By virtue of their divisional loss to the Vikings in Week 4, the Packers are technically a last-place team. And yet, they check in on this week's Power Rankings at No. 7 overall.
That's because the NFC North is off to a record start, with each team sitting at 4-2 or better -- the first time since 1970 that every club within a single division has four or more victories through six weeks.
Now, part of that is because of the schedule; that Vikings-Packers game has been the only divisional matchup to this point, so there will be some attrition within. In fact, this coming Sunday features a colossal NFC North clash between the Nos. 1 and 5 teams in the pecking order below, with the unbeaten Vikings hosting the Aidan Hutchinson-less Lions. The rematch in Detroit falls in Week 18, a potentially massive showdown to close out the regular season.
In a strange twist, the Bears -- my lowest-ranked North team at No. 13 -- won't play their first division game of the season until Week 11 (the election will already be over!), when they'll host the Packers at Soldier Field. The Week 18 rematch will be at Lambeau Field, creating the opportunity for another legendary chapter in the rivalry's storied history.
Will the North continue overpowering non-division opponents and defining the 2024 NFL campaign? Well, as Hutchinson's injury unfortunately showed, a team's trajectory can change in a single play. It felt dirty moving the Lions down a couple spots in this week's rankings after such a dominant road win, but I earnestly hope they make me look silly for doing so.
Life is pretty good. The Vikings rolled into the bye at a perfect 5-0 and were able to enjoy some downtime. Head coach Kevin O'Connell rang a big bell prior to a Dodgers-Padres playoff game, while quarterback Sam Darnold led his USC Trojans out of the tunnel for their bout with Penn State. The Vikes had earned the off-week rest and rewards, as it was a pretty wild first third of the season, with trips to New York, London and even upper Wisconsin. Now the stakes are raised. Four of the next six contests are on the road, and they kick off this next spate of games with a big showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium, hosting a Lions team that just put up 47 points in Dallas but lost Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg. The Vikings need to clean up the offensive turnovers and special teams mistakes to keep the perfect run going.
This hierarchy's top two teams each face a marquee matchup in the return to action after a bye week. The Chiefs must go to San Francisco and face a semi-rested 49ers team eager to keep getting back on track -- and perhaps exercise a small measure of revenge for this past February's Super Bowl loss. The latter makes for great headlines, but coaches will use that stuff to motivate players, too. The 49ers are 3-3 and still won't have Christian McCaffrey, but their offense remains highly flammable when it's not turning the ball over. The Chiefs' excellent defense will have something to say about that, but will the offense have enough to exploit a shorthanded Niners defense? The unit must show it can survive and even thrive without several pieces, having passed the first post-Rashee Rice test pretty well in Week 5. If Hollywood Brown eventually returns, it will likely only be for the stretch run. But we might be just a handful of games from Isiah Pacheco's return, which certainly would be a boost.
The Ravens have traditionally been a team guided by a north star of defense and special teams, but this offense has become virtually impossible to defend for merely mortal foes. During the current four-game win streak, the Ravens have averaged 33.5 points and 471.8 yards (including a rushing average of 224), dissecting division rivals, AFC contenders and non-conference opponents with the same measure of punishment. Sunday was also a positive step for both Zay Flowers, who has now stacked consecutive strong games after a slow start, and Mark Andrews. Although Lamar Jackson's one interception Sunday went off Andrews' hands in the first quarter, the veteran tight end responded with a touchdown and his best overall showing of the year. Defensively, Baltimore still has some holes, but no one is doubting this team anymore, with the 0-2 start a distant memory.
