NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Predicting Post-Monday Night Football Standings

The Kansas City Chiefs are no longer the best team in the NFL. At least, that's the conclusion one might draw after the defending Super Bowl champions were out-coached and out-played by the rival Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

The Raiders only ended up winning by an eight-point margin, but anyone who watched the second half could recognize that the final 40-32 score was deceiving. The loss was potentially just a road bump for the Chiefs, but for at least a week, it's hard to believe that there aren't better teams in the NFL.

The undefeated Buffalo Bills might not be ahead of Kansas City quite yet, but they'll have a chance to make another case against the 3-0 Tennessee Titans on Tuesday. The New Orleans Saints can show that they're still in the top-10 conversation by besting the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.

A MNF victory by New Orleans would be relatively impressive, as the team will once again be without star wideout Michael Thomas.

If the Bills and Saints manage to rise to 5-0 and 3-2, respectively, they'll certainly rise up the power rankings. Let's take a look at how things could stand come Wednesday morning.

Projected Week 6 Standings

AFC East

Buffalo Bills 5-0*

New England Patriots 2-2

Miami Dolphins 2-3

New York Jets 0-5

AFC South

Tennessee Titans 3-1*

Indianapolis Colts 3-2

Houston Texans 1-4

Jacksonville Jaguars 1-4

AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers 4-0

Baltimore Ravens 4-1

Cleveland Browns 4-1

Cincinnati Bengals 1-3-1

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs 4-1

Las Vegas Raiders 3-2

Denver Broncos 1-3

Los Angeles Chargers 1-4*

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys 2-3

Philadelphia Eagles 1-3-1

Washington Football Team 1-4

New York Giants 0-5

NFC South

New Orleans Saints 3-2*

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-2

Carolina Panthers 3-2

Atlanta Falcons 0-5

NFC North

Green Bay Packers 4-0

Chicago Bears 4-1

Detroit Lions 1-3

Minnesota Vikings 1-4

NFC West

Seattle Seahawks 5-0

Los Angeles Rams 4-1

Arizona Cardinals 3-2

San Francisco 49ers 2-3

NFL Week 6 Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers

2. Kansas City Chiefs

3. Buffalo Bills

4. Seattle Seahawks

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

7. Los Angeles Rams

8. Tennessee Titans

9. New Orleans Saints

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

11. Cleveland Browns

12. Chicago Bears

13. New England Patriots

14. Las Vegas Raiders

15. Arizona Cardinals

16. Indianapolis Colts

17. Carolina Panthers

18. Miami Dolphins

19. Philadelphia Eagles

20. Los Angeles Chargers

21. San Francisco 49ers

22. Dallas Cowboys

23. Minnesota Vikings

24. Denver Broncos

25. Detroit Lions

26. Cincinnati Bengals

27. Houston Texans

28. Jacksonville Jaguars

29. Washington Football Team

30. Atlanta Falcons

31. New York Giants

32. New York Jets

1. Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers were on a bye in Week 5, but they claim the top spot by default. The Chiefs played an uninspired brand of football Sunday, something we haven't seen from Green Bay all season long.

In fact, one could argue that the Packers have seemed more driven than perhaps any other team in the league. Despite dealing with injuries at wide receiver—Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, specifically—the Packers have averaged 38 points through four games.

Perhaps just as importantly, quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been playing at an MVP level. He has 1,214 yards with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions thus far and rivals Russell Wilson as an early MVP candidate.

Wilson's Seattle Seahawks are also near the top of the list after moving to 5-0 on Sunday night. However, the Seahawks defense is a legitimate liability—it ranks last in passing yards and total yards allowed. Wilson's greatness has allowed the Seahawks to overcome, but the chances of a poor game from him leading to a playoff loss are very real.

Green Bay has a running game—Aaron Jones is on pace for 2,000 scrimmage yards—and a defense that can deliver wins when Rodgers isn't at his very best.

16. Indianapolis Colts

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

When two quality teams get together, we often talk about the loser more than the winner. In the case of the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts game, it's justified.

While it's certainly worth mentioning the Browns moving to 4-1, Sunday's game spoke at a higher volume about the Colts. Their defense kept them in the game until the very end, but quarterback Philip Rivers put a win out of reach.

Rivers tossed two interceptions, a pick-six and was responsible for a safety via intentional grounding. Unsurprisingly, though, the Colts are sticking by their quarterback.

"That is the least of my worries," head coach Frank Reich said, per Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan.

The reality, though, is that the Colts don't have enough offensive firepower to overcome multiple critical mistakes from Rivers. If he has more outings like the one he had against Cleveland, it will be fair to wonder if the Colts will consider going back to Jacoby Brissett.

32. New York Jets

While the Colts can still consider themselves playoff contenders, that plane has departed for the New York Jets. New York suffered yet another blowout loss Sunday, this time, falling 30-10 to the Arizona Cardinals.

With 11 games to go, Adam Gase is already a lame-duck head coach, while quarterback Sam Darnold could be headed to the trade block or the cut pile. The defense has been a joke, and the team has been outscored 161-75.

"People aren't laughing with these people," Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News wrote. "They're laughing at them. A lot."

While it's possible that the Jets still stumble into a handful of wins this season, doing so might be counterproductive. Barring a completely unexpected turnaround, New York is probably headed toward another rebuild in the offseason.

A new regime will likely want its own quarterback, and draft position could play a key role in finding one.