Consensus NFL Power Rankings: Packers Chasing Interesting New No. 1 Team

GREEN BAY, Wis. – To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. The Green Bay Packers already have beaten the best.

The Detroit Lions, the hottest team in the NFL, are the new No. 1 team in our Consensus NFL Power Rankings after Week 5. The Packers, who rolled over the Lions in Week 1 but stumbled into the bye with a loss and a tie, are seventh.

Our Consensus Power Rankings take eight sets of national power rankings and turn them into one superior power ranking. The Packers were the No. 3 team after their 2-0 start, but they fell to sixth after losing at Cleveland and eighth after tying at Dallas.

While Green Bay moved up one spot, they had 61 points last week and 64 points this week. So, from that perspective, they lost a bit of ground.

The Lions swept their way to the top of our Week 6 rankings, capturing the No. 1 spot in all eight individual power rankings. After losing 27-13 to the Packers, the Lions have destroyed their last four opponents by a combined 161-85.

The Browns shocked the Packers 13-10 in Week 3 but lost to the Lions 34-10 in Week 4. Last week, the Lions beat the Bengals 37-24; it was 28-3 in the fourth quarter. The Packers will host Cincinnati on Sunday.

Here are this week’s rankings, with links to their full rankings and analysis.

NFL.com: 6th

The Packers held steady at No. 6.

There were too many injuries on the offensive line, too many penalties and too many errors on special teams. However, Eric Edholm wrote, “if Green Bay fixes some of those primary concerns, this is a Super Bowl-caliber team.”

CBS: 7th

The Packers held steady in Pete Prisco’s rankings, as well.

“Coming off their bye, the schedule gets a little soft the next few weeks, starting Sunday with the Bengals at home. The defense has to get back on track after getting abused by the Cowboys the last time out.”

Fox Sports: 7th

The Packers inched up a spot in Ralph Vacchiano’s rankings.

“They got a bye week to ponder how they lost to Cleveland and followed that up with an unsatisfying tie in Dallas,” he wrote. “If they want to stay in the top 10, they better beat the Bengals this weekend.”

ESPN: 7th

The Packers inched up a spot in ESPN’s rankings, which are voted on by its beat writers. This week’s theme was fantasy-football surprise, with Rob Demovsky picking the defense/special teams.

“The Packers’ defense ranks fourth in real football (fewest yards allowed per game and second against the run), but that hasn't translated to fantasy points. Green Bay is tied for 20th (5.3 fantasy points per game) after ranking third last season (8.2).” The reason is obvious. The Packers have only two takeaways after finishing fourth in the league with 31 in 2024.

Yahoo: 7th

Green Bay slipped one spot in Frank Schwab’s rankings.

“The Packers didn’t look great but check out the upcoming schedule: vs. Bengals, at Cardinals, at Steelers, vs. Panthers, vs. Eagles, at Giants. Other than the Eagles and maybe the Steelers, those should all be wins. If it’s not at least a 4-2 stretch, then worry about the Packers.”

The Athletic: 8th

The Packers fell two spots in Josh Kendall’s rankings, but with room to take flight.

“The Packers have a chance to go on a bit of a run coming out of their bye,” he wrote. “Their lone opponent in the next month with a record above .500 is the Steelers. There’s little reason to think this offense, which ranks fourth in expected points added per play, will slow down anytime soon.”

Pro Football Talk: 9th

Mike Florio kept Green Bay at No. 9. “With the Bengals coming to town after a week off, the Packers are about to have back-to-back byes.”

Sports Illustrated: 13th

The Packers fell two spots in Conor Orr’s rankings after the bye. In his quarter-season awards, he named Micah Parsons the Defensive Player of the (Quarter) Year, despite his (relative) lack of playing time.

“This is typically a pressures and sacks or shutdown cornerback award,” Orr wrote. “Parsons leads the NFL in pressures and also leads Brandon Thorn’s wonderful true pressure rate metric, which means he leads the NFL in plays that are affecting the outcome of a quarterback’s time in the pocket.”

Latest Packers Odds

Sportsbook odds aren’t part of the Consensus Power Rankings. Nonetheless, through that prism, the Packers remain an elite team.

In the latest Super Bowl odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, the Buffalo Bills are the championship favorites at +500. They are followed by the Philadelphia Eagles at +700 and the Packers and Lions at +800.

Detroit is now a slight favorite to win the NFC North at +105. Green Bay, which had been the division favorite since beating the Lions in Week 1, are +115. To win the NFC, the Eagles are +360, followed by the Lions at +410 and Packers at +440.

This Week’s Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals’ average ranking in the Consensus is 25.25, with a range of 24th to 28th.

The Bengals are 2-3 but are in dire shape without Joe Burrow. They’ve lost three consecutive games by a combined 113-37. Of those 37 points, 28 came in the fourth quarter, long after those games had been decided.

“Jake Browning finally played like a useable quarterback in the fourth quarter against the Lions on Sunday,” wrote Fox’s Ralph Vacchanio, who ranked the Bengals 24th. “Too bad it was way too little, too late. The same might be said for their season, too.”

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm has the Bengals at No. 28.

“The decision of whether to stick with Jake Browning was complicated a bit with his fourth-quarter theatrics (three TD passes) against the Lions,” Edholm wrote, “although it didn’t whitewash what he did in the first three quarters (three INTs).”

The Packers are an enormous 14.5-point favorite at FanDuel.

Packers On SI’s Consensus Dandy Dozen

1, Detroit Lions (eight first-place votes; 8 points); 2, Philadelphia Eagles (20 points); 3, Buffalo Bills (24); 4, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28); 5, Indianapolis Colts (49); 6, San Francisco 49ers (61); 7, Green Bay Packers (64); 8, Los Angeles Rams (69); 9, Jacksonville Jaguars (70); 10, Denver Broncos (78); 11, Washington Commanders (90); 12, Seattle Seahawks (92).