NFL Power Rankings after Week 6: Chiefs, Vikes rest week, Lions roar, Ravens win Game of Week

The only undefeated teams in the league sat back and watched the rest of the league battle it out in a Week 6 that gave us a bit more clarity on the good (Baltimore), the bad (Jacksonville) and the ugly (Dallas). The reigning MVP took on the future Rookie of the Year as the Ravens rattled off their fourth straight win. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders showed they can hang with the best teams in the league. The Lions mauled the Cowboys to send Dallas spiraling into a deep depression heading into their BYE. Houston and Atlanta finally had the sort of win we expected from them, albeit against two of the worst teams in the league, and the Bills snapped their losing skid while adding on to the misery in the Meadowlands.

Here are our Power Rankings after Week 6:

1) Kansas City Chiefs 5-0, last week 1

BYE

2) Detroit Lions 4-1, last week 3

This team has been perfect in their last two games. Offensively they have scored 89 points, Goff has thrown for five TDs and just seven incompletions with no INTs. The defense ran wild against the Cowboys and only let up against the Seahawks in Week 4 when the game was done and dusted. Losing Aidan Hutchinson is devastating but if there is any team and any coach that can rally after losing their best defensive player, it’s the Lions, especially if the offense continues to play perfect football.

3) Baltimore Ravens 4-2, last week 4

The Ravens may not be the team with the best record in the league, but they sure are the most feared team in the NFL right now. No one wants to play this team with Lamar Jackson rolling like he is and Derrick Henry running the way he has been. All due respect to those in KC, but the Chiefs aren’t playing better than Baltimore. The Vikings aren’t playing better than the Ravens. I usually have a rule that teams on BYEs don’t drop in the Power Rankings, but come on. There is no way Minnesota is better than Baltimore or Detroit.

4) Minnesota Vikings 5-0, last week 2

BYE

5) Houston Texans 5-1, last week 5

We have been waiting for it all season, and in Week 6 the Texans finally blew out a team and flexed their muscles to the rest of the league. In their first game without the NFL’s leading WR Nico Collins, Houston came out and dropped 41 points. Getting Joe Mixon back helped bring a balance to the offense that they had been missing for the last few weeks and we finally got to see what this offense can look like when firing on all facets. It may have come against the Patriots, but I think this will open the floodgates for the Texans.

6) Atlanta Falcons 4-2, last week 6

For the first time all season, the Falcons weren’t involved in a one possession game. Leave it to the Panthers to be the team to allow the Falcons to break their streak of games decided by one possession. While the scoreboard paints one picture, the game wasn’t actually settled until late in the 4th quarter when Tyler Allgeier stretched the lead to 15. Remember when things looked a little dreary in Atlanta at the beginning of the season? Well this team now leads the division and is 3-0 against the NFC South, which is going to be important towards the end of the season.

7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-2, last week 7

Not sure if it’s ironic, or coincidence, or whatever other word you want to use, but there was something about a team from a city that just got ravaged by a hurricane heading to New Orleans and winning a game. We remember the Saints having to deal with an extreme situation in the post Katrina aftermath years ago. Hopefully it won’t be that bad for Baker and the Bucs, but they showed character and came out for their city giving those Floridians who are still putting the pieces of their lives back together a show from the Caesars Super Dome.

8) Buffalo Bills 4-2, last week 9

The streak continues. Josh Allen’s zero turnover streak has been hanging by a thread, but six weeks is pretty impressive considering his past. In a year where he is the one and only star on the offensive side of the ball, he has let the game come to him, and showed maturity when it’s time to be a game manager rather than a super hero. When it’s time to win it, he is more than capable of putting on the cape and carrying the Bills to the finish line but he is picking and choosing those moments carefully. Allen was okay on Monday night, but rookie Ray Davis showed the Bills have previously unknown depth at the running back position that will make them even more of a contender in the AFC. The Jets may not be great, but that was a great win over a division opponent in a primetime game.

