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topicnews · October 8, 2024

Commanders, the Bears are moving up with rookie QBs

Commanders, the Bears are moving up with rookie QBs

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NFL Power Rankings entering Week 6 of the 2024 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): With its first double-digit win of the season on Monday night, KC became the 10th reigning champion of the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to start 5-0 and the first in five years. Now they have a week off before their 54/58 Super Bowl rematch against San Francisco.

2. Minnesota Vikings (2): They left London with a narrow victory. However, QB Sam Darnold looked like… Sam Darnold. And RB Aaron Jones’ hip injury further hindered the offense. Good thing this team has more to offer – like a strong defense and OLB Andrew Van Ginkel, the first player in league history to record at least three sacks and multiple pick-sixes in the first five weeks of a season.

3. Baltimore Ravens (3): What do you know? You actually overcome a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter on Sunday in Cincinnati. But seriously, if any team is going to be a dominant force in 2024, it could well be this one – the first in 18 seasons to rush for 1,000 yards in Week 5. Still, astonishing as the Lamar Jackson-Derrick Henry duo evolves, the league’s 31st-ranked pass defense needs to evolve.

4.Detroit Lions (4): I hope you recovered during your farewell. Next? A brutal pentagonal match with away games in Dallas, Minnesota, Green Bay and Houston.

5. Atlanta Falcons (10): QB Kirk Cousins ​​might be a questionable no-call against KC as he was 3-0 in ATL prime time. But aside from a flex – Week 14 at Minnesota, anyone? – “Kirko Chainz” will only play one night game this season. On Thursday, he joined Tom Brady as the only players to pass for 500 yards and at least four touchdowns under the net lights.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6): After weathering the wrath of Hurricane Helene, the Bucs are about to make an early escape to New Orleans when a storm apparently far more severe (Hurricane Milton) takes aim directly at Tampa. Let’s hope a good football team and their fans achieve a good result this week despite the current forecasts.

7. Washington Commanders (9): There are a lot of firsts here. First place. First team with 13 rushing TDs in the five weeks since Gerald Ford was president. First rookie (Jayden Daniels) to start his career with 1,000 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in five games. Soon their fans will be pondering the possibility of their first Super Bowl trip to Joe Gibbs.

8. Houston Texans (13): Their record (4:1) is impressive. But the league’s only league leader trailing by more than 10 points is probably just a couple of times away from 1-4, and injury concerns are only increasing with WR Nico Collins on the verge of missing time with a hamstring injury.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (11): They should be rested after the bye, as fullbacks AJ Brown (hamstring injury) and DeVonta Smith (concussion) are expected to return Sunday. And for a team that needs to get healthy, figuratively speaking, a date with Cleveland is perfect.

10. Green Bay Packers (12): You only have to leave Wisconsin once in the next six weeks (to Duval County). Green and gold opportunity to once again establish themselves as a real Super Bowl threat.

11. Buffalo Bills (5): Two weeks ago, QB Josh Allen was almost everyone’s (very premature) MVP choice. Since? He completed 42.4% of his passes, posted a QB rating of 65.0, scored one touchdown and zero wins.

12. Arizona Cardinals (23): They are 2-0 against NFC West opponents and boast the best QB-RB rushing tandem (Kyler Murray, James Conner) west of Baltimore.

13. San Francisco 49ers (7): They’re 2-0 against AFC East competition, which is far less helpful when it comes to relying on tiebreakers – especially considering the Niners are off to an 0-2 start in their own division have. Their 38-game winning streak under HC Kyle Shanahan in games with a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter ended on Sunday.

14. Dallas Cowboys (22): Maybe they found something with RB Rico Dowdle. Perhaps a defense fielding so many reinforcements has found a rallying cry. Maybe we’ll know more in a week after they try to win their first home game of 2024 against a Detroit team that lost in questionable circumstances at AT&T Stadium late last season.

