Week 6 of the NFL season is in the books, and with it, a few new teams have risen to the top of Pro Football Focus’ weekly Power Rankings.
PFF’s Power Rankings are based off of Senior NFL Analyst Sam Monson's ordering of all 32 NFL teams, offenses, and defenses. He uses PFF's overall cumulative grades as a starting point, and makes necessary subjective adjustments to account for things that aren't captured in the grading system, such as injuries.
The PFF Power Rankings will be updated every Tuesday morning during the NFL season—view the latest edition entering Week 7 here.
It didn’t take long for Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to lift the New England Patriots to the No. 1 overall spot. After just two weeks of play, Brady has already passed Carson Wentz for the highest overall grade among quarterbacks this season; among tight ends, Gronk now sits behind only Panthers TE Greg Olsen following a career-high receiving day versus the Bengals.
While much credit is to be given to the Patriots’ offense for this rapid ascension, the New England defense has also played its part. Through six weeks, the Patriots own the seventh-best defense, anchored by an impressive run-defense grade.
Another team—albeit one that is much more surprising after posting a 4-12 record in 2015—rising up the ranks is the Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott, PFF's 11th-highest graded quarterback through six weeks, is truly stirring up a QB controversy once Tony Romo is back to full health. Fourth-overall pick Ezekiel Elliott is also living up to his billing behind that impressive Dallas offensive line, owning the highest grade among all rookie running backs this season, and the eighth-best among all NFL RBs.
On the other end of the spectrum, last year's NFC champions, the Carolina Panthers, currently find themselves all the way down at No. 28 in the rankings. Last season's MVP Cam Newton currently ranks No. 12 in PFF's quarterback grades, but weaknesses at other positions, particularly in the secondary, have led to early-season struggles for Carolina.
Be sure to check back each week for the most up-to-date edition of the PFF Power Rankings.
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