NFL Power Rankings entering Week 5: Someone has to win NFC East among disappointing Cowboys, Commanders, Giants and Eagles

16. New York Giants (3-1-1, LW: 17)

The Giants should feel good to get a half of a win after Washington completely blew the end of the game, but New York blew a chance to win itself. In overtime they missed a 46-yard field goal and Cam Skattebo fumbled at Washington's 24-yard line. A tie felt like a win at the end, but that got the Giants off the hook for their own mistakes.

One absolute positive from the game was Malik Nabers. He followed up a 112-yard game by getting season highs with 11 catches and 121 yards. He scored the game-tying touchdown in the final two minutes of regulation. Even more encouraging, he played a season-best 89.9% of New York's snaps. He had not surpassed 80% in the first four games. It's safe to say Nabers is back to normal after last season's ACL tear.

15. Carolina Panthers (2-2, LW: 18)

David Tepper shouldn't get too many flowers for becoming a somewhat rational owner, but he could have considered a coaching change after Dave Canales was 6-15 to start his time with the Panthers. Tepper had been going through coaches like paper plates before then. But the stayed the course and Canales has turned it around. He gave up play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, and that setup has been a success. Bryce Young is having a career year, and even getting mentioned in early MVP conversations. Carolina's offense ranks third in the NFL in points and fourth in yards despite major offensive line injuries.

That looks great on Idzik, who could be a hot name in the head-coaching carousel next offseason if this continues. It also looks good on Canales, to understand what needed to be done for the Panthers to improve after backing into an NFC South championship last season.

14. Denver Broncos (3-2, LW: 14)

For a 3-2 team, the Broncos should probably be lower in the rankings. The winless Chargers had countless injury issues on Sunday and yet the Broncos still trailed 17-10 with less than 10 minutes left. The Chargers' decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 41, and then not converting a quarterback sneak, turned around the game. The Broncos deserve credit for stopping that streak and rallying to win, but anyone thrilled with where the Broncos are after five games is ignoring the problem signs.

One of those problems could be Bo Nix. The Broncos are considered to have one of the NFL's best offensive lines. They have enough at receiver including Jaylen Waddle, who Denver traded a first-round pick to acquire. Sean Payton took over play-calling duties, and that didn't change the offense. When is Nix's role in the offensive woes going to be examined? His passer rating has gone from 93.3 to 87.8 to 80.8 in his first three seasons. On Sunday, with Payton back calling plays, Nix had 123 yards passing against a decent Chargers defense that was without star safety Derwin James Jr. The Broncos can't change play-callers again. Nix just needs to perform better. It doesn't get easier with a matchup against the Seahawks on Thursday.

13. Detroit Lions (3-2, LW: 19)

The Lions' defense is likely to still be a problem, even though it played well against the Cardinals. The offense is just fine. Jared Goff has 12 touchdowns and no interceptions through five games, which puts him in rare company.

But the engine of the offense is Jahmyr Gibbs. He leads the NFL with 747 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns. That's a pace of 30.6 touchdowns. That's in range to challenge LaDainian Tomlinson's single-season record of 31. Gibbs didn't deny he's got his eyes on that record.

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'm trying," Gibbs said, via MLive.

12. Las Vegas Raiders (3-2, LW: 10)

An early East Coast start against a Patriots team that felt energized after a win over the Bills was a tough spot for the Raiders. Still, it was a troubling performance on both sides of the ball. The Raiders offense didn't get much going, and averaging 2.1 yards per carry was a big reason. Perhaps Ashton Jeanty, who was a game-time decision with foot and ankle injuries, should have sat for a week. He had 27 yards on 10 carries. The defense was simply shredded by Drake Maye, who had 374 yards and four touchdowns passing and another one rushing. The Raiders' defense hadn't been bad through four weeks, so it can be excused to a tough day against a good quarterback who is starting to heat up.

"Defensively, offensively, special teams, I don't think any of us played well enough to win today," Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said, according to the team's site.

It's one bad game after four promising ones, so it's not time to panic. But the next two games will tell the story: The Raiders host the Bills and Rams the next two weeks.

11. New England Patriots (3-2, LW: 13)

Drake Maye isn't a bad quarterback. Go figure. After naysayers got their licks in during Maye's three-game slump to start the season, which was an extension of his postseason issues, Maye has 643 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, 79 rushing yards and a rushing score in his last two games. Those games came against the Bills and Raiders, who had one combined loss before facing New England. Stunning, but a 24-year-old quarterback who was one vote from winning MVP last season might still be good.

"It's just fun to see Drake smiling big on the sidelines," Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane said, via SB Nation. "That confidence is obviously back, and just watching him lead and push the ball down the field was fun."

10. Los Angeles Rams (2-3, LW: 8)

The Rams can play the what-if game. What if Week 1 hadn't been in Australia? What if the officials had gotten a flubbed defensive pass interference call right at Denver in Week? And what if they hadn't gotten a field goal blocked in overtime on Monday against the Bills? But they are also a veteran team and know the NFL is a results business. A team that got heaps of Super Bowl hype all offseason is 2-3.

The special teams is a recurring problem. The blocked field goal on Monday night could be looked at as a bad break for many teams, but the Rams' special teams have been a problem for a while. Huge special teams mistakes led to losses in their final two games against the Seahawks last season, including in the NFC championship game. It shouldn't be a big surprise that the special teams let them down with the game on the line Monday. 

9. Cincinnati Bengals (3-2, LW: 11)

Joe Burrow wasn't too thrilled after Sunday's win over the Dolphins. His assessment of the team after five games? "Gotta be better. Gotta be better," Burrow said, according to transcripts. When asked in what ways the Bengals need to be better, he said, "Everywhere."

"I think just not good enough all around, team-wide," Burrow said. "I think if we want to be the team that we think we're going to be, you got to be better than that."

The Bengals didn't play that bad. It speaks to how poor the Dolphins are that leading 28-10 into the fourth quarter isn't good enough. But Burrow is trying to get his team to a higher level, which is reasonable going into their bye. The first game back from the bye is a huge one. The Bengals go to Baltimore to face the Ravens.

8. Chicago Bears (3-2, LW: 6)

It's hard to rank the Bears. On one hand, they were horrendous in a 31-7 loss to the Packers. Also, they have scored 60 points in four games since scoring 59 in the opener. They've had two games scoring seven or fewer points. A defense that had been playing well gave up too many big plays against the Packers, who had 358 yards passing.

Of course, everything will change soon when Caleb Williams comes back. It's unfair to judge a team too harshly when it went 2-1 with two different backup quarterbacks. And Williams is close to a return from a hamstring injury.

"He's on track," Bears coach Ben Johnson said, via Bears Wire. "We'll see if that's Atlanta [for Week 6] or after. I think it's going to be close."

Once Williams returns, it'll be easier to get a clear read on the Bears going forward.