NFL Power Rankings, Week 6: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 5
14. Chicago Bears
Well, the Chicago Bears might be figuring some things out, eh?
The Bears had a nice win at home last week against the Los Angeles Rams, and they came back at home in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers and absolutely took care of business to the tune of 36-10.
The most encouraging aspect of this dominant win over the Panthers was the play of quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams has started to settle in more and more by the week, and we finally saw a huge game between he and DJ Moore this season. Moore went off for over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns against his former team, while Williams was 20-of-29 passing for over 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Bears have the complementary pieces on this roster to continue to be relevant as the season rolls along, and this was a nice win for them proving they can whoop on an inferior roster.
13. Dallas Cowboys
It’s tough to say the Dallas Cowboys played “well” against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, but they played well enough to win, and does anything else really matter? The Cowboys found a way to get a tough road win against a great defense and a team that typically is very tough to beat on their home field.
The first handful of weeks of this 2024 season haven’t been inspiring any confidence in the Cowboys being legitimate contenders in the NFC this season, but they are 3-2 and keeping pace with the shockingly white hot Washington Commanders.
Dak Prescott orchestrated a beautiful game-winning touchdown drive and you can’t say enough about the fact that this team has been dealing with some major injuries on either side of the ball. Defensively, the Cowboys have been hit where it hurts the most with Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Walker, Sam Williams, and Marshawn Kneeland all being taken away from their pass rush.
When you can grind out these tough wins early in the year, you set yourself up for success as the roster gets healthier over the course of the season.