9) Washington Commanders 4-2, last week 10

Sometimes losses can tell you more about a team than a handful of wins, and that’s what happened with Washington on Sunday afternoon. The Commanders were on a four game roll, with the best offense in the league, led by a rookie QB but the question remained: Is this team for real? On Sunday they showed they may not be quite at the Ravens level, but they are prepared to go blow for blow with the league’s best teams. Jayden Daniels didn’t back down in the face of a two time MVP, and the Commanders came out of their Week 6 matchup proving even more than they had in their first five games.

10) Green Bay Packers 4-2, last week 11

In the first two games that Jordan Love returned from injury, the Packers didn’t play well in the opening half against the Vikings or Rams. They made sure to jump out to a fat, juicy lead so they could coast to the finish line against the Cardinals in Lambeau. Love went for 258 yards and threw 4 TDs while reminding everyone why he is the QB of the future, and the now in the Tundra. I still want to see Josh Jacobs get more involved with the run game, but Love is showing he can handle the work load.

11) San Francisco 49ers 3-3, last week 12

The Niners were taking a lot of heat after blowing their second double digit lead in the second half of their game against the Cardinals last week. Luckily for them, their game against the Seahawks couldn’t come soon enough. Purdy made it look easy, throwing for 3 TDs and Isaac Guerendo proved that you can just about plug anyone in the backfield and they have a chance of getting 100 yards after Jordan Mason went down with a shoulder sprain that will be a day-to-day injury. Things are starting to look up for the Niners, but they still have a lot to prove before they crack our top 10. They get a chance to do so next week against the Chiefs.

12) Philadelphia Eagles 3-2, last week 8

There were a lot of teams that used their Week 5 BYE to get healthy and get better. The Eagles only did one of those things. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith returned to the field and made a big difference in the passing game. Brown had 116 yards and a TD while Smith scored another TD on a 45 yard pass play. That about wraps up the list of things Philly did well. They struggled to get past a Browns team that can’t move the ball, and if it wasn’t for Cleveland’s pitiful excuse of an offense Philly fans would have been tearing Nick Siriani a new one at the end of the game.

13) Pittsburgh Steelers 4-2, last week 14

Isn’t it crazy what establishing a run game can do for an offense and really the entire rest of the team. It opens things up for the QB, it gives the defense time to rest on the bench. It dictates the pace of the game. It’s no coincidence that the first time Najee Harris runs for 100 yards this season, is the first time we see the Steelers offense look like an actual NFL offense. Justin Fields still isn’t locked in passing the ball, but he ran in two TDs as PIT finished the game with 183 yards on the ground.

14) Chicago Bears 4-2, last week 20

Rookie QB, coming off his the best game of his career, having to go overseas against a team that calls London their “second home.” Caleb Williams showed maturity, showed style, and showed that he is ready lead this team on a consistent basis. The rookie jitters are gone. He is getting protection from his O line and now Williams is now on par with the rest of the team. What does that mean? It means the Bears are on a 3 game win streak, and have won 4 of 6. They have yet to beat a team with more than one win, but they are beating the teams they have in front of them. Chicago is on a well deserved BYE after their overseas road trip, and I can’t wait for the Bears game against the Commanders in a couple weeks time.

15) Los Angeles Chargers 3-2, last week 18

I can’t remember the last time I saw Justin Herbert play like he did against the Broncos on Sunday in Denver. Coming off of a BYE week, he finally looked healthy and healed. On top of that he was crisp, he was efficient and he showed the mobility that makes him almost impossible to contain when he is playing at the top of his game. Things got a little shaky late in the game, but as the Chargers improve and start to lead more and more late in games, they will learn how to protect those leads.

