What a week it was in the NFL in Week 6.
A couple of early-season favorites continue are in dismay amid losing streaks while there is a ton of real estate up for grabs in the top 10 of our NFL power rankings.
The Patriots remain top dogs while the San Francisco 49ers launching themselves into the top 3, but there was a lot of moving and shaking going on outside the top five. The Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys find themselves falling quickly. Where did they end up?
Let’s get into our power rankings heading into Week 7.
1. New England Patriots (6-0, last week’s rank: 1): The offense remains a bit puzzling and unable to put the hammer down on lesser opponents early in contests. We’ll see if they can avoid the same fate as the Dallas Cowboys suffered against the New York Jets on Monday night.
2. New Orleans Saints (5-1; 2): Teddy Bridgewater is keeping the ship afloat in New Orleans, coming away with a narrow victory on the road. On the other side of the ball, Marshon Lattimore has just been ridiculous at shutting down top wide receivers.
3. San Francisco 49ers (5-0; 6): Jimmy Garoppolo is 13-2 as a starter and is proving to be a solid game manager at the very least. But the 49ers’ defense appears to be very real, allowing just 10 points over the last two weeks after taking down a Todd Gurley-less Rams offense on Sunday.
4. Green Bay Packers (5-1; 4): The Packers sit tight at No. 4 after squeaking out a win against the Detroit Lions to grab further control of a competitive NFC North. Green Bay hasn’t won many pretty ones, but Aaron Rodgers and Co. are finding a way.
5. Seattle Seahawks (5-1; 5): Another team gets to 5-1 after a not-so-pretty outing. The Seahawks allowed Nick Chubb to run all over the place and needed a strong fourth-quarter drive and a late interception to lock one up on the road.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (4-2; 3): There are real problems on defense, particularly the defensive front for the Chiefs and there likely is not any help coming in that department this season. The Chiefs have allowed an opposing rusher to eclipse 100 yards four straight weeks (Would be five, but Josh Jacobs had 99 yards in Week 2).
7. Minnesota Vikings (4-2; 14): Amazing things can happen when you aren’t completely one-dimensional on offense, and Kirk Cousins just had his two best games of the season (against two terrible pass defenses). Can Cousins keep it up against better opponents?
8. Carolina Panthers (4-2; 16): The Panthers have a talented defense and maybe the best offensive player on the planet. A decision must be made at quarterback, but the Panthers are in the hunt for an NFC South title for now.
9. Houston Texans (4-2; 17): The Texans’ ground game was able to get things going against a dismal Chiefs front, handing Kansas City its second consecutive loss. But I still want to see the Texans do it against a defense with a pulse before anointing them AFC contenders. A massive Week 7 tilt with the Colts could go a long way.
10. Buffalo Bills (4-1; 10): Bills sit tight at No. 10 coming off their bye week. What’s pretty baffling is that looking at the schedule (Dolphins at home, Eagles at home, Redskins at home, Browns, Dolphins), the Bills have a chance to stay in the AFC East race for some time.
11. Dallas Cowboys (3-3; 7): How ’bout them Cowboys? It’s safe to say that Super Bowl talk has quieted since a 3-0 start. After throwing for nine touchdowns over his first three games with just two interceptions, Dak Prescott has thrown just two touchdowns and four interceptions.
12. Indianapolis Colts (3-2; 12): The Colts got time to rest up before a critical Week 7 matchup against the Texans in a game that will go a long way in shaping the AFC South.
13. Los Angeles Rams (3-3; 8): No Todd Gurley, no Jared Goff (oh, he played? I missed him), and the Rams have serious problems to sort out on the offensive side of the ball, something you wouldn’t have predicted given their firepower.
14. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3; 9): The NFC East is just a mess. The Eagles can grab control of the division by handing the Cowboys their fourth straight loss. Their pass defense might have something to say about that first, though.
15. Baltimore Ravens (4-2; 15): Would have liked to see the Ravens put away the Bengals a little more decisively, but Lamar Jackson had a nice bounce-back game, and that rushing attack looks stout.
16. Chicago Bears (3-2; 13): The Bears got plenty of time to think about their ugly loss to the Oakland Raiders across the pond. Let’s see how they respond.
17. Detroit Lions (2-2-1; 11): The Lions come up just short at Lambeau in a game that could have been a massive statement. There in last place in the NFC North, but you have to think they’re better than that.
18. Oakland Raiders (3-2; 18): The Raiders come off a bye week while the Packers have a short week following their Monday night escape. Can Oakland turn an upset at Lambeau? Probably not.
19. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4; 19): The defense did well to stymie the Saints, but Minshew magic appears to have run out.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4; 21): Jameis Winston threw for 400 yards! He also threw five interceptions. It’s a one-dimensional attack with a below-average passer at the helm.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4; 27): The Steelers’ defense has shown some pop over the last two weeks and held the Chargers scoreless through three-and-a-half quarters on Sunday night.
22. Denver Broncos (2-4; 26): The Broncos’ defense takes advantage of another dismal offense, shutting out the Titans.
23. Los Angeles Chargers (2-4; 20): Fantasy owners will love the garbage time stats tacked on in a frantic fourth-quarter comeback attempt, but the Chargers offense seems lost.
24. Tennessee Titans (2-4; 22): Speaking of lost offenses, the Titans have been held to one score or less in three of their last four.
25. Arizona Cardinals (2-3-1; 28): Kyler Murray (1,664 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions) quietly has put together a great start to his NFL career and showed good poise in closing out a Week 6 win over the Falcons.
26. New York Jets (1-4; 30): This is a different team with Sam Darnold under center, and their second matchup against the Patriots should look much different than the first.
27. Cleveland Browns (2-4; 23): Baker Mayfield has fewer TD passes than Mason Rudolph, fewer passing yards than Andy Dalton, a lower completion percentage than Luke Falk (!!!) and the most interceptions in the NFL. YIKES. It’s definitely the refs, though.
28. New York Giants (2-4; 25): Still waiting to see what this team looks like with all its weapons on offense, because there is great potential there.
29. Atlanta Falcons (1-5; 24): If you like offense, you’ll love whoever the Falcons are playing against.
30. Washington Redskins (1-5; 31): What a game. What a win. The Redskins pull out the Tank Bowl the only way we could have dreamed of — with the Dolphins botching a two-point conversion.
31. Cincinnati Bengals (0-6; 29): The Ravens ran all over them and their offense just is not good enough to play from behind.
32. Miami Dolphins (0-5; 32): Rejoice, Dolphins fans: You’re No. 1 in the NFL Draft Power Rankings!
