Week 6: Vikings, Patriots enter top 10; Eagles, Saints in free fall

NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. I'm your host, Colleen Wolfe, here with Nick Shook, the man with the power in the rankings. I have not even been back from London for 24 hours.

And you can't tell at all.

We're all going to be in for a ride today. All right, let's take a look at Nick Shook's first eight teams in the rankings. And the top four, they have not moved at all. You have the same Niners up top at number one, then the Chiefs, Seahawks, Ravens. The Jags at five, they're up one spot. The Bills up one at six. The Vikings, they're the only new team in this tier left. At number seven, they're up four spots. And then the Broncos still hanging on in the top eight, down three spots, but at number eight.

Let's start with the number one team, though. The 49ers, who outlasted the Seahawks. They remain perfect. They control the division. What impressed you most about that win?

That is a perfect way to describe it, is outlasted them. And that is what impressed me the most about this game and about this team, is the fact that they were able to go into Seattle, not the fifth straight victory for a road team in this regular season division series between these two teams, and do it in an environment in which there were many reasons why they should have fallen apart, but they didn't. Brock Purdy did not have a great day. He was under constant pressure. And yet he made plays like that one to Brandon Cooks, which gave me one of those, like, oh, yeah, Brandon Cooks signed with them. He's still in the league. Just add another team to his nomadic journey through the NFL.

And I also felt like it's another game in which their defense, which is at least the front becoming very much a no-name unit, they found a ton of success. I mean, there were guys making plays, whether it was the fumble recovery in the end zone by Halton or it was a sack of Sam Darnold, who I had never heard of. Like, I'm still at this point now where I'm like, practice squad elevation? Like, I've got to Google this guy.

Yeah.

We are leaning toward a search bar defense with this group, and they're playing collectively. Mike Evans was a big part in this game, obviously, but it wasn't just him. And I felt like this was the first time in which they were truly 100% tested, even more than the Denver game. And they overcame everything that was against them and won this game in a division rivalry. I mean, look, they were already number one. I think it only bolstered their case.

Yeah, and when you look at the amount of points that they scored, it's funny because they scored more points in this game than they did in three matchups against the Seahawks last year. What is the weakness for them? Do you look at wide receivers? Do you look at the pass rush depth, even though they were good, even though you mentioned, like, they didn't have the depth.

Yeah, I wonder if this entire season I've thought, well, once they face a really good team, those weaknesses are going to start to show. And for the most part, they haven't. They didn't in this game. It's depth. The only weakness I can consider is depth because this is a team that just historically has suffered a lot of unfortunate injuries. And the receiving court, it's pretty thin. Like, Jacob Cowing's getting more snaps, which, you know, you signed Brandon Cooks. It kind of is a sign that, look, we don't have many options. You need Deebo Samuel to stay healthy more than anything because he's been a huge part of this offense. But so yeah, I think it's depth as of now, but look, they're 5-0, so there's

not much to complain about.

Look at that. Let's go to the team that they beat next. Your number three ranked team, the Seahawks. They played a really great game, but they just fell short in the end.

Yeah, they did. And Sam Darnold still has some issues with turnovers. But it's one of those teams and one of those games that I can't dock them for it because it was so down to the wire depending on how they would measure a spot on fourth down. Did they have an opportunity to continue the drive and maybe tie the game, send it to overtime? We'll never know.

I mean, according to the rules, he was short. So, yes, that is the answer. But they're still a strong team. They're a team that has an issue with the ground game right now, with ball security. But they have Jackson Smith and Jigba. And they have a defense that is swarming and made the Niners offense, which looked like a well-oiled machine, that gave them a lot of difficulties. You know, that pass rush, Byron Murphy was very good. He wasn't the only one in that group to play really well.

They're still one of the best teams in the NFL. I just felt like after this game, it was a defensively dominant first half for both sides. It was a turnover-filled affair.

Nine of them.

And it was a battle between two teams that are two of the best teams in the NFL.

