NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 6 Edition

The fifth week of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.

WEEK 6 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1 – Minnesota Vikings 5-0 (Last Week: 2) – There’s a new No. 1 this week for the first time all season. Sam Bradford is the quarterback of the only undefeated team in the NFL. Who would have thought?

2 – Atlanta Falcons 4-1 (LW: 7) – Atlanta’s offense has been on a tear. The Falcons lead the NFL in points scored. Getting a road win over the defending Super Bowl 50 champions is impressive.

3 – Pittsburgh Steelers 4-1 (LW: 4) – The Steelers have gotten back on track ever since losing to the Eagles in Week 3. Pittsburgh ranks fourth in points scored despite being held to three against Philadelphia.

4 – Denver Broncos 4-1 (LW: 1) – Denver had been undefeated since Dec. 20, 2015. Paxton Lynch struggled in his first start. The Broncos are probably eager to get Trevor Siemian back. Those are words no one ever expected to see.

5 – New England Patriots 4-1 (LW: 5) – That Tom Brady guy is back and he’s still pretty good. New England put a predictable beat-down on the lowly Browns.

6 – Seattle Seahawks 3-1 (LW: 6) – Seattle enjoyed seeing two of their NFC West rivals lose during their bye week.

7 – Green Bay Packers 3-1 (LW: 8) – Aaron Rodgers didn’t look great against the Giants but the Packers still won anyway. Rodgers has been up and down through four games this year.

8 – Philadelphia Eagles 3-1 (LW: 3) – The Birds suffered a disappointing loss to a banged-up Lions team in Detroit. The fact remains that the Eagles are only a one-point loss away from a 4-0 record, however. Philadelphia stills owns the best point differential in the NFL (+64).

9 – Oakland Raiders 4-1 (LW: 9) – The Raiders rank third in points scored. Oakland’s only loss this season came to a good Falcons team.

10 – Buffalo Bills 3-2 (LW: 10) – The Bills are 3-0 in their last three games. Rex Ryan has done a nice job of turning things around after there was talk about him being on the hot seat at 0-2.

11 – Dallas Cowboys 4-1 (LW: 16) – Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have really shined for Dallas. The Cowboys are a one-point loss away from being 5-0. One blemish worth noting is that the Cowboys’ defense ranks sixth worst in yards per play allowed.

12 – Kansas City Chiefs 2-2 (LW: 12) – The Chiefs had a bye in Week 5. Andy Reid is 15-2 in 17 career post-bye games. The Raiders are up next for KC.

13 – Arizona Cardinals 2-3 (LW: 18) – Arizona managed to beat a bad 49ers team with Drew Stanton starting in place of an injured Carson Palmer.

14 – Washington Redskins 3-2 (LW: 21) – Washington is on a three-game winning streak after starting out the season 0-2. Washington will face the Eagles this Sunday.

15 – Baltimore Ravens 3-2 (LW: 13) – All of the Ravens’ wins and losses this season have been one-possession games. Baltimore was unhappy with offensive coordinator Marc Trestman so they fired him and replaced him with former Eagles OC Marty Mornhinweg.

16 – Cincinnati Bengals 2-3 (LW: 11) – The Bengals’ two wins this season consists of a one-point victory over the Jets and a 15-point victory over the Dolphins. Could be worse, but not very impressive. So here they are in the middle of the pack.

17 – Los Angeles Rams 3-2 (LW: 15) – Allow me to copy and paste what I wrote about the Rams on Saturday evening.

“Who saw the Rams getting off to a 3-1 start? Especially after getting shut out by the 49ers in Week 1? Now that everyone is realizing the Rams just might be good, it’s a perfect time for them to show they’re the Rams and lose this one at home. The Bills take it.”

Yep. Nailed it.

18 – Houston Texans 3-2 (LW: 14) – Houston has really struggled against good teams. Brock Osweiler doesn’t look great.

19 – Detroit Lions 2-3 (LW: 27) – The depleted Lions took advantage of untimely turnovers from Philadelphia and beat the Eagles by one point. Jim Caldwell is still on the hot seat but at the very least he bought himself a little more time.

20 – New York Jets 1-4 (LW: 19) – Ryan Fitzpatrick threw nine interceptions in his last two games prior to this week. He didn’t throw any against the Steelers, but the Jets still lost.

21 – Indianapolis Colts 2-3 (LW: 24) – The Colts are still very much alive in a weak AFC South division after beating the Bears.

22 – New Orleans Saints 1-3 (LW: 22) – Something tells me the Saints’ defense will be just as awful after their bye week.

23 – New York Giants 2-3 (LW: 20) – The G-Men are 0-3 ever since starting the season 2-0. The Giants’ offense has struggled; New York ranks sixth to last in points per game.

24 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-3 (LW: 29) – The Bucs still have the second worst point differential despite beating the Panthers. Roberto Aguayo hit the game-winner for Tampa Bay but the rookie kicker went 3-for-5 on the night with his longest attempt from 38 yards out. So maybe spending a second-round pick on a kicker wasn’t the best choice, huh?

25 – Jacksonville Jaguars 1-3 (LW: 25) – Gus Bradley’s team enjoyed their bye week after returning from last week’s London game.

26 – Carolina Panthers 1-4 (LW: 17) – What happened to the Panthers? The 2015 NFC Champions are off to a terrible start in 2016. Losing Cam Newton obviously hurts, but that was only one game. Carolina has dug a big hole for themselves.

27 – San Diego Chargers 1-4 (LW: 23) – The Chargers find a new way to lose every week. The Bolts had a chance to hit a game-tying kick against the Raiders but the hold was botched because of course it was. San Diego owns the 12th best point differential in the NFL, so they’re not that far off from having a good record. The problem is Mike McCoy’s team just can’t close out games.

28 – Tennessee Titans 2-3 (LW: 30) – The Titans won three games in 2015. They’re only one win shy of tying that mark this season.

29 – Chicago Bears 1-4 (LW: 26) – Brian Hoyer has played well enough to create some quarterback controversy in Chicago. But whether Hoyer or Jay Cutler starts probably doesn’t matter because the Bears are bad either way.

30 – Miami Dolphins 1-4 – (LW: 28) – Maybe Adam Gase wasn’t the offensive genius he was made out to be this offseason. The Dolphins rank eighth to last in points scored.

31 – Cleveland Browns 0-5 (LW: 31) – The winless Browns were down to their fourth string quarterback, the recently signed Charlie Whitehurst, against the Patriots. To no surprise, Cleveland lost. Again.

32 – San Francisco 49ers 1-4 (LW: 32) – There’s little question Blaine Gabbert is the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. Apparently Chip Kelly might be giving some thought to a quarterback change in San Francisco.