)
Week 4 result: 7-23 loss at Jacksonville Jaguars (London)
Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Atlanta has a solid squad but Desmond Ridder is not the answer at quarterback. He’s holding this team back and they won’t be going anywhere with him as the starter. Whether Arthur Smith wants to admit it or not, it should be Taylor Heinicke time.
19. Washington Commanders (2-2)
Week 4 result: 31-34 loss at Philadelphia Eagles
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Washington may not be a contender, but they’re going to give teams everything they got each week. They’ve had three solid games out of four and stormed back to force overtime against the Eagles, proving they can hang with (almost) anyone.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)
Week 4 result: 6-30 loss at Houston Texans
Last week’s ranking: No. 11
The Steelers offense is a nightmare to watch and a dream to play against. Matt Canada is the bane of Steeler fans everywhere after they failed to score a touchdown, while the usually reliable defense laid an egg. It was a bad day all around for Pittsburgh.
21. Indianapolis Colts (2-2)
Week 4 result: 23-29 loss vs. Los Angeles Rams
Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Anthony Richardson has made some special plays, but is still in the process of putting it all together. Still, the Colts are ahead of schedule with the moments they’ve shown throughout the early part of the season, especially after clawing back to force overtime against the Rams.
22. New Orleans Saints (2-2)
Week 4 result: 9-26 loss vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Derek Carr isn’t healthy enough to start and should have sat this game out. The Saints had very little offense, even with the return of Alvin Kamara, and squandered a 2-0 start to fall back to .500. This could have been a prime opportunity to take an early lead in the division but that’s all gone.
23. Cincinnati Bengals (1-3)
Week 4 result: 3-27 loss at Tennessee Titans
Last week’s ranking: No. 13
It’s officially time to be concerned about the Bengals. They have the lowest points scored in the AFC despite having stars across their offense. Joe Burrow isn’t healthy and they’re a shell of the group that went to the last couple AFC Championship games.
24. New York Jets (1-3)
Week 4 result: 20-23 loss vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week’s ranking: No. 24
The good news for the Jets? Zach Wilson finally looked like a competent quarterback. The bad news? It didn’t matter because it was against the Chiefs. Perhaps the Jets can build off this momentum and move past the fact that officiating played a role in their loss.
25. Minnesota Vikings (1-3)
Week 4 result: 21-13 win at Carolina Panthers
Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Minnesota finally got back in the win column, but still don’t look like a competitive team. Beating the lowly Panthers only moves you up so far and until they can string victories together, the Vikings will remain as one of the bottom-tier teams.
26. New England Patriots (1-3)
Week 4 result: 3-28 loss at Dallas Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Is Bill Belichick officially on the hot seat? One of the greatest coaches of all time is suffering through his worst season in over 20 years with no sign of things getting better. Mac Jones looks worse than he did last year and the defense got worked on Sunday. It’s usually pretty this time of year in New England, but not in 2023.
27. Arizona Cardinals (1-3)
Week 4 result: 16-35 loss at San Francisco 49ers
Last week’s ranking: No. 30
The Cardinals were supposed to be bad, but at least they’re getting solid play out of their young playmakers. We’ll see if this level of play continues as the season progresses, but they’re not the automatic out that people thought, even against the best teams.
28. New York Giants (1-3)
Week 4 result: 3-24 loss vs. Seattle Seahawks
Last week’s ranking: No. 22
By the time you’re reading this, stadium officials will have removed only half of Daniel Jones’ body off of the MetLife stadium turf field. The Giants offense didn’t score a touchdown for the second game this year and look lost on all fronts.
29. Las Vegas Raiders (1-3)
Week 4 result: 17-24 loss at Los Angeles Chargers
Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Frustration is starting to mount for the Raiders and their star players. Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams are growing weary of losing and now that they’ve lost three in a row, there’s no sign Las Vegas is going to climb out of that hole anytime soon.
30. Denver Broncos (1-3)
Week 4 result: 31-28 win at Chicago Bears
Last week’s ranking: No. 32
The Broncos still had many of the same issues that plagued them in Week 3, but their offense was able to mount a 21-point comeback to win late, ending their losing streak. They’re still not good, but they’re not the worst anymore! Baby steps, people.
31. Carolina Panthers (0-4)
Week 4 result: 13-21 loss vs. Minnesota Vikings
Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Bryce Young can’t grow in this Panthers offense that lacks a true WR1 and a rough ground game. He’s not the problem for Carolina, but they aren’t giving him the tools to be a solution, either. This is going to be a long season for them.
32. Chicago Bears (0-4)
Week 4 result: 28-31 loss vs. Denver Broncos
Last week’s ranking: No. 31
The Bears offense finally broke out, but a blown 21-point lead ruined any chances of them climbing out of the basement. The Bears are held back by their coaching and lack any cohesion at this point in the season.
