NFL Power Rankings, Week 5: Chargers grounded, Chiefs make statement

NFL Power Rankings after Week 4

1. NFL Power Rankings entering Week 5
2. Biggest risers in our NFL Power Rankings
3. Biggest fallers in our NFL Power Rankings

An eventful Week 4 of NFL action gave us plenty of chew on. There were several thrilling and unexpected outcomes on Sunday, from undefeated teams dropping the ball, to a few out-of-nowhere upsets.

How about the Giants, who toppled the surging Chargers in Jaxson Dart's first NFL start? Or the Falcons, who bounced back from a 30-0 loss to Carolina last week to drop 34 points on the Commanders. The Ravens, a popular preseason Super Bowl pick, fell to 1-3 in a blowout loss to the Chiefs. The Texans, 0-3 entering Sunday afternoon, are finally in the win column after a 26-0 shutout of their division rivals from Tennessee.

For these power rankings, we will focus on the biggest risers and fallers — accounting not only for how many spots a team moved up or down, but how dramatically their perception has changed on the NFL's the competitive landscape. You can take a gander at last week's power rankings here, for reference.

Let's dive in.

NFL Power Rankings entering Week 5

The Buffalo Bills continue to perform far above the competition through four weeks. It's still too early in the season for sweeping proclamations, but after a summer of debating whether Buffalo or Baltimore was the biggest threat to Kansas City's crown in the AFC, it sure feels like the Bills are staking their claim not only as a threat, but as the overwhelming favorite to win the conference. We might be letting a weak schedule trick us — Baltimore (1-3), Miami (0-3), New York (0-3), New Orleans (0-4) — but Buffalo keeps the top spot under lock and key for now.

Philadelphia bumps up to No. 2 as the only undefeated team left in the NFC. The Eagles leapt out to a huge first half lead over Tampa Bay and cruised to victory down the stretch, doing just enough to stave off the Bucs' comeback attempt. Philly's offense still isn't too inspiring with Kevin Patullo calling the shots — and A.J. Brown's mounting frustration is a storyline worth monitoring — but Philly has beat three excellent teams. We can't knock the reigning champs until they actually stumble.

Meanwhile,the Chargers, 49ers and Colts all suffered their first losses in Week 4. It's a long season, but L.A. and San Francisco both lost to beatable opponents. Indy fought the Rams tooth-and-nail, but Daniel Jones finally looked mortal for once.

It was a chaotic week overall. Let's dive into a few risers and fallers.

Biggest risers in our NFL Power Rankings

New England Patriots (def. Panthers 42-13 in Week4)

The New England Patriots put the Carolina Panthers in the ground early on Sunday afternoon, authoring their most dominant victory in the Drake Maye era to date. Carolina does not exactly qualify as a formidable opponent, but a week removed from their 30-0 drubbing of the Falcons, some wondered if the Panthers might be turning the corner. Evidently not.

New England's only two losses this season (Las Vegas in Week 1, Pittsburgh in Week 3) came by one score each. The Patriots are competing in every game and threatening to finally leave the NFL basement. Eliot Wolf and the front office still have holes to plug on both sides, but Maye is becoming more consistent and his connection to Stefon Diggs was on full display Sunday.

The second-year quarterback was extremely efficient in the win, completing 14-of-17 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, with an additional touchdown as a runner. New England's defense carried a lot of weight against Carolina, but the offense moved the chains effortlessly and Maye pretty much pitched damn near a perfect game. After Buffalo next week, New England has New Orleans, Tennessee, Cleveland and Atlanta on the docket — all winnable games.

Kansas City Chiefs (def. Ravens 37-20 in Week 4)

Are the Kansas City Chiefs back? Well, yeah. After their abysmal 0-2 start, the Chiefs have stacked back-to-back wins. Toppling the Giants was one thing, but taking it to the Baltimore Ravens in such emphatic fashion — even if the Ravens are in an odd, inexplicable funk — constitutes a new level of achievement for the 2025 Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns, becoming the youngest QB in NFL history to achieve 250 career passing touchdowns. This was the most alive Kansas City's offense has felt all season. Travis Kelce was involved. Xavier Worthy made a few big plays, both as a receiver and a runner. Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster both found pay dirt. It was a successful afternoon all around.

