The New England Patriots stay on top of our power rankings following week 5 of the 2015 NFL Season, while we finally have a clear and definitive bottom team, the worst in the league. Unsurprisingly, it’s the Detroit Lions.
1. New England Patriots, 4-0: The Patriots are shaking off a known problem, which was Tom Brady getting rattled and losing his focus. He was sacked five times in the first half of their win over Dallas, but looked fine, accurate and dangerous in the second half.
2. Green Bay Packers, 5-0: Showing they can win without Aaron Rodgers looking great all game long is a very good sign.
3. Cincinnati Bengals, 5-0: The biggest news from their comeback win over the Seahawks was Andy Dalton recovering from his early mistakes to pull the offense to victory in the fourth quarter and overtime.
4. Arizona Cardinals, 4-1: Their 190 points through the first five games is 7th best in NFL history.
5. Denver Broncos, 5-0: The incredible thing is Peyton Manning is having one of his worst seasons ever, setting a career low for touchdowns through five games, but the Broncos defense has yet to give up more than 20 points this season.
6. Atlanta Falcons, 5-0: With a hobbled Julio Jones the wins keep coming, it’s the defense making things happen, scoring its third defensive touchdown in two games, already more than last season.
7. Carolina Panthers, 4-0: Despite mostly getting credit for their defense, the Panthers are averaging 27 points per game, 6th best in the NFL.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers, 3-2: Michael Vick getting more comfortable and Le’Veon Bell pulling off a winning move means the Steelers aren’t headed towards disaster despite Ben Roethlisberger not playing.
9. New York Giants, 3-2: Eli Manning is playing fantastic football this season, completing 66.5% of his passes with a 100.2 passer rating, feeling comfortable behind his offensive line, even when his best receivers are out injured.
10. New York Jets, 3-1: Facing the Washington Redskins after the bye week, it won’t be surprising if the Jets remain at number one in points defense, allowing just 13.8 so far this season.
11. Seattle Seahawks, 2-3: Blew a 17-point lead, something that’s never been done with Pete Carroll as the head coach. Actually, they’re quite close to 2-4 considering how last week went, which means there’s a serious problem.
12. Buffalo Bills, 3-2: It’s interesting to find out whether the Bills can finally find some consistency and build a streak or will this Win-Loss-Win-Loss season carry on in the same way.
13. Indianapolis Colts, 3-2: Even without Andrew Luck, the Colts have old men like Frank Gore, Andre Johnson and especially Matt Hasselbeck to keep their AFC South dominance going.
14. Minnesota Vikings, 2-2: With a comfortable five-week stretch coming up after a bye week, the Vikings should have no excuse if they’re not one of the top two in their division once the more difficult games begin.
15. San Diego Chargers, 2-3: Antonio Gates catching his 100th touchdown is of no consolation as the defense allows a late win for the Steelers and Philip Rivers throws his fifth interceptions of the season.
16. Dallas Cowboys, 2-3: A team with a defense that’s just getting better and a running game waiting to explode, but with Brandon Weeden at quarterback, everyone seems to be on hold.
17. St. Louis Rams, 2-3: Todd Gurley is going to be great, but when Nick Foles turns on his interception machine, the Rams look pitiful.
18. Philadelphia Eagles, 2-3: With 186 rushing yards, the Eagles don’t mind if Sam Bradford throws the occasional end zone pick.
19. Chicago Bears, 2-3: Not as bad as advertised, as Jay Cutler goes into beast mode for the final quarter in the win over the Chiefs, not having a single off target pass on his final 15 attempts and averaging 12.7 air yards on his final 15 passes, including two touchdowns.
20. Cleveland Browns, 2-3: Who knew Josh McCown still had it in him, or ever had? His 457 yards with two touchdown passes count for his best career game, although that should quickly change with the Denver Broncos up next.
21. Oakland Raiders, 2-3: The Raiders once again lose in a one possession game. Sadly, scoring 30 points over the last two weeks combined is considered an improvement for them.
22. Washington Redskins, 2-3: A good defense can only do so much as Kirk Cousins reaches six interceptions this season. The sad thing is that he’s actually better than RG3.
23. Baltimore Ravens, 1-4: Of all the things that could have gone wrong for the Ravens, no one would have guessed their defense would be so bad, giving up 27.4 points per game.
24. Miami Dolphins, 1-3: The MVP of the bye week for the Dolphins is their interim head coach, who is at least entertaining and talking with the confidence of someone who has won a Super Bowl or two.
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2-3: Jameis Winston and especially Lovie Smith finally have a home win. It’s been 11 consecutive losses for the Bucs on their home field before week 5.
26. Tennessee Titans, 1-3: Marcus Mariota had a bad day at the office, going 1-for-7 with an interception on throws for over 10 yards.
27. Houston Texans, 1-4: Going back and forth between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett doesn’t seem to change the end result.
28. Kansas City Chiefs, 1-4: Without Jamaal Charles or more than one good receiver, this season seems doomed.
29. New Orleans Saints, 1-4: A slew of injuries and maybe the worst defense in the NFL make it reasonable to see all the rumors swirling around Sean Payton.
30. San Francisco 49ers, 1-4: The 49ers gave their first good game since week 1 on Sunday Night Football against the Giants. Even Colin Kaepernick looked good. And they still found a way to lose.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1-4: Nothing new from the Jags, who stayed close with another bad team, but both their defense and offense struggles in executing down the stretch.
32. Detroit Lions, 0-5: Shouldn’t be this bad, but are falling apart at the seams. Who knows, maybe Matthew Stafford wasn’t benched for the last time.
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