15. Indianapolis Colts (15): Back in Cleveland last season, Joe Flacco threw for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns in his last five starts. At 39, he is the oldest quarterback in league history to play that many games.

16. Pittsburgh Steelers (8): Not a good sign that QB Justin Fields was hit on about a quarter of his dropbacks on Sunday night despite missing the top two pass rushers on defense – perhaps all the more reason not to switch to QB Russell Wilson if you’re the one Considering the sad state of Pittsburgh’s O-line.

17. Denver Broncos (18): Only the Chargers allow fewer points per game than the Broncos’ 14.6, who also have 19 sacks and eight takeaways.

18. Los Angeles Chargers (17): I don’t know how rejuvenated a struggling group will emerge from the farewell. We know Denver has been a house of horrors for the Bolts, who have lost 10 of 11 in the Mile High City.

19. Chicago Bears (21): A big reason they’ve won a league-best eight straight games at Soldier Field? The defense committed 18 turnovers in those games.

20. New York Jets (19): The speculation surrounding a possible acquisition of WR Davante Adams is all well and good – even reasonable. But there’s no reason why a team with RBs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen should finish last in the league in rushing (80.4 ypg).

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21.Cincinnati Bengals (20): A hard-fought 1-4 team has essentially exhausted its margin for error – but it’s not scheduled to face an opponent with a winning record before its Week 10 rematch against the Ravens.

22. New York Giants (27): Since his disastrous return to the lineup in Week 1, QB Daniel Jones has posted four touchdowns, one turnover and a passer rating of 95.8 – including Sunday’s win at Seattle when WR Malik Nabers and RB Devin Singletary were sidelined. Maybe paying Jones $40 million apiece makes sense after all.

23. Seattle Seahawks (14): A weak schedule has masked some issues here, including the NFC’s second-worst turnover differential (-3). Most concerning, however, is the completely unbalanced offense, which throws the most passes and runs the ball the least in the league.

24. Los Angeles Rams (24): Do you think they’re relying on RB Kyren Williams a little too much? He has a team-high 109 offensive touches…89 more than anyone else on the team.

25. New Orleans Saints (16): The three-game deficit, marked by a decline in offensive production, appeared most likely to be exacerbated Monday night by QB Derek Carr’s injury, which apparently left him unable to throw the ball effectively. Meanwhile, the Saints have gone a league-worst 1-6 in prime-time games over the last three seasons and suddenly appear to be no longer a prime-time option for Adams, especially if Carr can’t play.

26. Carolina Panthers (25): Despite all the focus on their quarterback problem, they have allowed 20 offensive touchdowns, the most in the league – four more than any other team.

27. Las Vegas Raiders (26): For all their focus on their quarterback question, they committed nine turnovers, the most in the league – which admittedly comes back to their quarterback question, which may be in flux.

28. Tennessee Titans (29): For all their focus on their quarterback problem, they’ve committed nine turnovers, the most in the league (in just four games) – which admittedly comes back to their quarterback problem, which may be in flux due to Will Levis’ injured shoulder.

29. Miami Dolphins (30): For all their focus on their quarterback problem, they scored a league-low 60 points (after scoring 70 in a game last season) – which admittedly goes back to their quarterback problem, one that May temporarily stabilize with Tyler Huntley.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars (32): After former LSU teammate Nabers suffered a concussion, WR Brian Thomas Jr. now leads all rookies with 397 receiving yards and all AFC players (at least 20 receiving yards) with 18.0 yards per catch.

31. New England Patriots (28): With all the focus on their quarterback problem… well, it’s only going to get worse for a team that’s averaging a league-low 119.4 passing yards per game and appears to be on the verge of making a move for rookie first-rounder Drake Maye tighten.

32. Cleveland Browns (31): With all the focus on their quarterback problem… well, their quarterback has been sacked 26 times the most in the league. But Deshaun Watson almost certainly won’t be released by upper management any time soon, as he would still face a cap hit of nearly $173 million — if he were cut next spring.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

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