:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61702427/usa_today_11397481.1539093615.jpg)
For the second straight week, the pundits we’re tracking agree unanimously: the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs are 1-2 at the top of the NFL.
I must say I’m a little surprised. Last week, the way the pundits were talking about the upcoming Chiefs game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, I thought a Chiefs victory might convince at least some of them to move the Chiefs up a notch. You have to wonder if they’d have an entirely different view if Patrick Mahomes had thrown a touchdown pass or two.
So as Bill Belichick himself might say... we’re on to New England.
Pundit Power Rankings for Week 6
Chiefs AFC West Teams Other AFC Teams
| Rank | Team | ESPN | MMQB | NFL | SBN | SpNws | Yahoo | CBS | USA |
|
1 (1) |
Rams 5-0 | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) |
|
2 (2) |
Chiefs 5-0 | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) |
|
3 (4) |
Saints 4-1 | 4 (4) | 4 (3) | 3 (4) | 3 (4) | 3 (3) | 4 (10) | 4 (6) | 3 (3) |
|
4 (5) |
Patriots 3-2 | 3 (5) | 3 (5) | 4 (6) | 6 (8) | 4 (7) | 3 (5) | 7 (11) | 4 (5) |
|
5 (6) |
Panthers 3-1 | 8 (11) | 6 (7) | 5 (5) | 5 (5) | 5 (8) | 5 (6) | 6 (8) | 6 (7) |
|
6 (3) |
Jaguars 3-2 | 5 (3) | 5 (4) | 6 (3) | 7 (3) | 7 (4) | 8 (3) | 9 (4) | 8 (4) |
|
7 (8) |
Bengals 4-1 | 6 (8) | 8 (11) | 7 (7) | 4 (6) | 6 (5) | 11 (12) | 5 (9) | 7 (8) |
|
8 (11) |
Bears 3-1 | 7 (10) | 13 (12) | 8 (8) | 8 (11) | 8 (11) | 9 (9) | 3 (5) | 9 (14) |
| Rank | Team | ESPN | MMQB | NFL | SBN | SpNws | Yahoo | CBS | USA |
|
9 (13) |
Vikings 2-2-1 | 11 (13) | 7 (10) | 9 (13) | 10 (12) | 9 (13) | 6 (13) | 13 (20) | 12 (17) |
|
10 (14) |
Chargers 3-2 | 14 (16) | 10 (14) | 10 (14) | 12 (20) | 11 (17) | 10 (11) | 11 (17) | 5 (6) |
|
11 (7) |
Ravens 3-2 | 10 (7) | 14 (9) | 11 (10) | 9 (7) | 10 (6) | 13 (8) | 10 (10) | 10 (9) |
|
12 (9) |
Eagles 2-3 | 9 (6) | 12 (8) | 15 (12) | 11 (9) | 13 (10) | 7 (4) | 16 (13) | 19 (13) |
|
13 (17) |
Steelers 2-2-1 | 12 (15) | 11 (15) | 12 (16) | 16 (19) | 12 (19) | 14 (17) | 12 (19) | 11 (16) |
|
14 (10) |
Packers 2-2-1 | 13 (9) | 8 (6) | 13 (9) | 15 (10) | 14 (9) | 12 (7) | 19 (14) | 15 (11) |
|
15 (12) |
Titans 3-2 | 15 (12) | 22 (16) | 14 (11) | 14 (14) | 16 (12) | 19 (14) | 8 (3) | 17 (12) |
|
16 (16) |
Dolphins 3-2 | 16 (14) | 17 (18) | 20 (17) | 13 (13) | 17 (16) | 18 (16) | 15 (12) | 16 (18) |
| Rank | Team | ESPN | MMQB | NFL | SBN | SpNws | Yahoo | CBS | USA |
|
17 (15) |
