NFL Week 5 power rankings: Vikings, 49ers, Commanders rise as Cowboys, Steelers, Jets drop

Thank goodness there’s a Monday Night Football doubleheader. A Week 4 matchup between Will Levis vs Tyler Huntley is just about the last NFL game we’d want to watch. With that said, this is the Tennessee Titans’ best chance at a win this season and if Will Levis can just protect the football, this Titans defense can snag a primetime victory.

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The New England Patriots have reverted back to the team everyone expected to see this season. Each passing week gives legitimacy to the club’s decision not to start Drake Maye, because the rookie quarterback would get pulverized behind this offensive line. New England is also clearly missing Christian Barmore, an absence that has dealt a significant blow to this defense. With October arriving, it’s already time to think about which offensive tackle the Patriots should draft in 2025.

Well, at least the Jacksonville Jaguars locker room hasn’t given up on Doug Pederson yet. We truthfully expected that after that brutal Monday Night Football loss. Instead, the Jaguars offense delivered its best performance of this young season. Of course, Jacksonville is still 0-4 and is clearly one of the worst NFL teams in 2024. So, it’s only a matter of time before players start mailing it in.

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It’s certainly fair to point to the highly questionable holding call late in the fourth quarter that wiped out Amari Cooper’s go-ahead touchdown. Still, the Cleveland Browns are just a bad football team. Cleveland’s defense has never regained the form we saw in the first half of the 2023 NFL season and Deshaun Watson is evidently one of the worst quarterbacks in football. It’s hard to believe a team in win-now mode is this bad, but it’s par for the course from this franchise and it’s a shame for the fans.

The Carolina Panthers are a half-decent team with a bridge starter at quarterback. Yes, this Panthers defense is as bad as everyone anticipated and it will likely ensure Carolina likely finishes the season near the bottom of the NFL standings. With that said, the Panthers needed to come out of 2024 at least feeling good about their head coach and some of their offseason moves. Dalton is checking those boxes, so at least that’s a positive amid a multi-year rebuild.

Malik Nabers is a superstar and the New York Giants need a franchise quarterback to truly unleash their playmaker. An early Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football did very little to inspire confidence in Daniel Jones, Brian Daboll or the Giants offensive line. Of course, 2024 was always meant to be an evaluation year. What matters is that Nabers already looks like an All-Pro and tight end Theo Johnson might be something too, he just needs more opportunities.

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In a battle of two bad NFL teams, the Las Vegas Raiders proved to be the best. That’s also saying something considering Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby didn’t play in Week 4. Still, it feels like Antonio Pierce is more talk than substance at this point – still waiting for the ‘business decisions’ he promised publicly – and Las Vegas still looks like a mediocre football team.

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Here is the problem for the Miami Dolphins. Mike McDaniel’s system is based almost entirely on Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to get the football out faster than anyone. With Tagovailoa sidelined indefinitely, one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL gets exposed and this Dolphins offense can’t do anything. Miami is in serious danger of losing to the Titans on Monday Night Football.

Last week’s comeback win against the San Francisco 49ers is still impressive, but an injury-depleted Los Angeles Rams roster fell back to earth a bit in Week 4. Matthew Stafford is playing fairly well, but there’s just not a lot more he can do without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Unfortunately for Stafford and Sean McVay, we might not see Nacua and Kupp until November.

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Every step forward counts for this Chicago Bears offense. Chicago took advantage of one of the worst defenses in the league, D’Andre Swift (165 scrimmage yards) finally earned some of that lucrative contract and Caleb Williams posted a 106.8 QB rating and avoided a turnover. It’s progress, not a lot, but a much-needed step forward for the Bears.

We got a little overconfident in the young Arizona Cardinals after last week. James Conner did his thing, but Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. really struggled against a bottom-five Washington Commanders defense. Though, the absence of Trey McBride likely played a role in Arizona’s third-down woes. We hope to see a more explosive and consistent Cardinals offense in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers, though, Arizona’s defense will likely stand in the way of a win.