That's true. Nine turnovers, though, including four last week. That's a huge deal for them. And then, I don't know, I think the one thing that people might look at on these rankings is that you have them ahead of the 4-1 Ravens, even though they lost. And we're going to get to the Ravens right now. Let's go to them.

All right.

Because they also... are the same place that they were last week, number four. How impressed were you with that win in Atlanta on Sunday night?

That was their most impressive win of the year.

And they've had some pretty good wins.

They have. You know, the win over Dallas down in Rio was a big one. They've taken care of business against lesser teams. So it's all kind of worked out for them. But this is the one where I felt they were tested the most and they had the most adversity facing them, which is on the road in Atlanta against a very hot Falcons team with a backup quarterback in Snoop Huntley, who is very experienced but still is not Lamar Jackson. You know, facing a deficit in the fourth quarter, going down the field, scoring the touchdown, and the two-point conversion to send it to overtime, and then bleeding most of the clock in overtime to win that game.

It just felt like, okay, this is the Ravens team that we usually expect on an annual basis, and even without Lamar Jackson, they were able to lean on Derrick Henry Moore, which I've wanted them to do for weeks, and they found a way to get the job done. And I think that that's most important in matchups like this, especially in primetime, as you go through the marathon that is the season. They're on top of the AFC North right now, and that's why they sit there at number four. Yes, they have one more win than the Seahawks, But, you know, sometimes quality losses matter too. That's fair. All right.

And they also have their first division game coming up of the year. They play the Browns, your Brownies.

Highly interesting contest.

I'm very excited about that one. Let's go to the Jags. Who, they beat the Eagles in London. It was a very interesting game. I felt like the offense really though did not, we're not going to talk about the Eagles yet. This is about the Jags. But I felt like the Jags offense did not look that great. It was sluggish throughout.

Even their, like, Basil Tootin, he's very consistent. He is. But even throughout the game, they really couldn't get anything going until the very end.

So.

Where are you with the Jags? They're up one spot, they're ranked at number five in your rankings.

This is one of those games that I think the score influences the way that you feel about the game and the way that you just recapped it because they did have scoring opportunities. They just didn't convert. A lot of that had to do with the fact that they were playing with an emergency long snapper, didn't trust their field goal unit, so in those situations you don't even get three, you get nothing. You look like you're too aggressive in going for it on fourth down. And when you come away empty-handed over the course of the game, that starts to wear on you. But Liam Cohen kind of had his hands tied. He was doing the best that he could until they only had one option at the end, which was kick a field goal from 57

yards out. And luckily, they nailed it to win the game. I'm not too concerned about them. I love the fact that I can count on Basil Tootin to finish between 68 and 73 yards a game. He does have juice. It's not productive on a per-carry basis necessarily, the average being well under four. That needs to be a little bit better. But This is a pretty well-balanced offense that faced an Eagles team that played way better than I expected, that really overcame a lot of adversity and lack of personnel.

The Eagles have every reason in the world to fall apart and just lay down and quit on this season. And they did not in this game. But the Jags are still the better team. And because of, I would say, some luck, some mismanagement on the part of the opponent, they come away victorious to the point where their coach walks away smiling because he knows he got away with one.

Yeah, that was it. What an interesting end to a game. But yes, the Jags. They get the win there. They have another game coming up in London against the Houston Texans this week. Let's go to the Bills, though, who survived a massive overtime scare to beat the Rams, and that's why they're the team of the week.

This is one of the... weirdest games that you'll look at and just be like, I feel like you should have lost, but you also deserve to win. We had a few of those this week. It was just a strange week in that regard. One of them ended in a tie. But the Bills, in this game, sometimes you just have to let a team give you an opportunity.

And then it's up to you to capitalize on it. And they did that. Now, did they block the field goal that Harrison Nevis attempted that set up their opportunity to go down and kick the game? Any field goal? Sure. And they deserve credit for that. But If you look at this from a statistical standpoint, not a usual Bills game.