The difference between Houston and New England was noticeable on Sunday, but it was also a welcome sign that the Texans slammed on the gas pedal early and pretty much threw the Patriots into the rearview window right after halftime. That was what we wanted to see from DeMeco Ryans' team after it let too many of its earlier wins stay a little too close for comfort. One obvious glow-up was the return of Joe Mixon, who showed no signs of the ankle injury that kept him out for three games. Mixon had several big runs, including a 59-yarder, and Dameon Pierce fed off that with his own 54-yard touchdown late. The Texans let Drake Maye drive down the field on them a few times in the quarterback's first NFL start, but Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter were in his face most of the game, helping frazzle the rookie plenty in a mostly-solid defensive performance. Outside of the Vikings game, the Texans have looked pretty good this season -- and keep getting better.
Sunday’s game was shaping up to be one of the banner victories of the Dan Campbell era … before a devastating injury to Aidan Hutchinson abruptly put a huge damper on the day. If Hutchinson’s sack of Dak Prescott is the last we see of the Pro Bowl edge rusher this season, it will be a brutal loss for a Lions team that was firing on all cylinders in Dallas, ultimately destroying the Cowboys, 47-9. To the Lions’ credit, the defense played inspired ball after Hutchinson left the game, and it's that Campbell-fueled spirit that should have even the most jaded observer believing in this team, despite such a wicked injury loss. If the offense has to carry the burden for the remainder of the season, Sunday was a pretty good reminder of what is possible. The Lions busted out all the tricks, and not all of them worked, but almost everything else did in a vicious, thorough and diverse beatdown of a broken Cowboys defense. How will the Lions respond this week against the unbeaten Vikings in Minnesota? Win or lose, I expect to see their trademark resolve in that massive divisional showdown.
Monday night featured a little of everything -- and a lot of laundry. There were 22 accepted penalties, half by the Bills, who did some additional foot shooting with a pair of missed kicks (an extra point and a 47-yard field goal). But they escaped New Jersey alive and remained atop their perch in the AFC East. It took a heroic effort from rookie running back Ray Davis (filling in for the injured James Cook), a two-sack night from A.J. Epenesa (who didn't start Monday night) and a late, acrobatic interception from Taron Johnson (who had missed the previous four games due to injury) to sew it up. Aaron Rodgers ate up the Bills' defense for much of the night, but Josh Allen was just a little more efficient in a game where both quarterbacks faced a lot of second- and third-and-longs. If you look at Buffalo's upcoming schedule, it lines up pretty nicely prior to the big showdown with the Chiefs in Week 11.
Jordan Love has looked progressively better with each game since returning from his knee injury. Sunday against the Cardinals, he was in an early rhythm, dicing them up for three first-half touchdown passes. Even the interception wasn't Love's fault, as his intended target fell down. As the game went on, Love went from playing a patient, controlled game to taking smart shots -- and they worked. This was the Love we saw from November on last season, and the Packers are suddenly a serious contender again. Having two of those TD passes go to Romeo Doubs didn't hurt, either, after the wideout's suspension. That feels like yesterday's news now. Everything feels pretty darn solid with this team, save for the kicking situation. I have to imagine a change will come.
Had they made the field goal before the half and scored a touchdown -- not a field goal -- at the start of the third quarter, the Commanders would've had a far better chance of winning in Baltimore. This was a mostly-strong showing in a tough environment; the Commanders held firmer than, say, last season's upstart darlings, the Lions, did in Baltimore about a year ago. All told, Sunday was another strong showing by Jayden Daniels and the offense, with the 30-23 loss being more of an indictment on the defense allowing big plays all game. This is clearly the biggest issue with Washington right now. Without a viable pass rush or the ability to create turnovers (plural), the Commanders are going to struggle against the league's higher-caliber offenses, especially after the reported season-long loss of DT Jonathan Allen. But are the Commanders still a contender in spite of this? I maintain an emphatic yes. Daniels couldn't match Lamar Jackson's lethality level but was darned good in defeat.