Redskins 2-2 | 17 (19) | 19 (17) | 18 (15) | 19 (17) | 15 (14) | 15 (15) | 14 (7) | 14 (10) |
|
18 (24) |
Browns 2-2-1 | 18 (23) | 23 (26) | 16 (23) | 17 (23) | 19 (23) | 20 (27) | 20 (28) | 13 (24) |
|
19 (23) |
Lions 2-3 | 23 (25) | 18 (20) | 17 (24) | 22 (27) | 26 (25) | 17 (24) | 18 (22) | 23 (23) |
|
20 (22) |
Seahawks 2-3 | 20 (22) | 21 (22) | 21 (21) | 20 (21) | 20 (20) | 21 (20) | 22 (18) | 25 (21) |
|
20 (25) |
Texans 2-3 | 24 (26) | 15 (23) | 22 (26) | 26 (29) | 27 (31) | 22 (25) | 17 (25) | 20 (26) |
|
22 (18) |
Falcons 1-4 | 19 (17) | 16 (13) | 24 (18) | 25 (15) | 23 (18) | 24 (22) | 28 (23) | 21 (15) |
|
22 (21) |
Buccaneers 2-2 | 22 (20) | 25 (24) | 19 (19) | 18 (18) | 21 (22) | 16 (18) | 23 (21) | 18 (19) |
|
24 (20) |
Cowboys 2-3 | 25 (21) | 20 (19) | 23 (22) | 28 (24) | 22 (21) | 23 (21) | 21 (16) | 26 (22) |
| Rank | Team | ESPN | MMQB | NFL | SBN | SpNws | Yahoo | CBS | USA |
|
25 (19) |
Broncos 2-3 | 21 (18) | 27 (21) | 26 (20) | 21 (16) | 18 (15) | 26 (19) | 27 (15) | 24 (20) |
|
26 (29) |
Jets 2-3 | 27 (29) | 26 (28) | 25 (30) | 24 (26) | 24 (28) | 25 (29) | 26 (30) | 22 (29) |
|
27 (25) |
Colts 1-4 | 26 (24) | 28 (29) | 29 (27) | 23 (22) | 29 (26) | 29 (23) | 24 (26) | 27 (28) |
|
28 (27) |
Giants 1-4 | 28 (28) | 24 (25) | 27 (25) | 29 (28) | 28 (27) | 27 (26) | 30 (24) | 29 (25) |
|
29 (31) |
Bills 2-3 | 29 (31) | 29 (30) | 28 (32) | 30 (31) | 25 (29) | 28 (30) | 25 (29) | 28 (31) |
|
30 (30) |
Raiders 1-4 | 31 (30) | 30 (31) | 31 (28) | 31 (30) | 32 (30) | 30 (28) | 29 (27) | 30 (27) |
|
31 (28) |
49ers 1-4 | 30 (27) | 31 (27) | 32 (29) | 27 (25) | 31 (24) | 32 (31) | 32 (31) | 32 (30) |
|
32 (32) |
Cardinals 1-4 | 32 (32) | 32 (32) | 30 (31) | 32 (32) | 30 (32) | 31 (32) | 31 (32) | 31 (32) |
| Numbers in parentheses are the previous week's ranking. The left-hand column is the aggregate of all rankings. ESPN and MMQB rankings are weighted 2.5 times all others. Other questions? Read the True Power Rankings Methodology | |||||||||
Here's what the pundits we're tracking said about the Chiefs this week:
ESPN (2nd from 2nd)
The Chiefs' toughest game of the season, according to ESPN's Football Power Index, will be Sunday night at the Patriots, where they have a 33 percent chance to win. The Chiefs are the fifth team to enter a road game at the Patriots with a record of 5-0 or better since Bill Belichick became head coach in 2000. Two of the previous four such teams lost.
MMQB (2nd from 2nd)
The Chiefs are the best team in the AFC, a fact nobody will be able to dispute if they knock off Jacksonville and New England in consecutive weeks.