Josh Allen only threw 19 passes. They leaned heavily on the ground, which is exactly what I wanted them to do. Lean on James Cook, but he fumbles in overtime. He has a fumbling problem.

The shots of him on the bench and his face, I just felt for him.

I watched a shot of him walking off the field into the tunnel, and he looked like the saddest man in America. And they won. Yeah, exactly.

Thank God they won for him. Like, for his sake.

Softened the blow a little bit. Josh Allen going for 121 yards on the ground.

He is.

the superstar that we know him to be. And he was able to propel them to victory. But man, talk about a wild game. It's not one of those wins that really makes me think, all right, you should move up that much in the rankings. But just one of those games where it's like, this was entertaining and the result was what it was. Let's all move forward.

And the fact that this was Josh Allen's first career overtime win. How is that possible?

Well, there's been a lot of overtime losses to the Chiefs. That's fair.

He was previously 0-7. So he finally breaks that streak, gets the win. So there they are. Let's go to another one of the undefeated teams in the league. We have the Vikings at 5-0. They maintain their flawless record. They kind of grinded out this win over the Saints.

Yeah, exactly. You can consider this, I don't know if I would say it's an olive branch, it's a mea culpa to Vikings fans who... have been understandably after me for not putting them in the top 10 in recent weeks. You don't say. Even though they're undefeated. This was the first time where I felt it was warranted to put them in the top 10 because they actually generated some offense for the first time basically all year. Kyler Murray looked a lot more comfortable in the offense, especially in the second half. Good to see him connect with Justin Jefferson for a touchdown, and good for Jefferson to do it in New Orleans, his home state of Louisiana. And again, this defense is special. This is a defense that I

think by the end of the season, if all things stay the same and they stay healthy, we're going to look back on it and be like, that was one of the best defenses we've seen in the last 10 years. That's how good they are. Brian Flores has no regard for convention. whatsoever. He's just like, I'm going to blitz.

11 of the first 12 opportunities, he sent the blitz like he's playing Madden. And it worked! And it continues to work for this team. The problem is those who watch these games and then go watch Rams-Bills may feel like the Vikings are a lesser team because they're not as explosive offensively. Well, there's a reason that there's three phases to the game. And the Vikings have a championship level defense. If their offense can continue on this path, they will continue to win. They will continue to climb.

And then Vikings fans will finally get off my back. Yeah, hey, that's great.

That's what we're all looking for here.

Minnesota people are supposed to be nice.

Exactly. Midwest nice. They're up four spots. I feel like that should make them happy. And the fact that their team has a bye and they have a perfect record. Everyone can just, you know, have a nice week of relaxation. Let's go to the Broncos at 3-2. Big win over the Chargers. Yes, this is not the Chargers team that everyone expected them to be coming into the year.

The 0-5 Chargers.

But a divisional opponent, if you are going to compete, you need to beat the teams that are on your schedule and definitely.

In your division. And they did. And congratulations. I commend you for getting the victory, Denver Broncos fans.

That feels like a gold star that's I don't know.

Doesn't have a lot behind it. It's one of the gold stars that you put on your thumb and you stick on the forehead. Yes. Good job. A little bit of sarcasm.

What did you think of the play calling in that game?

Oh, well, I think the entire sideline operation was pretty chaotic. Sean Payton taking over play calling and getting very angry at all of his assistant coaches at one point late in the game. The operation pre-snap was a little messy as well, especially when there was a goal-to-go situation, and then they just decided to burn all the clock before deciding what to do and then calling a timeout. There was a time where they called a timeout and then got to delay a game out of the timeout, which is just unacceptable. Now, I'm not penalizing them for that.

I'm penalizing them for the fact that they finished with 224 net yards and Bo Nix had 123 passing yards. And this offense had no life. And that four of their five scoring drives began in Chargers territory. There is strength in this team. It is on their defense. And until they figure it out offensively, they're going to be a team that I remain skeptical about. And I'm just going to stick by that. But So they moved down because some other teams moved up.