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Joe Flacco, ladies and gentlemen. Everything we’ve seen from Anthony Richardson this season says the Indianapolis Colts probably don’t win that game if Richardson doesn’t get hurt. Flacco protected the football and peppered Michael Pittman Jr and Josh Downs with targets, leading to a 27-point performance. An even bigger development for Indianapolis is the much-improved run defense, which has held its last two opponents under 180 combined rushing yards after allowing over 400 rushing yards in the first two games. Now, let’s also recognize that Flacco can be just as turnover-prone as Richardson so the other shoe will likely drop if Richardson misses time.

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The Cincinnati Bengals just aren’t a good NFL team right now. It’s great to see Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase taking advantage of these matchups and sparking the Bengals’ dormant offense. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, the schedule doesn’t get easier from here. Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins can potentially keep things close against the Baltimore Ravens (Oct. 6 and Nov. 7) and Philadelphia Eagles (Oct. 27), but the Bengals’ defense will cost them multiple games along the way.

The Denver Broncos defense is on a tear right now. On Sunday against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph orchestrated a masterpiece. Denver’s defense sacked Aaron Rodgers five times, limited Breece Hall to 0.4 yards per carry and held the Jets offenses to a 23.5% third-down conversion rate (ESPN). What makes this Broncos’ victory so remarkable is that quarterback Bo Nix was abysmal – 12-for-25 for 60 passing yards – with a single touchdown to Courtland Sutton proving to be all Denver’s defense needed.

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Well, at least Jerry Jones is finally taking a little responsibility for failing to improve the Dallas Cowboys roster this offseason. Unfortunately for Cowboy Nation, things only got worse in Week 4 with Micah Parsons (2-3 weeks) and DeMarcus Lawrence (3-6 weeks) going down with long-term injuries. The Cowboys’ defense was mediocre with two of its best players, now it will get even worse. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also pretty evident Dallas doesn’t have the run game, offensive line or pass-catching depth to overcome a bad defense.

Some of this is certainly regression for the New Orleans Saints. Derek Carr is showing signs of reverting to Cpt. Checkdown, which is the last thing this Saints offense needs. An even bigger issue, though, is the injuries. New Orleans entered Week 4 without standout center Eric McCKoy (injured reserve) and All-Pro linebacker Demario Davis. Now, Taysom Hill, Cesar Ruiz, Willie Gay and Tyrann Mathieu are also injured. With that many holes on both sides of the ball, the Saints are in real jeopardy of a three-game losing streak with the Kansas City Chiefs awaiting in Week 5.

The New York Jets ground game evidently thought Week 4 was a bye. Breece Hall – 4 yards on 10 carries – brought nothing on the ground Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Garrett Wilson was held under 60 receiving yards for the third consecutive game. This felt eerily familiar to previous iterations of the Jets, with the offensive line allowing 5 sacks and 14 QB hits, while the Jets’ defense played great. Aaron Rodgers should rebound some, but it sure seems like his play will be a lot more sporadic and that’s not good enough for the Jets to be one of the best teams in the AFC.

There are noteworthy losses and the Los Angeles Chargers, missing both offensive tackles and edge rusher Joey Bosa, this was still a one-score game. We’ll also remind you that Justin Herbert played on a high-ankle sprain. Now, the Chargers defense deserves a majority of the credit for this performance, but Los Angeles should get healthier offensively after the bye week.

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Unheralded heroes stepped up for the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4. With Kirk Cousins (68.5 QB rating) not playing well and Bijan Robinson (28 rushing yards) bottled up, others rose to the occasion. Tyler Allgeier (80 scrimmage yards) led Atlanta’s backfield Sunday, linebacker Troy Anderson had a critical pick-six and Younghoe Koo went 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts, including the game-winner from 58 yards out. After a brutal showing in Week 1, the Falcons finally look like a playoff-caliber team.

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It’s time to give the Washington Commanders their flowers. Jayden Daniels didn’t come close to replicating his Monday Night Football showcase, but the Commanders still found their way to a statement win. We were wrong about Kliff Kingsbury and this Commanders offensive line, both are greatly exceeding expectations. Now, a sentence that seemed unfathomable just a few weeks ago. The Commanders might win the NFC South.

