Week 6 NFL power rankings: A second NFC teams joins No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles in Top 5
previous rank in parentheses):
1. Eagles (1): A big reason for their 5-0 start? The ability to sprint out to big leads before putting teams away. Philadelphia’s 92 second-quarter points are the most in NFL history through five games and 68 more than their opponents have. Philly has not trailed in the second half all season.
2. Bills (2): Their league-best +91 point differential is nearly double the next-most dominant teams (Eagles, 49ers both at +47). Next up, a trip to Kansas City, where Buffalo won by 18 last season … in the regular season anyway.
3. Chiefs (3): They began Monday celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day – a little weird considering their nickname? – and ended it celebrating an escape act from the Raiders, hard as the officials made that task.
4. Ravens (5): They finally notched a close win at MT Bank Stadium, snapping a five-game losing streak at home, thanks to K Justin Tucker. He’s now converted 61 consecutive field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime. Unreal.
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6. 49ers (11): The injuries keep mounting – the loss of CB Emmanuel Moseley (torn ACL) was Sunday’s worst – yet the Niners keep winning, by a collective 61-24 the last two weeks. They’re the only team in the NFC West above .500.
7. Vikings (6): If WR Justin Jefferson has one more 150-yard receiving day this year, he’ll have the most of any player (7) in his first three seasons. Ever. It’s been mostly feast but some famine for Jefferson this year, who’s on pace for a league-best 1,860 yards.
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11. Bengals (10): Always wise to take Twitter’s instructiveness with a few grains of salt … but, man, do people hate coach Zac Taylor’s play calling – particularly during Sunday night’s loss at Baltimore.
12. Dolphins (4): Yes, the quarterback depth chart is in tatters. But that’s masked the disappearance of the defense – and, to a lesser extent, the special teams – over the past two weeks, when Miami has been torched for 67 points.
13. Chargers (14): What happens when Brandon Staley’s ridiculous use of analytics collides with the inept game management of Denver’s Nathaniel Hackett? You get to find out with the rest of the country next Monday night.
14. Rams (12): No team is worse running the ball. Only the Saints have more turnovers than LA’s 12. But perhaps most shocking is an offense ranked 26th overall given it’s never finished worse than 11th in the Sean McVay era.
15. Patriots (20): Bill Belichick has now coached 400 games for New England … and won 286 (71.5%) of them. Sublime.
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30. Steelers (25): Sunday’s 35-point loss was their worst under Mike Tomlin and most lopsided in 33 years. Next up Tom Brady, who’s 12-3 against Pittsburgh.
31. Commanders (30): If Ron Rivera only had a quarterback … a position he and the front office have grossly mismanaged in consecutive offseasons.
32. Panthers (26): Interim managers might get you to the playoffs in baseball, but hard to envision Steve Wilks – he was 3-13 as Arizona’s coach in 2018 – taking Carolina on a postseason run.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.