[Editor’s note: With the NFL playing a Tuesday night game for the first time in nearly a decade, I had a decision to make regarding the Week Six power rankings: Hold them until Wednesday or post them on Tuesday? I decided on a mixed approach. The original version comes Tuesday. The rankings then will be updated on Tuesday night, after the Bills-Titans game. If there’s a Bills-Titans game.]
1. Seahawks (No. 2; 5-0): The Seahawks have made it to 5-0 for the first time ever. Far more importantly, they’ve made it back to No. 1.
2. Bills (No. 3; 4-0): Whether they hold this spot depends on whether they can win in Tennessee. If they win big enough, could they leapfrog Seattle?
3. Packers (No. 4; 4-0): They’re so good that they go up a spot even when they don’t play.
4. Chiefs (previously No. 1; 4-1): They’re vulnerable when playing opponents that don’t have their full attention.
5. Ravens (No. 5; 4-1): They’ve recovered pretty damn quickly from their Week Three encounter with Kryptonite.
6. Patriots (No. 6; 2-2): The fact that a team as buttoned up as the Patriots are having COVID-19 issues shows how unrelenting it is.
7. Steelers (No. 9; 4-0): With four close wins against not-great teams, how good are they? We’ll find out this weekend against the Browns.
8. Titans (No. 8; 3-0): Must . . . resist . . . making . . . a comment . . . that refers to . . . that movie.
9. Rams (No. 12; 4-1): Winning can make ugly uniforms look a lot better.
10. Saints (No. 10; 3-2): A win is a win, but the Saints are still a long way from the dominant force they’ve been in the past few regular seasons.
11. Browns (No. 13; 4-1): Cleveland fans deserve this. Based on the schedule, they should get a lot more of it.
12. Bears (No. 14; 4-1): If the offense could put it together for four quarters, they’d run the table.
13. Raiders (No. 18; 3-2): To his credit, Derek Carr finally unleashed the deep ball.
14. Panthers (No. 15; 3-2): Who needs Christian McCaffrey? (Actually, pretty much every team. But the Panthers somehow are 3-0 without him.)
15. Buccaneers (No. 7; 3-2): Tom Brady‘s mental mistake has been compounded by his refusal to admit it.
16. Colts (No. 11; 3-2): Just when the bandwagon was starting to fill up, everyone is going to start jumping off.
17. Cardinals (No. 19; 3-2): Kyler Murray gets his chance to show a national audience what he can do on Monday night against the Cowboys.
18. Dolphins (No. 21; 2-3): Does that count as revenge for Super Bowl XIX?
19. Cowboys (No. 17; 2-3): Losing Dak may lower expectations just enough for Andy Dalton to exceed them.
20. 49ers (No. 16; 2-3): The next seven games will either re-establish the defending NFC Champions or bury them.
21. Chargers (No. 20; 1-4): They’re too good to be 1-4.
22. Eagles (No. 22; 1-3-1): They’re not good enough to be 1-3-1.
23. Bengals (No. 23; 1-3-1): It’s time to take whatever they can get for A.J. Green.
24. Broncos (No. 24; 1-3): An unscheduled bye gives Drew Lock even more of a chance to return for the Patriots game.
25. Vikings (No. 25; 1-4): They squandered their best chance to beat Seattle, without an assist from Blair Walsh.
26. Texans (No. 30; 1-4): The Artificial Interim Coach Bounce is real.
27. Lions (No. 26; 1-3): Texans, Falcons, Lions?
28. Washington (No. 27; 1-4): Alex Smith gives them a much better chance than Kyle Allen to turn this thing around.
29. Jaguars (No. 28; 1-4): Tank for Trevor is back on.
30. Falcons (No. 29; 0-5): The fumes of 28-3 have lingered longer than anyone ever would have expected.
31. Giants (No. 31; 0-5): If they could ever get a win, maybe they could string a few together.
32. Jets (No. 32; 0-5): The current path is not sustainable, for any NFL franchise.