The First Read: 5 NFL bandwagons to hop on NOW! Who's up/down entering Week 7? MVP race shakeup

No team on this list has been more maddening to watch than the Bengals. They stumbled out to a 1-4 start and most of their issues can be blamed on an eerie ability to continually shoot themselves in the foot. Cincinnati has lost because of turnovers (Week 1 against New England), penalties (Week 2 against Kansas City), defensive ineptitude (Week 3 against Washington) and special teams errors (Week 5 against Baltimore). There have been other factors involved — mainly a defense that ranks among the worst in the league — but here’s the reality check: This team is far too talented to write off at this stage. Joe Burrow has played so well that he’d be in the MVP conversation if this team had a winning record. The offense has been electric since wide receiver Tee Higgins returned from a hamstring strain that sidelined him in Weeks 1 and 2, as that unit had averaged 35 points per game in the three contests Higgins played in before Cincinnati’s 17-7 win over the Giants on Sunday. The defense also should improve as a banged-up D-line gets healthier; the return of DT Sheldon Rankins helped the run defense against New York. Look, this might be a different take if the AFC were as strong as we anticipated. The fact is that it isn’t, and it’s hard to imagine seven teams being better than the Bengals when the postseason begins. Just take a glance at their upcoming schedule: They’ll see the Browns, Eagles and Raiders over the next three weeks. If Cincy plays up to its potential, this team could be sitting at .500 by the end of Week 10.

Caleb Williams looks a lot better these days, which should happen when you’re playing one-win teams like the Panthers and Jaguars. He had some rough moments through the first three weeks of the season, when he struggled with turnovers, a desire to do too much and an offensive line that couldn’t protect him consistently. However, he just played his best game in Sunday’s victory over Jacksonville — when he completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards with four touchdowns and one interception — and that’s a great sign for Chicago. The Bears have helped their rookie quarterback by running the football better, averaging 137 rushing yards during their current three-game winning streak. The defense also has been doing its part, since only one opponent has scored 20 points against that unit all year. It’s equally important to note that the Bears may have been a victim of their own hype. The buzz surrounding the arrival of Williams and all their offseason acquisitions was a bit much in retrospect. The real challenge for Chicago now is keeping pace with the rest of the NFC North. That division had two legitimate Super Bowl contenders when the season began (Detroit and Green Bay), and it added a third when Minnesota jumped out to a 5-0 start. If Chicago makes the playoffs, it might involve this division becoming the first in league history to put all four teams in the postseason.

You might quibble with the Packers being on this list, but they’ve had some issues to deal with, the most obvious being the knee injury that sidelined quarterback Jordan Love for two games. He has played the past three weeks, but this latest effort was the most reassuring sign that he’s returning to form. Love threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns in a blowout win over Arizona. In doing so, he reminded us why there was so much excitement surrounding the Packers coming into this season. Their offense is loaded with weapons at the skill positions, and Love is at his best when he gets them all involved. The more consistent that group becomes, the more it will help an improved defense thrive. The Packers wanted to create more turnovers on that side of the football, and they lead the league with a jaw-dropping 17 takeaways through six games. It’s not hard to see this team heating up as we move deeper into the second half of the season, either. The Packers were sitting at 3-6 midway through last year before rallying to make the playoffs and blowing out Dallas on Super Wild Card Weekend. Of course, Green Bay faces the same challenge as Chicago: trading body blows with the rest of the NFC North. The Packers already have a division loss to Minnesota and a conference loss to Philadelphia. That might create some issues if playoff-tiebreaker scenarios come into play in January, but this team should have double-digit wins by that point.

People have been trying to figure out the psyche of the Eagles for nearly a year and it’s still an ongoing process. That’s what a full-scale meltdown can do to a team that had Super Bowl aspirations in 2023 and made seismic changes throughout the offseason. It’s never a question of talent with these Eagles. It always seems to be a question of where their heads are at on any given day. The good news is the offense is getting some key weapons back in wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, both of whom had been sidelined for multiple games. Brown hadn’t played since Week 1 and he produced six receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s win over Cleveland. It wasn’t a dominant day for the offense in that game, but there should be some optimism that this unit can find more consistency. It’s no secret that quarterback Jalen Hurts has battled a propensity to turn the ball over. It’s fair to expect him to play better with more big-play options at his disposal. The defense might also improve if the offense can be more prolific. The hiring of Vic Fangio to run that unit hasn’t resulted in much success, but let’s keep this in perspective. The Giants are the only team in the NFC East that’s killing it on that side of the football, and they’re in last place. The Eagles have more playoff experience than the Commanders, and they’re healthier than the Cowboys at the moment. Philadelphia also will play a number of winnable games over the next six weeks. That should put Philly in a fairly good position to compete for the NFC East title down the stretch.

