NFL Power Rankings, Week 6: Top holds steady, but there's still a ton of movement

In this week’s edition of our Power Rankings, most of the elite teams held steady, setting the stage for a big Patriots-Chiefs game this weekend. The Bengals, Chargers, Browns and Jets all took big steps forward, while the Titans, Ravens, Falcons and Broncos all took a tumble. Read on to see where your favorite team ended up.

1. Rams (5-0 — last week, No. 1): Love the quote from Sean McVay after going for it on fourth down last week against Seattle. “We attack success. We don’t fear failure.” Los Angeles lost Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp to concussions against the Seahawks. This week: at Broncos.

2. Chiefs (5-0 — last week, No. 2): Kansas City has outscored teams by 50 points in the first quarter this year. New England has been outscored by three points in the first quarter this year. What happens right out of the gate on Sunday will be huge. This week: at Patriots.

3. Jaguars (3-2 — last week, No. 3): The Jags were scalded in Kansas City by the Chiefs, but we won’t penalize them because they lost to such a hot team. The Jacksonville offense is really inconsistent — I wonder how much of that is tied to the on-again, off-again availability of Leonard Fournette, who is apparently a question mark again for this weekend. This week: at Cowboys.

4. Patriots (3-2 — last week, No. 4): Despite his two picks, Tom Brady made the PFF Team of the Week for his performance against the Colts, the first 300-yard game of the season for the veteran quarterback. He’ll need to be on his game again this weekend. This week: vs. Chiefs.

5. Saints (4-1 — last week, No. 6): Drew Brees threw as many touchdowns as incompletions Monday against the Redskins. This week: Bye.

6. Vikings (2-2-1 — last week, No. 7): Good job going into Philly and coming out with a win. This week: vs. Cardinals.

7. Eagles (2-3 — last week, No. 5): With three losses in their last four games, it doesn’t seem like there’s much fun in Philly right now. This week: at Giants.

8. Bears (3-1 — last week, No. 9): Khalil Mack is the first player since 2005 to have a sack and a forced fumble in each of his first four games. This week: at Dolphins.

9. Panthers (3-1 — last week, No. 12): Are we ready to jump on the Carolina bandwagon? It’s awful tempting. They can put up points while consistently beating up on the NFC’s middle class. This week: at Redskins.

10. Packers (2-2-1 — last week, No. 8): Tough day for kicker Mason Crosby, who became the first kicker to miss four field goals and an extra point in the same game since the Raiders' Cole Ford in 1997. Wonder if Aaron Rodgers talks to Brady about how to work with a coach you’ve been connected to for a long time. This week: vs. Niners.

11. Steelers (2-2-1 — last week, No. 13): Has Pittsburgh righted the ship? They’re waiting for the return of Le’Veon Bell, but he can’t play defense, so it really might not matter. They can restore some order to the AFC North with a win on Sunday. This week: at Bengals.

12. Chargers (3-2 — last week, No. 15): Not all that impressive this week, but the simple fact they won allowed them to climb over a few teams that stumbled. This week: at Browns.

13. Titans (3-2 — last week, No. 11): Look, Tennessee. We all like you. This is a team that could be poised to do really good things — innovative coaching staff, young talent, etc. But you can’t lose to the Bills if you want to be taken seriously. You just can’t. This week: vs. Ravens.

14. Bengals (4-1 — last week, No. 17): Feels like they’re too low here, especially when you consider they are a couple of bad quarters away from being 5-0. But Cincy could really make a statement the next two games with a home contest against Pittsburgh and a road date with Kansas City. This week: vs. Steelers.

15. Ravens (3-2 — last week, No. 10): The up-and-down season continues. The Ravens have looked really impressive at times — all three of their wins are by at least double digits — and awful at other moments. This week: at Titans.

16. Buccaneers (2-2 — last week, 16): Jameis Winston is back this week. We’ll see how Tampa responds in a game where the loser can pretty much flush its playoff hopes down the toilet. This week: at Falcons.

