Only three NFL teams are unbeaten after five weeks, led by the 49ers at 5-0 after a 32-29 win at Seattle, while the Chargers, Dolphins and Titans are still looking for their first win.
The San Francisco 49ers are at the top of the NFL’s Week 6 power rankings after beating the Seattle Seahawks 32-29, according to NFL.com’s rankings. They are 5-0 and are one of three undefeated teams in the league, with the Kansas City Chiefs at 4-0 after a bye week and the Minnesota Vikings at 5-0. The ranking credits the 49ers’ defence for the win over Seattle.
The rest of the top 10, with records, is as follows. The Chiefs are second at 4-0, the Seahawks third at 3-2 after their narrow loss, the Baltimore Ravens fourth at 4-1 after winning on the road without their starting quarterback, the Jacksonville Jaguars fifth at 4-1 after beating the Philadelphia Eagles on a 57-yard walk-off field goal in London, and the Buffalo Bills sixth at 4-1 after a 37-34 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Minnesota is seventh, entering the top 10, with the ranking pointing to signs of an improving offence in the second half against the New Orleans Saints. The Denver Broncos are eighth at 3-2 after beating the Los Angeles Chargers despite offensive struggles, the Cincinnati Bengals are ninth at 3-2 after winning in Miami, and the New England Patriots are tenth at 3-2 after producing 536 yards of offence against the Las Vegas Raiders.
At the other end, three teams are winless at 0-5: the Chargers, the Dolphins and the Titans, according to the same report. A search summary of league standings says that in the AFC West the Chiefs are 4-0, the Broncos and Raiders 3-2 and the Chargers 0-5, while the NFC North has the Vikings at 5-0, the Packers and Lions at 3-2, and the NFC West has the 49ers at 5-0, the Seahawks at 3-2 and the Rams at 2-3.
The Eagles are described as in free fall. They fell seven places after the loss in London and lost their starting centre, and now stand at 2-3, according to the ranking. The Saints dropped seven places to 1-4 with offensive problems. These are the two teams that the report singles out for their falls, and the sources do not give their positions in the ranking.
A search summary of title odds says that Minnesota has taken over the Super Bowl market with 18.0%, ahead of Buffalo at 14.4%, and that San Francisco gained 4.4 points of title probability. The source of those figures is not identified in the summary, and odds change every week, so they should be treated as one analyst’s estimate.
The standings show how few teams remain unbeaten at this point. With three of 32 teams at 5-0 or 4-0, and the season about a third complete, the league is more open than the records might suggest, as the 3-2 teams in the top 10 show. The Seahawks, who lost by three points to the leaders, are ranked third.
The week’s games feature the matchups of the teams above. The sources reviewed do not give the Week 6 schedule, so the report cannot say who will face the unbeaten teams. Delima News will cover the results as they come in.
Image: Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers (file photo). Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
