NFL Power Rankings, Week 6: Bears join the ranks of playoff contenders

If Week 4 was a complete game for the Chicago Bears, Week 5 was complete dominance. Sure, it came against the Carolina Panthers. But last year, the Bears struggled to beat this same Carolina team, so an overwhelming victory had to be encouraging for Chicago. That’s what good teams do to bad teams, and the Bears are beginning to look like a good team.

How high will this win propel them up the power rankings? Let’s take a look.

1. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 2)

The Vikings are the biggest surprise team through five weeks of the 2024 NFL season. QB Sam Darnold looked rougher this week against a good New York Jets defense, but the Vikings are undefeated and have several convincing wins under their belt.

2. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 1)

I hate to drop the Ravens after a gutsy win over a division rival, but the Vikings had to be No. 1 after starting the season 5-0.

3. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 4)

Sitting pretty at 3-2, the Falcons could easily be 5-0 if some things had gone their way earlier. This offense is flying high and can win a lot of games for them.

4. Detroit Lions (Last week: 3)

The Lions had their bye week and only moved down one spot to make room for Atlanta.

5. Houston Texans (Last week: 8)

Does anyone want to face this Texans defense? They held Josh Allen to just 9 of 30 passing for 131 yards, which is historically bad.

Texans just held Josh Allen to 9-for-30 passing , a stat line the league hasn’t seen since 1992 https://t.co/MtfbXhyz0J

— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) October 7, 2024

6. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 7)

The Chiefs are 5-0, but this win over New Orleans was the first one that was convincing. They have a lot yet to prove.

7. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 5)

Maybe the Bills should be a little lower after dropping two in a row, but both losses have come against Super Bowl contenders. That’s got to count for something.

8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 6)

Are Thursday Night Football games finally interesting? The Falcons and Buccaneers put on a show this week that went into overtime, but a quick Falcons touchdown robbed the NFL world of giving Baker Mayfield a chance to win the game for Tampa.

9. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 12)

After a horrific first half in which Jordan Love looked like the worst version of himself from last season, the Packers came roaring back to beat the Rams and avoid the upset. However, if they want to rise much higher, the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde act by Love has to stop. Consistency is key.

10. Chicago Bears (Last week: 14)

The Bears’ dominant win over the lowly Panthers is the only thing that stopped them from shooting any higher this week. That defense is elite, and Caleb Williams appears to be putting it all together, and that’s got to be scary for all the teams remaining on their schedule.

Inject this into our veins pic.twitter.com/PNaNnYNqbI

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 7, 2024

11. Washington Commanders (Last week: 16)

As long as the Commanders keep winning, they’ll keep moving up the rankings, though it does feel like a date with the Ravens in Week 6 will bring them back to the ground.

12. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 13)

A win is a win, but the Cowboys are losing a key defensive player to injury every week. Eventually, this will catch up to them.

13. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 10)

Like the Cowboys, the Niners have been bit hard by the injury bug, and this time it cost them their kicker Jake Moody. They still had several chances to beat the Cardinals and probably should have, but it’s fair to say that not having their kicker cost them that game.

14. Denver Broncos (Last week: 22)

Did the Broncos have us fooled this offseason? They’ve now won three in a row and Bo Nix had himself a statement game. A Week 6 divisional game with the Chargers will tell us a lot about what to expect from Denver going forward.

15. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 9)

The clock appears to be striking midnight on Seattle’s Cinderella run to start the season. After getting smoked by the mighty Lions, they lost an embarrassing matchup with the lowly Giants. This week, they face their division rival, the Niners, on Thursday Night Football. A loss there could put their season in a tailspin.

16. New York Jets (Last week: 11)

The Jets officially started the head coach carousel in 2024, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter announcing Tuesday morning that head coach Robert Saleh has been fired. What’s crazy is that I don’t think Saleh was the problem for this team. It’s time to admit I was wrong about them in my preseason rankings. This is a team in freefall.

pic.twitter.com/ZJ16NOiqBg

— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 8, 2024

17. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 17)

Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor were inactive this week, but the Colts still nearly beat the Jaguars, which may have gotten Jacksonville’s head coach Doug Pederson fired. They get to stay put despite the loss, their tenth straight when playing in Jacksonville.

18. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 19)

The Eagles had their bye week, but they moved up one spot only because I couldn’t put them below any of the next fourteen teams.

19. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 15)

Last week I said it was not time to panic yet. Now the losers of three straight and with Derek Carr banged up, it’s time for Saints fans to panic.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 20)

Like the Colts, I couldn’t justify dropping the Bengals in my rankings despite the loss. They’re 1-4 now and probably won’t make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they won’t win a lot of games going forward.

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 32)

The Jaguars finally scored a win, and Trevor Lawrence looked like the generational quarterback he was projected to be. Coming up is a matchup in London against a Bears team packing some serious momentum. Lawrence will put hard to it against a passing defense that has given up just two touchdowns through the air this season while dueling with rookie phenom Caleb Williams on the other side.

Built different pic.twitter.com/qGSXyCqxYh

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 8, 2024

22. LA Rams (Last week: 18)

Another loss for the Rams drops them to 1-4 on the season. Injuries are piling up, and Aaron Donald is still retired, so it might be time to consider trading Matt Stafford for picks and starting a rebuild.

23. LA Chargers (Last week: 23)

The Chargers had their bye week, so they stay put for now.

24. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 26)

Pulling off a gutsy, dramatic win over a division rival is always sweet, but I can’t give the Cardinals more than a small bump until they prove themselves more.

25. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 27)

Is head coach Mike McDaniel’s seat heating up? A meager 15-10 win over the lowly Patriots after dropping three in a row has to at least start some questions.

26. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 21)

That 3-0 start feels like a lifetime ago already. The Steelers have lost two in a row, largely thanks to an offense that seems allergic to first downs. I get a sense that the Justin Fields experiment has run its course in Pittsburgh.

27. New York Giants (Last week: 30)

Picking up a nice win will always get teams a small bump in my rankings, but we know who the Giants are. This is still a lousy team.

28. Las Vegas Raiders (Last week: 24)

Getting shellacked by a rookie quarterback gets the Raiders dropped into the bottom five. The QB controversy in Las Vegas has officially begun.

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce told reporters that he’s still evaluating who will be the team’s starting QB, Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell. For now, the team is treating it like a competion before deciding who will start vs. the Steelers.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2024

29. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 25)

It feels unfair to drop a team four spots during their bye week, but I think we’ve all seen enough from the Titans to know that this spot is right about where they should be.

30. New England Patriots (Last week: 29)

Is it time for the Patriots to plug in rookie quarterback Drake Maye? The argument that Jacoby Brissett will win games for them clearly doesn’t hold water. As for concerns about starting a rookie when the roster is this bad, those are overblown. Unless Maye can’t even get the playcall right in the huddle, he will learn more by doing than by sitting and watching.

31. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 28)

The honeymoon period with Andy Dalton, if ever there was one, is probably over. I don’t think they should have ever benched Bryce Young but now feels like a good time to bring him back if that offensive showing against Chicago is all they can expect with Dalton under center.

32. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 31)

The Browns are simply a disgrace. The defense is not nearly as tough as it was last season. DeShaun Watson, for whom they traded three first-round picks and gave a fully guaranteed contract for $230 million, is the worst quarterback in the league. The rest of the roster appears to have given up. Head coach needs to find a new quarterback and soon, if he has that authority, or he might be the next head coach to lose his job.