NFL Week 5 Power Rankings: MVP candidate Sam Darnold has Vikings rolling; Texans, Bucs move into top five

Sam Darnold for MVP.

Sounds crazy, right? It really isn’t. Darnold has the Minnesota Vikings at 4-0. He leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 11 to go along with 932 passing yards and 8.8 yards per attempt, showing his knack for the big play.

Darnold wasn’t flawless in the Vikings’ impressive road victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, throwing one pick and losing a fumble in the second half, but he threw three touchdown passes. Darnold, who came into the season with a career completion percentage under 60%, is completing 68.9% of his passes this season with a passer rating of 118.9 when his previous career best was 92.6 in six starts for Carolina in 2022.

It helps that he has Justin Jefferson, the best pure receiver in the game, and a great offensive mind in Kevin O’Connell calling plays, but give Darnold credit for resurrecting his career. He was a former high first-round pick of the Jets, flopped there, was just OK for the Panthers and then served as a backup for the 49ers. He came into this season as a stop-gap; the plan was for him to keep the seat warm until first-round pick J.J. McCarthy was ready to play.

When McCarthy got hurt in training camp, it was Darnold’s job and he’s made the most of it. Where would the Vikings be without him?

The defense has impressed under coordinator Brian Flores, but the offense has done its part as well. Darnold is the reason why. The Vikings are up to the No. 2 spot in my Power Rankings this week as they head to London to play Jets, which makes it a revenge game of sorts for Darnold if you believe in those things.

O’Connell doesn’t get his due for his bright offensive mind, but he also should get props for the way he calls a game. The man isn’t scared. Take Sunday. Darnold had two blunders in the second half, which had many probably screaming that he was turning back in the old Sam Darnold. It let the Packers back into the game.

So what did O’Connell do after Darnold’s fumble led to a point-blank touchdown for the Packers that made it 28-22? He let Darnold throw it on six of the next seven plays as the Vikings got a field goal to make it a nine-point game late. Coaching scared? Not in Minnesota, which is why Darnold is playing his best football.

Spinning it forward, what does it mean for the long run? What if Darnold were to win the NFL MVP and take the Vikings to the Super Bowl? McCarthy was supposed to be the future. That might not be the case if Darnold keeps this up. He is only 27, so there is still a lot of football left for him.

The first month has been a heck of a resurrection of his career. If it keeps up, he just might end up being the league MVP, something few, if any, saw as a possibility.