17. Texans (2-3 — last week, No. 18): Deshaun Watson has been hit 55 times in five games and has been sacked 18 times this season. That is not a recipe for success. This week: vs. Bills.

18. Falcons (1-4 — last week, No. 14): The Atlanta defense is wobbling. It’s lost four starters, and was being held together with bubble gum down the stretch against Pittsburgh. Jordan Richards played 77 percent of the defensive snaps against the Steelers. This week: vs. Bucs.

19. Dolphins (3-2 — last week, No. 19): Still not sure how Miami collapsed down the stretch last week — maybe it was all the injuries to that offensive line. But that 3-0 start feels like it was a long time ago. This week: vs. Bears.

20. Seahawks (2-3 — last week, No. 20): Their three losses have come by a combined 12 points. Say what you will about Seattle, but that team is competing for Pete Carroll. This week: at Raiders in London.

21. Lions (2-3 — last week, No. 25): Two wins in their last three games has turned down the heat on Matt Patricia. This week: Bye.

22. Browns (2-2-1 — last week, No. 27): Three OT games in their first five. This team is a few missed kicks away from being 3-1-1. This week: vs. Chargers.

23. Jets (2-3 — last week, No. 28): Jets looked good in squashing the Broncos at home on Sunday. A grownup team is able to keep that momentum moving forward by building on that sort of triumph. We’ll see if New York is ready to take that sort of collective step. This week: vs. Colts.

24. Redskins (2-2 — last week, 21): “Goof ball con artist” is such an underrated burn. Josh Norman can be a great talent, but he’s at a point where he’s pretty much irrelevant on the NFL landscape, at least when it comes to the big picture. This week: vs. Panthers.

25. Cowboys (2-3 — last week, No. 24): Jason Garrett has the best odds when it comes to being the first coach to be fired. Amazingly, you can also bet on the possibility of Bill Belichick being the first coach to be fired as well. Gamblin’ money ain’t got no home. This week: vs. Jaguars

26 Giants (1-4 — last week, No. 22): I’ll just leave this here:
Saquon Barkley: 5 games, 71 carries, 308 yards, 3 TDs
Sony Michel: 4 games, 67 carries, 294 yards, 2 TDs
This week: vs. Eagles

27. Broncos (2-3 — last week, No. 23): I understand the challenge of being a western team coming east to play a 1 o’clock game. But losing 34-16 to the Jets in North Jersey should be alarming on a number of levels for Denver fans. This week: vs. Rams.

28. Colts (1-4 — last week, No. 30): Loved the scrap the Indy offense showed in the second half of last Thursday’s game against the Patriots. I mean, they’re not making the playoffs, but to see something like that down the stretch on the offensive side of the ball bodes well for their future. If they could just get the defense figured out…  This week: at Jets.

29. Bills (2-3 — last week, No. 32): Buffalo is a weird team. They have a couple of quality wins against the Vikings and Titans, but they were one of the worst teams in the league when it came to their three other games. Their -55 point differential is the worst total in the league. This week: at Texans.

30. Cardinals (1-4 — last week, No. 31): There are plenty of positives when it comes to Josh Rosen, but it doesn’t help that he’s operating behind a substandard offensive line. But kudos to Arizona for breaking into the win column. This week: at Vikings.

31. 49ers (1-4 — last week, No. 26): Even without Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury, there appears to be some regression on the part of this young San Francisco team. Losing to one of the last winless teams in the league (Cardinals) isn’t going to help either. This week: at Packers.

32. Raiders (1-4 — last week, 29): The Raiders decided to pass on the goal-line against the Chargers instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch. Derek Carr was picked off and Oakland lost. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last four times Lynch’s team has thrown at the opponent’s 1-yard-line instead of handing to the powerful back, the play has ended with two interceptions, two incompletions and zero touchdowns. This week: vs. Seahawks in London.