Greg DeMarco’s NFL Power Rankings – Week 6

The 49ers remain atop Greg DeMarco’s 2026 NFL Power Rankings after Week6. The Bears, Panthers and Texans rise while the Seahawks slide.

After another exciting week of NFL action…one that saw some changes to the power rankings. Let’s see how it all shakes out!

Week 6 created some of the biggest movement we’ve seen so far. Seattle took the hardest fall, dropping seven spots after a second straight loss, this time 17-14 at Denver, while Houston made the biggest climb by jumping five places after stunning Jacksonville 34-31. Carolina moved up four spots after beating Philadelphia 25-14, while Baltimore fell four after a 13-10 loss to Cleveland exposed some of the concerns already showing up in its strength-of-schedule numbers. Chicago continued its rise with a win over Atlanta, while Arizona’s upset of the Rams and Tennessee’s first victory of the season also helped reshape the lower half of the rankings.

Now–onto the rankings!

Tier 1

1 – San Francisco 49ers (6-0, 1st NFC West, 90.00, NC) San Francisco wasn’t dominant against Washington, but the 49ers did what undefeated teams are supposed to do and found another way to win. They remain perfect with an excellent scoring margin and enough strength across every category to hold the top spot.

2 – Kansas City Chiefs (5-0, 1st AFC West, 86.68, NC) Kansas City handled the Chargers 22-6 and now owns the league’s best average point differential at +11.40. The Chiefs aren’t quite as efficient as some teams below them, but an undefeated record combined with that scoring margin keeps them comfortably at No. 2.

3 – Minnesota Vikings (5-0, 1st NFC North, 86.30, NC) Minnesota spent Week 6 on its bye and actually strengthened its statistical position as results around the league improved its adjusted schedule. The Vikings remain only a fraction behind Kansas City, and the concerns I had about their offensive production earlier in the season are becoming much less significant at 5-0.

Then comes the first major dividing line. More than 13 points separate Minnesota from Jacksonville, leaving San Francisco, Kansas City and Minnesota as the three teams that have clearly distinguished themselves through six weeks.

Tier 2

4 – Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2, 1st AFC South, 72.87, NC) Jacksonville’s 34-31 loss to Houston was a disappointing result, but the Jaguars still own an excellent +8.33 scoring margin against one of the league’s stronger schedules. Their overall profile remains strong enough to survive one upset without falling out of the top five.

5 – Buffalo Bills (5-1, 1st AFC East, 71.70, NC) Buffalo survived Las Vegas 33-30 and owns the best PP100 in the NFL at 8.47. The Bills aren’t blowing opponents away on the scoreboard, but five wins and elite scoring efficiency leave them only slightly behind Jacksonville.

Jacksonville and Buffalo sit in their own neighborhood this week. Both remain well behind the unbeaten top three, but there is another meaningful drop of more than six points before we reach an extremely crowded middle class.

Tier 3

6 – Chicago Bears (4-2, 3rd NFC North, 65.26, +3) Chicago rebounded from the Green Bay loss by going into Atlanta and winning 31-23, giving the Bears four victories against a strong adjusted schedule. Their statistical profile looks increasingly legitimate, and they’re now knocking on the door of the top five.

7 – New England Patriots (4-2, 2nd AFC East, 63.85, +1) New England followed the blowout of Las Vegas by taking care of the Jets, and its .633 adjusted strength of schedule is among the best in football. The Patriots aren’t producing huge offensive efficiency numbers, but their résumé continues to do a lot of heavy lifting.

8 – Carolina Panthers (3-2, 1st NFC South, 61.88, +4) Carolina’s 25-14 win over Philadelphia gives the Panthers another quality result, and their earlier 32-26 victory over Detroit matters when these teams are separated by less than two Power Score points. Carolina’s two losses came against Chicago and Cleveland, making the overall résumé strong enough to keep them ahead of both Detroit and Baltimore.

9 – Detroit Lions (3-2, 4th NFC North, 60.31, +1) Detroit was off this week, but its two losses have come against Buffalo and Carolina, both ranked ahead of the Lions. The 8.33 PP100 remains one of the league’s best, but Carolina’s head-to-head win keeps Detroit behind the Panthers for now.

10 – Baltimore Ravens (4-2, 3rd AFC North, 59.03, -4) Baltimore has the best record of this three-team cluster, but the résumé gives me pause after losses to New Orleans and now Cleveland. The Ravens also have a significantly weaker adjusted schedule than Carolina or Detroit, so I’m comfortable letting the model keep the 4-2 team behind both 3-2 clubs.

