The big story this past weekend was Tom Brady’s return from the Deflate-Gate suspension. Any worries about rust or age were quickly dispelled as he passed for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns. Sure, it was the Browns…but it was still an outstanding game.
See where Brady’s successful return leaves the Patriots in our Week 6 power rankings. Also, check out Week 5 rankings here.
1. New England Patriots (4-1); beat Cleveland Browns 33-13, up 1 spot – With Brady and Rob Gronkowski (109 receiving yards) already picking up where they left off, New England once again sports an elite offense.
2. Minnesota Vikings (5-0); beat Houston 31-13, up 1 spot – Minnesota goes into the bye week as the only undefeated team. Their defense is easily top 5, while Sam Bradford has improved the passing game from last season.
3. Denver Broncos (4-1); lost to Atlanta 23-16, down 1 spot – Paxton Lynch definitely isn’t ready to be a starting NFL QB, which means that the Broncos are hoping more than ever that Trevor Siemian returns for tomorrow’s San Diego game.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1); beat NY Jets 31-13, up 1 spot – Sammie Coates is emerging as quite a deep threat, tallying 139 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns last game.
5. Seattle Seahawks (3-1); bye week, down 1 spot – The Seahawks return to action this week by hosting the surprising Atlanta Falcons.
6. Green Bay Packers (3-1); beat NY Giants 23-16, same spot – Green Bay didn’t look the sharpest, with Aaron Rodgers throwing two interceptions and being victimized by several drops. But the pass rush picked up the slack and made life hard on Eli Manning.
7. Atlanta Falcons (4-1); beat Denver 23-16, up 1 spot – Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman obliterated the defending champs with a combined 286 yards and 2 touchdowns.
8. Dallas Cowboys (4-1); beat Cincinnati 28-14, down 1 spot – The Cowboys have already matched last season’s win total, and Tony Romo hasn’t even played a regular-season snap yet.
9. Arizona Cardinals (2-3); beat San Francisco 33-21, up 2 spots – Drew Stanton only threw for 124 yards, but his two touchdown passes were a big difference in this win.
10. Kansas City Chiefs (2-2); bye week, same spot – With another week to prepare, we should see a lot more of Jamaal Charles against the Oakland Raiders.
11. Oakland Raiders (4-1); beat San Diego 34-31, up 3 spots – The Raiders are taking advantage of a soft early season schedule. But this game against the Chiefs won’t be easy.
12. Buffalo Bills (3-2); beat LA 30-19, up 4 spots – Buffalo continues to climb after an 0-2 start. LeSean McCoy was the big difference-maker here, rushing for 150 yards.
13. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3); lost to Dallas 28-14, down 1 spot – The talk at the beginning of the season was whether Cincinnati could finally win a playoff game under Marvin Lewis. But they have to make the postseason first.
14. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1); lost to Detroit 24-23, down 1 spot – Carson Wentz finally looked like a rookie as he threw into double coverage and gave Detroit a game-winning interception.
15. Washington Redskins (3-2); beat Baltimore 16-10, up 6 spots – Washington got some unusual help from their 29th-ranked defense and an 85-yard Jamison Crowder punt return to win this game.
16. Carolina Panthers (1-4); lost to Tampa Bay 17-14, down 7 spots – Carolina heads on the road to New Orleans this week in a must-win situation…if it’s not already too late.
17. Baltimore Ravens (3-2); lost to Washington 16-10, down 2 spots – Baltimore scored on their opening possession for the first time in 2016. But after this, their offense went flat.
18. Indianapolis Colts (2-3); beat Chicago 29-23, up 2 spots – Even with poor offensive line play, Andrew Luck found ways to throw for 322 yards and two touchdowns. This is the first time ever that the Colts have beaten the Bears in Indy.
19. Houston Texans (3-2); lost to Minnesota 31-13, down 2 spots – After losing 27-0 to New England last week, Houston put up another poor performance in this blowout loss. A late touchdown made the score look a little better than it was.
20. New York Giants (2-3); lost to Green Bay 23-16, down 2 spots – Odell Beckham Jr. had his first TD catch of the year, but beyond this, there was little reason to celebrate for New York.
21. LA Rams (3-2); lost to Buffalo 30-19, down 2 spots – The Rams lost a golden opportunity to take control of the NFC West, losing to Buffalo at home.
22. Detroit Lions (2-3); beat Philadelphia 24-23, up 5 spots – The Eagles hadn’t given up a point in the first quarter prior to this contest. But Matthew Stafford connected with Theo Riddick on two TD passes in the first to jump out to an early lead.
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3); beat Carolina 17-14, up 2 spots – This is quite a win for a Tampa Bay team that was looking doomed for another bad season.
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3); bye week, same spot – The Jaguars should have some confidence coming out of the bye week since they beat the Colts two weeks ago. Now they get Chicago, the team that Indianapolis just beat.
25. Tennessee Titans (2-3); beat Miami 30-17, up 5 spots – Tennessee may be a running football team, but it was the Marcus Mariota show as the second-year QB scored 4 total touchdowns.
26. Miami Dolphins (1-4); lost to Tennessee 30-17, down 4 spots – The Dolphins offense was so bad that fans were chanting for Ryan Tannehill’s backup Matt Moore, who hasn’t started a game since 2011.
27. New York Jets (1-4); lost to Pittsburgh 31-13, down 4 spots – The Jets defense was dominated in this one, giving up scoring drive after scoring drive to Pittsburgh’s offense.
28. New Orleans Saints (1-3); bye week, same spot – New Orleans comes out of the bye week to face a Carolina Panthers team that must win to save their season.
29. Chicago Bears (1-4); lost to Indianapolis 29-23, down 4 spots – With 322 passing yards and two touchdowns, Brian Hoyer may cause a QB controversy when Jay Cutler returns.
30. San Diego Chargers (1-4); lost to Oakland 34-31, down 1 spot – San Diego just lost their fourth close game of the season, and they’re directing their anger at the laughing kicker, Josh Lambo.
31. San Francisco (1-4); lost to Arizona 33-21, same spot – With four straight losses, the 49ers will now hand the reigns over to Colin Kaepernick.
32. Cleveland Browns (0-5); lost to New England 33-13, same spot – The Cleveland Browns have now played 5 quarterbacks in five games. They’re hoping that number-four, Cody Kessler, can return this week; otherwise we’ll see more Charlie Whitehurst.