The Patriots are back in the top 10 of the Week 6 defense rankings after consecutive wins over the Bills and Raiders, and the jump comes with a fresh reminder that their rise is about more than just the scoreboard. Drake Maye led Sunday’s win, and New England put up 45 points and 536 yards, its highest totals in a game since 2021.
That is why the rankings changed now. The update covers all 32 NFL teams in Week 6, and the Patriots made the kind of move that follows a clean run of results and a game that looked nothing like a fluke. They have turned recent wins into a clearer case that they belong higher than they were a week ago, even if the bigger question is whether the climb reflects a real defensive turn or simply the force of an offense that finally broke loose.
The Packers also moved up after two losses in their first three games, then walked into Chicago as 1.5-point underdogs and dominated the Bears to avenge last season’s wild-card loss. Jordan Love threw for 367 yards, the sort of performance that can change how a team is viewed in a hurry. Elsewhere, the Chiefs keep running into a problem that numbers can explain but not excuse: they have zero sacks in the first month of the season, and before their bye week they still could not bring down Kirk Cousins despite a season-high 21 pressures.
That split between pressure and sacks matters because it shows how thin the margin is for a defense that can get close and still not finish. The Niners are holding opponents to 4.7 yards per play, but they are only 20th on third down and have given up a first down on 40.8% of those chances. They also have spent 31 minutes, 12 seconds per game on the field, which helps explain why a defense can look sturdy on one snap and worn down by the end of the next.
The Bills have their own issue in the middle of the down-and-distance battle, where they have struggled to stop opponents in second-and-long and third-and-long situations. At the bottom, the Chargers, Titans and Dolphins are all 0-5, and Los Angeles made its own case for that spot by blowing a seven-point lead with nine minutes left against the Broncos. The rankings are meant to sort out who is defending best right now, and the latest update leaves the Patriots moving up, the Chiefs searching for a sack, and three teams still stuck with no wins at all.
