4. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)
I will be the first to admit that I thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would lose in embarrassing fashion to the Indianapolis Colts, but Pittsburgh put forth a great defensive effort and made the AFC a lot tighter with this win. Aaron Rodgers was efficient as always, and the defense had Daniel Jones in a blender. Pittsburgh is still a playoff team, but their ceiling is lower.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)
I am not sure the Kansas City Chiefs are going to win the AFC West this year, as they now trail the Denver Broncos by two games in the division and looked largely bad against the Buffalo Bills in Week 9. Patrick Mahomes played one of the worst games of his career, and it's just not been an easy season for KC.
You can see their slim margins disappearing, as they had lost two regular season games all of 2024 - and they surely have at least a few more losses coming.
2. Detroit Lions (5-3)
This was an ugly loss for the Detroit Lions, as they should have beat up on JJ McCarthy. Detroit is clearly not nearly the team they were in the 2024 NFL Season, and I guess that should be expected after losing both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn to head coaching jobs.
The NFC North is very cluttered at the moment, and it's really going to be an uphill battle for the Lions to win the division. They're still a pretty complete team and no. 2 in our five-win power rankings.
1. Green Bay Packers (5-2-1)
I am not sure what to make of the Green Bay Packers, as their loss in Week 9 to the Carolina Panthers was downright pathetic and simply inexcusable on so many level. The Packers were supposed to emerge as a juggernaut this year, but they really haven't. I guess them having the fewest losses among all five-win teams is enough to give them the top spot here.