NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Latest 2015 Standings and Reaction for All 32 Teams

Monday night's walk-off finish between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers was the perfect analogy for the entire Week 5 experience in the NFL.

There were 14 games on the slate, and Le'Veon Bell made sure 10 of them ended in one-score fashion when he extended the ball over the goal line as the clock expired in Pittsburgh's 24-20 victory. While the Steelers' dramatic win was the most gut-wrenching moment of the week, the theme of unpredictability once again underscored the NFL action.

The Cincinnati Bengals completed a 17-point comeback in the fourth quarter against the stout Seattle Seahawks defense, the Baltimore Ravens look completely lost and the NFC South has two undefeated teams in the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons after Carolina won it with a losing record last season.

Even the Denver Broncos are undefeated, though Peyton Manning looks like a below-average quarterback thus far in 2015.

Unpredictability on Sundays means unpredictability in the power rankings. Here is a look at the latest reaction for all 32 teams as well as an early peek at the game to watch heading into Week 6.

Rank	Team	Record	Reaction
1	New England Patriots	4-0	Too early to discuss 16-0, but look completely dominant
2	Green Bay Packers	5-0	Aaron Rodgers finally looked somewhat mortal and still won comfortably
3	Cincinnati Bengals	5-0	Loudest statement of Week 5 with win over Seattle
4	Denver Broncos	5-0	Defense continues to carry the day
5	Arizona Cardinals	4-1	Carson Palmer, Chris Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald appear ageless so far
6	Atlanta Falcons	5-0	Style points don't matter, just the zero in the loss column
7	Carolina Panthers	4-0	Just like Atlanta, style points don't matter, just the zero in the loss column
8	New York Giants	3-2	Appear to be the best team in the NFC East
9	New York Jets	3-1	Oct. 25 showdown with New England looms after Week 5 bye
10	Indianapolis Colts	3-2	Surviving Andrew Luck's absence thanks to Matt Hasselbeck's ability to defy age
11	St. Louis Rams	2-3	Formula in place with Todd Gurley and solid defense to make some noise
12	Seattle Seahawks	2-3	Expect a bounce-back, but disappointing loss Sunday
13	Buffalo Bills	3-2	Second-half heroics prevent critical loss to Tennessee Titans
14	Pittsburgh Steelers	3-2	What a difference a yard makes
15	Philadelphia Eagles	2-3	Perhaps the offense finally turned the corner
16	Minnesota Vikings	2-2	Winnable stretch of games after Week 5 bye
17	San Diego Chargers	2-3	See the Pittsburgh reaction
18	Cleveland Browns	2-3	Credit Josh McCown for heroics in Baltimore
19	Oakland Raiders	2-3	The future looks bright, even if this season is still an uphill climb
20	Dallas Cowboys	2-3	The season is slipping away one injury at a time
21	Chicago Bears	2-3	Jay Cutler enters hero mode two weeks in a row to keep season temporarily afloat
22	Washington	2-3	Monumental swing from 3-2 to 2-3 with overtime heartbreaker
23	Kansas City Chiefs	1-4	Loss of Jamaal Charles more important than loss of Sunday's game
24	Baltimore Ravens	1-4	Record could be much better, but coming up short in close games
25	New Orleans Saints	1-4	The past glory looks to be well behind this Saints team
26	San Francisco 49ers	1-4	A rough start to the season after a rough offseason
27	Tennessee Titans	1-3	This season all about Marcus Mariota's development
28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2-3	This season all about Jameis Winston's development
29	Miami Dolphins	1-3	So much for challenging in the AFC East
30	Jacksonville Jaguars	1-4	Many expected a better product in 2015, but Jaguars haven't shown it yet
31	Houston Texans	1-4	The fun of 'Hard Knocks' is long over
32	Detroit Lions	0-5	Only team without a win after a disastrous start

Week 6 Game to Watch: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

The NFC East takes center stage Monday night for a critical Week 6 showdown between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

While it is still early for the 3-2 Giants and 2-3 Eagles, there are already division implications, especially with the Dallas Cowboys so injury-plagued and Washington not looking like a legitimate threat. The winner of Monday’s game will take early pole position in a wide-open NFC East and have the inside track for the opportunity to host a playoff game.

