Week 5 Power Rankings; Chiefs at the top of the list, 49ers are low on the list

By: Josh Shippen, John Paul Whitaker

1. Kansas City Chiefs

Madden dynasty mode and salary cap off? Yup, that pretty much sums up the Chiefs. 

2. Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers is playing out of his mind, and this is with Davante Adams being injured for all games after week 1. Mike Pettine’s defense isn’t the greatest, but it’s about average which is really all that this white hot team needs to kick opponents around.

3. Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks made their fans a little nervous against the Dolphins and Vikings, but they showed that they were the dominant team in both games, and pulled away with a 5-0 record. This defense, especially against the run, is definitely something to be concerned about, but Russell Wilson is the best quarterback in the NFL so that shouldn’t be too big of a concern.

4. Tennessee Titans

Even Covid-19 can’t stop this team. Following 16 days of no football, the Titans came up big in week 5 against a tough Bills matchup. With AJ Brown back, along with Corey Davis and Adam Humphries returning from Covid-19, the Titans could potentially have their week 1 team back. With this to note, look for this surprising team to become playoff contenders, despite having a difficult schedule ahead.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

Despite their 38-year-old quarterback, Ben Roethisberger, the Steelers have a very young and inexpensive team. This team has lots of talent and has been able to replace their star players in the past (Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell). The best part is that their defense is better than ever, on pace to set the NFL record for sacks in a season, currently held by the 1984 Bears team (72 sacks). 

6. Buffalo Bills

Even after their defense was gronk spiked into the ground last Tuesday night, there is still a big light ahead of them. Josh Allen is having a career year and their defense isn’t all that bad. Given their easy division and strong offense, they are ranked high and very well may be this high if Josh Allen keeps his performance up.

7. Baltimore Ravens

It seems that the NFL is beginning to figure out Lamar Jackson. His value has decreased this year since the NFL realized Lamar Jackson runs to ball almost every play. The ravens defense keeps performing well so while Lamar Jackson figures out the new game plan, you can look towards the defense to set the bar for Lamar Jackson and the offense.

8. Las Vegas Raiders

Just like the steelers, the Raiders have a young and talented team. Josh Jacobs has shown he can be a star running back and Darren Waller proves he’s a top 3 TE. Their defense is still a work in progress, but their offense is putting up big numbers which led them to a win over the Chiefs this past weekend.

9. New England Patriots

After signing Cam Newton for 50K more than Nathan Peterman, the Patriots seemed to once again finesse the league. Cam Newton has been the face of the team this year since a lot of notable defensive players opted out or got Covid-19. Cam Newton is supposedly returning back to football in week 6 and their offense looks to perform well against their upcoming schedule.

10. New Orleans Saints

The Saints offense started to get real again in the second half against the Chargers. Unfortunately, no matter how good the offense looks nobody is going to be able to reduce Drew Brees’s age. Brees has been making unusual mistakes, and his arm is even weaker than before. That said, don’t count the Saints out by any means, but I wouldn’t jump on the bandwagon anytime soon.

11. Cleveland Browns

Remember the last time the Brown went 4-1? That’s right, 1999 when Bill Bellicheck was HC and Nick Saban was DC. This team is on a hot streak and Odell Beckham Jr. and Kareem Hunt are making their returns to a solid football season ahead of them. The underrated defensive backs and strong offensive core have proven that they are contenders this year. Watch out for Kareem Hunt as he takes the lead back role while Nick Chubb is healing.

12. Los Angeles Rams

The Rams offense of 2018 is back! Kind of… Don’t get me wrong they have been doing amazing this year and deserve all of the credit coming their way, but they are not quite at the level that they were in 2018. Jared Goff is playing great, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp continue to be dominant, and the Rams are really rocking a rotational backfield, and they have the best defensive player in the league in Aaron Donald. They are certainly close to 2018 form, but not quite there yet.

13. Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have been getting steadily better and better. Teddy Bridgewater might not be taking the league by storm, but he is doing his job. The Panthers are also surprisingly doing fine without Christian McCaffrey, who many people were saying was the best RB in the league coming into 2020. They will have to knock off the Saints in the NFC South, but if they do that they could make a decent enough run in the playoffs. Just don’t get too excited, they are not ready to play a premier team like the Chiefs or Packers.

14. Chicago Bears

Despite Chicago being the softest 4-0 team in the NFL, there is one fact. The Chicago Bears have won four games and only lost one. The Bears have been beating teams like the Falcons, but they have also beaten teams like the Buccaneers. Nothing makes sense with this team. The QB and offense is average, the defense is pretty good, but that isn’t 4-1 worthy.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

So far, Brady has been working out better than the turnover robot they had under center last year. While Brady might not be the future, he will probably last another one or two years, and the Bucs have a pretty solid team around Brady. The Buccaneers could start getting really nasty in a couple seasons, watch out!

16. Arizona Cardinals

Most Cardinals fans will probably agree when I say the Cardinals offense has not been a revolutionary new development that is setting the NFL on fire. Murray has had a couple good games, but he has also had a couple really bad ones. I would worry about Chandler Jones being out, he is not only the most valuable defensive player on that team, but possibly a top 5 defensive player right now.

