Most of the undefeated teams had the week off, but there’s no change at the top of the power rankings: New England Patriots above the rest, while the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers keep up the chase. As for the worst in the league? Losing five games in a row gives it to the Tennessee Titans, but there’s quality competition from the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens and others.
1. New England Patriots, 6-0: Actually trailed in the fourth quarter, but Brady posting a 98.2 QBR with two touchdown throws did the trick.
2. Cincinnati Bengals, 6-0: Took a rest, as they prepare for two consecutive division games, including a tricky one against the Steelers on the road, especially if Ben Roethlisberger is back.
3. Green Bay Packers, 6-0: Another undefeated team on a bye week, but have to play the Denver Broncos on the road next week in a clash of undefeateds.
4. Carolina Panthers, 6-0: The most impressive thing about their win over the Eagles was Cam Newton throwing three interceptions. The Panthers were previously 0-6 when he does that, losing by an average of 17.3 points.
5. Arizona Cardinals, 5-2: Chris Johnson ran for 122 yards in the win, with a very impressive 91 yards after contact. Johnson leads the NFL with 288 rush yards after contact.
6. Denver Broncos, 6-0: The first week this season Peyton Manning didn’t throw an interception. Too bad it was a bye week.
7. Atlanta Falcons, 6-1: Matt Ryan becomes the 4th youngest player to throw for over 30,000 yards.
8. New York Jets, 4-2: The game against the Patriots was an example of why Ryan Fitzpatrick is decent to have, especially behind a good offensive line, but can only get you so far.
9. Minnesota Vikings, 4-2: Fourth win in five games for the Vikings, who spent the day beating up on Matthew Stafford with 13 hits on the Lions quarterback, resulting in a lot of firings at Detroit.
10. St. Louis Rams, 3-3: Todd Gurley is the first Rams player since Steven Jackson in 2011 to rush for 100+ yards in 3 straight games. He was responsible for 51% of the Rams offense in the win over the Browns.
11. Seattle Seahawks, 3-4: There’s nothing like facing the 49ers for the Seahawks to get their groove back.
12. New York Giants, 4-3: Managed to make things complicated against a Cowboys team with Matt Cassel, but their ability to avoid big mistakes is helping them win a weak division.
13. Miami Dolphins, 3-3: Their two wins against the Jaguars and Texans do mean that’s something changed, but it’s still against two of the worst in the league.
14. New Orleans Saints, 3-4: Drew Brees focusing on Mark Ingram and his running backs in general seems to be a nice solution to their offensive problems.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers, 4-3: As long as Landry Jones is starting at quarterback, the Steelers don’t have much of a shot in their home game against the Bengals.
16. Oakland Raiders, 3-3: Amari Cooper is on fire, with 295 yards after the catch this season, more than anyone else in the NFL.
17. Philadelphia Eagles, 3-4: The Eagles dropping 7 passes in their loss to the Panthers was the biggest reason for their loss, five of them on third or fourth down.
18. Washington Redskins, 3-4: Their comeback win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was nice, but they’ve given up 587 rushing yards over the last three games.
19. Indianapolis Colts, 3-4: The defense is doing terribly, but Andrew Luck not learning when to give up on a play is becoming more and more costly for the Colts.
20. Buffalo Bills, 3-4: Losing to Jacksonville in London despite a massive comeback after falling behind by 24 points including taking the lead proves one thing, again: EJ Manuel isn’t cut out to be a starting quarterback.
21. Chicago Bears, 2-4: The team was kept busy on the bye thanks to Jeremiah Ratliff.
22. Dallas Cowboys, 2-4: Four straight losses, but the Cowboys had their running game back against the Giants, posting their fourth-best rushing game in terms of EPA over the last 10 seasons.
23. San Diego Chargers, 2-5: With the defense packed with injuries, the Chargers can’t afford Philip Rivers throwing interceptions on every deep ball he tries.
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2-4: Jameis Winston is struggling in his rookie season, but at least Doug Martin and Mike Evans are doing their job.
25. Kansas City Chiefs, 2-5: The Chiefs are still awful despite their win against the Steelers, but turns out having a bad quarterback is worse than having a team without a starting running back or good wide receivers.
26. San Francisco 49ers, 2-5: With 142 total yards of offense and only 8 first downs in their loss to the Seahawks, there’s not much left to say.
27. Houston Texans, 2-5: Bad news for the Texans everywhere. Not just their loss that included falling behind 41-0, but also losing Arian Foster for the season.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars, 2-5: Blake Bortles seems to be improving, now 6-for-9 with 2 TD on passes thrown at least 30 yards downfield this season. He completed 4-of-17 passes that length with 3 TD and 3 Int during his rookie season.
29. Baltimore Ravens, 1-6: Keep losing relatively close games, with Joe Flacco and his offensive coordinator losing communication on a potential game-tying drive at the end.
30. Cleveland Browns, 2-5: Josh McCown has been sacked four times or more in each of his last 5 games, tied with Russell Wilson for the longest active such streak in the league.
31. Detroit Lions, 1-6: Another loss with Stafford getting rocked by the Vikings pass rush led to his offensive coordinator losing his job.
32. Tennessee Titans, 1-5: Surprised that Zach Mettenberger at quarterback couldn’t save them from more losses? No one was.