The Eagles made plenty of headlines in the first four games when they fell to 1-3 and became almost a punchline around the league. Many questioned if the Chip Kelly experiment would end in failure with Sam Bradford and DeMarco Murray playing featured roles in the offense, and the concerns took center stage when the Eagles ran for seven yards as a team against the Cowboys.

Philadelphia responded with a 39-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints Sunday and moved to 2-3.

It was not just a much-needed victory, but a dominant performance that quelled some apprehension about the offense. Bradford threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, although he was also picked off twice, and Murray carried the ball 20 times for 83 yards and a touchdown and added 37 receiving yards.

Ryan Mathews also got involved with 73 rushing yards, 23 receiving yards and a touchdown, and nine different Eagles tallied at least one catch.

Murray still didn’t look like the dominant force who led the NFL in rushing yards last year, but it was the first time he tallied more than 36 rushing yards in a single game this season. There was at least clear progress, and the offensive line finally got into something of a rhythm.

The presence of Mathews also gives the Eagles another option in case Murray struggles or they need a change of pace. Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Daily News suggested Mathews may be the better fit in Kelly’s offense:

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And what happened Sunday against the New Orleans Saints was further evidence that Mathews looks faster and more decisive than Murray at this point. The overall numbers tell a part of the story: Mathews had 73 yards on eight carries while Murray had 83 yards on 20 carries, and each had a touchdown. The numbers suggest the reality on the field - that Mathews was faster to holes, and that Murray seemed to, indeed, leave some meat on the bone (you should excuse the expression). On a day when the offensive line dominated the Saints, there were holes all day. Murray found only some of them.

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While there are questions about which back should receive more carries, having two capable playmakers at running back is an ideal problem to have at this point of the season.

The Giants defense will be tasked with slowing Philadelphia’s uptempo attack. That won’t be easy considering they are 27th in the league in yards allowed per game following Sunday’s action, although they are a solid 14th in points allowed per game.

The ability to slow down the run is the major reason the Giants have kept other teams from piling up the points, and they were second in the league in rushing yards allowed per game after Sunday. The same cannot be said about the secondary that was dead last in passing yards allowed per game following Sunday’s slate.

Despite the concerns with the pass defense, the Giants are on a roll with three straight wins after a disappointing 0-2 start. Eli Manning played the role of hero Sunday with a touchdown pass to Larry Donnell with 21 seconds remaining to beat the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Tom Coughlin discussed the comeback and where his team stands, per ESPN.com:

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It ranks up there as far as comebacks. They are resilient, tough-minded, they find themselves as a scrappy bunch.

I told them in the locker room it took every guy, people were playing and pushed into roles that maybe they hadn't been in before. That's a real sign of a team.

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Manning had 441 passing yards against San Francisco and has 10 touchdown throws to only two interceptions on the season. Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. tallied 428 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in the first five contests and is a threat to make a spectacular play on every snap. The Manning and Beckham combination has kept the passing attack alive without Victor Cruz.

Beckham’s presence will be critical against an Eagles defense that ranked a dismal 26th in the league in passing yards allowed per game after Sunday’s action.

That secondary and the rest of the Eagles can look no further than the opposite sideline for motivation for a quick turnaround after they started 1-3. The crowd will sense the team’s opportunity to climb the division standings with a head-to-head win over its rivals and should be raucous from the opening kickoff.

Expect a shootout with two offenses that led their respective teams to victories Sunday going against two struggling secondaries. However, it will be Philadelphia behind the home crowd and a number of different weapons, including Murray, Mathews, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Darren Sproles, that puts up the most points and picks up a crucial head-to-head victory.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Giants 28