NFL Week 5 Power Rankings: Are The Seahawks a Top-Five Team?

The NFL is a week-to-week league. There is no better proof of that than the Cowboys losing to the Arizona Cardinals one week, only to hand the Patriots and Bill Belichick the largest defeat of his career the next. Much like New England weather, just wait a minute, and it will change. Invariably, teams are constantly moving up and down this list depending on how they performed that week … and as such, there are some significant movers this week.

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NFL Week 5 Power Rankings

1. Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts hasn’t had a great game yet this year, but he dug deep to come back against the Commanders on Sunday. Games like this early in a season often test a team’s mettle, and winning them is big. Just as importantly, a win is a win, and they are sitting at 4-0, regardless of how ugly any of the W’s were.
2. San Francisco 49ers: This top two is shaping up to be the NFC Championship game between the Niners and Eagles. They are the last two undefeated teams and are the best two teams in the league at the moment … although the next two teams may have something to say about it.
3. Kansas City Chiefs: A road win in primetime is solid, regardless of who the victim is. The Jets came out surprisingly spunky in this game and nearly pulled off the upset. Sprinkle in a few questionable calls that had their HC Robert Saleh enraged, or this could have very easily had a different ending. But again, there are no style points … a win is a win, and the Chiefs are on a three-game winning streak.
4. Buffalo Bills: The Bills are also on a three-game winning streak, having decimated the Miami Dolphins in Buffalo. They managed to hold that other-worldly offense to only 20 points and put up 48 points themselves.
5. Seattle Seahawks: These next five teams are all sitting at 3-1, and an argument can be made for any of them to fall anywhere from 5-9. But when four of the five have a win over the weekend while the other has a blowout loss, this is how it shakes out. The Seahawks have an impressive defense and solid run game as they did in their Super Bowl years … it will be interesting to see if they have enough to overtake the 49ers in the NFC West.
6. Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys have three blowout wins and one awful loss. They face a tough matchup with the 49ers this week on the West Coast. For some reason, I like the Cowboys to win this week, but if they were entering this game undefeated, I’d lean more toward San Francisco.
7. Baltimore Ravens: Like the Cowboys, the Ravens bounced back from their own tough loss with a big Week 4 win. Going on the road in a divisional game and only giving up a field goal is impressive. 
8. Detroit Lions: In the first month of the season, the Lions have now gone into Arrowhead Stadium and Lambeau Field and come out with two victories. Something is definitely happening in Detroit.
9. Miami Dolphins: Of these last five teams, the Dolphins are the only one that lost this week, and it dropped them six spots on this list. An argument can be made that they could easily be a few spots higher, but I’m looking forward to seeing how they respond after that reality-check loss in Buffalo. Home cooking back in Miami, along with a dreadful Giants opponent, should get them easily back on the winning path.
10. Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers are back to .500 despite more awful coaching decisions by HC Brandon Staley. QB Justin Herbert broke a finger in his non-throwing left hand. The team has a bye this week, which gives him an extra week to recover, although he would have played if they had a game on Sunday.
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: We are basically a quarter into the season, and the Buccaneers find themselves in first place in the NFC South. They beat their divisional rival New Orleans Saints this week and, in doing so, broke the Saints’ streak of keeping their opponents under 20 points. 
12. Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville got back to .500 in London, where they will play again this Sunday. They defeated an Atlanta team that had been playing better than expected leading up to this game. They’ll have a tougher time this week, as they’ll be facing off with a Bills team clicking on all cylinders.
13. New Orleans Saints: The Saints lost on Sunday against Tampa Bay, which dropped them to 2-2. It was the first time in 12 games that they allowed an opponent to score over 20 points. They have an interesting game this Sunday, heading to New England to face a reeling Patriots team that lost two key defensive pieces. 
14. Cleveland Browns: The Browns are an enigma. They are now 2-2 after a bad loss to the Ravens, where they only scored three points. They’ll have an extra week to come up with a better offensive gameplan and get starting QB Deshaun Watson back healthy as they enter their bye week.
15. Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals are inexplicably 1-3 after another awful loss, losing to the Titans and also only scoring three points. Normally, I’d say they have a “get right” game heading to Arizona, but the Cardinals have proven to be resilient this year, even in their losses. That being said, the Bengals have so much more talent that they should leave Arizona with a 2-3 record.