Eleven minutes into Sunday's game, the Buccaneers led 17-0, but eight minutes before halftime, they trailed the Saints, 20-17. The operative theme after the giveaway game in Atlanta had to be "finish," and Tampa Bay did just that against New Orleans with six touchdown drives of 58 yards or longer. Sean Tucker stepped up with a massive performance (192 total yards, two TDs), and the Bucs also pitched a second-half shutout defensively after a few rough moments early. This was the shakiest I've seen Baker Mayfield early in the game, throwing three first-half interceptions, although one went off his receiver's hands. Mayfield was jittery early, even with the Saints' tepid pressure, but he settled down after halftime, as did the defense. It was a strong response after the game easily could have gone sideways. But that type of loosey-goosey play won't cut it next Monday against the suddenly scorching Ravens.
You can’t say that Justin Fields played a pristine game Sunday, with the shadow of Russell Wilson growing larger by the day now that he’s been cleared to play. It’s hard to gripe too much about a 19-point road win, even against a shorthanded opponent, and it should be noted that Fields ran for two scores and didn’t turn the ball over. That said, he had a would-be INT called back on a roughing-the-passer penalty, went cold in the middle 30 minutes of the game and didn’t always handle pressure effectively. Najee Harris and Fields did enough to grind away at the Raiders on the ground, and the Steelers’ defense took care of the rest. But with each so-so performance by Fields -- even as Pittsburgh keeps winning -- the questions about a QB switch will hang in the air.
For the first time all season, the Falcons played a game that wasn’t decided in the final minute. In fact, it was the first game this season Atlanta didn’t trail in the fourth quarter. Even still, this one felt surprisingly close for most of the afternoon, with the Falcons finally putting Carolina away in the final six minutes. The Falcons never trailed after the second quarter but had to work for that win. They coughed up a fumble that led to a Panthers field goal and had a red zone penalty -- they were only four for eight in the red zone -- but otherwise put together a balanced offensive attack. The Falcons have better utilized their diverse crew of offensive talents in recent games, spreading the ball around to the receivers and leaning on Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier to tenderize defenses. This was an unsexy, workmanlike win but a needed one.
How much did we really learn from Sunday’s win over the Browns? We certainly learned that A.J. Brown makes a difference, catching six balls for 116 yards and a touchdown in his return to the field. There were also nice contributions from Grant Calcaterra, subbing for an injured Dallas Goedert, and Cooper DeJean, the rookie DB who took Avonte Maddox’s nickel spot Sunday and seemed to thrive in the role. But the Eagles still struggled to put away a limited Browns team in Philly, needing a few Cleveland penalties and a late deep pass to Brown to close it out. They’re 3-2 now but have been outscored on the season, largely thanks to opponents’ 23-0 first-quarter scoring advantage. Yep, we’re five games in, and the Eagles haven’t scored in the first 15 minutes in any of them.
That's two straight strong games by Caleb Williams against arguably two of the five worst defenses in the NFL. It would be premature to say that the Bears' offense has fully arrived, but the progress has been impossible to miss. Williams' touch, command and feel have been immensely improved over the early-season results. At 4-2, the Bears are really where they should be at the bye week -- and right about where I thought they'd be, or perhaps a touch better. This is a defense that now has allowed 21 or fewer points in 12 straight games, dating back to last season, and it has forced two or more turnovers in five of the six games this season. The problem, of course, is that the Bears are in the NFC North. They'd be in at least a share of first place in five of the seven other divisions, but they're currently the best fourth-place team on the planet. That counts for something.
Brock Purdy had a good game overall, and Deebo Samuel and George Kittle both stepped up in Thursday's important win in Seattle. It was also a rare big night for San Francisco rookies, as Isaac Guerendo, Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha (before he left with an injury) played big roles in the victory. The 49ers absolutely could not afford to crawl into a matchup against a rested Chiefs team this week with a 2-4 mark, and now they have a chance to get back over .500 with a statement by beating their AFC nemesis. Getting another rookie back in first-round receiver Ricky Pearsall would help, as his practice window opened Monday. Expecting instant coffee from Pearsall might be optimistic, but it's never a bad thing adding a potential playmaker to the mix.