Not quite what we were expecting to see from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Justin Fields set season-highs in passing yards (213) and QB rating (104.0), but George Pickens’ lost fumble at the 5-yard line wiped out some critical points. It’s a bit concerning to see the ease with which Joe Flacco picked apart Pittsburgh’s secondary, which played a huge role in the Colts going 8-for-15 on third-down attempts. It’s certainly a bad loss, but the Steelers have to feel pretty good about Fields so far, especially with a 3-1 record heading into October.

NFL teams don’t like early bye weeks and for good reason, but the Philadelphia Eagles need it. Without A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson in Week 4, Jalen Hurts stood little chance. We can give the Eagles offense a slight pass, under the circumstances, for mustering just 16 points and 227 total yards (ESPN). What’s alarming is seeing Philadelphia’s defense continue to be wildly inconsistent, with the secondary seemingly not fixed. With Johnson, Brown and Smith expected to return in Week 6, we’ll keep a healthier version of this team in the top 10 of our NFL power rankings.

Getting Deebo Samuel and George Kittle back just changes things for the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan gets the versatility and explosiveness this offense was lacking, making life even easier for Brock Purdy. It’s a good thing too, because this 49ers defense isn’t remotely close to the unit it used to be. San Francisco is going to need to be one of the highest-scoring offenses to be one of the best NFL teams in 2024. Fortunately, even without Christian McCaffrey, Purdy and Co. can do just that.

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Jordan Love didn’t look anything close to 100 percent in Week 4, underthrowing balls and making some reckless decisions with the football. The Green Bay Packers defense also sorely missed Jaire Alexander and kicking, in a surprise to no one, continues to haunt Green Bay. Even with all that, the Packers responded to a 28-0 deficit to a 31-29 loss. While moral victories aren’t a thing in the NFL, Green Bay should come out of this one feeling very good about its outlook for the rest of the year.

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There’s the bounceback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield looked dialed in on Sunday, posting a 100.2 QB rating with 347 passing yards and 3 total touchdowns. Tampa Bay also received some consistency on the ground, with Bucky Irving and Rachaad White each rushing for 49 yards on 10 carries. Tampa Bay now improves to 3-1, a mark that is pretty impressive considering Vita Vea missed time and this team is also with Antoine Winfield Jr. and Calijah Kancey.

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The Seattle Seahawks have a golden opportunity ahead of them on Monday Night Football. First-year head coach Mike Macdonald has turned this defense around much like Brian Flores did for the Minnesota Vikings last season. That perfectly complements an offense that is welcoming Kenneth Walker III back and already looks like it could be a top-12 unit. We won’t flat-out predict the Seahawks capping off Week 4 with a primetime victory, but it wouldn’t be a surprise.

It wasn’t necessarily pretty but on a Sunday when several of the 10 best NFL teams lost, C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans rallied. Trailing 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, Stroud led a nine-play, 69-yard drive that he capped off with the game-winning touchdown to Dare Ogunbowale. Houston still doesn’t look like a dominant team right now, but this NFL season seems more wide-open than usual.

Monday Night Football will be an interesting test for the Detroit Lions offense. Without center Frank Ragnow, both this rushing attack and pass protection take a massive setback. That’s bad timing against a Seahawks defense that leads the NFL in pressure rate (36.7 percent) and has been stout against the run. Detroit could certainly pull off the victory, but if they lose, Ragnow’s absence might be the difference-maker.

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The Kansas City Chiefs survived again, which is fitting for a Patrick Mahomes-led team. Unfortunately, the injuries might be too much moving forward. Isiah Pacheco is out for another month-plus, Marquise Brown is done for the year and now Rashee Rice might be lost for the season after an All-Pro caliber start. It seems unfathomable the Chiefs could survive all of this and keep winning games at this rate. Then again, Mahomes is the NFL’s Michael Jordan for a reason.

The Minnesota Vikings are the best team in the NFL. Three times in September, Sam Darnold and Co. faced an opponent in the consensus top 8 of NFL power rankings. For the third consecutive week, Minnesota demolished its opponents. The Vikings defense is arguably the best in football this season and Kevin O’Connell is unlocking an MVP-caliber version of Darnold. Minnesota arguably has two of the best play-callers in the NFL and this offense could be even better when T.J. Hockenson returns. With three wins over quality opponents, Minnesota belongs at 1.