2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 5
Teams Ranked 21st to 13th
| Rank | Team | nERD | Rec | Playoffs | Off. NEP Rank | Def. NEP Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Arizona Cardinals | -1.71 | 0-4 | 2.0% | 28 | 13 | +10 |
| 20 | Houston Texans | -1.53 | 1-3 | 15.4% | 10 | 27 | +2 |
| 19 | Denver Broncos | -1.43 | 2-2 | 17.2% | 17 | 16 | +9 |
| 18 | New York Jets | -0.94 | 1-3 | 6.9% | 29 | 4 | -4 |
| 17 | Kansas City Chiefs | -0.18 | 4-0 | 85.6% | 1 | 32 | -2 |
| 16 | Seattle Seahawks | 0.28 | 2-2 | 32.0% | 26 | 8 | -4 |
| 15 | Green Bay Packers | 0.45 | 2-1-1 | 40.8% | 18 | 21 | +8 |
| 14 | Atlanta Falcons | 0.73 | 1-3 | 28.9% | 4 | 29 | +3 |
| 13 | Washington Redskins | 1.46 | 2-1 | 40.9% | 14 | 12 | -6 |
The Cardinals are the last remaining winless team in the NFL, but they have experienced two straight weeks with a gain in nERD after a pair of narrow losses. Arizona fell to Seattle 20-17 and was out-gained in terms of total yardage (-68) and yards per play (-0.6), and also lost the turnover battle (1-0).
The Cardinals still had a 3.7 edge in NEP, thanks largely to a massive disparity in third-down performance. They went 5-for-12 on third down, while Seattle was held without a conversion on 10 attempts.
On first and second down, Arizona was -2.9 in terms of NEP differential but +6.3 on third down (and +0.2 on fourth, where Seattle went 1-for-2; the Cardinals did not have a fourth down attempt).
Still, despite this performance, Arizona carries a net negative for the season, and we probably should not expect them to keep climbing. Even after opponent adjustments (the Cardinals have faced the third-most difficult schedule, per Pro-Football-Reference), Arizona is 24th in NEP differential with the league’s worst scoring (-57) and success rate (-13.1%) margins.
A trip back down the ranks might be in the cards (no pun intended).
