No change at the top of the power rankings following week 6: The New England Patriots are still the best team in the NFL, although the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers would like to have a say in the matter. At the bottom the fight is tough, but the Detroit Lions finally winning a game paves way for the Jacksonville Jaguars to be the current worst team in the league.
1. New England Patriots (5-0): The best of Tom Brady in the win over the Colts came under standard pressure, throwing his three touchdown passes against four pass rushers or less.
2. Cincinnati Bengals (6-0): Andy Dalton having great games is sometimes about keeping it short, with 20 of his 33 passes in the win against the Bills, including three TDs, coming within 5 yards of the line scrimmage.
3. Green Bay Packers (6-0): Part of the celebrations were due to Aaron Rodgers making it to 30,000 passing yards in his career. He’s done it in the fewest passing attempts ever (3652) and is fourth fastest in the number of games it has taken him (116).
4. Carolina Panthers (5-0): The Panthers scored four touchdowns in their win over the Seahawks, all of them off of drives of at least 80 yards.
5. Denver Broncos (6-0): Manning is famous for his interceptions this season, but he did throw a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help bring overtime. It was the first offensive touchdown by the Broncos in 26 offensive drives, the previous one coming in the third quarter of their week 4 game.
6. New York Jets (4-1): Ryan Fitzpatrick (yes, him!) had a 99.0 total QBR according to ESPN in the win over the Redskins, the third highest by any quarterback this season.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2): The difference between Landry Jones and Michael Vick? Vick was 0-for-5 on all his passes thrown beyond the line of scrimmage. Landry Jones was 8-of-12 for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns, with all of his throws also coming from beyond.
8. Arizona Cardinals (4-2): While the loss probably hurt, having someone like John Brown on the team (10 receptions, 196 yards) doesn’t hurt in the long run.
9. Atlanta Falcons (5-1): Despite the loss, there’s Devonta Freeman. He has scored a rushing touchdown in five consecutive games, the first Falcons player to do it since Michael Turner in 2012.
10. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3): The Eagles have their way with the Giants (almost as usual) and DeMarco Murray getting 78 yards before contact made a huge difference, more than in his first four games combined.
11. Indianapolis Colts (3-3): A 21-20 lead turned into a 34-27 loss because Andrew Luck had problems in the second half, completing less than 50% of his passes against standard pressure and was sacked three times.
12. New York Giants (3-3): The Giants didn’t get a single pass to Odell Beckham Jr. in the second half, with Eli Manning targeting him just once, too busy avoiding sacks and throwing interceptions.
13. Minnesota Vikings (3-2): Teddy Bridgewater had something special going with Stefon Diggs in the win against the Chiefs, targeting him nine times and connecting seven, resulting in 129 yards. No one else had more than two receptions.
14. Buffalo Bills (3-3): The win-loss tradition continues, which means a victory in London for Buffalo?
15. San Diego Chargers (2-4): Philip Rivers had a great game in the loss to the Packers (503 yards, two touchdowns) but his mistake on the final possession and missing open receivers or going for it himself makes it all useless.
16. St. Louis Rams (2-3): Two things that need to happen so the Rams can somehow close in on the Arizona Cardinals. Nick Foles has to stop throwing so many interceptions, and Todd Gurley needs to start punching through into the end zone.
17. Seattle Seahawks (2-4): Two Super Bowls in a row or no, being unable to be consistent on offense, cover tight ends or hold on to a fourth quarter leads makes the Seahawks a very troubled team right now.
18. Miami Dolphins (2-3): It’s incredible what a new head coach does to a team in terms of passion and drive, but Ryan Tannehill still threw two interceptions in the win over Tennessee.
19. New Orleans Saints (2-4): Maybe the connection with Benjamin Watson is going to be what turns Drew Brees into a consistent great quarterback again, and the Saints into a team to be reckoned with in the NFC South.
20. San Francisco 49ers (2-4): Despite all the jokes and the losses, Colin Kaepernick is putting together a pretty nice season.
21. Dallas Cowboys (2-3): After three consecutive losses, are hoping that changing from Brandon Weeden to Matt Cassel will stop the fall.
22. Chicago Bears (2-4): At least this week, the Bears can blame their momentum stopping because of the officials gifting one touchdown to the Detroit Lions.
23. Houston Texans (2-4): One of the things Brian Hoyer does better than Ryan Mallett is work with DeAndre Hopkins. Considering he’s the team’s most important offensive player right now, it’s quite important.
24. Oakland Raiders (2-3): Derek Carr has improved in every notable way so far in his second season, as the Raiders are a surprising 15th in the NFL in passing yards.
25. Cleveland Browns (2-4): If the Browns keep allowing teams to get to Josh McCown as easily as the Broncos did, it’s going to be a very long season. Luckily, very few defenses are like the Broncos have.
26. Washington Redskins (2-4): Eight interceptions through the first six games of the season isn’t enough to convince Jay Gruden he needs a different quarterback.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3): After a bye week, the Bucs are hoping their pass rush starts getting some sacks and hits on quarterbacks, while Winston drags himself up from the lower part of the quarterback rankings so far this season.
28. Detroit Lions (1-5): The old plan of simply throwing it to Calvin Johnson and hoping for the best seems to work again.
29. Tennessee Titans (1-4): Turns out that if they’re not facing the Bucs, the Titans struggle to score or stop anyone else from scoring. And now Marcus Mariota might be injured for a while.
30. Baltimore Ravens (1-5): While the terrible field had a part to play in the Ravens botching a key field goal attempt, their defense is sending their season into the trash bin.
31. Kansas City Chiefs (1-5): No running back, no wide receivers. Nothing good to say about the Chiefs.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5): Blake Bortles did everything for the Jags in their loss to the Texans. Besides throwing three interceptions, he led the team in rushing with 37 yards.