A wild week for the Florida NFL teams with Miami at number 4, Jacksonville at number 7 and Tampa Bay coming in at the 11th best team in the league according to the NFL.COM Power Rankings. Here is more from the pen of NFL.COM writer the talented
Eric Edholm the Lead Draft expert.
It was a tide-shifting week in the NFL, with the 49ers laying an early claim for NFC supremacy via a dominant win over the Cowboys. The irony here is that the only other unbeaten team in the NFL through five weeks is the Eagles, who crushed the quarterback-crippled Niners in the NFC Championship Game nine months ago.
Who’s the better 5-0 team? That won’t be officially tested until they meet in Philadelphia in Week 13, but it’s hard right now to go against a San Francisco team firing on all cylinders.
We also saw some shockingly unimpressive performances in Week 5. Is this suddenly Bill Belichick’s worst Patriots team … ever? To find out how far the Patriots have sunk — and where the rest of the league checks in — read on.
- 49ers
If there were Brock Purdy doubters still lingering, Sunday night should have muzzled those folks a bit. The 49ers are just clicking right now offensively, and as long as Purdy has a healthy Four Horsemen — CMC, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel — it’s going to be lights out against most defenses. Kyle Shanahan seemed to be having a blast, emptying the bag against a highly touted Dallas defense. But it’s also time to trumpet the achievements of San Francisco’s D, which hasn’t missed too many beats since DeMeco Ryans left the coordinator post. The Niners lead the league in turnover differential (+7, tied with Tampa Bay) and points allowed per game (13.6). They might not be unbeatable, but it’s going to take a pretty strong effort to get them right now.
2. Eagles
The Eagles are a delightfully imperfect team at a perfect 5-0 after beating the Rams. It’s not always remarkably pretty, at least not by the standard set by the 2022 Eagles, but that’s starting to not matter much. You can rue the lack of red-zone execution or whatever issue du jour might come up on any game day if you want. When Nick Sirianni has proven he’ll take almost any worthy chance presented to him, it can compensate for a lot. What kind of a team takes the ball 32 seconds before halftime at its own 25-yard line expecting to score — and then does, on a “Brotherly shove,” as the game clock expires? The same team that calls QB draw on third-and-9, fully knowing it will go for it on fourth down if needed. The schedule toughens considerably, though, so the execution can’t remain lukewarm forever.
3. Chiefs
Two third-quarter touchdown drives — one with Travis Kelce, one without — helped the Chiefs get out of Minnesota with a W, even though they struggled to put the game away. Kelce’s heroics aside, that might be the kind of game Kansas City will have to master this season. Outside of the thrashing of the Bears in Week 3, the other four games were one-score affairs that came down to a late possession. That’s reminiscent of how the 2019 Chiefs won, battling through nine one-score games (with a 5-4 record) en route to their first Super Bowl title since 1969. They’d be fine going the blowout route instead, I am sure, and it could happen again soon, with two matchups upcoming vs. Denver. But learning to win hard-fought games in tough circumstances is never bad.
4. Dolphins
This wasn’t Tua Tagovailoa‘s best outing, with his pick-six making it appear to be a much closer game than it really was. The Dolphins’ supporting cast is so good, though, that they still beat the Giants comfortably. Tyreek Hill is on pace for 2,213 receiving yards, which is almost 250 yards more than Calvin Johnson’s current single-season NFL record (1,964). That’s great, but the news that De’Von Achane (seven TDs in four games) will miss multiple weeks with a knee injury stings. Thankfully, the defense came up with the kind of performance on Sunday that should boost its confidence, even taking into account the star-crossed nature of the Giants’ offense. Vic Fangio’s bunch needed that after being worked over in Week 4 by the Bills. Miami gets a wounded Panthers team in Week 6. Then the fun really starts before the Week 10 bye: at the Eagles in Week 7, vs. the Patriots in Week 8 and at the Chiefs in Week 9.
5. Lions
The Lions dropped 42 on the Panthers without Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jahmyr Gibbs (and others), which only enhances what they’ve accomplished through Week 5. Even though it came against winless Carolina, this victory shouldn’t be overlooked. Good teams take care of business against lesser teams. Doing so convincingly despite the absence of key contributors on both sides of the ball is the hallmark of a great team. It’s OK to say it aloud — the Lions are now in that category. They’ve won 12 of 15 games dating back to 2022, triumphing at Arrowhead and Lambeau this season and becoming the clear-cut NFC North faves. Even with defensive injuries mounting — poor Emmanuel Moseley is the latest, having suffered a second torn ACL in as many years — the Lions have a great chance to end a 32-year playoff-win drought.
