Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season saw much of the same trends that we’ve been accustomed to this year. The juggernauts, such as San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Miami continued their strong performances, while struggling franchises like New England and Carolina stayed in the basement with more bad losses.
The biggest surprise might have been the Chicago Bears getting their first victory in decisive fashion. But how much were they able to move up in the rankings?
Buy Bears TicketsEach week of the season, Bears Wire will unveil power rankings of all 32 NFL teams. Here are the rankings entering Week 6.
1. San Francisco 49ers (5-0)
- Week 5 result: 42-10 win vs. Dallas Cowboys
- Last week’s ranking: No. 1
No one can stop the San Francisco 49ers right now. Their offense continues to operate like a well-oiled machine while their defense stifles opponents from the first snap. That was evident on Sunday against the Cowboys.
2. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0)
- Week 5 result: 23-14 win at Los Angeles Rams
- Last week’s ranking: No. 2
The Eagles are a nightmare in the trenches, which makes everyone else’s job that much easier. Until a team can bully Philadelphia off the line of scrimmage, this team will remain one of the best in the league.
3. Miami Dolphins (4-1)
- Week 5 result: 31-16 win vs. New York Giants
- Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Even though they faced a battered Giants team at home after getting trounced by the Buffalo Bills a week prior, the Dolphins took care of business to bounce back in a big way. Speed kills and they have way too much of it on offense.
4. Detroit Lions (4-1)
- Week 5 result: 42-24 win vs. Carolina Panthers
- Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Detroit has not lost in regulation yet this season and we’re entering the middle of October. Even with injuries to key players, the Lions continue to roll opponents and are taking the step from good to great. As long as they stay healthy, they’ll stay near the top of the NFC.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (4-1)
- Week 5 result: 27-20 win at Minnesota Vikings
- Last week’s ranking: No. 4
For as lethal as Kansas City can be, they’ve only have one decisive victory all season. Everything else has been a nail biter that’s come down to the final couple possessions. They have a comfortable division lead for now but their offense needs to get going sooner rather than later.
6. Buffalo Bills (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 20-25 loss vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (London)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 3
While you can argue the Bills were at a disadvantage due to the Jaguars spending the entire week in London, they couldn’t afford to get complacent after dismantling the Dolphins. But they not only lost the game, they lost a couple key defenders in the process. It was a bad trip for Buffalo.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 25-20 win at Buffalo Bills (London)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Should the Jaguars play all of their games on the road? They’re undefeated when not playing in Jacksonville. In reality, they’re finally finding their offensive identity with Travis Etienne and Calvin Ridley taking over while the defense has taken it up a notch.
8. Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
- Week 5 result: No game (bye week)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 9
9. Dallas Cowboys (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 10-42 loss at San Francisco 49ers
- Last week’s ranking: No. 5
All of the hype surrounding the Cowboys vanished faster than Jerry Jones’ helicopter after a game. Dallas was embarrassed on prime time and proved they’re not ready to hang with the elite teams yet. Reality repeatedly kicked them in the face.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)
- Week 5 result: No game (bye week)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 11
11. Baltimore Ravens (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 10-17 loss at Pittsburgh Steelers
- Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Baltimore had this (boring) game in the bag until they seemingly gave it away in the fourth quarter. All they had to do was take care of the ball, but a few bad drives later suddenly snatched defeated from the jaws of victory at the hands of a division rival.
12. Los Angeles Chargers (2-2)
- Week 5 result: No game (bye week)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 13
13. Cleveland Browns (2-2)
- Week 5 result: No game (bye week)
- Last week’s ranking: No. 14
14. Atlanta Falcons (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 21-19 win vs. Houston Texans
- Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Desmond Ridder picked a good day to have arguably the best game of his career. The second-year quarterback got the job done and led the Falcons on a last-second scoring drive to seal the win over Houston. With the talent around him, maybe there’s hope for this team after all.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 17-10 win vs. Baltimore Ravens
- Last week’s ranking: No. 20
The Steelers scored 17 points, but had just one touchdown. That’s the Matt Canada way apparently, but thanks to their opportunistic defense, this team can remain in games. That’s good news for Steelers fans but bad news for anyone wanting a new offensive coordinator.
16. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 34-20 win at Arizona Cardinals
- Last week’s ranking: No. 23
The Bengals have had slow starts to their seasons in the past, but this was getting ridiculous. It’s good to know they remembered to rely on Ja’Marr Chase to move the ball. They’re too talented to remain in the gutter for long, but they’re still far away from competing with the upper echelon teams of the AFC.
17. Houston Texans (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 19-21 loss at Atlanta Falcons
- Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Even with their loss to the Falcons, C.J. Stroud continues to prove he’s the real deal. He set a new rookie record for most passes thrown without an interception to start a career with 177 and can sling it when called upon. He even drove them down for the go-ahead touchdown before the Falcons mounted their own final scoring drive. The Texans will be okay.
