Phil Agius
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No one likes to gloat, but there are some mildly self-satisfied smiles at Pickswise NFL Power Rankings HQ after we made the San Francisco 49ers our #1 team last week and they fully justified it by obliterating the Dallas Cowboys. That has created some separation between them and the chasing pack.
While there’s no change at the top, we do have a new team in the #32 slot after the Bears managed to claw their way out of the basement by beating the crumbling Commanders 40-20 on Thursday Night Football of NFL Week 5.
Among the teams moving up the board this week are the Lions, Jaguars, Colts, Saints and Raiders, while the Cowboys (surprise!), Packers, Titans and Commanders are among those heading in the wrong direction. We also have teams who just had their bye weeks to slot in for the first time, and while two of them have stayed in the same place, we also have one idle team moving up and one going down due to the movement of the teams around them.
You can also check out our early pick for NFL Week 6 and look at the latest NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.
Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 6
1 (-) San Francisco 49ers
We said last week that the 49ers had earned this status and they sure justified it on Sunday. Kyle Shanahan’s squad have a league-leading points differential of +99 after 5 games which, to save you doing the math, equates to an average result of a win by 19.8 points. The Browns might have been expected to provide a proper test for them this week if they were fully staffed, but doubts about Deshaun Watson’s health persist. The sportsbooks are all on board too now, with all the major books making the 49ers their Super Bowl favorites.
2 (up 1) Philadelphia Eagles
The 5-0 Eagles still don’t look quite as dynamic as we expected, but they just keep winning and a perfect record allows teams to move up when others falter. The Bills faltered this week, so the Eagles grab their spot. They are only 3rd in the Super Bowl betting with most sportsbooks, though, and can still be backed at +800 with DraftKings as playing in the same conference as the 49ers could prove an issue later in the year.
3 (up 1) Kansas City Chiefs
Like the Eagles, the Chiefs still hopefully have gears to move through, but they’re 4-1 for now while they hope that Travis Kelce’s ankle injury does not turn out to be a long-term issue. They have the Broncos twice in the next 3 weeks, so it’s not a bad time for him to take a break if he needs it. Oddsmakers still have faith as they’re 2nd in the Super Bowl betting.
4 (down 2) Buffalo Bills
The Bills have excuses for losing to the Jaguars this week, not least that arriving in London late in the week was a questionable decision against a team who were in their second week overseas. They’re a 3-2 team now, though, so can consider themselves lucky to still be in the top 4. Most sportsbooks have them and the Dolphins ranked 4th and 5th but in differing orders. We’re sticking with the Bills being ahead of Miami after last week’s convincing head-to-head win.
5 (up 3) Detroit Lions
We’ve been careful not to go too big too soon with our ranking of the Lions but they have won 3 straight games by 14+ points, so they deserve to move within striking distance of the top teams. Back-to-back road games against the Buccaneers and Ravens should help to determine whether they deserve to stay there. FanDuel is yet to be convinced and has the Lions 8th in its Super Bowl market, but they have breached the top 6 with other books.
6 (down 1) Miami Dolphins
This is a rare one where we have a team that won moving down the list, but it’s really just to accommodate the Lions. The Dolphins’ loss to the Bills also doesn’t look so good now that the lower-ranked Jaguars were able to beat them and Miami’s wins over the Giants, Broncos and Patriots can’t count for too much.
7 (up 3) Jacksonville Jaguars
Speaking of the Jaguars, here they are. They went 2-0 in their second home of London, beating the Falcons and Bills, with Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk starting to find their stride. The sportsbooks aren’t quite so high on them, ranking them around 10th in the Super Bowl odds.
8 (down 1) Baltimore Ravens
We’ve been lenient to the Ravens here, moving them down only 1 place after they lost the Steelers as they could have won that game by 20 or 30 points. Catching a few balls would be a good idea if they want to stay in our top 10.
9 (-) Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks were off last week and will probably be annoyed that the Bengals have had time to find some form before taking them on this week.
10 (down 4) Dallas Cowboys
To use Dak Prescott’s phrase, the Cowboys have been humbled twice in the last 3 weeks, and their place in the top 10 now looks extremely shaky given their wins have been over the Giants, Jets and Patriots, which don’t count for much.
11 (up 3) Los Angeles Rams
Your weekly reminder that these are power rankings, not power standings, which means we can have teams that lost moving up as well as teams that won moving down. In this case, the Rams gave a good account of themselves against solid opposition in the Eagles and with Cooper Kupp back on the scene and looking as good as ever, they’re in a stronger position now. They are 2-3, but losses to the 49ers, Bengals and Eagles are not the worst results around.
12 (up 1) Los Angeles Chargers
The LA teams seem to have been following each other around in these rankings all season and the Chargers get a slight rise despite not playing this week.