I never lost faith in the Chargers, and the early bye week seemed to give them great energy in building a 23-0 fourth-quarter lead in Denver. The big story was Justin Herbert throwing the ball more than he had all season, racking up 184 first-half pass yards and looking healthy and confident in the process. The Chargers got a little too conservative in the second half, especially without four-minute back Gus Edwards, who landed on IR, but they held on for the win in a very clean game (three mostly harmless penalties, zero turnovers) to improve to 2-1 on the road and in the division. The defense was strong early, led by big plays from Khalil Mack and Elijah Molden, and the offense received some pleasant-surprise contributions from the likes of Kimani Vidal and Simi Fehoko. Also good to see Jim Harbaugh back quickly after leaving the game with what he called “atrial flutters.” I’ve had those, too, and they’re no fun.
Denver trailed 23-0 entering the fourth quarter, having thoroughly been outplayed for the first 45 minutes, before Bo Nix and the offense woke out of a deep slumber. Nix entered the fourth only 4-of-14 passing for 27 yards, a pick and two sacks, but he broke out in a big way, leading three desperate scoring drives and coming within a recovered onside kick -- and they had a shot at it -- of giving themselves a shot to win it late. Broncos fans won’t like the end result, but Nix hung tough, turning potential sacks into positive scrambles, including a clutch pickup on fourth-and-5 midway through the fourth quarter. He also bombed away to the tune of 189 pass yards in the fourth alone. The other bad news was losing CB Patrick Surtain II, who’d been playing at an All-Pro level, to a concussion. After three straight wins, this loss was tough to swallow, falling to 1-2 at home, but the Broncos have two winnable games upcoming (Saints and Panthers) before their two-game road gauntlet at Kansas City and Baltimore.
The 49ers' domination of the Seahawks continued last Thursday, running San Francisco's win streak against them to six games, including the postseason. That's frustrating for Seattle, but falling to .500 after the 3-0 start hurts more, especially with the Seahawks starting slowly, roaring back into the game and then petering out late. The Seahawks defense being what it was in the injury department, it wasn't completely shocking to see the 49ers move the ball well, but without Christian McCaffrey (and later Jordan Mason) it was a little too easy. They face three dangerous quarterbacks before the Week 10 bye and could really use better defensive health. Even so, the Seahawks need the earlier-season mojo of Geno Smith and the receivers (especially DK Metcalf) to return if they're going to have a chance to win close games. The season could slip away quickly if they don't right the ship soon.
The Colts refuse to go away. Michael Pittman Jr. went from being a possible IR candidate to playing Sunday, catching the fourth-quarter, go-ahead TD, snatching it away from a great corner in the Titans’ L’Jarius Sneed. Josh Downs also fought through injury to snag a TD and lead Indy in catches and receiving yards. QB Joe Flacco overcame a first-quarter pick to lead two late scoring drives, securing another win without Jonathan Taylor and others. The Colts’ defense also rallied after giving up a touchdown run on third-and-19, shutting the Titans down on their final four possessions, holding them to 39 yards and two first downs in the fourth quarter. Getting their first road win and division win on the same day was a double victory. Anthony Richardson is reportedly close to returning, which would send Flacco back to the bench, but the Colts are still in it, with the Dolphins coming to town this weekend.
After two straight wins, including the last-minute thriller in Pittsburgh, everything came crashing down harder than anyone thought possible Sunday against the Lions. AT&T Stadium hosted 16 straight Cowboys wins through the end of last regular season, but they're now 0-4 since (including the playoffs) -- being outscored by a combined 82 points. Maybe getting back on the road, where the Cowboys are 3-0, isn't the worst thing in the world, even if those games are at San Francisco and Atlanta. How the Cowboys' mangled defense is going to contend with those explosive, diverse offenses is another matter altogether. The Lions gashed Dallas' defense early and often. Not having Micah Parsons, Demarcus Lawrence and others hurts, but they're going to have to find a way to get stops against good offenses until they're back.
