1. New England Patriots (Last week: 1)
New England is clearly the best team in football right now. Tom Brady is playing as well as he always does, and the combination of Julian Edelman, Gronk, and Dion Lewis is very hard to defend. The secondary has been surprisingly solid as well, with Malcolm Butler playing even better than Patriots fans had hoped.
2. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 2)
There are a lot of football analysts that are doubting the Green Bay defense and Aaron Rodgers’ ability to perform without Jordy Nelson. In terms of the defense, this team is 11th in pass yards allowed, even after allowing over 500 this past week, and third in points allowed.
3. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 3)
This season, only Aaron Rodgers has more touchdowns than Andy Dalton, only Tom Brady has a better quarterback rating than Andy Dalton, and only Phllip Rivers has more passing yards than Andy Dalton. Say what you want about the rest of the team, but Dalton is the reason this team has transitioned from a 4-2 team to a 6-0 team. Can he keep it up?
4. Denver Broncos (Last week: 4)
Having grown up watching Peyton Manning dominate every Sunday, it’s almost sad to see what’s happening now. He physically cannot compete the way he used to. The offense is ranked 30th in the NFL, despite the defense being almost on top of the league (second). At the end of the day, as long as this team keeps winning, they are in good shape.
5. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 7)
Cam Newton may be weapon-less outside of Greg Olsen on offense, but he continues to lead this team to hard fought victories. Outside of Seattle, the Panthers haven’t played a team ranked above #21, so how good are they really? We’ll find out the next three weeks against the Eagles, Colts, and Packers, all of which are at home.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 8)
It’s time to stop talking about the Steelers as a below average defense. Pittsburgh’s defense is fifth in the NFL, allowing only 18 points per game. They’re also tied for first in turnover margin, and are sixth (tied) in sacks with 17. They just gave up 13 points to the Cardinals, who were dropping 40 on teams all year. Anyone want to play this team with a healthy Big Ben?
7. New York Jets (Last week: 10)
The Jets defense is legit, and they can probably stop just about anyone. They have depth and talent along the defensive line, arguably the most talented secondary in the NFL, and are tied for first in turnover margin. Defense, running the ball, milking the clock, and not turning it over is the recipe for New York. But, are they good enough to beat the Patriots in Foxboro this weekend?
8. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 5)
Atlanta was playing their biggest rival on Thursday Night on the road, and they looked terrible. Their next three games are against the Titans, Bucs, and 49ers. If this team truly is a contender, they should be 8-1 after those games.
9. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 6)
The Cardinals are a playoff team, but I think this defense is overrated without Todd Bowles. He’s busy in the Big Apple running the best defense in the NFL, while the Cardinals were busy losing to Landry Jones this past Sunday. They are still top 10 in yards allowed and points allowed, so that should give Carson Palmer plenty of opportunities to win the game.
10. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 11)
As good as this defense has looked, Teddy Bridgewater has not made significant signs of improvement in his second year. The Vikings are dead last in passing offense, and only the Rams, 49ers, and Jaguars average fewer points per game offensively.
11. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 9)
Dating back to the Super Bowl last season, the Seahawks defense has now blown a fourth quarter lead in five of their last seven games. Had Calvin Johnson gained another foot on Monday Night a couple weeks ago, it would be six out of seven. It’s also worth mentioning that three of their losses are to undefeated teams (Packers, Bengals, and Panthers).
12. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 12)
Tyrod Taylor needs to get healthy if Buffalo is going to win games this year. Who would have guessed we would be saying that after six weeks of football? This team ran into a tough Cincinnati team this past week and got blown out. Next week they play Jacksonville in the U.K. followed by a well-timed bye week. Buffalo needs to get healthy.
13. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 13)
If you haven’t seen the fake punt attempt yet, it really is a sight to see. Outside of that play, Indianapolis played a good game. It still appears that this defense cannot stop anybody, and they still cannot establish a consistent running game. This team is going to go as far as Andrew Luck can carry them.
14. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 16)
A new week, a new leader of the NFC East. The Eagles outplayed the Giants last night in nearly every facet of the game, despite turning it over four times. This team is in a wide open division that any team can feasibly win at this point in time. After six weeks of football, I think most would agree that Bradford isn’t doing any better than Nick Foles would be doing with the Eagles.
15. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 15)
The Cowboys spent their week on a bye. They travel to New York to take on the Giants next week.
16. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 17)
The Rams were also on a bye this week. They host the Browns next week.
17. New York Giants (Last week: 14)
The first two drives looked great, until the second drive ended with a red-zone gaffe by Larry Donnell. Going into this week, teams were talking about the Giants as a playoff team. This week, people will talk about the fact that they have yet to run for 100 yards as a team yet this season. Luckily, the NFC East isn’t very good, which is something the Giants have going for them.
18. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 18)
The Chargers played just about as well as you can play in Lambeau Field. They held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, threw for 500 yards, and beat the Packers on third downs. They did everything but win the game. Philip Rivers is carrying this team on his back, but the offensive line is a mess.
19. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 19)
The Browns just have a knack for losing games like this. The Browns now sit at 2-4 with losses to the Broncos, Jets, Chargers, and Raiders. None of those are bad losses, but this team just finds ways to lose games.
20. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 21)
Oakland was on a bye this week. They play San Diego on the road next week.
21. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 26)
What a win for the Saints. Not only did they beat their rival at home on Thursday Night, but they also ended Atlanta’s perfect season. Drew Brees looked like his old self, and Benjamin Watson looked like…Jimmy Graham? Either way, they will need a lot more offensive performances like that if they want to win more games this year.
22. Chicago Bears (Last week: 22)
The Bears are a really weird team to try and figure out. Jay Cutler almost lead them to three wins in a row, but they ended up losing to a winless team. The Bears have a bye his upcoming week.
23. Washington Redskins (Last week: 20)
The Redskins certainly are not the first team to get blown out by the Jets this season. After an inspiring 2-2 start to the season, the Redskins have dropped their last two games, yet sit only one game back of the division lead. With the Eagles traveling to Carolina, and Dallas playing the Giants, Washington could be leading the division after this week.
24. Houston Texans (Last week: 25)
Brian Hoyer is exactly the quarterback this team needs to succeed. He will take shots down field, minimize critical errors like interceptions and bad sacks, and he’s smart. The defense made big improvements this week, and look to keep the momentum going against the Dolphins next week.
25. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 27)
Did you see the energy that the Dolphins had this week? It’s clear that Joe Philbin’s mundane style was not right for this team. Interim head coach Dan Campbell came in and demanded a new brand of football that is built off of physicality, intensity, and energy.
26. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 24)
This is a lost season for the Chiefs at this point. While they technically could turn it around and start competing this year, they are 1-5 and struggling mightily. What they need to do is start developing a modern NFL offense, and realize that Alex Smith is not going to carry them to a Super Bowl, ever.
27. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 31)
A win for the 49ers takes them out of the basement. That being said, the win was not impressive as they beat a 1-5 Ravens team by five points at home. But in the NFL, a win is a win no matter how you can get it. San Fran will host the rival Seahawks on Thursday Night this week.
28. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 23)
I thought the Ravens were an elite team going into this season. After losing Terrell Suggs, this team has completely imploded. Hiring Marc Trestman as the offensive coordinator is clearly not working out right now. Outside of Steve Smith, Sr., this team has no viable options in the passing game.
29. Detroit Lions (Last week: 32)
Detroit was bound to get a win eventually. As bad as the Lions have looked at times, they had an incredibly difficult schedule to start the season, playing four teams ranked in the top 11. The biggest problem the Lions have is their offensive line.
30. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 28)
Mariota still only has one victory in his NFL career, and it was over Winston and the Bucs. It doesn’t get a whole lot easier for this team next week as they play the Atlanta Flacons in Nashville.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 29)
A bye week for the Bucs in Week 6. They will travel to Washington this upcoming week.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 30)
As many young pieces as the Jags have on offense, this defense has been shredded each and every week it feels like. New England scored 51, Tampa Bay scored 38, and Houston racked up 31 more points this week. If this team is going to win, there need to be significant improvements made on the defensive end.
Statistics provided by ESPN
Picture provided by heraldonline.com