13 (down 2) Cleveland Browns
The Chargers’ rise is due to this precautionary demotion of the Browns over their bye week. Considering it was supposed to be a game-time decision for Deshaun Watson not to play against the Ravens in Week 4, it was alarming that he still wasn’t healthy enough to return to practice after a week of rest and there are rumors that PJ Walker could even become Cleveland’s third starting QB of the season this week. The 49ers would be a tough draw even if everyone was available.
14 (up 2) Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals offense finally looked like we thought it should in the win over the Cardinals as Ja’Marr Chase proved his point about always being open. It helps now that Joe Burrow is able to deliver the ball to him. That’s perfect timing as Seahawks-49ers-Bills is something of a gauntlet in their next 3 games.
15 (-) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs stay where they were before their bye week. They are only 3rd favorites for the NFC South despite being just ahead of the Saints and Falcons in the standings.
16 (up 6) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have lost quarterback Anthony Richardson for a while, but they’re in safe enough hands with Gardner Minshew, who has played in all 3 of their wins. They are +41o 3rd favorites in the division, though, and won’t want to suffer a second AFC South loss to the Jaguars this week. They could benefit if the Jags take a while to readjust to American time after their 2-week holiday.
17 (-) Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are unchanged after putting up a fair effort against the highly-ranked Chiefs, but losing Justin Jefferson for a month or more could see them falling down the list in the coming weeks despite them having reasonable alternatives in Jordan Addison and KJ Osborn. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah may well be tempted to switch the 1-4 Vikings into full tank mode.
18 (down 6) Green Bay Packers
The Packers let another winnable game slip away against the Raiders on MNF, which was disappointing even though they were without RB Aaron Jones. They are out to +500 odds in the AFC North now with the Lions well clear in the standings.
19 (up 2) Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are 3-2 with big divisional wins over the Browns and Ravens in the bag even though they could easily be 1-4 if not for their happy habit of summoning up huge defensive plays just when they need them most.
20 (down 2) Houston Texans
It looked like another great day for the Texans when CJ Stroud found Dalton Shultz for a go-ahead score inside the last 2 minutes in Atlanta, but they let that one slip away. They still have to be feeling good about landing Stroud in the draft as he looks to be a good one.
21 (up 4) New Orleans Saints
The Saints humiliated the Patriots in Foxborough, shutting them out 34-0. The value of that form remains to be seen, though, as it was the second straight flop like that by New England. The Saints move up, but not too far.
22 (up 1) Atlanta Falcons
It was a better day for Falcons QB Desmond Ridder against the Texans and the Falcons should remain in the playoff hunt given what looks like one of the softest schedules in the league.
23 (up 5) Las Vegas Raiders
We had to give the Raiders a decent bump for fear of Maxx Crosby coming after us if we didn’t… The Raiders overcame some more curious decision-making from their head coach to hold off the Packers and have a chance for further progress with the Patriots and Bears up next.
24 (-) New York Jets
The Jets don’t move up despite beating the Broncos due to the more praiseworthy wins of the 3 teams above them. We guarantee they’ll be higher if they can end the Eagles’ unbeaten start this week, but they are +245 odds at FanDuel to do that.
25 (down 6) Tennessee Titans
The Titans can’t seem to follow one good performance with another and they picked a bad week to lose with the teams that were previously below them playing well. They are out to +380 odds for the AFC South.
26 (down 6) Washington Commanders
Last week’s #19 and #20 become this week’s #25 and #26 as the Commanders are justly punished for becoming the first team for nearly a year to lose to the Bears. There is no way a team with that much talent on its defensive roster should be allowing an average of 32 points per game.
27 (down 1) Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals now have 4 games in which they have played reasonably well but lost, plus a win over the Cowboys that doesn’t look as good as it once did. The loss of RB James Conner to injury should be further incentive for them to tank the rest of this season.
28 (up 1) New York Giants
The elevation of the Giants and the team that’s coming up next has nothing to do with their own efforts and everything to do with the failure of the team in 30th place. The Giants’ defense wasn’t the first to have no answers for Miami’s speed and surely won’t be the last.
29 (up 1) Denver Broncos
Talk of major changes in Denver is already happening, and 1-4 with a 0-3 home record is not what was expected when they gave up a first-round draft pick to acquire head coach Sean Payton. The Broncos are surely running out of former employees to lose to each week.
30 (down 3) New England Patriots
Here they are! The team responsible for the Giants and Broncos moving up despite losing. The Patriots have lost by an unbelievable 72-3 over the last 2 weeks and have benched Mac Jones only for Bailey Zappe to do no better in each of the last 2 games.
31 (up 1) Chicago Bears
One swallow does not make a summer, but if the Bears can back up their win over the Commanders when they play the Jefferson-less Vikings this week, they will be moving further up the list. They needed Moore and they got it from DJ on TNF.
32 (down 1) Carolina Panthers
We said it’s power rankings, not power standings, but the league’s only 0-5 team deserves last place for now at least. It could be worse of course. After all they don’t have to play the Dolphins offense until Sunday.