The worst Jets week since the last bad Jets week ended with disappointment: losing to the Bills in a stealable game to spoil Jeff Ulbrich's interim debut. New York moved the ball well most of the night, displaying better rhythm and balance with Todd Downing calling the plays, even if the offensive line struggled. Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses and Joe Tippmann all committed costly penalties, and the entire group had trouble in pass protection at points. The defense had its share of letdowns, too, displaying bad tackling and poor gap discipline. And drawing more flags: two from CB D.J. Reed and three from DT Javon Kinlaw (in a six-snap span for the latter). But Gang Green still had a shot to win it ... until Mike Williams fell at the top of his route and Aaron Rodgers' final pass was picked off. Tuesday morning, the Jets doubled -- or tripled -- down on Rodgers, swinging a highly predictable trade for Raiders WR Davante Adams. Will adding Rodgers' pal rescue the Jets? Or just delay the inevitable? Tune in to find out.
There were some real positives in Spencer Rattler's first start, taking over for the injured Derek Carr on Sunday. The Saints fell behind 17-0 to Tampa Bay, partially thanks to a fumble by Chris Olave, which led to a Tampa Bay scoop-and-score and knocked the receiver out of the game. Rattler stayed cool, leading two field goal and two touchdown drives in a big second quarter, and he had the Saints in a position to win. The second half, however, was pretty ugly on the whole. A lot of that blame falls on a Saints defense that allowed eight drives of 43 or more yards and had few answers in the second and fourth quarters. Rattler threw two second-half picks and took three sacks, but it's hard to pin this loss in any way on the rookie QB. The Saints have much bigger problems defensively right now.
Even in earning win No. 2, the Bengals still have yet to turn in a complete performance in all three phases. The defense and special teams did their jobs well against the Giants, even if the offense took a step back. The biggest issue clearly was protecting Joe Burrow up front against a very good Giants defensive line. Burrow's 47-yard TD run was a thing of beauty, Tee Higgins has regained his form and Chase Brown continues stacking quality showings, although he was pretty quiet until the late touchdown. They're 2-4 with a plus-5 point differential against a schedule that has featured three strong opponents and three ... less-strong ones. They probably need to win at least two out of their next three (at Browns, home vs. Eagles and Raiders) in order to feel OK about their chances to compete prior to the schedule stiffening.
The Giants have scored one touchdown in three games at MetLife Stadium. That came via Tyrone Tracy Jr. in the third quarter Sunday, and the Giants had their chances after that but wilted on three straight fourth-quarter possessions in spite of crossing at least the Cincinnati 36-yard line on all of them. They're now 0-3 at home this season. Somehow, the Giants are 1-14 in prime-time games under Daniel Jones. In early-window games, he's thrown for 45 TDs and 20 INTs. In afternoon slots, those numbers are 11 and four, respectively. Yet somehow, he's thrown for 12 TDs and 20 INTs in those 15 night games, and it was more of the same against the Bengals. He'd played well in recent games, but Jones fell back in this one. He'll need to rally fast with three tougher games upcoming. And a warning: Jones and the Giants play at Pittsburgh on Monday night in Week 8.
The thrilling win at San Francisco helped mask some of the offensive inconsistencies, but it all came to a head Sunday in Green Bay. The Cardinals cost themselves with stalled drives early and penalties and turnovers late. Throw in a Marvin Harrison Jr. injury, and things are starting to get dicey here. Three of the next four games are at home before the bye, but all of them are against good defensive teams, so they need to find some answers fast. Arizona's defense also badly needs help. There have been a handful of promising moments in the team's 2-4 start but far more concerns. The pass rush was so meek that Jordan Love might not have needed to launder his jersey, and the coverage wasn't any better, as Next Gen Stats credited four different Cards DBs with allowing TD passes.
