After Salvaging Tie, Packers Hold Steady in On SI NFL Power Rankings

The Green Bay Packers remain a top-10 team in the latest On SI NFL Power Rankings. Plus, who is the best rookie on each team?

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (0) catches a pass over Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – One week after blowing a 10-0 lead in the final few minutes of a loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers blew a pair of fourth-quarter leads in a 40-40 tie to the Dallas Cowboys.

Nonetheless, the Packers remain No. 6 in the On SI NFL Power Rankings entering Week 5.

The On SI NFL Power Rankings are voted on by our group of team publishers. Green Bay’s average spot in the rankings was 6.5, which put them just behind the fifth-ranked Los Angeles Chargers (6.4) and just ahead of the seventh-ranked Kansas City Chiefs (6.7).

All the first-place votes went to the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills, with the Eagles getting the most No. 1 votes to take the top spot in the rankings. The Bills are second and the Detroit Lions are third.

Bill Huber’s NFL Rankings

1; Philadelphia Eagles; 2, Buffalo Bills; 3, Detroit Lions; 4, Los Angeles Rams; 5, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; 6, Los Angeles Chargers; 7, Green Bay Packers; 8, Kansas City Chiefs;

9, Indianapolis Colts; 10, Denver Broncos; 11, San Francisco 49ers; 12, Seattle Seahawks; 13, Pittsburgh Steelers; 14, Baltimore Ravens; 15, Jacksonville Jaguars; 16, Washington Commanders;

17, Minnesota Vikings; 18, Chicago Bears; 19, Arizona Cardinals; 20, Dallas Cowboys; 21, Houston Texans; 22, Atlanta Falcons; 23, Las Vegas Raiders; 24, Cincinnati Bengals;

25, New England Patriots; 26, Cleveland Browns; 27, New York Giants; 28, Miami Dolphins; 29, Carolina Panthers; 30, New York Jets; 31, Tennessee Titans; 32, New Orleans Saints.

The Packers will come out of the bye facing the Bengals, who are No. 20 in this week’s rankings. That’ll be followed by games at the Cardinals, who are 18th, and the Steelers, who are 12th, followed by a home game against the Panthers, who are 30th.

Green Bay is No. 6 in the On SI rankings and No. 8 in our Consensus NFL Power Rankings.

“We’ve got to get better,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday. “I’m more worried about getting better each and every game. You can look at our record right now, we’re 2-1-1. Are we disappointed we’re not better? Absolutely. But I still think even in the two games we won, I don’t think we put together a full game of complementary football. So, we’ve got to somehow, some way be able to do that collectively in all three phases where we’re putting our best out there.”

Top NFL Rookies

Also part of this week’s rankings is each team’s best rookie. For Green Bay, that was an easy choice with first-round pick Matthew Golden.

Golden is third on the team in receptions (11) and yards (126). Nine of his catches have come the past two games, including a career-long 46-yards catch on the opening possession on Sunday night.

“We got a premier look and Matthew did a fantastic job coming down with the football,” fellow receiver Romeo Doubs said.

Golden has played 158 snaps from scrimmage. That’s more than all of Green Bay’s rookies combined. Second-round pick Anthony Belton (89), third-round pick Savion Williams (30), fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell (22), fifth-round pick Collin Oliver (zero), sixth-round pick Warren Brinson (zero), seventh-round pick Micah Robinson (zero) and seventh-round pick John Williams (zero) have played 141 snaps.

Golden was the fourth receiver drafted this year. He is fifth in receptions and fourth in yards. Among all rookie receivers targeted at least eight times (two per game), he is No. 1 in catch percentage.