NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Chiefs fall out of top 10

Week 5 has come and gone, and the Kansas City Chiefs sitting in the basement of the AFC West is nothing we expected.

Week 5 of the 2021 NFL season is over. And per usual, some teams’ stocks have risen while others’ have plummeted.

However, we didn’t think the Chiefs would be in the latter category even at this point in the season…

Let’s take a look at our latest NFL Power Rankings ahead of Week 6.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars ( → )

I say this pretty much every week: as long as the Jaguars keep losing, they’ll keep sitting in the bottom spot of our power rankings.

Are Urban Meyer’s days in Jacksonville numbered?

31. Detroit Lions ( ↓ 2 )

The Lions suffered another loss thanks to a game-winning field goal. Luckily, it wasn’t 66 yards this time.

Detroit is now 0-5 ahead of its matchup with Cincinnati this Sunday.

30. New York Jets ( ↓ 2 )

The Jets are down two spots to No. 30 following their tough loss to the Falcons in London.

Atlanta was a struggling 1-3 ballclub heading into the overseas matchup and the Jets made Matt Ryan look like the MVP Matt Ryan of 2016.

The veteran quarterback threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns.

Zach Wilson seemed jetlagged, throwing for just 192 yards with no touchdowns and one pick.

29. Houston Texans ( ↑ 2 )

The Texans move up two spots because they played a 1-3 Bill Belichick team tough — yes, that’s the current standard for this ballclub.

New England needed a late field goal to defeat the Davis Mills-led squad.

28. New York Giants ( ↓ 1 )

The Giants are back to square one following a brutal loss to the Cowboys this past Sunday. Dallas ousted its division rival by a score of 44-20 — there’s a chance Troy Aikman was right when he said the Giants and Cowboys aren’t in the same class.

New York is also dealing with a multitude of injuries, including ones to Daniel Jones (concussion), Saquon Barkley (ankle), and Kenny Golladay (knee).

Barkley and Golladay aren’t likely to play against the Rams this Sunday. Jones, on the other hand, is in the concussion protocol.

27. Atlanta Falcons ( ↑ 3 )

The Falcons of Week 5 didn’t look like the Falcons of Weeks 1-4 (maybe the Jets have real issues to fix).

Despite only defeating the Jets 27-20, this was Atlanta’s game for much of 60 minutes. The offense looked better than usual even without receivers Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage and the defensive unit kept Zach Wilson in check.

26. Miami Dolphins ( → )

The Dolphins remain at No. 26 — I feel a big loss to Tampa Bay in Week 5 was expected.

Miami fans are counting down the days until their 1-4 team gets Tua Tagovailoa back. There are definitely some supporters that also want Deshaun Watson — will the Dolphins actually make a move for the disgraced Texans quarterback?

25. Washington Football Team ( ↓ 3 )

The Football Team drop three spots after losing their second game in three weeks.

Could Taylor Heinicke be coming back to earth? The inexperienced quarterback threw two interceptions in the loss.

Washington’s defense also couldn’t contain Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who totaled 151 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving).

24. Indianapolis Colts ( ↑ 1 )

The Colts did drop to 1-4 on Monday, and they did allow the Ravens to score 22 unanswered points in what was a come-from-behind victory for Baltimore.

I move them up one spot though because I liked their ability to compete with a team like the Ravens, who certainly find themselves near the top of these power rankings.

23. Philadelphia Eagles ( ↑ 1 )

The Eagles pulled off an impressive win over the Panthers, who were 3-1 heading into Week 5.

Maybe Philly isn’t as bad as one may think?

22. Chicago Bears ( ↑ 1 )

The Bears move up one spot following an impressive win over a tough Raiders team.

Justin Fields is the guy moving forward, and in the victory, the rookie threw for 111 yards and one score.

21. Denver Broncos ( ↓ 4 )

The Broncos benefitted from facing the Giants, Jaguars, and Jets to start the year.