Okay.

But when you think about wins, like wins to be proud of, every win counts the same. But if I'm a Broncos fan, I'm not necessarily proud of this. I think they're pretty honest with themselves about the current state of their offense and hoping for better results.

I think that if the results were the other way around, this would be a massive problem. There would be chaos with the fan base because they had to get this win. It's like a weighted win, you know, when you're grading things on a curve a little bit. Yeah. Okay, so that is the top eight teams. Coming up, though, hey, Drake May. We talked about the Patriots last week. Have they officially figured things out?

Maybe. Maybe.

Where do the Packers land, too, after their win over the Bears? The answer is we have a bunch of them coming up next. We'll be right back. Back here on NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer. Teams 9 through 16. All right, so the Bengals, they remain unchanged at 9. The Pats shoot up the rankings, up 8 spots. They're at number 10. The Lions up 5 spots. The Rams up 1. Bears down 3 at 13. Panthers remain unchanged at 14. Same as the Falcons at 15. And then the Packers up 11 spots. They're in a brand new tier.

They're at 16. We'll get to them in a minute. Let's go to the Patriots because we're going to shine a spotlight on them. Drake May, five touchdowns in this game after last week the sky was falling. Where are you on Drake May and this Patriots offense?

Some are saying that this is a resurgence that's even greater than the Revolutionary War.

Wow, some people.

Oh, my gosh. They just really turned it around. The guerrilla warfare in that one. The offensive explosion with the Patriots. It's been a fantastic two-week stretch for Drake May, who suddenly looks exactly like the guy we thought he was. Near the end of last season, I won't say actually at the end of last season because the playoffs were a little rocky for him, and they were incredibly productive.

536 yards of total offense. I believe it was the most in Mike Vrabel's tenure as head coach. They detonated the Raiders. The Raiders had no response, no answer. It's a perfect way to put it. Yeah, I mean, just vaporize. There are no more Raiders after playing the Patriots this week. Everything worked for them. It was one of those games that when you went back and watched it, you're just like, wow.

They can't do anything wrong. Yeah. And I think it's a little bit misleading because this is still the NFL. It's a week-to-week league. But, wow, what a turnaround for the Patriots in the last two weeks. And the best part about this is it wasn't just the massive offensive output.

The defense.

It was the defense. It was guys like Elijah Ponder making plays. It's the Vrabel defense that we saw last year where you saw the elevation of guys that maybe you didn't even really pay attention to. Caleb on chase on, for example, had a great year last year with them. They just find a way to get it done as a group. And they had an impressive win here. So we'll see. We'll see if it's the next step toward them being great again or not.

That defense let up 35 points to the Jags. They got rocked. Everyone was in panic mode. And now it feels like things are just leveling out a little bit. So really happy for New England fans.

In the last two weeks, 21 spots they've climbed.

Okay, let's go to the Lions, who they are up five spots. And... Look, Jared Goff, he has been so good, maybe one of the most consistent, and has not thrown an interception yet this season. They're your number 11 team. How are you feeling the fact that you put them.

Up these five spots? Good about them. I mean, the Lions have a very clear way to win football games, which is just run the offense through Jameer Gibbs, let Jared Goff cook. and spread the ball around to as many pass catchers. And that's what they did. And they took care of business against a Cardinals team that is getting worse by the week. This is exactly what you expect from a Lions team that believes they should be back in the playoffs. Go in there, take care of business, dominate a team that you're better than. That's what they did.

That's what they did indeed. I mean, the fact that they bounced back, it was just that the 45-21 over Arizona.

The defense played well. That's big for them. But again, could be fool's gold against the Cardinals. That's true.

Let's go to, and by the way, they have a bye week, so they get to... Chillax a little bit, hopefully get some of their guys back as well. Let's go to the Rams up one spot after their loss to the Bills on Monday Night Football. And they really, they bounced back, or they didn't bounce back. It was frustrating for a lot of Rams fans, I think. What do you figure out for them, especially with their special teams right now?

