NFL Power Rankings: Vikings, Cowboys, Giants rise; Rams, Bengals, Broncos fade

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

It's starting to feel a bit like the '80s in the NFL this year.

Sure, salaries have skyrocketed and player safety is more of a priority these days. But in an era marked by pass-happy quarterbacks and gaudy offenses, it's hard not to notice a bit of a throwback trend.

In recent seasons, it feels like teams are finding ways to win with the run game. Whether they're building the entire offense out of the rushing attack — which is happening in quite a few places — or simply getting the most from their ball carriers, it's a striking trend. And if that's not vintage enough, punishing pass rushes are finding ways to neutralize passing attacks on a weekly basis.

Heck, the NFC East might have even morphed into the best division in football, which is all the evidence I need to know we're reliving the past. 

Who's to say if it's a season-long trend or a blip on the radar? Here in Week 6, let's try to make sense of it all.

1. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0): No sense in overthinking a perfect record. The Eagles squeaked past the Cardinals after not scoring a touchdown in the second half, but the versatility of the offense and the depth of the defense makes this a tough group to beat.

2. Buffalo Bills (4-1): Any time your backup quarterback gets into the game for non-injury reasons, you had a nice day. Josh Allen is stacking together an MVP-caliber résumé, and the Buffalo defense allowed just three points to the Steelers despite dealing with injuries.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (4-1): What a fitting October comparison to liken the Chiefs to Michael Myers. No matter how much it looks like they're dead, they keep coming back. Kansas City spotted the Raiders 17 points, and it didn't stop them from pulling out the win on Monday. You can do that type of stuff when you have Patrick Mahomes.

4. Minnesota Vikings (4-1): If the game had ended at halftime, the Vikings might have merited a higher ranking. Kirk Cousins looked about as good as he ever has in the early going, though Minnesota did let the Bears off the mat in the second half. This is a good-enough team, but there are enough questions about offensive consistency and about the secondary to make you wonder how good.

5. Baltimore Ravens (3-2): Lamar Jackson and Justin Tucker get all the glory, but don't let their late-game heroics distract you from a strong night by the Ravens' defense. Baltimore held the Bengals under 300 yards and kept a lid on the explosive plays. That's an encouraging sign for this team moving forward.

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2): Given Tom Brady and the Bucs' championship pedigree, we're kind of just trusting that they're going to get healthier, sort things out and get into gear. This team has yet to look truly impressive, but the defense is reliable until the rest starts clicking. 

7.  Dallas Cowboys (4-1): It's almost like the Cowboys are trying to give this defense more of a challenge. Sunday was their worst offensive output of Cooper Rush's stint as the starter, and it didn't matter at all: five sacks, three takeaways and a defensive touchdown against the Super Bowl champs. The offense has some work to do, but this defense is starting to look special.

8. New York Giants (4-1): No one outside the Giants' facility seems truly ready to buy in, but this team just keeps winning games. It's ironic to think that, despite all the hand wringing about Green Bay's receiver corps, the Giants rolled into London with even fewer options out wide and rallied past the Packers in the second half. This isn't an overly talented team, but Brian Daboll has made sure they're well-coached.

9. San Francisco 49ers (3-2): It's always fun when a 22-point beatdown looks like a ho-hum performance, but that's to be expected against a team that just fired its head coach. The Niners were perfect in the red zone against the Panthers, got sacks and ran the ball well. Why mess with a formula that's worked so well these past few years.

10. Miami Dolphins (3-2): It was already going to be hard to evaluate the Dolphins without Tua Tagovailoa, but now they might be without Teddy Bridgewater. The veteran backup left the game on Miami's first series, so it's difficult to know what to make of the team's blowout loss to the Jets. Hopefully, both guys can get back to full health before the early potential of the Dolphins' season fades away.

11. Green Bay Packers (3-2): It just felt like the Packers lost their way in the second half of a game they had controlled. The offense couldn't stay on the field, which in turn made the defense look worse. The Packers aren't a bad team; it just seems like they have a bit of an identity crisis.

12. Los Angeles Chargers (3-2): It's funny how much the result drives the narrative in this game. Had Cleveland's Cade York connected on a game-winning field goal from 54 yards, we'd be talking incessantly about Brandon Staley's bold fourth-down call, up two at midfield with just a minute to play. The kick missed, so it's an afterthought. No apologies necessary for an East Coast road win, but hoo boy was that close.

13. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3): Simply put, the Bengals are just struggling to re-create the magic that made them so successful last season. Opponents are succeeding in taking away the explosive pass plays, and we haven't seen Cincinnati find a way around that consistently. Fortunately for the Bengals, this defense looks good enough to keep games close while they figure it out.

14. Los Angeles Rams (2-3): This team isn't going anywhere — certainly not back to the Super Bowl — unless it finds a way to patch up the offensive line. Granted, not every opponent is going to rush the passer as well as Dallas and San Francisco, but all three Rams losses this season have highlighted just how helpless they are against teams that can get to the quarterback.

15. New England Patriots (2-3): Maybe this wasn't a season-changing win, but you deserve some credit when you shut out the No. 1 offense in the league. The Patriots pressured Jared Goff relentlessly, scored a defensive touchdown and held the Lions to 0-of-6 on fourth-down attempts. Considering some of Detroit's recent point totals heading into this game, it was one of the more impressive performances of the week.

