The latest NFL power rankings aren’t taking a kind view of the New Orleans Saints after their third straight loss, having fallen to 1-3 on the year against the Minnesota Vikings in London. New Orleans is being commonly ranked as the second-worst team in their own division as more ballots roll in, with a widening gap separating them from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, yeah, the Atlanta Falcons. Here are the average rankings of each NFC South team after Week 5 from 15 different outlets:
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- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6.8 (-0.2 from last week)
- Atlanta Falcons: 21.1 (+6.3 from last week)
- New Orleans Saints: 24.1 (-1.8 from last week)
- Carolina Panthers: 30.3 (-2.5 from last week)
So the Falcons were the only team to improve their positioning, while some uncertainty is building around the 2-2 Bucs. The Panthers are flirting with irrelevance, but the Saints risk joining them if they don’t turn it around soon. They’ve fallen further down the board in each of the last three weeks.
With that in mind, let’s survey all of the different NFL power rankings from around the league’s media landscape:
Touchdown Wire
Ranking: 30 (Last week: 26)
Author: Mark Lane
Author’s take:
“It is one thing for Wil Lutz to miss a 61-yard field goal. It is another that the Saints had to settle on such long odds to send a game into overtime. New Orleans is going through more of a rebuilding year than a retooling year with Dennis Allen, and the facts are starting to manifest themselves in the win column.”
USA Today
Ranking: 27 (Last week: 24)
Author: Nate Davis
Author’s take:
“Four of their next five games are in the Superdome. It’s go time for a team that shouldn’t be 1-3 despite its inordinate amount of key injuries.”
CBS Sports
Ranking: 24 (Last week: 21)
Author: Pete Prisco
Author’s take:
“Injuries have hurt them a lot, but at 1-3 they are one of the early-season disappointments. The good news is nobody is running away with the division.”
NFL.com
Ranking: 18 (Last week: 19)
Author: Dan Hanzus
Author’s take:
“Injuries have hurt them a lot, but at 1-3 they are one of the early-season disappointments. The good news is nobody is running away with the division.”
Bleacher Report
Ranking: 25 (Last week: 22)
Author: NFL Staff
Author’s take:
“The New Orleans Saints have problems.
Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London was a heartbreaker, with Wil Lutz’s 61-yard field-goal attempt coming up just short as time expired. But that missed kick is the least of New Orleans’ problems.
The Saints have been blasted by injuries on offense. New Orleans played the Vikings without starting quarterback Jameis Winston (back). And without No. 1 wide receiver Michael Thomas (foot). And without starting running back Alvin Kamara (ribs). Frankly, given all those injuries, it’s somewhat impressive that the Saints were able to keep it close.
Close doesn’t matter in the NFL, though. And since beating the Atlanta Falcons by a point in Week 1, the Saints have been their own worst enemy. New Orleans entered Week 4 with the most giveaways in the league and turned it over twice more in London. The Saints were also flagged for 10 penalties and 102 yards.
After the loss, Saints head coach Dennis Allen acknowledged the team can’t keep committing the same mistakes over and over again.
“We still have to find a way to not hurt ourselves with penalties and the turnovers, and that’s got to change,” Allen said.
Of course, knowing there’s a problem and being able to fix it aren’t necessarily the same thing.”
Pro Football Talk
Ranking: 27 (Last week: 26)
Author: Mike Florio
Author’s take:
“They nearly won a game against a solid team without plenty of their best players.”
NBC Sports Chicago
Ranking: 26 (Last week: 24)
Author: Josh Shrock
Author’s take:
“A double doink from distance cost the Saints a shot at overtime in London. Bears fans feel your pain.”
Sports Illustrated
Ranking: 28 (Last week: 27)
Author: Connor Orr
Author’s take:
“This was supposed to be a defense-forward team that rode the ebbs and flows of a Jameis Winston offense and complemented his erraticism with a punishing unit on the other side of the ball. Thus far, New Orleans is playing the run really well, but struggling to contain the pass. Even a mediocre defense isn’t going to be enough to keep this team in the hunt..”
The Ringer
Ranking: 19 (Last week: 18)
Author: Austin Gayle
Author’s take:
“Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara all missed the game on Sunday, and New Orleans’ defense didn’t win enough of their one-on-one matchups with Minnesota’s talented receiver duo.
Though rookie receiver Chris Olave and running back Latavius Murray, who was elevated off the practice squad, played well enough against Minnesota, the Saints need to get healthy and stay healthy if they’re going to remain in the On the Bubble tier on this list. Both sides of the ball are talented in New Orleans, but the newness in the coaching staff with Sean Payton gone, the injuries, and now a 1-3 start are all stacking the deck against them.”
The Athletic
Ranking: 19 (Last week: 18)
Author: Bo Wulf
Author’s take:
“What they are: Soberingly bad.
The Saints might be having the most disastrous season in the league. The worst thing you can do when running a franchise is be unrealistic in your self-evaluation. And yet, the Saints pushed their chips into the middle this offseason, trading their 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick to the Eagles (along with other considerations) to acquire an extra first-round pick and move up a few spots with their original selection. They ended up doing more shuffling at the expense of long-term capital to move up again for Chris Olave (who has looked the part so far).
But this was a team that lost one of the few difference-making head coaches in the league, its Pro Bowl left tackle, part of the core of its highly ranked defense (which is notoriously unsustainable year over year) and had Jameis Winston at quarterback. Now, barring a turnaround, they stare down the possibility of a lost season that won’t even promise the benefit of a high draft pick as compensation. Don’t let your general managers make decisions from Bourbon Street.”
Yahoo! Sports
Ranking: 19 (Last week: 18)
Author: Frank Schwab
Author’s take:
“Andy Dalton doesn’t bring much upside to the table anymore, but he won’t throw the Saints out of games either. If the wind is blowing just a little differently on Sunday in London, Wil Lutz’s 61-yard kick goes through and the Saints take a good Vikings team to overtime. Let’s just say there might not be a great reason to rush Jameis Winston back.”
Pro Football Focus
Ranking: 21 (Last week: 20)
ESPN
Ranking: 24 (Last week: 21)
Author: Katherine Terrell
Author’s take:
“The Saints didn’t have much of a pass rush to speak of to start the season, but they did get after Kirk Cousins on Sunday, finishing with three sacks. The Saints need Marcus Davenport and Cam Jordan to consistently step up, while getting production out of 2021 first-round pick Payton Turner, to have success moving forward.”
Sporting News
Ranking: 28 (Last week: 24)
Author: Vinnie Iyer
Author’s take:
“The Saints held their own offensively without Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara in London, but their defense has suddenly developed critical holes under Dennis Allen. They are probably headed to drafting a true franchise QB in 2023.”
Locked On Sports
LOCKED ON NFL POWER RANKINGS FOR WEEK 5
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