11 – Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2, 2nd AFC North, 57.74, +2) Pittsburgh took care of Tampa Bay 26-19 and continues to quietly build a respectable résumé. The Steelers aren’t dominant in any one category, but four wins and a positive scoring margin keep pushing them upward.

12 – Cincinnati Bengals (3-2, 4th AFC North, 56.60, -1) Cincinnati had the week off and remains one of the more efficient scoring teams in this part of the rankings. The Bengals’ weaker schedule prevents the PP100 number from carrying them higher, but the overall profile remains solid.

13 – Denver Broncos (4-2, 2nd AFC West, 56.19, +1) Denver added another quality win by beating Seattle 17-14, joining victories over Jacksonville and the Rams on an increasingly interesting résumé. The Broncos still have a negative scoring margin, but a difficult schedule and losses only to Kansas City and San Francisco make 4-2 look legitimate.

14 – Seattle Seahawks (3-3, 2nd NFC West, 55.76, -7) Seattle takes the week’s biggest fall after following the close loss to San Francisco with a 17-14 defeat in Denver. A positive scoring margin and strong efficiency keep the Seahawks from falling farther, but consecutive losses have erased much of their early cushion.

15 – Green Bay Packers (4-2, 2nd NFC North, 54.47, +2) Green Bay backed up its dominant win over Chicago by beating Dallas 23-13, giving the Packers some needed momentum. Their overall point differential is still barely positive, so the recent surge hasn’t completely erased what happened earlier in the season.

This is easily the most congested portion of the rankings. Chicago at 65.26 and Green Bay at 54.47 are separated by fewer than 11 points across ten teams, and the middle of the group is so tight that one strong or poor Sunday can produce substantial movement.

Tier 4

16 – Cleveland Browns (4-2, 1st AFC North, 51.30, +2) Cleveland’s 13-10 win over Baltimore gives the Browns a major divisional result and puts them atop a crowded AFC North. The concern remains a -2.67 average point differential despite four victories, which keeps Cleveland separated from the stronger profiles immediately above them.

17 – Las Vegas Raiders (3-3, 3rd AFC West, 48.47, -1) Las Vegas couldn’t finish the upset against Buffalo, but a 33-30 loss to one of the league’s better teams was a major improvement from the previous week’s disaster in New England. The Raiders are exactly even in point differential and remain highly efficient at converting yards into points.

18 – New York Giants (3-2-1, 1st NFC East, 44.01, -3) The Giants followed their tie in Washington with a 34-27 loss to New Orleans, so there is clearly some downward momentum here. I considered putting the Rams ahead of them because Los Angeles beat New York 28-6, but the Giants still have only two losses plus the tie compared with four Rams losses, and the Power Score places them in separate tiers.

The Giants occupy the bottom of this group at 44.01, followed by another four-point drop before the next cluster. That gap matters more as the résumés become increasingly flawed in the lower half of the league.

Tier 5

19 – Los Angeles Rams (2-4, 4th NFC West, 40.01, NC) Los Angeles has a convincing head-to-head win over the Giants, but losing 18-16 at home to Arizona makes it difficult to justify overriding four losses in six games. Both the Rams and Giants appear to be trending downward, and this latest result keeps Los Angeles on the wrong side of the tier break.

20 – Atlanta Falcons (2-4, 2nd NFC South, 39.13, +1) Atlanta has now followed its encouraging start with consecutive losses to Baltimore and Chicago. I still believe the Falcons are more dangerous with Michael Penix leading the offense, but at 2-4 they are running out of room for that context to outweigh the results.

21 – Houston Texans (2-4, 3rd AFC South, 38.87, +5) Houston is suddenly one of the league’s biggest risers after following its first win with a 34-31 upset of Jacksonville. The Texans are now essentially even in point differential, and two consecutive victories have changed the direction of their season quickly.

22 – New York Jets (2-4, 3rd AFC East, 37.73, +1) The Jets couldn’t follow their Cleveland win with another upset, falling 26-19 in New England. Their strong adjusted schedule keeps them competitive statistically, but two victories through six games still places a ceiling on how high they can climb.

23 – New Orleans Saints (2-4, 3rd NFC South, 36.61, +4) New Orleans earned one of the week’s more important wins by going into New York and beating the Giants 34-27. The Saints remain buried by their four losses, but a strong schedule and excellent 7.88 PP100 suggest they may be better than their record.