16. Tennessee Titans (3-2): It took a goal-line stand somewhat reminiscent of Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl to eke past the lowly Commanders, but it also got the Titans to a third straight win. It feels early to say the Titans are good, but if they can get their ground game rolling, they're definitely feisty.

17. Arizona Cardinals (2-3): On one hand, it's not exactly a recipe for success to fall behind early, then ask Kyler Murray to drag the Cardinals back into the game one scamper at a time. On the other hand, it's hard to stop. Unlike Arizona's win against the Raiders, this rally against the Eagles fell short — partially because of Murray sliding short on the final drive. If they could ever put the points on the board early, the Cardinals might be a dangerous team. Maybe DeAndre Hopkins can help with that when he returns from his six-game suspension.

18. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3): That sound you hear is the air being let out of the Jags' balloon. No, losing to Houston doesn't end their season. But the optimism is harder to find after a sloppy day that saw them turn the ball over, fail to score a touchdown and make careless mistakes on defense. 

19. Cleveland Browns (2-3): It's cruel to think how close this Browns team is to a much better record. The combined total of their three losses is a mere six points, as they've been on the wrong end of several heartbreakers. At the same time, the defense has allowed 440 rushing yards the past two weeks. That's going to have to change if Cleveland expects to win many more games.

20. New Orleans Saints (2-3): Sunday's win against Seattle felt like a question of which team would screw up the least. There was bad tackling to go around, not to mention 18 combined penalties and three total turnovers. But credit to the Saints for snapping a three-game losing skid. And hey, Taysom Hill continues to be one of the most fun players in the NFL.

21. Atlanta Falcons (2-3): Sorry, Grady Jarrett. It's still baffling why your third-down sack of Tom Brady was flagged, or how it helped decide the outcome of your 21-15 loss to the Bucs. This won't make the loss sting any less, but this group continues to find ways to be pesky despite an obvious lack of talent. It's impressive.

22. Las Vegas Raiders (1-4): That Monday night performance is exactly why people refuse to write off the Raiders. When Derek Carr, Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams are clicking, this is a team that can build a 17-0 lead on the mighty Chiefs. At the same time, that talent hasn't translated into finishing the job nearly often enough, as was once again the case at Arrowhead.

23. New York Jets (3-2): Look, the Jets might not be all that good. But they have three wins before mid-October. It took them until Nov. 28 to get their third win last year. The season before that, they didn't even win three games. On top of that, their young draft picks are playing well. There's nothing wrong in celebrating the little victories here.

24. Seattle Seahawks (2-3): Bummer for Geno Smith that he played one of the best games of this career renaissance in a disappointing loss. As fun and explosive as this Seattle offense continues to be, the defense was porous at best against the Saints. Allowing two 100-yard rushers in an NFL game is just something that's not supposed to happen.

25. Indianapolis Colts (2-2-1): Let's not spend too much time praising the winner of the worst game of the regular season so far. Thursday's touchdown-less win against Denver was an ugly, awful chore for everyone involved. But at least the Colts came through when it mattered.

26. Denver Broncos (2-3): … That's better than losing the ugliest game of the year, which is currently the Broncos' honor. It's hard to say much else besides Russell Wilson needs to get it figured out, and the clock is ticking. A $245-million contract is supposed to buy more than the league's second-worst scoring offense.

27. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-4): The expectations shouldn't have been high for a rookie QB starting against arguably the league's best team, but it somehow still looked surprisingly bad. Kenny Pickett didn't look terrible, but the offense had no consistency. It didn't help that it felt like the Bills were capable of scoring at will. This Pittsburgh defense needs T.J. Watt back in the worst way.

28. Detroit Lions (1-4): At no point this season has anyone believed the Lions were legitimately good, but it was fun and surprising and cool that they had the league's best offense. If you're going to lose, you might as well lose in entertaining fashion. Imagine our disappointment, then, when Detroit, in losing its third straight game, got shut out by the Patriots.

29. Chicago Bears (2-3): Signs of life! The Bears aren't good, but this was a performance you could at least evaluate. QB Justin Fields looked as good as he has all season, and WR Darnell Mooney made one of the catches of the year. This is the type of stuff that gives you hope for a team that can grow and improve as the season goes along, even if the Bears don't win many games.

30. Houston Texans (1-3-1): If nothing else, the Texans have found themselves a badass in fourth-round RB Dameon Pierce. The game against Jacksonville will be blissfully forgotten a week from now. But the Texans are scrappy as hell, and they no longer have to worry about being the league's only winless team. 

31. Washington Commanders (1-4): As if it didn't all feel bad enough, Ron Rivera highlighted quarterback as the biggest difference between his team and the three NFC East teams that have winning records. Not exactly a vote of confidence in Carson Wentz — but then again, what exactly has Wentz done to deserve one?

32. Carolina Panthers (1-4): Matt Rhule was always a good bet to be the first NFL head coach fired this year, but it's still surprising to see him go before the midpoint of the season. As you might guess about a team that just fired its coach after Week 5, the Panthers look like a mess in almost every conceivable way. Maybe parting ways with Rhule can give them some sort of jolt in the short-term, at the least.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @davidhelman_.