2021 NFL Power Rankings, Week 6: Bills own the AFC, Cowboys keep surging
42. . . Previous: 16th. San Francisco 49ers. 20. team
As tough as it may be for San Francisco 49ers fans to hear it, I think we saw why Jimmy Garoppolo is the starting quarterback when he’s healthy.
Trey Lance has immense talent and we saw some of that against the Cardinals. But it also seems as if the game is moving extremely fast for the rookie in his first taste of real NFL action and that limits the offense to a degree. The Niners defense is 100 percent for real but Lance is going to have to make a big leap while Jimmy G is out for the wheels not to fall off.
. Previous: 23rd. Pittsburgh Steelers. 19. team. 55.
In no way am I getting sucked into the Pittsburgh Steelers being good, but credit is due to Ben Roethlisberger for looking like an actual NFL quarterback on Sunday in the 27-19 win over the Broncos. He made throws down the field and was aggressive, which clearly helped, while the defense was largely suffocating. This team is going to struggle against good competition but they can still win games against mediocre or bad teams based on their defense and offensive skill talent.
. . Previous: 22nd. New England Patriots. 18. team. 47
Early on, it appeared that disaster was about to strike for the Patriots. They trailed 22-9 to the Texans early in the third quarter. But credit to the New England defense and the Mac Jones-led offense for pulling themselves up and ultimately securing the win thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Hunter Henry and a game-winning field goal in the final minute.
The Patriots are far from great and that’s obvious with each game they play but they do enough things well to win these types of games and compete in most weeks.
Previous: 15th. Cincinnati Bengals. 17. team. 56. .
It might be time to recalibrate what we think we know about the Bengals. This team is now 3-2 on the season after losing in overtime to the Packers (in a game where no one could make a field goal) but they are competitive every time they take the field. Joe Burrow looks like the goods, even if he still makes some rough mistakes from time to time, and the defense is playing far better than anyone could’ve expected coming into the season.