Yeah, that's the biggest concern with this team, as we know. It's been an issue for them for more than a year, and it's already prompted a kicker change. which is understandable, but it's about the entire unit, not just the kicker. It's also about the coach's management of endgame situations. This was setting up to be a pretty big landmark win for the Rams.

This was a theme for all of Week 5, by the way.

Yes, it was. Just gross. Gross endgame management everywhere. And Sean McVay, you expect, being such a good coach, he wouldn't do that, and yet he managed to find a way to do that, playing a little too conservatively. leaving James Cook speechless and also giving the Bills an opportunity to come back and win that game in overtime. This is the latest loss that they're going to look at and go, wow, we should have won that one. And eventually those start to pile up. They have things that they need to clean up. They're still a good football team.

They have an explosive offense. Puka Nakua going crazy. Him and Devonta Adams still the receiving duo that we expected them to be. Matthew Stafford better. Still a little bit sloppy at times, but a lot better this week than he's been for most of this season. Like, man, you really got to clean up the endgame scenarios.

Yeah, I mean, that is the biggest thing for them. They got to close out these games. Let's go to the Packers here. With this right now, when you look at the Packers, up 11 spots at 16 points. They delivered a statement performance, I would say, against one of their biggest rivals in the Bears. Where do you put this dominant win in terms of what you saw in Week 5?

Well, it's funny because you go into this Week 5 and everyone's like, oh, the Bears are going to dominate the Packers. Ben Johnson's quarterback proof. We even made those assertions here and there, right? And yet, I looked at it and thought, rivalry game, Packers are due to actually figure something out, and did they ever figure it out.

They were airing it out all day. Matt LaFleur had no respect for Chicago's back end of their secondary and just decided to chuck it deep over and over again. There was a sequence in which Christian Watson catches a great touchdown pass down the middle of the field, and it followed a pass that was called back by an offensive pass interference. Uh-huh. First play right after, he's just like, go deep again. We don't care. We're going to test this secondary all day. And it worked out, producing a 360-yard game for Jordan Love, who I felt finally got back to who he is. He seemed inconsistent, maybe a little bit uncomfortable under the weight of having to carry the whole offense. The running game is still not good.

The defense was very good. And that's the most important part, I think, of this entire operation, is if they can balance a deep shot passing attack with a defense that can harass an opposing quarterback, then they can be a good football team. And look at that. They're 3-2. They have the same record as the Bears. And last week, I considered them to be very different teams. Wow.

How much do you think Matt LaFleur loved that post-game handshake with Ben Johnson?

I think he probably saw the slow-mo replay of Ben Johnson's long stare. Like, you know, there's an awkward moment in handshakes, and he's just Hold the stare and continue walking, but hold the stare. Stiff jaw. You know, clenched because he's angry.

It's one of my favorite things to watch.

Revel in that until they play next week.

Yeah. And, hey, they're going to play on Christmas. So we'll get to see that on December 25th. And also they have a big game coming up against the Cowboys this week. So everybody buckle up for that one.

More points.

All right, coming up, we have our Cowboys. We're going to talk about them. Ever going to figure out things? Come on. I mean, I hope not, but that's just me. Plus, there's a one-win team. that Nick thinks could make a run for the playoffs. Find out who, next. Welcome back to Power Rankings, presented by Energizer. A look at teams 17 through 24 for Nick Shook. The Giants up two spots at 17. The Cowboys, they fall 10 spots. They're down to number 18 in the rankings. The Raiders right behind them at 19, down 7. The Jets up 4 at 20. Then the Browns down 4. The Steelers up 3.

The Bucks up 7 at 23. And then the Colts down 2 at 24. What is going on with the Cowboys? This, it was a brutal home loss on Thursday night football to Tampa Bay. The defense just, the cracks keep getting worse and worse.

