NFL Power Rankings: Week 5 Edition

Week 4 of the 2019 NFL regular season schedule is officially in the books. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. For reference purposes, here is a link back to last week’s NFL Power Rankings.

BLG’S WEEK 5 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 - New England Patriots (Last Week: 1) - Tom Brady didn’t play well in Buffalo but the Pats won anyway because their defense has been dominant.

2 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 2) - The Chiefs looked surprisingly vulnerable in Detroit. Maybe it was just a classic Andy Reid letdown game. In any case, they were fortunate to escape with a win.

3 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 6) - The Saints are 2-0 in their two starts without Drew Brees. Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t even played that well but he’s received enough support from the rest of the team. The Saints’ defense was especially strong against Dallas.

4 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 3) - The Bucs came to LA and dropped a 55-burger on the Rams. Not a great look! Even more troubling is that Jared Goff is averaging a 80.0 passer rating in his last 12 starts.

5 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 4) - Aaron Rodgers’ best performance of the season coincided with Green Bay’s worst defensive performance of the season. The Packers got straight bullied by Philly’s offensive line.

6 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 8) - The Seahawks are 3-1 but they’ve yet to beat a team that’s won a game.

7 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 11) - The 49ers were on their bye but they benefit here from teams ahead of them falling down in the rankings. Funny enough, San Francisco is the only undefeated team remaining in the NFC.

8 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 5) - In terms of opponent yards per rush attempt, Baltimore had the NFL’s fourth best run defense in 2018 and the eighth best run defense heading into Week 4. And yet Nick Chubb ran all over the Ravens with 20 carries for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

9 - Detroit Lions (LW: 15) - The Lions are a very rare team to move up big after a loss. Detroit played like the better team against Kansas City but they were just undone by two unfortunate red zone fumbles. The Lions aren’t the pushover many thought them to be.

10 - Chicago Bears (LW: 12) - Chicago’s defense has only allowed 45 points through four games, which is the second fewest in the league. The Bears might actually be better off in the short-term with Mitchell Trubisky injured since Chase Daniel looked competent filling in for him.

11 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 7) - Dallas failed their first test against a quality opponent in 2019. Suddenly I’m not seeing so many Cowboys fans talk about how Kellen Moore is an offensive genius or how Dak Prescott is the best quarterback ever.

12 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 18) - The Eagles became the first team in NFL history to ever beat Aaron Rodgers when the Packers quarterback was working with a 10+ point lead at home. Rodgers was previously 58-0-1 in those situations so that speaks to how impressive it was the Eagles managed to beat him. Philadelphia’s vulnerable secondary is a concern but their offense might be able to make up for some of those deficiencies if the running game can be effective and Carson Wentz continues to play at a high level. Wentz is actually PFF’s highest graded quarterback through four games this season.

13 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 16) - The Bolts got a free win on Sunday by playing in Miami.

14 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 14) - Buffalo’s tough defense gave them a chance to upset New England but Josh Allen’s three interceptions ultimately held the Bills back. Matt Barkley failed to complete the comeback after Allen got hurt.

15 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 9) - The Colts blew their chance to take sole place of first in the AFC South by losing at home to Oakland.

16 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 19) - As expected, the Panthers are 2-0 with Kyle Allen starting in place of an injured Cam Newton. How long can the backup keep it up? And will fumbles continue to be an issue since he’s had five so far?

17 - Houston Texans (LW: 10) - All of the Texans’ games this year have been close. One score games are typically coin flips in the NFL so fittingly this team is 2-2. I tend to think they’re not all that great.

18 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 20) - Gardner Minshew ranks sixth among NFL quarterbacks in passer rating (106.9). He’s sure looking like the Jaguars’ quarterback of the future. Where does that leave Nick Foles?

19 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 21) - The Titans have the sixth best point differential in the NFL. They’re only 2-2 but both wins have been decisive.

20 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 25) - Jameis Winston has posted a 103.4+ passer rating in three straight games. Perhaps Bruce Arians can rescue his career after all.

21 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 23) - For the first time all year, the Browns looked like the team that some were hyping them up to be. Cleveland has their first AFC North lead since 2014!

22 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 22) - The Steelers are no longer winless after blowing out Cincy at home. TBD if Mason Rudolph can play well against a good team.

23 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 13) - This seems bad:

24 - New York Giants (LW: 24) - Daniel Jones is now 2-0 as a starter. It helped that he got to face an awful Washington team this week. Still, he’s shown some promise.

25 - Oakland Raiders (LW: 26) - They’re not good but they’re not downright terrible.

26 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 17) - The Falcons are a dropped Nelson Agholor game-winning touchdown away from being 0-4. Seventh worst point differential in the NFL.

27 - Denver Broncos (LW: 27) - The Broncos are the only NFL team to not log a single takeaway this season. Denver hadn’t even registered a sack prior to this week. Not what you’d expect from a Vic Fangio defense.

28 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 28) - This team stinks. I imagine it would be pretty frustrating to root for a perpetually mediocre/bad team that can’t get anything done in the playoffs and has orange and black as their main colors.

29 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 29) - The Cards might be able to pick up a win or two with Cincy, Atlanta, and NYG up next. That or they’ll further prove they belong down there.

30 - Washington Redskins (LW: 30) - Washington couldn’t have looked more lifeless in Week 4. Dwayne Haskins doesn’t look ready to play and Jay Gruden is a dead man walking.

31 - New York Jets (LW: 31) - The good news is the Jets didn’t lose this weekend since they had a bye. The bad news is the Jets are staring 0-4 in the face; Sam Darnold might not even be ready for the team’s Week 5 trip to Philly.

32 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 32) - The Dolphins held their first lead of the season! It didn’t even last a full four minutes.