24 – Dallas Cowboys (2-4, 3rd NFC East, 36.00, -4) Dallas has followed the Houston win with consecutive losses to Tampa Bay and Green Bay, sending the Cowboys tumbling back down the rankings. Their offensive efficiency remains respectable, but a weak schedule and losing record are becoming difficult to overcome.

25 – Indianapolis Colts (2-4, 2nd AFC South, 34.85, -3) Losing 26-20 at home to previously winless Tennessee is easily Indianapolis’ most damaging result of the season. The Colts still score efficiently, but their negative point differential and four losses now matter far more than the PP100 number that once had them near the league lead.

This seven-team cluster is remarkably compact, with fewer than six Power Score points separating the Rams from Indianapolis. The next break is more significant, as Indianapolis sits more than five points clear of the group below.

Tier 6

26 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5, 4th NFC South, 29.66, -1) Tampa Bay couldn’t build on its first victory, falling 26-19 to Pittsburgh and dropping to 1-5. The Buccaneers have played a difficult schedule and aren’t being blown out regularly, but close losses still count as losses.

27 – Philadelphia Eagles (2-4, 2nd NFC East, 28.45, -3) Philadelphia’s 25-14 loss to Carolina extends the Eagles’ losing streak to four games after a 2-0 start. A negative scoring margin and relatively weak adjusted schedule give the model very little reason to soften the fall.

28 – Arizona Cardinals (2-4, 3rd NFC West, 23.95, +1) Arizona produced one of Week 6’s biggest surprises by beating the Rams 18-16 in Los Angeles. The Cardinals still have an ugly -8.67 scoring margin, but a second victory creates some separation from the very bottom of the league.

29 – Washington Commanders (1-4-1, 4th NFC East, 23.62, -1) Washington gave unbeaten San Francisco a competitive game before falling 23-17, but the Commanders remain stuck with only one victory. Their tie produces a .250 winning percentage rather than .167, yet a -6.67 scoring margin keeps them near the bottom.

There is a massive separation after Washington, with nearly 10 Power Score points between the Commanders and Tennessee. The final three teams have either spent most of the season winless or are only now beginning to escape that territory.

Tier 7

30 – Tennessee Titans (1-5, 4th AFC South, 13.89, +2) Tennessee finally broke through by beating Indianapolis 26-20, allowing the Titans to escape last place for the first time in these rankings. One victory doesn’t erase a -7.50 scoring margin or weak overall profile, but it is enough to create real separation from the two remaining winless teams.

31 – Miami Dolphins (0-5, 4th AFC East, 7.09, -1) Miami had the week off and continues to present the model’s strangest statistical profile, with the league’s strongest adjusted schedule paired with an 0-5 record and -12.40 average scoring margin. Schedule strength can provide context, but it can’t rescue results this poor.

32 – Los Angeles Chargers (0-6, 4th AFC West, 5.69, -1) The Chargers are now the NFL’s only 0-6 team after a 22-6 loss to Kansas City. Their numbers aren’t dramatically worse than Miami’s, but six games without a victory leaves no compelling argument against the bottom spot.

Here is your answer key to how I am actually ranking these teams:

• Win Percentage is the foundation because, ultimately, winning is what matters most in the NFL. It carries the greatest influence in our rankings, while the other factors help determine which teams are stronger than their records alone might suggest.
• Point Differential measures how decisively a team has performed across the season, using its average scoring margin with an overall cap of 17 points in either direction. That rewards dominant teams while preventing extreme blowouts from carrying too much weight.
• Adjusted Strength of Schedule measures the quality of the opponents a team has faced based on their combined winning percentage. To keep a team from artificially weakening its own schedule by beating those opponents, I exclude every game those opponents played against the team being ranked.
• Points Per 100 Yards, or PP100, measures how many total points a team scores for every 100 offensive yards it gains. Because those points can come from short fields, turnovers, defensive scores and special teams as well as sustained offense, PP100 gives me a broader look at how efficiently the entire team turns opportunities into points.

Overall listed score is out of 100, no one factor accounts for more than half of the overall score.

Each category is measured against the league leader in that statistic, producing one overall Power Score that determines the rankings. The exact weighting is mine alone, but the goal is simple: reward winning first, then use dominance, competition and scoring efficiency to separate teams that the standings alone cannot.

Another important detail: the teams are placed into tiers–and I do “reserve the right” to move a team within a tier, and on the rarest occasion, allow a team to jump tiers. Like I said, this isn’t just numbers, I watch football with my eyes, too.