Week 5 NFL Power Rankings Roundup: Packers Better Than Raiders
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers were given a reality check and a swift kick in the butt by the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
After playing three quarters of dismal football before stunning the New Orleans Saints, the Packers were outmanned and outclassed by the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. The Packers couldn’t run the ball. They couldn’t stop the run. They couldn’t protect Jordan Love.
But, hey, at least the Packers aren’t the Las Vegas Raiders.
Here is this week’s roundup of 10 national power rankings. Green Bay’s average ranking is 15.2, which is up from 12.3 last week.
CBS Sports: 11th
Last week: 6th
Pete Prisco believes the Packers are better than what they showed against Detroit. “They have a lot of injuries, but they didn't even compete.”
Sports Illustrated: 14th
Last week: 14th
Conor Orr noted something we wrote about here: Love’s completion rate is the worst in the NFL because of his higher-degree-of-difficulty throws. Love has thrown 17 passes to running backs, Orr wrote. Across the NFL, four running backs have more than 17 receptions. “It’s a little thing, but part of what made Aaron Rodgers so good was a checkdown rate of nearly 9 percent,” Orr wrote.
ESPN.com: 14th
Last week: 12th.
The theme for this week’s ESPN power rankings is the biggest issue on defense. Packers beat writer Rob Demovsky pointed to the run defense, which is as bad as always.
NFL.com: 14th
Last week: 10th
Eric Edholm noted how the Packers got trounced in the trenches. “It has been a roller-coaster ride in Jordan Love's first four games as The Guy. Meanwhile, LaFleur got Aaron Jones back ... and then barely used the star back. It was such a disheartening loss -- not just because of how it happened, of course, but also against whom it came.”
The 33rd Team: 14th
Last week: 15th
Ryan Reynolds noted the absence of Christian Watson and Aaron Jones to open the season. “The Packers, unsurprisingly, have been a bit all over the place through four games. … Ultimately, Green Bay needs to improve on both sides of the ball to be a playoff contender.”
There were a lot of long faces during a long night against the Lions.
Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports Images
Yahoo Sports: 15th
Last week: 12th.
Frank Schwab pointed to the offensive line as the big problem, with left tackle David Bakhtiari likely out for the season due to his chronic knee problems and left guard Elgton Jenkins having missed the last couple games with a sprained MCL. “If the Packers can't fix the line, they might fade fast,” he wrote.
Pro Football Network: 15th
Last week: 17th.
Dalton Miller understands the scorn directed at defensive coordinator Joe Barry but “at some point, players also have to execute, which is something we have not seen at a high level for over a year from this defense. Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark are animals on the defensive front, but this team is struggling on that side of the ball.”
The Athletic: 18th
Last week: 10th
Yeah, Green Bay’s run defense stinks. But what about the rushing offense? Notes Josh Kendall: “The Packers rushed for 27 yards Thursday night. For the season, they are 29th in the league in yards per carry (3.3) and 25th in rushing success rate (33.7 percent), according to TruMedia. This is not the way to help young quarterback Jordan Love in his first season as the starter.”
Pro Football Talk: 18th
Last week: 12th
Wrote Mike Florio: “Falling way behind and then trying to come back is not an ideal plan for getting to the postseason.”
USA Today: 19th
Last week: 15th.
Nate Davis came up with this stats-are-for-losers gem: Only two teams are averaging fewer rushing yards per game than the Packers. And only two teams are allowing more rushing yards per game than the Packers.
Next Opponent: Las Vegas Raiders
After edging the woeful Denver Broncos in Week 1, the Raiders have lost three in a row, though the last two – at home against Pittsburgh and at the Chargers – were determined by a total of 12 points.
The Raiders’ average ranking is 28.5, including 29th at Sports Illustrated.
“Go back and watch the push this Chargers offensive line was getting on Las Vegas early in this game,” SI’s Orr wrote. “The Raiders’ defensive line was getting compressed like a blocking sled, leading to embarrassingly large gashes in the running game. I think this team was being built in a strange way already, then came a hurried shift to a Patriots-adjacent regime with the Davante Adams contract around their necks led to such a bizarre team building structure. Jimmy Garoppolo or not, this is not a team capable of making a dent in the division this year.”
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