17. Indianapolis Colts

While we all thought Phillip Rivers was going to make some great plays for the Colts this year, we were so wrong. TY Hilton is having this worst season of his career, Marlon Mack is out for the season, and rookie Jonathon Taylor has to step up. Even though the defense and schedule are favoring them, I don’t think the Colts have what it takes to move up any further given their quarterback who knows how to take care of kids better than an offense. 

18. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys defense is killing them. I bet you’ve heard this stat roughly 76 times already, but the Cowboys are one Falcons onside kick failure away from being 1-4 in this horrid NFC East. If I were a Cowboys fan, I wouldn’t be too concerned about Dalton replacing Prescott this year, given that Dalton plays as good as his surrounding talent, and boy is there offensive talent.

19. Los Angeles Chargers

Now that Justin Herbert is performing great as the now named “starting quarterback,” we have to wonder if the punctured lung was intended or not. No matter what, the chargers are doing a good job of getting the running backs reps. The defense is doing everything they can to help out their poor quarterback, but it seems to be that no one can help out Justin Herbert enough to get him a win. Unless Ekeler comes back soon, the Chargers are not good enough to be listed as any sort of contender. 

20. Houston Texans

Deshuan Watson has shown a slimmer of hope for this Texans team that has yet to invest in an offensive line. Watson played like nothing was holding him back anymore and with a slumping defense, they need him more than ever to win some games this year.

21. Miami Dolphins

Fitzmagic 2.0? Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown his veteran self once again already posting three 300+ yard games. He has lots of young talent, yet Tua Tagovailoa is still looking for his first minutes. Since their defense is not so strong and it’s hard to tell if this fitzmagic will go on for awhile, we don’t know how the dolphins will end up this year.

22. Detroit Lions

The Lions look completely directionless. Their whole team is the embodiment at what you want on average at every position. So why don’t they win more games? I’ll tell you why, because Matt Patricia is the worst head coach in football. That Lions team in 2019 should’ve gone 7-9 last year, but they only pulled away with three wins because of Patricia’s incompetent coaching. In addition, none of the players seem to be backing Patricia up which will not help at the end of the year when the Lions go 6-10 and blow 5 second half leads.

23. San Francisco 49ers

Those poor 49ers. Shanahan has had the worst hand dealt out of any head coach. Jimmy Garoppolo looks bad playing through an injury, and CJ Beathard and Nick Mullens aren’t going to cut it. Their RB’s and WR’s have been injured from the very start, and Kittle spent some time out. And that’s only the offense, the defense lost first round picks from 2019 and 2017 Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa in the same game. This 49ers team can’t do anything right now, and it really is a shame considering that they have immense talent when every position is healthy.

24. Philadelphia Eagles

The trademark of this team over the past few years has been Carson Wentz’s ability to carry an injury ridden team, or for that matter a healthy one, to double digit wins and take them to the playoffs. For whatever reason, Wentz is no longer that guy for Philly. I think it’s possible that they improve with time, but I think it’s equally possible that where Howie Roseman was once questioned for drafting Jalen Hurts, he will soon be lauded. Take from that what you will

25. Minnesota Vikings

This Vikings team should be awesome, the little bug they have is that one of the weakest positions is the most important position in all of professional sports. People would be calling for the benching of Kirk Cousins if it wasn’t for the fact that they have the worst backup QB situation of any team (Although the Seahawks are close). This team doesn’t trust Kirk Cousins to carry the team on his back in a small game, much less a big one. This team has incredible pieces to build around including Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and Justin Jefferson, but Cousins is, and will continue to be, a progress stopper for this team.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jags initially looked strong but Minshew’s startling recession is really hurting them. Look for the Jags to reconsider drafting Trevor Lawrence.

27. Denver Broncos

The Broncos are frantically trying to dog themselves out of an injury induced hole, but it might be too late for this struggling team to save their season.

28. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals led by Burrow have shown flashes, but there is still much room to grow, especially with a young coach and quarterback, and a struggling offensive line.

29. Washington Football Team

It’s a little hard to win games with 3 backup QBs and no starters on your roster, but the Football Team keeps pressing on, an- no wait they suck. Sorry Washington, having Chase Young and Terry McLaurin on your roster isn’t going to be enough. I honestly feel like the coaching of this team has been pretty OK defensively which could buy them a few more wins down the stretch, but Washington won’t be winning big games anytime soon

30. New York Giants

The Giant’s offense looks very confused, Daniel Jones has had trouble connecting with his receivers, and to top that off all of the receivers are constantly getting injured. The Joe Judge experience has been a flop so far, and the Giants will probably be picking top 5 in the draft.

31. New York Jets

Once again we see the Jets, led by the man who claims ghosts are everywhere, Sam Darnold. While the talent is there, the coaching is not, which makes for a huge problem for the Jets. If the Jets can pull a falcons and fire the whole staff, the production won’t be very effective in New York for now and probably for the future. After losing Le’veon Bell to waivers, the Jets offense really needs to step up.

32. Atlanta Falcons

People will disagree with the Falcons being dead last, so i’ll put this into facts so that nobody can disagree. The Falcons have not won a single game, and have had two back to back losses where they led by double digit points. Not only does this show defensive and special teams failure, it shows offensive failure as well. My grand point in all this is just a simple question. Who does this Falcons team stop in a big spot? Even the Jets offense could bully defense, and the offense doesn’t have enough ice to pull off a win if they do fall behind. There is no formula where the Falcons come out on top in any matchup.