16) Denver Broncos 3-3, last week 16

The Broncos win streak wasn’t going to last forever. We knew that and so did they. After three wins on the fly, Denver came out and got flattened in the first two quarters. The Chargers were coming off a BYE week looking like the fresher team meanwhile Bo Nix went back to looking like a rookie QB. Denver fans would have signed on the dotted line had you offered them a 3-3 record through six weeks, but now they have a quick turnaround for their TNF game against the reeling Saints and it looks like they will have to do it without Patrick Surtain Jr.

17) Seattle Seahawks 3-3, last week 15

The Seahawks looked tired, they looked worn down and they looked a little defeated in their home loss to the Niners. They lost the hold on the division lead, which they only got because of their cupcake start to the season. Things are starting to get tough, and this team has shown they aren’t up to the challenge. Their three game skid could turn to a five game skid with games against the Falcons and Bills coming up.

18) Indianapolis Colts 3-3, last week 24

The Colts are .500 after six weeks, and I think that suits them just fine. We really aren’t sure about this team after the first month and a half of the season. They aren’t even sure who they want as their quarterback. Anthony Richardson was healthy but left on the bench while Joe Flacco led his injury plagued team to a win in Tennessee. We aren’t going to know exactly how good or bad this team is until it gets healthy and until it has stability at the QB position.

19) New York Jets 2-4, last week 17

I’m not sure what else the Jets could have done to win the game on Monday night. Breece Hall finally made an appearance and had the kind of game Jets fans have been waiting for. Aaron Rodgers almost broke his three year 300 yard game drought and Garrett Wilson looked like he was on the same page with his QB for the first time this year. Even when the planets aligned and everything seemed to be flowing, they went 1/4 in the red zone and Greg Zuerlein had no clue what the wind was doing in the Meadowlands, missing two potential go ahead TDs.

20) Dallas Cowboys 3-3, last week 13

0-3 at home and giving up almost 40 points a game in those losses in front of their home fans. The level of disaster is reaching unimaginable limits and it’s getting to the point where you run out of words to describe just how bad this team can be. Spare me the excuses of a banged up defensive line. Dak was terrible and got yanked after three quarters. Ezekiel Elliot would be of more use scanning tickets at the stadium gates. And let’s not even discuss Mike McCarthy who somehow is still the apple of Jerry Jones’ eye. Somehow they are still 3-3 heading into their BYE, but there is a storm brewing coming out of their week off. They play @ Niners, @ Falcons, vs. Eagles, vs. Texans and vs. the Commanders. Yikes. This might be just the beginning of the end for Big D.

21) New Orleans Saints 2-4, last week 19

With no David Carr, the Saints were going to have to devise a wild game plan to keep pace with the Bucs. Miraculously, they did so for the first 30 minutes of the game thanks to a few Blake Grupe FGs, a punt return from Rashid Shaheed and an inspired debut from rookie QB Spencer Rattler. Unfortunately for the Saints, reality hit in the second half and the scoring stopped as the Bucs dropped New Orleans to their fourth straight loss.

22) Cincinnati Bengals 2-4, last week 23

How do you score 30 something points against the Ravens one week, and then score one TD in the first 58 minutes of the game against the New York Giants? They have played the Chiefs and the Ravens close, taking both of the best teams in the AFC to the wire. So how do you defend this team when they led the Giants 10-7 at the Two Minute Warning in the Meadowlands? The Bengals are a weak team that play down to their opponents level instead of play up to their potential, and that’s not what contenders do. Just ask the Chiefs.

23) Arizona Cardinals 2-4, last week 21

The let down week is a real thing in the NFL, and week after week we see it played out. In Week 6 it was the Cardinals turn to completely bottom out after beating the Niners on a miracle comeback last week. They came out without a pulse in Green Bay, and Kyler Murray was not prepared to make a comeback with Marvin Harrison Jr. on the sideline with a concussion.