Then, reality may have hit.

Denver drops four spots following a second straight loss. The Broncos came up short against Baltimore in Week 4 before losing to Pittsburgh this past Sunday.

20. New England Patriots ( → )

The Patriots stay right where they are after a close win over Houston.

New England isn’t all that talented and Bill Belichick doesn’t have much to work with, but the Pats will still find wins here and there.

We’ll see how Bill’s squad fares against the talented Cowboys Sunday afternoon.

19. Seattle Seahawks ( ↓ 8 )

The Seahawks drop a whopping eight spots for a number of reasons.

For one, their secondary was below-average in Week 5 and allowed Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford to throw for 365 yards last Thursday night.

Also, Russell Wilson is expected to be out 4-8 weeks after a ruptured tendon and a fracture-dislocation in his right middle finger forced him into surgery.

Geno Smith could be leading the Seattle offense moving forward.

18. Pittsburgh Steelers ( ↑ 3 )

The Steelers needed a spark after losing three straight, and they got one in Week 5.

Pittsburgh pulled off a big win over Denver and could construct a two-game winning streak when it faces the Seahawks this Sunday night.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 253 yards and a pair of scores in the win over the Broncos.

17. Carolina Panthers ( ↓ 4 )

The Panthers, like the Broncos, are hitting a rough patch after commencing the season with three consecutive victories.

Carolina has lost two straight, which puts the Panthers in the bottom half of the league this week.

This past Sunday’s defeat was against the Eagles by a score of 21-18. Sam Darnold threw three interceptions amid what was a disastrous performance for the fourth-year quarterback.

16. Minnesota Vikings ( ↓ 1 )

The Vikings drop one spot even after winning — Minnesota should be defeating an inferior squad like Detroit by more than just two points.

The Vikings defeated Seattle and lost to the still-undefeated Cardinals by one. Not to mention, they also lost to the talented Bengals by just a field goal.

Meanwhile, Detroit has yet to win a game through five weeks — I’m sorry, but Minnesota should’ve won this game by at least 10-12 points.

15. New Orleans Saints ( ↑ 4 )

The Saints got back on track with an 11-point statement win over Washington.

Jameis Winston threw four touchdowns in the victory. If the veteran quarterback can just limit the mistakes, this Saints team could construct a winning streak and be competitive in the NFC South division.

14. San Francisco 49ers ( ↑ 4 )

The 49ers are 2-3 and have lost three straight.

But in the trio of defeats, San Fran has lost by an average of just 5.3 points. The losses were also to the undefeated Cardinals, the Seahawks with a healthy Russell Wilson, and the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers.

Don’t let the 49ers’ current record deceive you.

13. Las Vegas Raiders ( ↓ 1 )

The Raiders drop one spot after losing a winnable game to the Bears. Vegas was 3-0 to begin the year and should absolutely be beating an inferior Chicago squad.

We’ll see how the Raiders respond this Sunday against Denver, especially following this week’s headlines.

Jon Gruden recently resigned as head coach after racist, homophobic, and misogynistic emails of his were uncovered.

12. Tennessee Titans ( ↑ 4 )

The Titans stumbled upon a get-back game against the Jaguars this past Sunday after losing to the Jets in Week 4, and capitalized on the opportunity. Tennessee defeated Jacksonville 37-19 behind 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Derrick Henry.

At 3-2, the Titans sit atop the AFC South division. Can they defeat the powerful Bills next Monday night?

11. Kansas City Chiefs ( ↓ 6 )

Kansas City out of the top 10?

Yes — we don’t lie in the headline (ever).

The Chiefs dropped to 2-3 and couldn’t even be competitive with Buffalo on Sunday night. Patrick Mahomes turned the ball over three times in the 38-20 loss.

I’m not saying the Chiefs’ reign is over; let’s not jump to conclusions.

But it’s not looking great at Arrowhead.