16. Green Bay Packers: This is definitely going to be a work in progress. Packer fans have been spoiled over the past three decades, and they seem like they have found the next guy with Jordan Love. But every now and then, there will be games like last Thursday vs the Lions, where they lost 34-20.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers were another team that suffered a lopsided loss this weekend, losing to the surprising Texans 30-6. It doesn’t get any easier this weekend as they face off against their arch-rival Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh. This is the type of game they normally win to get them right back in the race … in fact, a win would put them in first place in the AFC North.
18. Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons were cruising along with a 2-1 record when they headed to London to play the Jaguars. They left 2-2, having only managed to score one touchdown, losing 23-7.
19. Washington Commanders: The Commanders nearly shocked the football world on Sunday, taking the defending NFC Champion Eagles to OT. A win would have put Washington in first place, in a three-way tie atop the NFC East at 3-1. Instead, they are 2-2 heading into a short week, playing Thursday at home against the Bears. They should get to 3-2, but they can’t afford a letdown … the Bears did play better on Sunday.
20. Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings finally got off the schneid on Sunday, defeating the Panthers 21-13. They are still in the NFC North race, looking up at the 3-1 Lions. But getting to 2-3 won’t be easy as the Chiefs come to town. 
21. Tennessee Titans: All Hail King Henry. Derrick Henry dominated play on Sunday against the Bengals and singlehandedly won the game for the Titans, who are now 2-2. He rushed for 122 yards with a TD, and he threw for a TD as well. Henry and the Titans have a tough divisional game on the road against the Colts this week, who are also 2-2. The winner of this game will keep themselves in a prime spot to win this very even division.
22. Indianapolis Colts: And speaking of the Colts … they, like the Titans, are 2-2. And Sunday’s matchup with the Titans will be vital for divisional and playoff implications. They lost a tough game at home against the Rams in OT in Week 4, so they very easily could have been 3-1 heading into this game. It’s tough to think they will lose two in a row at home.
23. Houston Texans: Define parity … the AFC South! All four teams are sitting at 2-2, and Houston may be the most impressive of the bunch with their rookie QB, C.J. Stroud. Before the season, I gave my synopsis of this year’s QB class. And in that article, I said that in five years’ time Stroud would prove to be the class of that draft … so far, so good. 
24. Los Angeles Rams: The Rams did win a tough OT game on the road, halfway across the country, defeating the Colts. They get to come home, only to face the 4-0 Eagles. They may be catching them at a good time with the Eagles sputtering along, although, after their close call against the Commanders, the Eagles may have woken up.
25. New England Patriots: The Patriots were down to 29th after their loss to the Dolphins, and I said that may have been too low. Then they defeated a lousy Jets team and they moved to 22nd, and I said that may have been too high. Now they got absolutely shellacked by the Cowboys and dropped three spots to 25th … all I can say is thank God for some other really bad teams, because after Sunday’s loss, they could certainly be lower. 
26. New York Jets: If we based the rankings on just this weekend, the Jets would be higher than the Pats. But they are in last place in the AFC East, and they lost to the Pats head-to-head.
27. Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals’ one win was more impressive than the Pats’ victory, and overall they have played hard all season. 
28. New York Giants: The Giants are an abysmal bunch this season. They have only scored 46 points in the first four games, an 11.5 average. That is nowhere near good enough, even if they had a solid defense … but they don’t. They’ve given up 122 points, over 30 points per game.
29. Denver Broncos: The Broncos would have absolutely been No. 32 this week if they didn’t pull out the victory in Chicago on Sunday. But only beating a fellow zero-win team is nothing to jump for joy about … and neither is being ranked 29th. 
30. Las Vegas Raiders: There is a small group of coaches who are in the running to be first fired. Josh McDaniels is one of those coaches. The team is 1-3, and their starting QB, Jimmy Garoppolo, is unsurprisingly injured. His backup Aidan O’Connell was mediocre on Sunday, going 24-39 for 238 yards and an interception.
31. Chicago Bears: So close, yet so far … the good news is that the Bears scored 28 points on Sunday; the bad news is that they gave up 31 points to start the season 0-4. They have a short week, heading to DC to play the Commanders on Thursday. This feels like it could be a spot where they get their first win. 
32. Carolina Panthers: Other than the Bears, the Panthers are the other 0-4 team in the league…so these two teams are rightfully at the bottom of this list. It will be a three-year process for rookie QB Bryce Young to develop and improve, but there will definitely be growing pains along the way. Ultimately, I wonder if he has the size and game to make it at this level. I think the team and Panthers fans will look back in a few years and realize they chose the wrong guy … they could have had C.J. Stroud.