And it only really shows up when you can't paper over it with the offense, which is what they weren't able to do in this game. 16 total points from an explosive offense led by Dak Prescott. We saw how valuable CeeDee Lamb is to this offense when he went out with an injury in the fourth quarter and they had to try to mount a comeback. Kamonte Turpin fumbling on a return also didn't help them. They were loose with the football. Their chances of coming back ended with an interception that was more unfortunate than anything. And there's a reason to be highly concerned because when you can only win in one way and that one way doesn't work against a team that was winless that everybody expected you to beat, you should be really worried about where

this team is right now. We'll see if they bounce back.

Well, I mean, I think that the incompetence that we've seen from the other three teams in the NFC East gives all of the NFC East teams cover somehow.

Everybody's got time to figure it out.

Exactly right. Let's go to the Steelers. They're up three spots, number 22. They had a convincing win. over the Colts, but the Colts are kind of a mess, so I don't know how much stock you put into that. The defense, though, for the Steelers stepped up when they needed it.

Do you remember in baseball how the San Francisco Giants won a World Series in every even year from like 10, 12, 14? I think the Steelers are an odd week team because every odd-numbered week they play really well. They put a ton of points on the Bengals. They put a ton of points on the Colts. They couldn't put as many points on the Browns. And so ultimately what we find is a team that I don't really know what to think about them right now. Aaron Rodgers is very strong on odd weeks. He looks comfortable in most games. This is a defense that's bad. The Colts' defense is bad.

So it was one of those examples of, look, this team can find success against lesser defenses. And when you look at the Steelers as an entire unit, their defense tends to be aggressive. Most importantly for me, Jalen Warren. He ran the ball through Jalen Warren. You just run the entire offense through Jalen Warren. and you're usually going to find some success.

I think that that's a good plan. Pittsburgh, though, right now on the heels of Baltimore in the AFC North race. They're 3-0 at home, 0-2 on the road, and their next two games are on the road. So we'll see if that alternating week situation, that trend, if it holds. Let's go to... Let's take a look at the... 25 through 32 teams.

Oh, yeah.

In your rankings. The Texans, they're down two at 25. Eagles, down five. And our researcher, Ben McWilliams, says they're six spots too high at number 26. The Saints at 27. Commanders at 28. Dolphins, 29. Chargers up one spot at 30. The Cardinals, down five spots at 31. And then the Titans at 32. But the Eagles, shook. Another bad loss for the Eagles. They've lost three in a row after starting 2-0. And this one was spectacularly....

Terrible. But I don't hold it against them because they played hard. They have every reason in the world to not play hard and to lose by many points to this team, to the Jaguars. They have injuries all over the place. Their right tackle, who's a franchise legend, retired. They had traded away their starting center, who they had moved to guard out of necessity. This is a team that should have gotten dominated, and yet they fought. For four quarters, they fought. They got some advantageous breaks with the Jags not being able to get points in scoring opportunities because of their special team situation. And then it all falls apart in the final seven seconds. it's probably the most heartbreaking and crushing loss of the season for

an Eagles team that really couldn't afford to take one of those right now. No, I'm very fascinated to see how they bounce back or if they do at all.

That's what I was going to ask you. Do you expect them? How do you expect them to recalibrate from this?

And do you, I mean, you got to learn how to manage that last seven seconds better, but it's find the good in what happened in this game and hope that, you know, before long you can get healthier and kind of get back to who you are. There's just so many things that they have to, figure out offensively right now that they just have not been able to do.

I mean, 232 yards of total offense, yet they were in position to win a game. It's just a low-ceiling operation right now.

Yeah, well, that was an Eagles-heavy crowd in London, even though it was a Jags home game, but the Jags, they get the win, and now the Eagles will need to try and pivot and figure out how to fix things, but Your rankings, they are set for this week, and we're going to do it all again next week.

We're going to fix them.

Nick, thank you so much. And gang, thanks so much for watching. We'll do it all again, same place, same time next week. NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Week 6: Vikings, Patriots enter top 10; Eagles, Saints in free fall

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