6. Bills
I’m willing to buy a little into the notion that waiting to fly to London until Friday made it tough for the Bills to adjust to the time difference. The offense that scored 30-plus points in three straight weeks was lagging until a pair of too-little-too-late fourth-quarter TD drives. Falling like that and sustaining more injuries on defense (Matt Milano and DaQuan Jones were both lost) made this one a double gut punch. With Tre’Davious White going down the week prior, this good defense is in tough shape, even with Von Miller returning on Sunday. Getting Greg Rousseau back eventually should boost the pass rush, but the big plays allowed in coverage were troubling. I still have the Bills ahead of the Jaguars, despite the loss. Why? Because the Bills have the stronger body of work overall and could be favored in a playoff rematch, even in Jacksonville
7. Jagaurs
Even with Week 4’s solid, convincing victory over Atlanta, I think Sunday was the first time I could say the offense was really humming. This had been a bit of an underperforming unit, frankly, prior to ringing up 474 yards and 29 first downs against Buffalo, even with Trevor Lawrence’s three fumbles (two lost). And I’m not ignoring the fact that he and his team have fumbled at too high a rate, and the sacks keep racking up. But getting that big-play potency back was pretty key, and it was fueled by Calvin Ridley and Travis Etienne — just as it was meant to be. The defense has been mostly stout, but the offense had to find a little mojo.
8. Dallas
A rough loss to the Cardinals in Week 3 was followed by a laugher win against the Patriots in Week 4, then a full-on tail-whipping from the 49ers. What do we make of this team after the past three weeks? Dak Prescott had an awful night on Sunday, as did Tony Pollard, who disappeared after his first-quarter fumble. Even the fallback defense was tarred and feathered, to the point where it’s fair to challenge that unit’s lofty reputation. The 49ers stood up to Dallas’ toughness and pushed back — several times into the end zone. The Cowboys face old friend Kellen Moore and the Chargers in prime time this coming Monday, and you can bet that Moore took close notes on what Kyle Shanahan achieved Sunday. Will Dallas bounce back? Or limp into the Week 7 bye at 3-3?Â
9. Seahawks – The Seahawks floated into their Week 5 bye week with a rousing defensive performance against the Giants. If there was only one negative to racking up 11 sacks, it was that it overshadowed the improvements Seattle has made in run defense through four games. The Seahawks are allowing 1.7 yards per carry less than they did last season, when they were pushed around by opponents up front. If there’s a concern in the 3-1 start, it’s that they’re not good enough on third downs — on either side of the ball. But assuming Geno Smith is fine and the downfield passing game gets cooking again, the Seahawks should be in decent shape. And they don’t face the vaunted 49ers until Weeks 12 and 14, so there’s time to get things in order.
10. Baltimore
Sunday’s loss hurt more than the Week 3 stunner against the Colts did, in my opinion. Sure, falling to a backup QB isn’t ideal, but Gardner Minshew is decent, as are the Colts; plus, that game was straight-up fluky in a lot of ways. Week 5? The Ravens just gave Pittsburgh the win. They had chances to step on the Steelers’ necks multiple times throughout, but dropped passes, turnovers (two by Lamar Jackson late) and special-teams breakdowns started the avalanche, with Pickett-to-Pickens finishing it. The Ravens are a good team. My suspicion is they’ll snap out of whatever funk they’re in and realize it. Maybe the trip to London will be cleansing. Or at least more cleansing than their last trip overseas.
11. Buccaneeers
Although the Week 3 loss to the Eagles is a stark reminder of what the Bucs looked like against the one true contender they’ve faced to this point, it’s hard not to take a step back and like most of what we’ve seen from this team. Todd Bowles has quietly done an excellent job on the whole, reshaping a strong, hard-nosed defense and entrusting the offense to QB Baker Mayfield and offensive coordinator Dave Canales. The run game might be pretty dormant, but the defense has kept scores down enough with incredible red-zone work to give Tampa Bay chances to win most games. Can this formula continue? We’ll likely find out during this fatter part of the schedule, with the next three opponents (vs. Lions, vs. Falcons, at Bills) upping the stakes.
12. Browns
Everything about Week 4, from Deshaun Watson missing the game to the defense having its first real tough outing of the season, forced us to reevaluate this team on its Week 5 bye. San Francisco is coming to town Sunday, followed by road tests at Indianapolis and Seattle, and there are enough questions to wonder if this team is built to last. The lack of offensive consistency is the most pressing issue, and we just don’t know if Watson and Kevin Stefanski have the magic formula. The Nick Chubb-less run game is a limiting factor right now, and there are concerns on the offensive line (Jedrick Wills‘ performance, a lack of depth). As good as the defense has been, it would behoove that unit to create more turnovers. This team needs all the possessions it can steal from opponents.
13. Chargers
14. Saints
15. Bengals
16.Falcons
17. Colts
18. Packers
19. Jets
20. Steelers
21. Texans
22. Rams
23. Titans
24. Raiders
25. Vikings
26. Commanders
27. Cardinals
28. Patriots
29. Broncos
30. Bears
31. Giants
32. Panthers
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