In our Week 6 edition of the AFC power rankings, both the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos are moving up, while the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns are going in the opposite direction.
The Patriots have begun to turn things around over the last few weeks, with the latest sign of life coming in a win over the Raiders on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Broncos emerged victorious in an ugly victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Browns dropped their contest against the New York Jets in the early slate.
After the events of Sunday, here’s where each team stacks up in our AFC power rankings going into Week 6 of the 2026 NFL season.
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16. Tennessee Titans (0-5)
Last week: 16
Unfortunately for the Titans, the Texans had their best defensive performance of the season, but we shouldn’t be surprised with how bad Tennessee is. Cam Ward’s future in the NFL is looking extremely bleak.
15. Miami Dolphins (0-5)
Last week: 15
The Dolphins lost by one score, but the game wasn’t as close as the final score would seem to indicate. Malik Willis’ first season as a starter hasn’t gone well, but that shouldn’t be surprising with the lack of talent he has around him.
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14. Los Angeles Chargers (0-5)
Last week: 14
After falling to 0-5, the Chargers now have to make NFL history to get to the playoffs. We aren’t sure what’s going on, but Justin Herbert looks broken and the Mike McDaniel experiment is failing miserably.
13. Houston Texans (1-4)
Last week: 13
The Texans finally got on the board with a win over the putrid Titans, so now they have some hope to still make the postseason. DeMeco Ryans announced after the game that Houston acquired Marvin Harrison Jr., so the Texans will have a little added firepower in Week 6.
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12. New York Jets (2-3)
Last week: 12
It wasn’t pretty, but the Jets squeaked out a win over the Cleveland Browns and inched closer to .500. The bad news is, New York has a matchup next week with a Patriots team that seems to be figuring things out.
11. Indianapolis Colts (2-3)
Last week: 11
The Colts had no answers for Jaylen Warren, who ripped off two long touchdowns during the game. With the loss, the Colts failed to keep pace with the Jacksonville Jaguars and are now a little further away from first place in the AFC South.
MORE: Updated list of draft picks for Cardinals, Texans after Harrison trade
10. Cincinnati Bengals (3-2)
Last week: 10
The Bengals did what we expected them to and took care of business against the Dolphins on the strength of four Joe Burrow touchdown passes. Cincinnati will now go into its bye week with some momentum before a Week 7 showdown against the Baltimore Ravens.
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
Last week: 9
The Steelers’ offense appears to be finding its rhythm over the last three weeks, as Pittsburgh has now scored 30 points or more twice in that span. Jaylen Warren has been playing out of his mind this season.
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8. Cleveland Browns (3-2)
Last week: 6
The Browns came back to Earth with a loss to the Jets in horrible weather conditions. Despite the loss, Cleveland is still very much in the thick of things in the hotly-contested AFC North. Keep an eye on Quinshon Judkins, who was spotted in a walking boot after the game.
7. Las Vegas Raiders (3-2)
Last week: 5
Speaking of coming back down to Earth, the Raiders got their doors blown off by the Pats in what was New England’s best game of the season. Las Vegas desperately needs more out of its rushing attack and it’s perplexing that Mike Washington didn’t get more work on Sunday.
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6. Denver Broncos (3-2)
Last week 7
The Broncos decided to move off Davis Webb as the play-caller in favor of Sean Payton, but we saw no improvement from Denver’s offense in a ugly win on Sunday. Bo Nix is having a nightmare season and now we know it wasn’t simply because of the play-caller.
5. New England Patriots (3-2)
Last week: 8
New England dropped a season-high 45 points and have started to look like the AFC champ it was last season over these last two weeks. The Pats have a great chance to continue their winning streak with a matchup against the Jets on tap.
4. Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
Last week: 4
No Lamar Jackson? No problem. Snoop Huntley managed to guide the Ravens to a game-tying drive in the fourth quarter and then a game-winning drive in overtime. With the win, Baltimore is in sole possession of first place.
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3. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1)
Last week: 3
The Jags should have lost their game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Philly made a bone-headed decision to not kick the ball out of the end zone with 10 seconds left. The assist no doubt goes to the Eagles, but the Jags still had to make a play, so some credit is in order.
2. Buffalo Bills (3-1)
Last week: 2
The Bills will have a tough matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. Buffalo won’t be moving past Kansas City with a win, but they will move backwards with a second straight defeat. We’ll update the Bills’ ranking once their game goes final.
1. Kansas City Chiefs (4-0)
Last week: 1
The Chiefs are enjoyed a bye in Week 5, and they will emerge from that bye still sitting in our No. 1 spot. With the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings both winning on Sunday, there are still three undefeated teams left in the NFL.
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