NFL Power Rankings: Week 6
16 – Minnesota Vikings (3-2)
LW – 21-17 Win over Cleveland Browns
A win is a win, even when it comes against a team that is leaning heavily on 2 rookies. Carson Wentz is a serviceable QB but the team needs to find a long term solution sooner rather than later. Can’t keep trying to use a band aid to fix a bullet wound if they want to compete long term. The Vikings also need to fix their run defense. Letting the Browns run for 140 yards is no bueno.
15 – Los Angeles Chargers (3-2)
LW – 10-27 Loss to Washington Commanders
The Chargers might have the worst running back injury curses in the NFL. The team signed Najee Harris in the offseason who prior to this year, never missed a game. He tore is Achilles in week 3. Promising rookie running back Omarion Hampton had an incredible last 2 weeks but went on IR this week with an ankle injury. Brutal, brutal luck for the Chargers who have now lost their last 2 games.
14 – Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
LW – BYE
A week to let 75 year old QB Aaron Rodgers rest and reset for the remainder of the long, grueling season. Is this BYE week too early for the Steelers? Possibly. But going into the BYE, the Steelers were playing well. They rattled off 2 wins in a row against the Patriots and Vikings. Their defense is playing well too, ranking 2nd in the league in takeaways with 7.
13 – Kansas City Chiefs (2-3)
LW – Loss to Jacksonville Jaguars 28-31
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Winning one score games used to be the Chief’s specialty, but this season they’ve lost all 3. Energy on the defense is low. Future HOF Chris Jones was seen jogging and sometimes walking throughout the game, but it was most evident during Trevor Lawrence’s TD run where he fell 2 times. Might be time to retire big guy.
12 – Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
LW – Loss to Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-38
Sam Darnold has been impressive. Outside of his week 1 dud against the 49ers, he has been slinging the ball extremely well. JSN is well on his way toward a breakout year and being a top WR in the league. Defense has been this team’s downfall. Don’t know if it’s due to injuries or scheme but allowing an opposing QB to throw for 370 yards is never a recipe for success.
11 – Washington Commanders (3-2)
LW – Win against Los Angeles Chargers 27-10
Jayden Daniels is back and got this offense moving. Even without superstar WR Terry McLaurin, the Commanders’ passing attack was great. Deebo Samuel is showing the world that he isn’t washed and even CMC’s little brother Luke McCaffery is making a name for himself. The evolution of Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt has also been fun to watch – from a 3rd/4th string rookie to one of the best running backs in week 5.
10 – Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1)
LW – Win over Kansas City Chiefs 31-28
We as a collective (mostly Tradon) owe the Jaguars an apology. They are much much better than we ever gave them credit for. They are collecting wins like Thanos collected stones – by any way possible. Offense first, defense first, special teams first, it doesn’t matter – they work together and come out victorious. Their defense deserves a ton of praise. This unit is at the right place at the right time and leading the league in takeaways with 8.
9 – Los Angeles Rams (3-2)
LW – Loss to San Francisco 49ers 20-23
A loss to the 49er’s 2nd and 3rd stringers stings. The blame has to go somewhere, and the obvious scapegoat is the Kyren Williams fumble but I wanted to look deeper at mistakes being made on the kicking unit week in and week out. Ram’s kicker Josh Karty has missed 5 kicks this season and 4 of which have been blocked. That is an internal issue on the line that must be fixed.
8 – Green Bay Packers (2-1-1)
LW – BYE
I must admit, I was way too high on the Packers defense in the first 2 weeks. Since then, they’ve really fallen back to earth and Micah Parsons hasn’t done very much. Reports say that Parsons is playing hurt. Let’s hope that this extra week of rest helps rejuvenate Parsons and that defense.
7 – Denver Broncos (3-2)
LW – Win over Philadelphia Eagles 21-17
What a comeback! Being down 3-17 in the 4th quarter and putting up 18 to win is insane. JK Dobbins is showing the world that last year’s comeback performance wasn’t a fluke. Courtland Sutton is proving to be a true WR 1 (finally). Bo Nix is asking “What’s a Sophomore Slump? “And the defense held Saquon Barkley to 30 yards on the ground. Incredible, incredible stuff from this young, up and coming Broncos team.
6 – San Francisco 49ers (4-1)
LW – Win against Los Angeles Rams 23-20
So many injuries but this team’s determination and grit came through. Its next man up mentality and they are so well coached and prepared for each game. At the beginning of the season, would anyone have guessed that Kendrick Bourne would be the WR1 for a week, let alone finish a game with 10 catches for 142 yards? Hell no! But it happened folks and that speaks volumes to the culture that this team has.
5 – Indianapolis Colts (4-1)
LW – Win over Las Vegas Raiders 40-6
Another week, another step up the rankings for the Colts (again, sorry Matty). This offense is so efficient. Jonathan Taylor going off for multiple TDs a week. Tyler Warren being extremely versatile – lining up as a fullback, running in a TD and obviously running routes and catching passes. Daniel Jones not reverting to the Giants version of Daniel Jones. I’m sure everyone in Indy is ecstatic right now.
4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-1)
LW – Win over Seattle Seahawks 38-35
Are the Bucs the new Chiefs? Earlier I talked about how the Chiefs were masters at winning 1 score games. This year, all the Bucs games have been 1 score games and they came out victorious in 4 of them. Very hard to do, and very hard to make a read on this team. Are they good? Or are they just lucky? Either way, it is impressive that they’re doing this with injuries to their skill players – Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving.
3 – Philadelphia Eagles (4-1)
LW – Loss to Denver Broncos 17-21
The Eagles passing attack finally gained traction. Jalen Hurts finally threw well over 200 yards and got his WRs involved. There is some trouble in paradise, however. AJ Brown is again causing drama with cryptic tweets about his involvement in the offense. Last year he was seen reading a book on the sideline. Jalen Hurts is not the next Patrick Mahomes *cough*TylerIsAnIdiot*cough* and his inability to feed his superstars is becoming an issue.
PS – I wrote this super late, so the Eagles just lost again on Thursday Night Football to the Giants. I have to say, their offense is absolutely atrocious.
2 – Buffalo Bills (4-1)
LW – Loss to New England Patriots 20-23
And then there were no more undefeated teams in the NFL. If there was one word to describe this game, the word would be sloppy. The Bills seemed allergic to catching the ball all game long. So many drops. Josh Allen had 2 turnovers. The team committed 8 penalties in the first half alone. The defense allowed Stefon Diggs to have a helluva revenge game with 146. Each team has one game where everything goes wrong, and this was it for the Bills.
1 – Detroit Lions (4-1)
LW – Win over Cincinnati Bengals 37-24
Remember when it was week 1 and we were all doubting this season for the Lions? Haha, good times. Yeah, the Lions are back and so dominant. They are winning by so much that it almost feels like they are just toying with the other team. It’s kinda disrespectful but I’m here for it. Offense looked great. Defense looked even better. And Lu’s favorite player, Aidan Hutchensen, once again had a sack.