JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser's pre-Week 5 2021 NFL power rankings. And we all know how important these are …
Rank.Team (record) | Prev. | Comment
- Arizona Cardinals (4-0) | 8 | They suddenly seem very, very for real
- Los Angeles Rams (3-1) | 1 | Oof
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) | 3 | "Doink" gave Brady, Bucs emotional victory in Foxboro
- Baltimore Ravens (3-1) | 4 | Dominant victory on the road over previously unbeaten Denver
- Buffalo Bills (3-1) | 5 | More impressive by the week
- Cleveland Browns (3-1) | 6 | Three consecutive victories; narrow Week 1 loss to KC
- Green Bay Packers (3-1) | 7 | Because he keeps being Aaron Rodgers
- Los Angeles Chargers (3-1) | 13 | Starting to look like favorites in a tough AFC West
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-1) | 2 | Still very much a contender
- Dallas Cowboys (3-1) | 16 | Three consecutive victories; Week 1 loss at Tampa Bay
- Carolina Panthers (3-1) | 9 | Top-ranked defense took some hits Sunday
- Denver Broncos (3-1) | 10 | 3-0 against non-2020 playoff teams; 0-1 against '20 playoff teams
- Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) | 14 | Won't be in last place in AFC West for long
- Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) | 17 | Three-way tie for first in supercompetitive AFC North
- Seattle Seahawks (2-2) | 22 | Avoided first three-game losing streak of Russell Wilson's career
- San Francisco 49ers (2-2) | 11 | Now at quarterback … Trey Lance
- New Orleans Saints (2-2) | 12 | Up again, down again in the Big Easy so far
- Tennessee Titans (2-2) | 15 | Up next for still-first-place Titans: A trip to Duuuval
- Chicago Bears (2-2) | 24 | Fields gets Victory No. 1 in Start No. 2
- Washington Football Team (2-2) | 25 | Barely 2-2 is still 2-2
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) | 18 | Upset Buffalo Week 1; 0-3 since
- Indianapolis Colts (1-3) | 26 | Pulled to within a game of first place with first victory Sunday
- Minnesota Vikings (1-3) | 21 | Second consecutive 1-3 start for perennial contender
- Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) | 23 | Tough schedule taking an early toll
- Miami Dolphins (1-3) | 19 | Allowed 31 points a game in three consecutive losses
- New England Patriots (1-2) | 20 | Doink … but they feel like they're improving
- Atlanta Falcons (1-3) | 27 | Dirty Birds almost 2-2 … but they're 1-3
- New York Giants (1-3) | 29 | Start spreading the news …
- New York Jets (1-3) | 32 | … both NY teams won on same day for first time since 12/22/19
- Houston Texans (1-3) | 28 | Most one-sided loss in franchise history Sunday
- Detroit Lions (0-4) | 30 | Eight consecutive losses dating to 2020
- Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4) | 31 | Nineteen consecutive losses dating to 2020