Week 5 is in the books, and if you look around the NFL, there’s certainly a lot of parity. Only one team, the Philadelphia Eagles, remains undefeated at 5-0. After that, five teams, the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants, hold elite 4-1 records.

Only six teams hold a single win, and none are winless. That leaves 20 teams with two or three wins through five weeks. In other words, the league’s standings are still wide open, as very few teams have established themselves so ar as either very good or very bad.

This makes Power Ranking teams even trickier, and the sample size is still pretty small. Nevertheless, here is how I rank the league’s 32 teams through five weeks of action in the 2022-23 NFL season. If you’d like to debate or discuss any rankings, join the conversation with @SakSports on Twitter.

Post-Week 5 Power Rankings

  1. Buffalo Bills (4-1) [Last Week: 1]
    • Five straight weeks at #1 for the Buffalo Bills, after Josh Allen and Gabriel Davis had a field day over the Steelers defense, winning 38-3 in a blowout. Allen was 20-of-31 passing for 424 yards and four passing touchdowns, with Davis hauling in three of those passes for 171 yards and two scores, including a 98-yard touchdown reception. The Bills hold an NFL-high +91 point differential after the 35-point win.
  2. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0) [Last Week: 3]
    • The Philadelphia Eagles got their biggest scare of the season on Sunday, but avoided overtime after the Cardinals missed a potential game-tying field goal attempt. Jalen Hurts threw for 239 yards and scored both of Philadelphia’s touchdowns on the ground. While it was the closest game so far, the Cardinals were also the Eagles most formidable opponent thus far, and the first playoff team from last season Philadelphia has faced.
  3. Kansas City Chiefs (4-1) [Last Week: 2]
    • Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs battled back from a 17-0 hole against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, with Travis Kelce hauling in an incredible four touchdown passes. Kansas City has scored the most points in the NFL, but has also allowed the ninth-most so far.
  4. Baltimore Ravens (3-2) [Last Week: 4]
    • It took a two-minute drill and a last-second Justin Tucker field goal, but Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens outlasted the Bengals 19-17 to take the outright AFC North lead.
  5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) [Last Week: 9]
    • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not e as well-oiled of a machine as last season, but they’re still going to beat the Falcons every time with Tom Brady under center.
  6. Dallas Cowboys (4-1) [Last Week: 7]
    • The Dallas Cowboys have won four straight games with Cooper Rush after a Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay. And Dallas isn’t bating up on bad teams: they’re the only team to beat the 4-1 Giants so far this season, and the Cowboys have outplayed BOTH Super Bowl teams from last season, coming put with an impressive 22-10 win over the defending champion Rams in Week 5.
  7. New York Giants (4-1) [Last Week: 15]
    • While some called the New York Giants 3-1 start a fluke, beating Aaron Rodgers the Packers 27-22 in London behind a big game from Saquon Barkley and a solid effort from Daniel Jones officially puts the Giants on the NFC playoff map for the first time in years. The biggest difference from last season to this one is abundantly clear for New York: early Head Coach of the Year candidate Brian Daboll.
  1. Minnesota Vikings (4-1) [Last Week: 8]
    • After blowing a 21-3 lead, a late Kirk Cousins touchdown run followed by a huge Cam Dantzler strip sealed a 29-22 win over the Bears to lift the Minnesota Vikings to 4-1.
  2. Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) [Last Week: 11]
    • Monster games from Austin Ekeler and Mike Williams helped the Los Angeles Chargers outlast the Browns 30-28 on the road. Los Angeles’ offseason defensive improvements may not have been enough though, as the Chargers are allowing the third-most points in the NFL per game.
  3. Green Bay Packers (3-2) [Last Week: 6]
    • Aaron Rodgers came up just short on the final drive in London against the Giants. The Green Bay Packers are now 1-2 against non-playoff teams from last season, and 2-0 against teams that made the playoffs last season.
  4. San Francisco 49ers (3-2) [Last Week: 12]
    • You never know whether to expect a quiet, ground-and-pound game from the San Francisco 49ers or a huge offensive performance, and on Sunday, it was a 37-15 win over the Panthers to push Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers over .500.
  5. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3) [Last Week: 10]
    • Joe Burrow punched in a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes to play, but the Cincinnati Bengals defense couldn’t hold on and allowed the Ravens to kick a game-winning field goal. Still, the Bengals of the last three weeks are much better than they were during the first two weeks of the season.
  6. Tennessee Titans (3-2) [Last Week: 17]
    • The Tennessee Titans have recovered from an 0-2 start with three straight wins, beating the Commanders 21-17 behind 102 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns from Derrick Henry.
  7. Arizona Cardinals (2-3) [Last Week: 13]
    • Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals came up short against the undefeated Eagles and still need to play better first quarter football. But Arizona is a solid team, and when Deandre Hopkins comes back, the Cardinals could definitely go on a run.
  8. Los Angeles Rams (2-3) [Last Week: 14]
    • The early season Super Bowl-hangover continues for the Los Angeles Rams, with a disappointing 22-10 loss to the Cowboys at home. Cooper Kupp continues to be a lone bright spot, with the stud wideout catching seven passes for 125 yards and a touchdown.
  9. New York Jets (3-2) [Last Week: 24]
    • While it probably helped that their opponent was down to their third-string quarterback, the New York Jets offense still put on a master class on offense with five rushing touchdowns and an efficient game from Zach Wilson in his second start of the season. The Jets hanging 40 points on Miami’s defense could be a turning point for the team, or another instance of fool’s gold for the franchise: only time will tell.
  10. Miami Dolphins (3-2) [Last Week: 5]
    • The Miami Dolphins had a red-hot start to the season with wins over the Patriots, Bills, and Ravens. But after losing Tua Tagovailoa last week, both Teddy Bridgewater and Tyreek Hill were banged up in a 40-17 loss to the Jets. A healthy Dolphins squad has the talent to be an AFC contender, but at this moment in time, expectations for the Dolphins are tempered.
  11. Las Vegas Raiders (1-4) [Last Week: 19]
    • The Las Vegas Raiders are 1-4 after squandering a 17-0 lead and choosing to go for a two-point conversion and failing in the final minutes of Monday Night Football against the Chiefs. But darn it, this is a pretty good 1-4 team. Las Vegas’ defense just needs to learn how to close out games.
  12. Cleveland Browns (2-3) [Last Week: 18]
    • Jacoby Brissett, Nick Chubb, and the Cleveland Browns lost a 30-28 shootout against the Chargers in Week 5. Cleveland has the NFL’s 6th-highest scoring offense this season, but has also allowed the 10th-most points.
  13. Indianapolis Colts (2-2-1) [Last Week: 22]
    • It wasn’t pretty, but Matt Ryan and the Indianapolis Colts outlasted the Broncos 12-9 without Jonathan Taylor in a Thursday Night snoozer to improve their record to a respectable 2-2-1.
  14. New Orleans Saints (2-3) [Last Week: 26]
    • The New Orleans Saints offense came alive in a wild 39-32 win over Seattle that featured three touchdown runs from Taysom Hill.
  15. Seattle Seahawks (2-3) [Last Week: 23]
    • I don’t think anyone expected the Seattle Seahawks to have such a good offense behind Geno Smith (3 Pass TD in a 39-32 loss to the Saints.) But the defense is laughably bad, allowing 30.8 PPG, second-most in the NFL.
  16. New England Patriots (2-3) [Last Week: 25]
    • The New England Patriots exploded offensively and defensively in a 29-0 win over the Lions. Bailey Zappe’s first career start. Zappe was 17-of-21 passing with a touchdown and a pick, and Rhamondre Stevenson had an incredible 161 yards on 25 carries on the ground.
  17. Atlanta Falcons (2-3) [Last Week: 20]
    • Marcus Mariota and the Atlanta Falcons at least made it interesting, scoring 15 straight points after falling behind 21-0, but ultimately fell 21-15 to Brady and the Buccaneers.
  18. Chicago Bears (2-3) [Last Week: 28]
    • Justin Fields and The Chicago Bears turned a 21-10 hole in to a 22-21 lead, but ended up losing 29-22 to the Vikings in Week 5 to become 0-3 away from Chicago.
  19. Detroit Lions (1-4) [Last Week: 21]
    • I could only keep the Detroit Lions so high as a one-win team (I had them at #16 two weeks ago) but after the team’s greatest asset (the offense) went dark in a 29-0 loss to the Patriots.
  20. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3) [Last Week: 16]
    • The Jacksonville Jaguars regressed in a sloppy 13-6 loss against the previously winless Texans. Trevor Lawrence was 25-of-47 passing with two interceptions and no touchdowns.
  21. Washington Commanders (1-4) [Last Week: 31]
    • Carson Wentz had his best game of the season, passing for 359 yards and two passing touchdowns (Dyami Brown’s only two catches: good for 105 yards and two scores) but also threw a pick in the Washington Commanders’ 21-17 loss to the Titans.
  22. Denver Broncos (2-3) [Last Week: 27]
    • Russell Wilson had another shaky performance (21-39, 274 yards, two interceptions, no touchdown drives) and the Denver Broncos fell 12-9 to the Jonathan Taylor-less Colts on Thursday Night Football. Cornerback Ronald Darby and starting left tackle Garrett Bolles join running back Javonte Williams and wide receiver Tim Patrick on Injured Reserve.
  23. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-4) [Last Week: 29]
    • The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of two teams that failed to muster a touchdown in Week 5, and lost huge to an elite Bills team, falling 38-3 in a blowout.
  24. Houston Texans (1-3-1) [Last Week: 32]
    • The Houston Texans grinded their way to their first win of the season behind 99 rushing yards and the game’s only touchdown from running back Dameon Pierce.
  25. Carolina Panthers (1-4) [Last Week: 30]
    • I’m surprised the Baker Mayfield experience is going as poorly as it’s gone for the Carolina Panthers. A bad defense doesn’t help either, as Carolina fell 37-15 to the 49ers at home this week. Matt Rhule became the first head coach to be fired this season after the 1-4 start.
SEE ALSO: Preseason Predictions for the Playoffs and Super Bowl 57

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Billy Sakmann

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