The return of Cooper Kupp might come as soon as this week, although Sean McVay has hedged against that just to be safe. Matthew Stafford and McVay need all the help they can get on that side of the ball, but that's assuming Stafford's back is in good shape after the week of rest, coming off his first rough game of the season, unable to complete his trademark final-drive push against the Packers. The Rams don't have a lot of true strengths right now, not with a defense that doesn't tackle well or create a preponderance of big plays -- although you'd have to at least say the two games prior to the bye were small steps in the right direction. They were 3-6 a year ago and made the playoffs, but they'll need to win two of the next three games (one vs. unbeaten Minnesota) just to match that nine-game record. If not, could they be trade-deadline sellers?
A win over the Patriots and the bye week allowed for some of the pressure to be released, but it also opened the window of speculation on Tua Tagovailoa's return. Mike McDaniel indicated Monday that Tagovailoa wants to continue playing football and even playing this season for the Dolphins, adding, "But where that is exactly, we'll let the process continue." Tua won't be out there this weekend against the Colts, but he could be activated from injured reserve as early as Oct. 23. A win at Indianapolis would get the Dolphins to 3-3, and they have the currently 2-4 Cardinals the week after that prior to a big showdown at Buffalo (the opponent back in Week 2 when Tua sustained the concussion that put him on IR). The Dolphins aren't out of the race yet, but they need to hang on these next few games to have much of a shot. If they lose two straight, would Tua want to come back to pilot a 2-5 team? Hard to say.
It wasn't surprising seeing the Raiders fulfill Davante Adams' trade request, ultimately sending the wide receiver to the Jets on Tuesday, but it underscored the reality that things probably can't be fixed this season. Adams missed three straight games, including Sunday's 32-13 loss to Pittsburgh, which featured one Raiders play longer than 19 yards. Las Vegas actually led, 7-6, late in the first half when Dylan Laube coughed up his first NFL touch, and pretty much everything fell apart from that point on. The home team's next five offensive series ended poorly. Defensively, the Raiders allowed the Steelers to score on five of their next six drives. They might be the worst tackling team in the NFL. They are also minus-10 in turnover differential through six games; no other team is worse than minus-7. Aidan O’Connell was only responsible for one turnover Sunday, but the second-year passer didn't get much help in his first start of the season, with the offensive line struggling mightily vs. T.J. Watt. Opting to double the All-Pro edge menace just twice all game, per Next Gen Stats, was certainly a choice. Watt naturally wrecked the Raiders most of the afternoon.
The Titans need to figure out their offensive identity quickly. It was clear that they tried a different approach after some bye-week self-scouting, tasking Will Levis with throwing more high-percentage passes and leaning on their run game against the Colts. The formula mostly worked through three quarters, even with early-down penalties putting them in some bad down-and-distances. But things fell apart after the Colts took the lead, early in the fourth quarter, with Levis throwing an INT on one of few true deep shots in the game. He finished with 95 pass yards on 27 attempts, going 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter. After yet another tough home loss, Calvin Ridley took some blame for his zero-catch game but also added that he needed to see the ball more early on. Can Brian Callahan find a way to make Levis more efficient while limiting his turnover-worthy plays? That will define the season and whether the Titans can crawl out of their 1-4 hole.
All told, Trevor Lawrence played a pretty good game against the Bears, but fumbles and dropped passes absolutely killed the offense. Gabe Davis had a two-TD game in London, but he also dropped two would-be scores. Christian Kirk let a potential TD pass hit him in the facemask, and even Brian Thomas Jr. dropped a potential score. With the Jaguars struggling the way they have been defensively, that type of game script was never going to deliver a win, even against a lesser opponent. After escaping the basement with their first W of the season, the Jaguars are back in wallow mode, facing questions around the fates of head coach Doug Pederson and GM Trent Baalke, even after owner Shad Khan said he still believed in both. After all, that came before Sunday's loss.