18. Indianapolis Colts (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 23-16 win vs. Tennessee Titans
- Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Just as the Colts get reinforcements on their offense with Jonathan Taylor returning, they lose their starting quarterback Anthony Richardson for a significant period of time. The good news, however, is they’re in good hands with Gardner Minshew. This team should still be able to compete in the open AFC South.
19. New Orleans Saints (3-2)
- Week 5 result: 34-0 win at New England Patriots
- Last week’s ranking: No. 23
The Saints and Patriots both came into their game having gotten their doors blown off the week prior. The Saints were the only team to do something about it. They bounced back with a complete team victory, filled with big defensive turnovers and timely offensive scores to turn this one into a laugher.
20. Green Bay Packers (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 13-17 loss at Las Vegas Raiders
- Last week’s ranking: No. 12
After further review, it appears the Jordan Love era is not what many Packer fans thought it would be. The young quarterback is struggling mightily in a lost Matt LaFleur offense and Green Bay has lost two in a row. They need this upcoming bye week to straight things out because both sides of the ball are turning into a mess.
21. Tennessee Titans (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 16-23 loss at Indianapolis Colts
- Last week’s ranking: No. 15
The Titans offense can only take them so far and when their normally stout run defense is getting gashed, they can’t catch up. This team has a brand of football that can only work for so long.
22. Los Angeles Rams (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 14-23 loss vs. Philadelphia Eagles
- Last week’s ranking: No. 17
The Rams continue to be a team that’s good enough to win against middling opponents, but struggle to win against good teams. They’ll hang around, but eventually they run out of gas. Maybe that changes down the road with Cooper Kupp back in the fold, but not yet.
23. New York Jets (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 31-21 win at Denver Broncos
- Last week’s ranking: No. 25
If the Jets run their offense through Breece Hall, good things will happen. But even still, their latest win wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. They had an ugly game and squeaked by a terrible opponent.
24. Washington Commanders (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 20-40 loss vs. Chicago Bears
- Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Washington holds the dubious honor of snapping the Chicago Bears’ historic losing streak. Someone had to do it. The Commanders were severely outplayed in the first half though and questionable coaching decisions sunk any chance at a comeback. They need to get on the same page going forward, now having suffered three losses in four games.
25. Minnesota Vikings (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 20-27 loss vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- Last week’s ranking: No. 26
The Vikings made it a game against the Chiefs and based on some of the other performances this week, it wasn’t enough to drop them. But Minnesota continues to play incomplete games and now with Justin Jefferson injured, they could be in big trouble.
26. Las Vegas Raiders (2-3)
- Week 5 result: 17-13 win vs. Green Bay Packers
- Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Isn’t it nice when a team is capable of winning a game despite their coach doing everything they can to lose it? The Raiders defense made clutch plays and saved Josh McDaniels from himself after he coached scared yet again.
27. New York Giants (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 16-31 loss at Miami Dolphins
- Last week’s ranking: No. 28
The Giants haven’t looked good one bit this year, but they’ve faced stiff competition. If they can get some of their impact players back from injury, they might find a few wins over the next month but this team is firmly stuck in the mud.
28. Chicago Bears (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 40-20 win at Washington Commanders
- Last week’s ranking: No. 32
After nearly a full year, the Bears finally won a game – and they looked really good doing it, too. Chicago’s offense looks to have finally arrived and their defense got more creative despite numerous injuries. Let’s see if this play continues over the next couple of weeks.
29. Arizona Cardinals (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 20-34 loss vs. Cincinnati Bengals
- Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Like the Rams, the Cardinals will play teams hard and give them a run. But unlike the Rams, there isn’t the same talent to keep games competitive for all four quarters. The Cardinals are beginning to look like the team many thought they would be when the season began.
30. Denver Broncos (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 21-31 loss vs. New York Jets
- Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Sean Payton just got outcoached by the man he chastised in the media during the offseason. And he didn’t even do a good job, either. The Broncos continue to be a disaster and could be on the verge of selling many different players off.
31. Carolina Panthers (0-5)
- Week 5 result: 24-42 loss at Detroit Lions
- Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Bryce Young is still just a rookie and he has very little help at this point in time, but he also looks so far behind guys like Stroud and Richardson. Frustration is beginning to mount in Carolina and as the final winless team, they need a win badly to get this monkey of their back.
32. New England Patriots (1-4)
- Week 5 result: 0-34 loss vs. New Orleans Saints
- Last week’s ranking: No. 27
How the mighty have fallen. This is truly the lowest point in the Bill Belichick era in New England. The Patriots have scored just three points in two games, they have problems with every phase, and don’t seem to have any answers. This is bad and it’s hard to see things getting better. Their best bet is the 2024 NFL Draft to start things over.
