Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.

Week 5 has come and gone and a couple of preseason darlings have joined the 49ers (another popular pundit pick) at the top of the heap. The Eagles and Bills moved up mostly because Buffalo trounced the most impressive team of Week 4 (the Dolphins). Miami’s still in the 2nd tier, but that amazing 70-spot doesn’t erase the fact that they’re giving up almost 30 points a game. In fact, take out that big win and they’re being outscored (80 for, 99 against). In news to file under “decidedly unsurprising”, K.C. is working their way up the ranks. After the shock loss to the Lions Week 1, the Chiefs have looked every bit the Super Bowl winners they were last year. The Cowboys are also moving up, but they’re going to have to figure out what went wrong against the Cardinals (they were handled 28-16), because you can bet the rest of the league is going to watch that tape very, very carefully. Outside of that, they’ve dominated, albeit against some pretty weak competition (the Giants, the Jets, and the Patriots).

Now let’s take a quick look at a couple of teams who are better than they were expected to be: the Bucs and the Rams. Tampa is 3-1 with Baker Mayfield patrolling the offensive backfield. Three wins from four sounds pretty encouraging, but a few things have me suspecting this may be early season fool’s gold. First, Baker Mayfield’s track record. It’s not great. To be fair, he’s played quite well so far this year. So maybe he has figured it out. Maybe. But look at that way Tampa Bay (and Baker) wilted against the Eagles. 15-25 for 146 yards and one TD and one pick to go with it and a 25-11 loss on a day when Jalen Hurts was pretty poor. He and the rest of the Buccaneers have looked good against the likes of Minnesota, Chicago, and New Orleans, but those teams have three wins between them. I am yet to be convinced. The Rams, with their 2-2 record, might not seem a stronger team, but their schedule has been significantly tougher. The Colts have been competitive, the Seahawks have won their other three games, the Bengals are surely better than their 1=3 record, and the 49ers are as good as it gets right now. Matt Stafford has won a Super Bowl (just two years ago!) and Aaron Donald is still lining up right over the ball. I’d bet on L.A. ending up with a significantly better record than Tampa.

In Michigan, the Kool-Aid runneth over. 27-3 at the half AT LAMBEAU!. The Lions out-gained the Packers 283 to 20 in the first half. Despite a little wobble in the third quarter, the Lions absolutely manhandled G.B. It was ugly (or beautiful, depending on the shade of your blue). And Detroit didn’t even play perfect. An INT on their first drive, two sacks allowed, six tackles for loss allowed, 8 penalties for 70 yards, and an off game from the normally dominant Penei Sewell, and the team in green and yellow never really stood a chance. The Lions are now 5-1 in their last six games against the Pack, have won five in a row in the division, and are 11-3 in their last 14. When the world’s largest other shoe drops, I will be shocked, dismayed, flabbergasted, and still somehow not surprised.