Week 5 NFL Standings: The Wild NFC West, and Jumbled Messes in Multiple Division Races
It’s crazy to think that we are essentially a quarter of the way through the 2025 NFL regular season already.
Week 4 brought some wild outcomes from the new kickoff rule changing the tide of a game, a blocked field goal to seal a game, and a 40-40 tie on Sunday Night Football.
Now, we move ahead to Week 5, and with Thursday Night Football just hours away, here is an updated look at the NFL standings.
Week 5 NFL Standings
AFC East
- Buffalo Bills (4-0)
- New England Patriots (2-2)
- Miami Dolphins (1-3)
- New York Jets (0-4)
Things got dicey for awhile on Sunday, but the Buffalo Bills were able to maintain a perfect record and their position atop the AFC with a win over the New Orleans Saints. It doesn’t seem like anyone in this division has a chance to unseat the Bills this season, but the New England Patriots can change that narrative as the two teams go head-to-head this weekend.
AFC North
- Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
- Baltimore Ravens (1-3)
- Cleveland Browns (1-3)
The AFC North is a bit of a jumbled mess right now, but the Steelers have a chance to absolutely run away with it over the next couple of weeks. The next closest team to them is the Cincinnati Bengals, and they will be without Joe Burrow until at least mid-December if not through the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens have not shown any signs of improvement on defense, and they could be without Lamar Jackson for multiple weeks. Pittsburgh has a bye this week, but then matchups against the Browns and Bengals that should be wins.
AFC South
- Indianapolis Colts (3-1)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1)
- Houston Texans (1-3)
- Tennessee Titans (0-4)
It turns out the Indianapolis Colts are in fact not indestructible as they lost a tough game to the Los Angeles Rams this weekend. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars pulled even atop the division with a win over the San Francisco 49ers, and the Houston Texans finally got a notch in the win column by beating the Tennessee Titans. This division race is getting closer, but Jacksonville has a huge test on Monday night when they play the Kansas City Chiefs.
AFC West
- Los Angeles Chargers (3-1)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
- Denver Broncos (2-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (1-3)
Just when people may have started to think the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty may be starting to fade, they dropped a huge statement win over the Ravens by scoring 37 points and forcing two turnovers. The Los Angeles Chargers also managed to lose a brutal game to the New York Giants in Jaxson Dart’s NFL debut. The Denver Broncos also got back on track by absolutely demolishing the Bengals.
Even the Las Vegas Raiders should have gotten a win, but a blocked field goal changed the outcome as time expired. This division race could be starting to heat up in the way that many hoped it would before the season’s start.
NFC East
- Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
- Washington Commanders (2-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (1-2-1)
- New York Giants (1-3)
The Philadelphia Eagles are 4-0 after hanging on to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it’s really hard to tell exactly how good they are right now. Of course, that very well could just be the Chiefs-ification of this team where we expect them to win every game by 15+ points, and when they don’t, we become convinced something is wrong all the way up until the point where they win another Super Bowl.
On the other hand, the Eagles are enjoying a comfortable lead in this division. The only team that looks to have a real shot at catching them being the Washington Commanders, but they have a pretty brutal schedule down the stretch of the year.
NFC North
- Detroit Lions (3-1)
- Green Bay Packers (2-1-1)
- Minnesota Vikings (2-2)
- Chicago Bears (2-2)
It’d be a real shame if that Sunday Night Football tie with the Dallas Cowboys came back to bite them in the rear during the chase for the playoffs. On a more serious note, the Packers are a tough nut to crack right now because their offense has not been overly efficient through four weeks, and their defense just gave up 40 points.
Regardless, the NFC North seems to once again run through the Detroit Lions. They have completely bounced back after that Week 1 loss to Green Bay and now stand firmly in the driver’s seat by themselves. The Vikings have an outside chance at making this race interesting, but the injuries to the offensive line may be too much to overcome as difficult as it is to say that this early in the season.
NFC South
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)
- Atlanta Falcons (2-2)
- Carolina Panthers (1-3)
- New Orleans Saints (0-4)
Even in a loss, the Buccaneers showed that they are the cream of the crop in the NFC South. They did everything in their power to pull off a comeback against the Eagles, but they just couldn’t get that one final push in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta did bounce back in a big way against the Washington Commanders in a game where Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Tyler Allgeier all scored touchdowns. Given the Carolina Panthers’ fall from grace on Sunday, this feels like it’s going to be a two-horse race. It could still get interesting with Tampa Bay having matchups against Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit over the next three weeks.
NFC West
- San Francisco 49ers (3-1)
- Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
- Los Angeles Rams (3-1)
- Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
The NFC West has been the most competitive division by far this season, and it only got more interesting with the 49ers’ loss to the Jaguars this past weekend. San Francisco is still working through a number of injuries, and Brock Purdy didn’t look great in his return, throwing a pair of interceptions and losing a fumble.
Seattle’s victory over the Cardinals also made this a three-way tie at the top for now, but that will change when the 49ers and Rams meet up on Thursday Night Football.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
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