Lounging Pass: 2022 NFL Season: Week 6 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "Bryce Young Chase Begins" Quinto

32.) Carolina Panthers = 1-4 (93-122)

31.) Houston Texans = 1-3-1 (86-99)

30.) Washington Commanders = 1-4 (90-128)

29.) XXXXXXXXXX

28.) Pittsburgh Steelers = 1-4 (77-128)

The Panthers firing Matt Rhule is overdue. I don't get what reason there was to even bring him back for this season. It was clear he was not going to cut it as an NFL coach. Anyway, he can go back to college and I'm sure no team will learn the lesson about college coaches generally not working. For the Texans, nice first win and Lovie has the team playing hard, but the talent is still just not there. For the Commanders, they got hte Wentz experience, losing because of him in a game the other units played well. I think Rivera doesn't make it out of the season. For the Steelers, 38-3 is about right, that defense without Watt is just toothless. Hard to make any judgements about Pickett based on that game - and probably the next one too against Tampa.

Tier II - The "We have to talk about them, Pt. 1" Uno

27.) Detroit Lions = 1-4 (140-170)

I was worried this type of game was looming for the Lions - after losing a bunch of close games they would just fall apart. If anything, this happened to the Lions last year - who were "competitive" in a bunch of games, but ended the season with three wins and a lot of blowout losses as well. Granted, had they not gone for it on 4th down so much they probably score 9 points on field goals, so a shutout loss is a bit exaggerated - it doesn't matter much. They need to just win a game or two to mentally be right.

Tier III - The "Just Plain Weird, Pt. 1" Quatro

26.) Atlanta Falcons = 2-3 (118-122)

25.) Seattle Seahawks = 2-3 (127-154)
24.) Chicago Bears = 2-3 (80-106)

23.) Denver Broncos = 2-3 (75-80)

There's a lot of teams that have two wins that I have no real idea what to feel about them. I guess that is always the case five weeks in, but more so this year. For the Falcons, I'm impressed they gave up only 21 points, but that offense without Patterson and Pitts was a mess. For teh Seahawks, it is crazy how bad that defense got over the past couple years. I know people "figured out" their old defensive system, but I have to think it would still end with better results than what they have right now. For the Bears, at this point I don';t understand the Fields thing - when they need him to pass they are absolutlely fine. He looks good as a passer. But they just won't commit to it. Bizarre. For the Broncos, they have to hope these are just early season growing pains with Wilson, if not for this season but for the fact they have hundreds of millions committed to him at an age which if anything he'll only get worse.

Tier IV - The "Just Plain Weird, Pt. 2" Quatro

22.) Indianapolis Colts = 2-2-1 (69-94)
21.) Arizona Cardinals = 2-3 (105-123)

20.) New England Patriots = 2-3 (103-98)

19.) Cleveland Browns = 2-3 (133-125)

The Colts being a Wentz interception away from leading the AFC South is too perfect to be true. They still have a bunch of problems on offense, but the defense remains a surprisingly good unit, especially their pass rush. The Cardinals played tough in that game but it is those little things like the spike on 3rd down, the time wasting earlier in that drive. They just aren't as tight and buttoned up as you need to be to win in this league more than your talent would dictate. For the Patriots, it should't be a surprise that Belichick has the defense playing well, and Zappe is not bad enough to throw them out of games. Against better teams it won't work, but this is a recipe to still win 6-8 games. The Browns are a great study in how to win with your backup. The rest of that roster is good and they are plaiyng up their strengths - the great run game, the consistent pass rush, the secondary. They really should have won that game.

Tier V - The "This is not going as planned" Duo

18.) Los Angeles Rams = 2-3 (80-116)
17.) New Orleans Saints = 2-3 (115-128)

The Rams have major problems. The OL is bad, and they have no explosion outside without Woods - Robinson has been a disaster so far. The defense is playing good enough to keep them in games (defensive scores against make points allowed look a bit worse than it is) so there is still chance for that upside, but if the OL does not settle in with any consistency, they are doomed. For the Saints, the defense cratering this year is quite sad. Olave has been great, the OL is playing well, whether its Dalton or Winston, they are competent on that side of the ball, but a defense that was a Top-5-8 unit for years falling of is just sad. They have time to rectify it, but they can't play too much catch-up with the rest of the NFC.