NFL.com (Elliot Harrison - 2nd from 2nd)
Now that was what Chiefs fans had been waiting for. Not Patrick Mahomes heaving five touchdown passes, Tyreek Hill going airborne to bake a circus catch from scratch or Travis Kelce owning the middle of the field. No, #ChiefsKingdom desired a defensive performance worth bragging about. While Kansas City gave up a barbecue pit's worth of yards, points are what matter. (Yes, forget about the fact that the most commonly cited defensive ranking is "total defense," which measures yards allowed.) Bottom line: Create five takeaways and you're almost certainly going to hit the winner's circle. And remember: These Chiefs came into Week 5 pacing the league in third-down defense. Of course, just when I get all jacked up about the K.C. defense improving, Justin Houston suffers a hamstring injury and could miss multiple games. Crap.
SBNation (Rebecca Toback - 2nd from 2nd)
The Chiefs beat the Jaguars in a game in which the Kansas City defense finally stepped up. If that continues, the Chiefs are going to be an even scarier team than we thought.
Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer - 2nd from 2nd)
Patrick Mahomes finally threw a couple interceptions to look normal against Sacksonville. But the Chiefs’ defense also suddenly showed up to make sure Blake Bortles couldn't win the duel.
Yahoo! Sports (Frank Schwab - 2nd from 2nd)
The scary thing about the dominant win over the Jaguars is the Chiefs defense played its best game. The Chiefs don’t need the 2000 Ravens defense to show up, considering how good Kansas City’s offense is. But if the defense can make a few big plays each week like it did Sunday? The Chiefs go to another level.
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco - 2nd from 2nd)
They face the toughest challenge of the season against the Patriots in Foxboro. Can that defense slow Tom Brady?
USA Today (Nate Davis - 2nd from 2nd)
Their next three opponents have combined for nine wins, so this KC Masterpiece will be challenged to ride this undefeated wave much longer.
Other power rankings we noticed this week:
NBC Sports (Cam Ellis — 2nd from 4th) It was Mahomes’ worst game and the Chiefs’ best. Dismantling the Jaguars defense like that was eye-opening.
Washington Post (Mark Maske — 2nd from 2nd) Patrick Mahomes finally threw an interception this season (and then another) but the Chiefs offense just kept going against Jacksonville’s celebrated defense. A second straight difficult test looms with this Sunday night’s game at New England.
NESN (Joshua Schrek — 1st from 2nd) Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City’s high-powered offense rolled over one Super Bowl contender in Week 5 (the Jacksonville Jaguars) and now head to Foxboro to try to cement their claim as the AFC’s best team in a battle with the Patriots.
Bleeding Green Nation (Brandon Lee Gowton — 1st from 1st) Andy Reid’s team continues to look unstoppable.
NJ.com (Joe Giglio — 2nd from 2nd) This team scored 30 points even on a down day (by his standards) for Patrick Mahomes.
Chicago Tribune (Brad Biggs — 2nd from 2nd) For once the defense was the story of the day as the Chiefs picked off Blake Bortles four times, sacked him five times and forced a fumble in a blowout win.
Things are settling down a little after five weeks of the season.
They pundits like the Cleveland Browns more and more — a three-point win against the Ravens moved them up six spots in the aggregated rankings, which was the biggest jump of the week. The Texans rose five spots after narrowly winning the Battle of Texas against the Cowboys on Sunday.
The Denver Broncos had the biggest fall in the rankings, dropping six positions after losing to the New York Jets. (A special shout-out here to CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, who very satisfyingly dropped Denver 12 places).
Speaking of AFC West teams, we haven’t yet mentioned the Oakland Raiders in our weekly power rankings roundup. And we’re not going to do so today, either. We’ll just let that big 30 in the table speak for itself.
Finally, an interesting disagreement this week. Most of the pundits agreed that the Washington Redskins should be dinged after losing to the New Orleans Saints 43-19. But Yahoo! held the Redskins steady, and ESPN’s panel of writers voted Washington up two spots!
On Wednesday — as always — we’ll collect the data from the number-crunchers, and assemble Arrowhead Pride True Power Rankings for Week 6. Be sure to check it out!