Baltimore's vaunted offense looked hapless against the Chiefs' stout defensive front. Lamar Jackson left this game early in the third quarter, but we can't even put an asterisk next to the win, as Kansas City effectively wrapped up the win beforehand. This was a strong reminder that the Chiefs aren't going anywhere, no matter how much we want them to.

Los Angeles Rams (def. Colts 27-20 in Week 4)

The Los Angeles Rams' only loss was a one-score heartbreaker in Philadelphia against the still-undefeated reigning champs. On Sunday, the Rams handed the red-hot Indianapolis Colts their first loss of the campaign. The NFC West has some real firepower this season — Sam Darnold and the 'Hawks are in it to win it! — but it's hard not to peg the Rams as clear frontrunners.

Matthew Stafford keeps on keeping on. He may never age out of his prime. Older but wiser, Stafford threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday's victory, with Puka Nacua stacking 13 receptions for 170 yards and a score.

Meanwhile, the defense finally made Daniel Jones sweat. He threw his first interception of the campaign and the Colts — gasp! — needed to punt and play strategically. It was still a close game, and we shouldn't ding the Colts too far for a hard-fought battle, but the Rams just won't go away quietly. Sean McVay is one of the best in the business.

Biggest fallers in our NFL Power Rankings

Los Angeles Chargers (lost to Giants 21-18 in Week 4)

The Los Angeles Chargers were No. 2 in our power rankings last week after an impressive 3-0 start to the campaign, which featured wins over Kansas City, Las Vegas and Denver. But when most folks were ready to pencil in the Chargers at 4-0, the wayward New York Giants found a pressure point and exploited it.

This was not an offensive maelstrom from the Giants. Jaxson Dart did the bare minimum in his debut, avoiding turnovers and escaping the pocket for a few nice runs. But it was the New York defense that carried the day. The Giants forced Justin Herbert into two interceptions. He threw three total all of last season. New York's pass rush, led by Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, completely paralyzed the Chargers offense.

We aren't going to drop L.A. too far. Even the best teams are liable to suffer an uncharacteristic loss at some point, and it's impossible to lose faith completely in Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert and this Chargers defense. But this was a costly misstep and a swift return to earth for the Chargers, who will need to right the ship quickly with Jayden Daniels' Commanders and Daniel Jones' Colts due up in the next few weeks.

Minnesota Vikings (lost 24-21 to Steelers in Week 4)

The Minnesota Vikings lost a nail-biter in Dublin, 24-21, against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was not exactly a terrible performance, but it was enough to seed doubt after Minnesota's runaway victory over Cincinnati a week ago.

Faced with a more competent defense, Carson Wentz was predictably erratic. He threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns, a line that's hard to complain about from a backup quarterback, but he also committed two costly turnovers. Minnesota's QB situation remains precarious at best, whether it's Wentz as a pinch-hitter or the regular starter, J.J. McCarthy, who still isn't up to speed.

Minnesota has too much talent and too good a coach to fall much further than this — in the standings or in our power rankings — but generally, in this league, it takes stability at quarterback to win at the highest level. The Vikings just aren't there right now, and Aaron Rodgers efficiently picked apart the defense on key drives to put Minnesota at an early disadvantage in the standings.

Washington Commanders (lost 34-27 to Falcons in Week 4)

We needn't make too big a fuss over the Washington Commanders' Week 4 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. It was bound to happen with Jayden Daniels out of commission. Marcus Mariota unsurprisingly came back down to earth in Week 4 against a stout Falcons defense. Even still, the Commanders put up 27 points and made it a competitive game.

The real concern for Washington, big picture, is the defense. Atlanta was shutout by the Panthers a week ago. Michael Penix Jr. threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, arguably his best performance in the NFL to date. The Commanders can trade blows with any team when Daniels is healthy, but the defense remains a relative weak point compared to other NFC heavyweights like Philadelphia, Detroit and Green Bay.

Their spot in these power rankings will almost certainly improve once Daniels returns and puts Washington back in the win column. But as things sit, the Commanders' only wins were against two subpar opponents in Las Vegas and New York. The Packers' defense put Daniels under constant pressure and the Falcons rang up 34 points a week after scoring zilch in Carolina, which feels like a bad omen. Washington needs to prove that it can stop teams in order to give the offense a chance to blow the doors off.