Tier VI - The "Are any of these teams this good" Qunto

16.) Miami Dolphins = 3-2 (115-131)

15.) Tennessee Titans = 3-2 (96-118)

14.) New York Jets = 3-2 (116-118)

13.) Los Angeles Chargers = 3-2 (122-136)

12.) New York Giants = 4-1 (103-93)

Part of the reason I'm so confused by this season is there's a lot of 2-3 teams that are better than 3-2 teams, and these five teams (well, four and the 4-1 Giants) are the biggest culprits of that. The Dolphins have two miracle wins and now are in QB hell. The Titans are probably still the most competent team in the AFC South - and I think pretty clearly still the best coached, but they've not looked dominant in any of their wins. The Jets three wins area against three backups QBs, and while Wilson looks far more settled this season, it is hard to get a read on Saleh's defense given the competition they've faced. They certainly seem better, and by personnel they should be, but again, hard to really know. For the Chargers, they just should be better in these games. They shouldn't to need a missed field goal to beat the Browns, or a late TD to stave off collapse against the Texans. For the Giants, I put them highest in this grouping because I do think there is something here. The run game is back in full, the defense is still good. Jones isn't making nearly as many mistakes, which is what plagued him in earlier years. Their schedule gets tougher, but they have a path to 10 wins here.

Tier VII - The "Are either of these teams this bad" Duo

11.) Jacksonville Jaguars = 2-3 (111-80)

10.) Cincinnati Bengals = 2-3 (108-89)

The best 2-3 teams in my book. The Jags underlying numbers are still strong, and I'm hoping that game was the abberation - not their dominant win in LA two weeks earlier. The defense has remained strong, but Lawrence's accuracy fell off sharply, and this was in perfect conditions. I get he doesn't have the best weapons, but he looked skittish and nervous at times. For the Bengals, if they just hit the extra point in Week 1, I don't think anyone would really be worrying about them right now - as their other two losses were a field goal at the gun, and a loss to a Dallas team that is better than people realized at the time. The defense has remained solid. They do seem to be forcing the ball a bit to Chase, some of that is to keep him engaged while he gets doubled a lot. The promising sign against Baltimore was their run game finally having some life. Maybe like the Chiefs in 2021, their revamped OL just took a bit of time to get into gear.

Tier VIII - The "We have to talk about them, Pt. 2" Uno

9.) Green Bay Packers = 3-2 (97-96)

They're 3-2, they still have a defense that is good on the field, but should be even better on paper. But that offense man - this just can't be what it is. Maybe Rodgers gets better with his receivers over the course of the season, but the larger worry is that before their renaissance in 2020 and 2021, this is what the Packers were for a good four years - Rodgers complaining, throwing short, not explosive, being overly careful to avoid interceptions. All of those things are seemingly back, and while the defense is good enough to still get them into the playoffs, this is not a good enough team right now to really compete.

Tier IX - The "Good, but should be better" Trio

8.) Minnesota Vikings = 4-1 (115-102)
7.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers = 3-2 (103-83)
6.) Baltimore Ravens = 3-2 (138-117)

All three of these teams won on Sunday, and beat average to below average, but not bottom-dweller teams. That's good. What isn't is how tricky those games had to be. The Vikings and Bucs both led huge but had to (1) have a game-winning TD drive and (2) require a all-time shitty roughing the passer call to avoid giving the ball back to Atlanta with a chance for the win. For the Ravens, they had to get a field goal at the gun. I do think all three teams are good, but it would be nice for them just to put a beatdown on the board. All three had their best win, with similar scorelines, back in Week 1, and have been struggling to get at that high level since. All three likely make the playoffs, but haven't shown their true upside yet.

Tier X - The "Defense is killing 2022" Duo

5.) Dallas Cowboys = 4-1 (93-72)

4.) San Francisco 49ers = 3-2 (108-61)

Scoring is down in 2022 - this is not a new thought. General scoring and offense rates settle pretty quickly before generally trending down a bit late in the year (weather, injuries, etc.), so the fact scoring is already below prior years is a bit surprising. Two of the biggest benificiaries of this have been Dallas and San Francisco, who have started off well despite playing backup QBs (granted, Jimmy G is probably better than Trey Lance right now). Their defesnes have been dominant. I do worry a bit for San Francisco as they sustained some injuries - including a torn ACL for Moseley. The 49ers in their current iteration to me have a higher upside, but that may change on how Dak looks when he returns in a couple weeks. Kudos though to both teams to leaning into the dynamism of their defenses.

Tier XI - The "Favorites... for now" Trio

3.) XXXXXXXXXXX

2.) Philadelphia Eagles = 5-0 (135-88)

1.) Buffalo Bills = 4-1 (152-61)

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Schedule

Byes: Detroit Lions (1-4), Tennessee Titans (3-2), Las Vegas Raiders (X-X), Houston Texans (1-3-1)

14.) Washington Commanders (1-4) @ Chicago Bears (2-3) (TNF - Prime)

13.) New England Patriots (2-3) @ Cleveland Browns (2-3) (1:00 - CBS)

12.) Carolina Panthers (2-3) @ Los Angeles Rams (2-3) (4:05 - FOX)

I call it "Just look away" Thursday and Sunday, as

11.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (1-4) (1:00 - FOX)

10.) Denver Broncos (2-3) @ Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) (MNF - ESPN)