24) New York Giants 2-4, last week, 22

I’m no longer interested in the Giants. I thought that maybe just maybe they were a better team than we thought after keeping it close with the Cowboys and beating the Seahawks. This team is not fooling me again. Not after another dud on the offensive end on Sunday night at home. The only thing about the Sunday Night game that makes me happy is the fact that I didn’t stay up to watch it.

25) Las Vegas Raiders 2-4, last week 26

The quarterback position is not one where you can just plug anyone and in cross your fingers for a win. You may be able to do that on the offensive line when you put a guard at tackle, or in the secondary when you put a corner at safety. But the QB has the ball on every single offensive play. And when you have two QBs that stink, you can expect to get blown out week after week. I feel bad for Antonio Pierce. I feel like he is being set up for failure. I just hope it doesn’t cost him future jobs once the Raiders front office can him for their own shortcomings.

26) Jacksonville Jaguars 1-5, last week 25

Line up the London firing squad for a second straight week. There is no way Doug Pederson makes it to the Jags second London game against the Pats next week. The Jags loss was one of the uglier, more frustrating losses that they have suffered this season. In their home away from home, where they have more of an advantage than in Everbank Stadium, they got shredded by a rookie QB while making costly penalty after costly penalty. Two early false starts on the opening drive kept a Jags team that already struggles inside the 20 out of the endzone. Then the defense played their part committing three different penalties on 3rd down in a drive that would have given the ball back to Jacksonville down 21-10 with plenty of time in the 3rd quarter. Instead the Bears scored a TD, stretched the lead out to 18, and closed the door on the Jags, and perhaps the Pederson era in Jacksonville.

27) Los Angeles Rams 1-4, last week 27

BYE

28) Cleveland Browns 1-5, last week 28

How long before a civil war breaks out in the Cleveland locker room? The defense hasn’t exactly been perfect, but when they are on the field for most of the game what can we expect? The offense is pathetic, and while we labeled Deshaun Watson a “loser” after walking off the field on 4th down last week, it’s not just his fault. With the ball on the PHI 3 yard line and a chance to tie the game with a TD, false starts on 3rd and 4th down backed the Browns up to the 13. Losing will drive fans crazy, but shooting yourself in the foot like that will drive fans to turn against the team like they are so accustomed to doing in Cleveland. Bring back the brown paper bags and the half empty stadium at Paycor. The Browns are back to being the Browns.

29) Miami Dolphins 2-3, last week 29

BYE

30) New England Patriots 1-5, last week 31

Sunday gave us the debut of the new face of the franchise in Foxborough. Jerod Mayo didn’t do Drake Maye many favors picking this game to start the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft. He could have done it last week against the one win Dolphins, or next week against the one win Jags. Instead he did it against the one loss Texans and maybe told the young gun slinger, “hey you’ve got nothing to lose.” He threw for 243 yards and 3 TDs, tossing two picks and running for 38 yards. The O line gave up 4 sacks which was to be expected but overall Maye looked promising. That’s going to be the only thing to get Pats fans excited enough to show up to games this year after a 1-5 start.

31) Carolina Panthers 1-5, last week 30

The Panthers are in no mans land right now. What do they do from here? Andy Dalton came in and won his first game under center to shine a ray of light on what had been landfill of lousiness. After three straight losses, do the Panthers go back to Bryce Young, and try to squeeze anything they can out of their No. 1 pick? Would he even want the chance to be the starter in that nightmare situation from Charlotte? Not so sure I’d be volunteering for the firing line in Carolina.

32) Tennessee Titans 1-4, last week 32

Will Levis isn’t the guy. He just isn’t. He’s had enough time in Nashville and it’s not getting any better. Maybe Tennessee can Tebow him and make him a tight end or a the strength coach, but Levis is not an NFL quarterback. Outside of the QB, they have talent. If Flacco was on this team instead of Indianapolis, the Titans would have rolled over Colts in Nashville. Mason Rudolph may not be a Super Bowl champion or 39 years old like Flacco, but he’s a hell of a lot better of an option that Will Levis.