Biggest Movers

Rk	Teams		Chg	Rcrd
1	Chiefs	They make it interesting each and every week, but they are finding a way to win games. At least Travis Kelce came alive against the Chargers, but the loss of Rashee Rice (knee) will be tough to overcome.	—	4-0-0
2	Vikings	They are rolling on both sides of the ball. They dominated the Packers Sunday for most of the game before letting them back in late. They will be challenged by the Jets this week in London.	1	4-0-0
3	Texans	They didn’t play great against the Jaguars, but they found a way. They have to start scoring touchdowns. The offensive line is a problem.	3	3-1-0
4	Buccaneers	They bounced back from their bad loss to the Broncos with a dominating victory over the Eagles. They are the team to beat in their division as they head to Atlanta to play the Falcons.	5	3-1-0
5	Lions	They looked amazing on offense in blowing out Seattle. But the defense continues to have problems. They need to tighten up on the back end.	5	3-1-0
6	Ravens	They are 2-2 after their 0-2 start and once again they are looking like an AFC contender. Derrick Henry really gives this offense another dimension.	7	2-2-0
7	Bills	They lost for the first time at Baltimore and didn’t play well. They were beat up on both lines. Now they head to a tough game at Houston against the Texans.	5	3-1-0
8	Commanders	It’s time to believe in this group. Jayden Daniels has turned this team into the best team in the NFC East. Wow.	9	3-1-0
9	Steelers	Justin Fields played well in the second half in defeat against Indianapolis, but it just wasn’t quite enough. The defense let them down in the loss to the Colts.	4	3-1-0
10	Packers	Jordan Love was back, but it was clear he was rusty early in the loss to the Vikings. The defense certainly wasn’t as good as it has been, which is a concern.	2	2-2-0
11	Seahawks	They just have too many injuries on defense right now to stop anybody. The Lions beat them up pretty bad Monday night for their first loss. The offense at least played well.	7	3-1-0
12	49ers	They beat up on a New England team they were supposed to beat. But the injuries are still impacting this team, which is why we haven’t seen their best.	3	2-2-0
13	Cowboys	At 2-2, they still don’t look right and now they have major injuries on defense. If Micah Parsons is out for any length of time, they are in big trouble.	3	2-2-0
14	Bears	It wasn’t pretty against the Rams, but the offense showed signs of life. Was that actually a running game? That will make life so much easier for Caleb Williams.	4	2-2-0
15	Falcons	Beating the Saints in dramatic fashion gets them to 2-2 as they ready to take on the first-place Bucs this week. They do need to get more from the offense as they had both a defensive and special-teams score to beat the Saints.	5	2-2-0
16	Eagles	They have big problems. The injuries are one thing, but Jalen Hurts isn’t playing well and the defense is back to being bad. The heat is on Nick Sirianni.	9	2-2-0
17	Broncos	Sean Payton has this team 2-2 with a rookie quarterback. Why? The defense is playing outstanding right now and carrying this group.	5	2-2-0
18	Jets	The loss to the Broncos is a bad look. So much for the idea that the offense had come alive. The heat is on Robert Saleh.	7	2-2-0
19	Saints	Their fast start now seems like a long time ago after two division losses. The injuries on the offensive line are concerning.	7	2-2-0
20	Chargers	They blew a 10-point lead in losing to the Chiefs to fall to 2-2. Justin Herbert and the passing game just don’t look crisp.	6	2-2-0
21	Colts	Anthony Richardson’s injury is concerning, but Joe Flacco came in and did some good things in beating the Steelers. Two straight victories has them feeling good.	—	2-2-0
22	Bengals	Winning at Carolina for their first victory was big for this group. The defense still has major issues, but they are alive.	6	1-3-0
23	Raiders	They found a way to win a game against the Browns without Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby. That’s big. The defense had a good day.	7	2-2-0
24	Cardinals	The defense just isn’t good right now, which puts a lot of pressure on the offense. The loss to the Commanders was the first where they really looked overmatched.	1	1-3-0
25	Rams	The injuries have been just too much for this group. They are still competing, but it’s not good enough.	6	1-3-0
26	Giants	They just don’t do enough on offense and now Malik Nabers is hurt. This team is heading for changes after the season.	2	1-3-0
27	Titans	They head to their bye off their first victory. But they do so with a potential quarterback controversy looming with Will Levis banged up and Mason Rudolph taking care of the football when he took over against Miami.	5	1-3-0
28	Dolphins	Without Tua Tagovailoa, they are lost. It doesn’t matter who plays quarterback if it’s not Tua. The defense has issues as well.	3	1-3-0
29	Browns	At 1-3, they aren’t a good team right now. Injuries to the offensive line have made moving the football a challenge and Deshaun Watson isn’t getting it done. Is it Jameis Winston time soon?	3	1-3-0
30	Patriots	They are limited on offense, which showed up against the 49ers. That will continue to stay that way because of a lack of talent. It’s hard to score with bad line play.	3	1-3-0
31	Panthers	The Andy Dalton bump came to a halt because the defense had issues against the Bengals. But the offense is better with Dalton than when Young was in the lineup.	2	1-3-0
32	Jaguars	At 0-4, they look to be done. The schedule does soften the next few weeks, but it’s debatable whether they can turn it around. Trevor Lawrence needs to get out of his funk.	1	0-4-0