10. Cincinnati Bengals ( ↑ 4 )

Who would’ve thought the Bengals would be in the top 10 by Week 6 of the regular season?

We sure didn’t, but here we are.

Despite losing to the Packers in overtime this past Sunday, the Bengals showed they’re capable of competing with some of the league’s best and that their 3-1 start wasn’t just a fluke.

The Bengals also had an opportunity to defeat Green Bay via a game-winning kick, so it’s not like they weren’t talented enough to be in the position to notch a victory.

9. Cleveland Browns ( ↑ 1 )

The Browns move up one spot to make way for the Chiefs’ significant drop-off.

Cleveland lost this past weekend but was at least competitive with a highly talented Chargers team. Los Angeles ultimately won 47-42.

8. Green Bay Packers ( ↓ 2 )

The Packers drop two spots in order to make room for the rise of the Chargers and Ravens, which we’ll talk about in a minute.

While we believe Cincinnati is good, the expectation was that the Packers would be able to handle the Bengals with at least some ease — that wasn’t the case.

Green Bay needed a game-winning kick from Mason Crosby (after he missed three field-goal attempts and one extra-point attempt) in overtime to defeat Cincy.

7. Los Angeles Chargers ( ↑ 2 )

Boy, are the Chargers good or what?

Los Angeles went toe-to-toe with the Browns and ultimately notched the victory thanks to a stellar game from second-year quarterback Justin Herbert. The star signal-caller threw for 398 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for another score on the ground.

6. Baltimore Ravens ( ↑ 1 )

Lamar Jackson…enough said.

The Ravens quarterback put it all out on the line and led his team to score 22 unanswered points in a comeback win over Indianapolis Monday night.

Because of this, the Ravens ascend the rankings to No. 6 — I have a newfound respect for Jackson.

Oh, and this stat from ESPN’s Field Yates is incredible…

There have been 4,017 instances in NFL history of a quarterback attempting at least 40 passes in a game.

On Monday night, Lamar Jackson completed 86.0% of his 43 passes, the highest completion % by a QB in those 4,017 games… ever.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 12, 2021

5. Dallas Cowboys ( ↑ 3 )

The Cowboys are a top-five team in the NFL — it’s undeniable at this point.

Dallas won its fourth straight game this past Sunday and defeated the Giants 44-20. It was a statement win for the Cowboys, whose only loss is to Tampa Bay by two points.

Against Big Blue, Dak Prescott further proved he’s an MVP candidate, throwing for 302 yards and three touchdowns.

4. Los Angeles Rams ( ↓ 1 )

The Rams move back one spot to make way for the Buccaneers.

Although Los Angeles defeated the Seahawks last Thursday night, I didn’t like how it was still fairly close even after Russell Wilson exited the matchup with his finger injury.

Maybe I’m being stubborn, but that’s just how I feel about the Rams at the moment.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( ↑ 1 )

The Buccaneers move up one spot following their blowout win over Miami on Sunday.

Tom Brady was fantastic, throwing for 411 yards and five touchdowns.

2. Arizona Cardinals ( → )

The Cardinals remain undefeated and the team to beat in the NFC. While Kyler Murray didn’t put together his best performance against the Niners this past Sunday (only one total touchdown), the potential MVP candidate is certainly capable of bouncing back against Cleveland in Week 6.

Arizona is the only undefeated team in football, but I still wouldn’t bet the Cardinals in a head-to-head matchup with our top-ranked squad…

1. Buffalo Bills ( → )

The Bills earned the No. 1 spot last week and remain there following a 38-20 win over Kansas City Sunday night.

Josh Allen was fantastic in the victory and further proved he’ll likely be an MVP candidate at the conclusion of the regular season. The fourth-year quarterback threw for 315 yards, ran for another 59, and recorded four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).

Buffalo’s defense also stepped up and forced Patrick Mahomes to commit three turnovers (two interceptions, one lost fumble).

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