Week 5 AP Power Rankings: Cardinals complete their climb to the top

Blink and you’ll miss it. That’s the story of every NFL season. Can you believe we are already four weeks into this thing? Another fun week of action which resulted in a lot of changes in this week’s rankings.

This week’s voters were Pete Sweeney, Ron Kopp, Matt Stagner, Jared Sapp, Stephen Serda, Rocky Magana, Bryan Stewart, Talon Graff, Mark Grunnels and myself.

1. Arizona Cardinals (7th) | This week’s high risers

From 19th to first in just four weeks.

2. Buffalo Bills (3rd)

Remember when they beat the Chiefs 54-31 at Arrowhead? Could the same happen this Sunday?

3. Los Angeles Rams (1st)

Well, they didn’t last very long at the top.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2nd)

Can we all now stop talking about Tom Brady’s return to New England?

5. Green Bay Packers (4th)

Got lucky, as Minkah Fitzpatrick wasn’t offside for my money.

6. Dallas Cowboys (11th)

Love their offensive philosophy.

7. Kansas City Chiefs (6th)

Tommy Townsend got paid to play on Sunday (and never punted). He has the best job in the world.

8. Los Angeles Chargers (9th)

Is it possible that Justin Herbert breaks some of Patrick Mahomes’ early career records?

9. Cleveland Browns (5th)

The defense is getting better and better by the week.

10. Baltimore Ravens (13th)

Where do you stand on the Ravens rushing on the last play of the game to keep a streak alive?

11. Carolina Panthers (10th)

Humbled by the Cowboys.

12. Las Vegas Raiders (12th)

Joey Bosa’s quotes about Derek Carr were hilarious.

13. San Francisco 49ers (8th) | This week’s big fallers

Jimmy G is holding this team back.

14. Seattle Seahawks (17th)

Credit where credit is due. A great team win.

15. Cincinnati Bengals (19th)

How fun are the Bengals?

16. Denver Broncos (15th)

They finally played a good team and they lost. Who saw that coming?

17. New Orleans Saints (14th)

Wow. What a loss.

18. Minnesota Vikings (18th)

They will be kicking themselves for not winning after holding the Browns to just 14 points.

19. Tennessee Titans (16th)

Lost to the Jets — and down they go.

20. New England Patriots (21st)

It is time to have a conversation about how bad the Patriots’ offenses have been since Tom left?

21. Washington Football Team (23rd)

J.D. McKissic’s touchdown was *chef’s kiss*

22. Pittsburgh Steelers (22nd)

Hung around in this one a lot longer than expected.

23. Indianapolis Colts (25th)

They won the Jacoby Brissett revenge game.

24. Miami Dolphins (20th)

How boring are the Dolphins?

25. Philadelphia Eagles (24th)

I wouldn’t get too excited about that offensive performance if I were you, Eagles fans.

26. Chicago Bears (26th)

Matt Nagy might as well be firing himself these days.

27. New York Giants (30th)

Jabrill Peppers behaved exactly how everyone should behave at the coin toss.

28. Atlanta Falcons (27th)

Has anyone seen Kyle Pitts?

29. New York Jets (31st)

Zach Wilson found his feet a week before I see him at Tottenham. Perfect timing.

30. Houston Texans (28th)

It shouldn’t be possible for an NFL team to score zero points.

31. Detroit Lions (29th)

That snap/interception was worth the price of admission alone.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (32nd)

At least Urban Meyer had a quiet weekend.