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GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the NFL, a win is a win, no matter how unimpressive it may look. That sentiment holds true for the Green Bay Packers, who stayed put at No. 24 in the Packers On SI Consensus NFL Power Rankings following Week 4. The team occupied the same spot a week ago, and their latest performance did little to change the overall perception.
The Consensus Power Rankings aggregate eight national power rankings into a single comprehensive list. This week, the Packers moved up in five of those rankings, dropped in two, and held steady in one. At the top, the San Francisco 49ers claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Buffalo Bills, last week's top team, tumbled to fifth.
Green Bay's two victories have come against the No. 28 New York Jets and the No. 30 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next up, they will host the sixth-ranked Chicago Bears on Sunday. Here's a breakdown of where the Packers stand in various national rankings, with more detailed analysis available via the provided links.
National Power Rankings Roundup
Sports Illustrated: 22nd – Conor Orr kept the Packers at No. 22, highlighting the contrasting approaches of the two head coaches in this week's matchup. Orr wrote, "Matt LaFleur trying to simply get his house in order while Ben Johnson constructs three-dimensional mindgames through the media is such an incredible subplot to this game on Sunday. I've written it before, but this is the kind of antagonist this league desperately needs."
Pro Football Talk: 23rd – Mike Florio elevated the Packers by two spots, despite commenting, "It never felt like they truly wanted to beat the Buccaneers."
The Athletic: 23rd – The Packers climbed four spots from No. 27 in the rankings by Chad Graff and Josh Kendall. They noted, "The Packers are not feeling good even though they're coming off a win. They still can't run the ball, and the whole offense looks disjointed. And what's looming? A visit from their bitter rivals that could really put a damper on this already frustrating season."
ESPN: 23rd – Green Bay fell three spots from No. 20 in the rankings voted on by ESPN's team beat writers. The theme was four words to describe the first four weeks. Rob Demovsky wrote, "Help wanted: RBs apply." He pointed out the team's league-worst running game and fumble issues. "Without Josh Jacobs and with an offensive line in flux, the Packers haven't been able to run the ball. They're last in the league in rushing yards per game (58), and they haven't scored a rushing touchdown yet. There were some signs of life Sunday, but Chris Brooks left because of an ankle injury and both Kaleb Johnson and MarShawn Lloyd fumbled." Demovsky then quoted coach Matt LaFleur on the fumbles: "I think a great teacher's the bench." However, the coach lacks alternative options at this point.
Yahoo: 24th – The Packers moved up one notch in Frank Schwab's rankings. "A win is a win," he noted, while pointing out that Green Bay had to hold off a rookie quarterback in the closing moments. "Green Bay comes home and plays the Bears in Week 5, a game that was flexed out of the late-afternoon time slot in part because of Caleb Williams' injury but also because the Packers aren't that interesting. A third straight loss to the Bears, including last season's horrid collapse in the wild-card round, will have Green Bay fans again calling for LaFleur's job."
CBS: 24th – The Packers won but fell two spots in Pete Prisco's rankings. "It wasn't pretty against the Bucs, especially with two bad turnovers, but they found a way. The heat is off Matt LaFleur for now but here come the dreaded Bears."
Fox Sports: 25th – Green Bay inched up one spot in Ralph Vacchiano's rankings, who noted the team's two wins have come against bottom-feeder teams. "Is it time to start talking about head coach Matt LaFleur's job security yet? The Packers barely hung on to beat a decimated Bucs team that is playing worse football than almost any team in the league, and that came two weeks after they needed overtime and an Aaron Glenn brain freeze to squeak by the Jets."
NFL.com: 27th – The Packers moved up one spot in Nick Shook's rankings. He noted the Packers won the game but lost star linebacker Edgerrin Cooper to a torn Achilles. "The Packers won on Sunday, which is nice. It was an ugly one and included the loss of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (for the season), but at least Green Bay held off the angry mob for a week. The rushing attack was a little bit better (finally), taking some pressure off Jordan Love, but this is still far from the product we expected from the Packers."
This Week's Opponent: Chicago Bears
The Bears are fourth in Fox's rankings. They won their last two games without injured quarterback Caleb Williams, though he's the player who brings the extra dimension to make them a Super Bowl contender. "They outgained the Jets 492 yards to 157 (232-59 on the ground), but replacement QB Tyson Bagent had trouble getting the Bears in the end zone," wrote Ralph Vacchiano. "Clearly, they're not the same team without QB Caleb Williams, so this lofty place in the rankings presumes he'll be back relatively soon."
Latest Packers Odds
Sportsbook odds aren't part of the rankings, but they do provide another perspective. In Packers-related odds at FanDuel Sportsbook: The Packers were +2000 to win the Super Bowl on the eve of the regular season. They moved to +3000 before facing the Jets and +3300 before hosting the Falcons but crashed to +6000 after losing to the Falcons. The Packers got a late-week boost but are back down to +6000 after winning at Tampa Bay.
In NFC North Super Bowl odds, the Bears are +2000, the Lions are +2200 and the Vikings are +2500. The Bears were third in the Super Bowl odds among division teams at this time last week. Green Bay opened the season ranked seventh in the NFC playoff odds (-112) but are now 12th (+250). The Vikings are -245 and the Bears are -148 and the Lions are -146.
Quarterback Jordan Love opened at +2200 to win NFL MVP and remained there entering the Atlanta game. For the second consecutive week, he's +10000. At DraftKings, the NFC North championship odds are Vikings at +125, followed by the Bears at +240, the Lions at +280 and the Packers all the way back at +990 (back a bit from +960 last week). They were third in the odds at +320 before the Atlanta game. By implied probability, the Packers went from a 23.8 percent chance of winning the North to 9.2 percent.
Packers On SI's Consensus Power Rankings: 1, San Francisco 49ers, 12 points (seven first-place votes); 2, Kansas City Chiefs, 18 points; 3, Seattle Seahawks, 24 points (one first-place vote); 4, Jacksonville Jaguars, 38 points; 5, Buffalo Bills, 39 points; 6, Chicago Bears, 60 points; 7, Baltimore Ravens, 61 points; 8, Los Angeles Rams, 62 points; 9, Minnesota Vikings, 70 points; 10, Denver Broncos, 72 points; 11, Las Vegas Raiders, 19 points; 12 Dallas Cowboys, 104 points; 13, Cincinnati Bengals, 106 points; 14, New England Patriots, 111 points; 15, Philadelphia Eagles, 127 points; 16, Carolina Panthers, 131 points; 17, Cleveland Browns, 135 points; 18, Detroit Lions, 137 points; 19, New York Giants, 158 points; 20, Atlanta Falcons, 162 points; 21, Indianapolis Colts, 164 points; 22, Pittsburgh Steelers, 166 points; 23, New Orleans Saints, 185 points; 24, Green Bay Packers, 191 points; 25, Houston Texans, 193 points; 26, Washington Commanders, 210 points; T-27, Arizona Cardinals, 218 points; T-27, New York Jets, 218 points; 29, Los Angeles Chargers, 229 points; 30, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 240 points; T-31, Tennessee Titans, 251 points; T-31, Miami Dolphins, 251 points.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: [email protected] History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.