Top three unchanged
Unsurprisingly, the Eagles, Bills and Chiefs remain our top three teams after week 5.
As the only remaining undefeated team – and 5-0 for the first time since 2004 – the Eagles have yet to be dethroned since reaching out top spot. They continue to be well-rounded, giving up the joint-fewest turnovers in the league (2), and ranking 7th in yards per play (5.9).ย
The Bills did their best to surpass them, throttling the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-3 behind an unreal performance by Josh Allen. He threw for over 400 yards, 4 touchdowns and a passer rating of 134.1.
The Chiefs escaped a scare on Monday night to beat their AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders, but if Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes continue to produce 4 touchdowns a game, they’re going to be in our top three all season long.
๐ Also elite: Travis Kelce.
๐บ 4 TDs (@Chiefs TE record)
๐บ 7 receptions, 8 targets
๐บ 25 yards
๐บ 87.5% catch percentage
๐บ 2.1 av. separationA monster performance against the #Raiders.#Chiefs | #ChiefsKingdom https://t.co/xMBIvjqaop
โ The Playbook (@genius_playbook) October 11, 2022
Biggest risers
The biggest movers up the rankings are the two 4-1 teams in the NFC East: the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. The Cowboys face off with the undefeated Eagles next week for the lead in the division.
Last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, Micah Parsons, added another 2 sacks to his tally (now up to 6) – including a forced fumble against the Rams. The Cowboys have given away just 2 turnovers all season. With backup QB Cooper Rush keeping the ship righted, Dak Prescottโs return paired with Dallasโ elite defense might spell trouble for their opponents.ย
Micah. Parsons. just. did. that. ๐ค #DALvsLAR pic.twitter.com/A6gw9kOwFa
โ NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2022
The New York Giants have only lost to the Cowboys and showed great determination scoring 17 unanswered points to beat the Green Bay Packers in London. The Giants have a top 3 rushing offense in each of touchdowns (7), yards (895), yards per attempt (5.4) and 1st downs (51).ย
Biggest fallers
Not unrelated, the two biggest drops in the rankings belong to the two teams that lost to the biggest climbers. The Packers looked weak on offense late in the game against the Giants, and it showed. Allen Lazard has a 30.32% share of Green Bay’s air yards and is quite obviously Rodgers’ favored target. The decision to trade Davante Adams, particularly after his 124 yard, 2 touchdown game against the Chiefs on Monday night, is beginning to weigh heavy on this offense.
The Rams have struggled to recreate the same spark they had last season that led to a Super Bowl Championship. Despite a couple of explosive plays against the Cowboys, the Rams have struggled in production. They rank the lowest in the NFL for yards per play (4.8) and have given the ball away in turnovers 12 times – the 2nd most in the league.
๐ฅ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐๐ฎ๐จ – ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐
โช๏ธ 75-yard reception TD
โช๏ธ YAC: 72
โช๏ธ YAC over expected: 64Cooper Kupp doing Cooper Kupp things. #RamsHouse #NFL | @NextGenStats https://t.co/OASOwfd59U
โ The Playbook (@genius_playbook) October 12, 2022
Finally, the Carolina Panthers round out our rankings at the bottom after starting 1-4 and firing their head coach and defensive coordinator. The team may be in sell mode and is looking at a major rebuild next season.ย
