NFL Power Rankings, Week 5: Miami Falls, Kansas City survives
By Grant Tuttle
What a week it was! Today, we are back with our Week 5 NFL Power Rankings and there have been some big changes at the top. The Miami Dolphins fell to the Buffalo Bills in spectacular fashion. After being seemingly unstoppable for the first three weeks of the season, now they seem very mortal. The Kansas City Chiefs cruised against the Chicago Bears in Week 3 but found themselves in a dogfight against Zach Wilson and the New York Jets.
Without further ado, we present these stories and much, much more in our most recent edition of the NFL power rankings.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
Last Week: 1 (-)
Here we are again. The Eagles are undefeated and they have been playing good football. Despite the Washington Commanders' best effort, they could not take down the Eagles and their punishing offensive rushing attack. The Eagles have a somewhat easy part of the schedule approaching with the Rams and Jets being their next two opponents. Barring something unforeseen, the Eagles will likely remain at the top of this list for a while.
2. San Francisco 49ers (4-0)
Last week: 3 (+1)
The 49ers took on the Arizona Cardinals this week and for a brief moment, it looked like it might be a competitive game. However, the 49ers rolled with standout performances from both Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey. With a dominant defense and high-powered offense, San Francisco can officially start believing in the hype.
3. Buffalo Bills (3-1)
Last Week: 5 (+2)
The Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins in an offensive-driven game. The Bills forced two turnovers and went for over 400 yards of offense in the 48-20 victory. Buffalo has reason for optimism if they can be consistently this good on offense and can stray away from making mistakes. Josh Allen has something to prove when it comes to big games but this victory was a big one.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (3-1)
Last week: 4 (-)
The Chiefs stumbled into a too-close-for-comfort type victory against the New York Jets and Zach Wilson, who may have played his best NFL game. A season ago, that would have likely been a loss. Fortunately, the Chiefs are extremely talented across the board and despite a number of mental errors, they came through in a tight one. The Chiefs are not yet playing their best offensive football. When they get to that point, they will be an extremely dangerous team.
5. Miami Dolphins (3-1)
Last Week: 2 (-3)
The Dolphins went from being the record-breaking team that scored 70 points in a game to being blown out by the Bills. Suddenly, Miami looks mortal. In this week's matchup, they went 3/10 on third-down conversions and 0/3 on 4th Down. That offense looks potent at times, but if they can be slowed down, they seem to lack the defensive talent to overcome a bad offensive showing.
6. Detroit Lions (3-1)
Last Week: 7 (+1)
The Lions are the real deal. With tremendous physicality at the point of attack, the Lions could be a difficult team to deal with down the stretch. With the Panthers coming to town next week, it seems likely that the Lions will continue their winning ways.
7. Dallas Cowboys (3-1)
Last Week: 8 (+1)
The Cowboys may have lost to the Cardinals last week, but they are still a team that opposing teams need to fear. After a 38-3 thrashing of the New England Patriots, Dallas proved that they still have a dominant defense and explosive offense. The Cowboys will have an opportunity to showcase just how good they are in next week's matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
8. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
Last Week: 9 (+1)
The Ravens were lucky enough to catch the Cleveland Browns on a day in which they did not have their starting quarterback. Deshaun Watson is not off to a great start by any means, but a functioning decision-maker could have made it a more interesting game. Baltimore jumped on Cleveland and never really looked back. Unfortunately, we did not really learn anything new about the Ravens this week.