Let’s get the awkward part out of the way — the Chargers weren’t generating any serious expectations when the season began. This writer remained skeptical of them even after a 2-0 start, largely because injuries to star players were becoming a problem for this team once again. However, here the Chargers sit, firmly in second place in the AFC West and feeling good after a 23-16 road win over Denver. The first big takeaway after that victory was how legitimate Los Angeles’ defense has become under first-year coordinator Jesse Minter. Yes, it’s not a huge deal to shut down a rookie quarterback like Bo Nix, but this unit was equally fierce against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in a Week 4 loss. It’s not hard to see the Bolts winning that game with a healthier team, which is why there’s hope for them to be playing relevant football come winter. Quarterback Justin Herbert looked better after battling a high ankle sprain before the Week 5 bye. It was just as encouraging to see him throwing the football more against the Broncos. Herbert averaged 144.5 passing yards in his first four games this season. He threw for 237 yards and a touchdown against Denver, as Los Angeles clearly capitalized against a defense that lost Patrick Surtain II, the Broncos’ Pro Bowl cornerback, early in the game to a concussion. If Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman can keep opening up the offense, there’s every reason to think this team can stay in the playoff race. As with most of the other clubs mentioned here, the schedule matters. The Chargers should be happy with theirs. They’ll see the Cardinals, Saints, Browns and Titans over the next month. Those teams have six combined wins between them.

The questions about Goff’s consistency have vanished lately. He just threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns while completing 18 of 25 passes in a 47-9 win over a Dallas Cowboys team that was depleted by injuries. He went 18-for-18 with two touchdown passes in his previous game, leading Detroit to a 42-29 victory over Seattle in Week 4. The Lions offense couldn’t be any hotter as it prepares for a huge NFC North matchup with Minnesota in Week 7. Goff is the driving force behind that.

As much as Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are the headliners of the Ravens offense, that unit wouldn’t be as scary without the presence of Flowers on the outside. He made a huge impact as a rookie, and he’s starting to find his groove once again as the Baltimore running game dominates. Flowers had nine receptions for 132 yards in the first half of his team’s 30-23 win over Washington. That’s nearly half of the receiving yardage he generated through his first five games. The really good news for Baltimore is that this is the second straight 100-yard effort for Flowers. There are surely more coming.

The 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year had been quiet until Sunday’s win over New England. However, Anderson erupted in a big way, producing eight tackles, three sacks and a pass deflection that resulted in an interception. He had 2.5 sacks going into that game. He left with a strong statement about how the Texans defense can look when he’s wreaking havoc.

This one is a no-brainer. Not only has Ridley done little in his first season in Tennessee — he has nine receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown so far — but he openly vented his frustration over his lack of involvement in the offense after the Sunday’s loss to Indianapolis. The Titans talked about getting him more touches, but he ended with no catches on eight targets. Ridley produced 1,016 yards in Jacksonville last year. He now has two receptions in his last three games.

New Orleans has too much talent on this side of the football to be playing this poorly over the last couple weeks. The Chiefs generated 460 yards and 26 points in a Saints loss on Monday night in Week 5. This Sunday was even worse, as Tampa Bay scored 51 points to go along with 594 total yards. There were some highlights — the Saints did intercept Baker Mayfield three times — but this was a top-10 scoring defense coming into this contest. They need to be better, especially with quarterback Derek Carr sidelined with an oblique injury.

For all his accomplishments — including a Super Bowl win in Philadelphia and taking the Jaguars from a three-win team in 2021 to AFC South champs in 2022 — it’s starting to feel like Pederson’s days might be numbered in Jacksonville. The Jaguars just fell to 1-5 after losing to Chicago in London. The quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) has been underwhelming and the defense has been one of the worst in the league. This was supposed to be a year when Jacksonville rebounded from an epic meltdown last season and became a contender again. Instead, this team now has lost 10 of its last 12 games.

Kansas City Chiefs

5-0

AT

San Francisco 49ers

3-3

This rematch of Super Bowl LVIII will tell us a lot about where these teams are heading this season. Kansas City’s goal of a three-peat obviously has become more difficult with significant injuries on offense, including the season-ending knee tear sustained by blossoming wide receiver Rashee Rice. The 49ers have been dealing with their own health woes. A number of their biggest stars have been banged up at some point this year, and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffery still hasn’t played a down because of Achilles problems. Both teams have the talent to make another run at a championship. The question is how well both can adjust to attrition, and Sunday will be a great indicator of that.

• DraftKings odds: +550
• Weeks in top five: 4
• Next game: at Buccaneers | Monday, Oct. 21

• DraftKings odds: +1100
• Weeks in top five: 3
• Next game: vs. Panthers | Sunday, Oct. 20

• DraftKings odds: +1400
• Weeks in top five: 4
• Next game: vs. Lions | Sunday, Oct. 20

• DraftKings odds: +650
• Weeks in top five: 6
• Next game: at Packers | Sunday, Oct. 20

• DraftKings odds: +650
• Weeks in top five: 6
• Next game: vs. Titans | Sunday, Oct. 20