Packers Hold at No. 26 in USA Today Power Rankings Ahead of Bears Game

Green Bay stayed at No. 26 in USA Today's Week 5 poll after a 17-14 win at Tampa Bay, with other national rankings placing the Packers between No. 22 and No. 24.

A narrow road victory did nothing to improve Green Bay's national standing. Nate Davis of USA Today kept the Packers at No. 26 in his Week 5 NFL power rankings, the same position they held a week earlier, following Sunday's 17-14 decision over the Buccaneers in Tampa.

The Packers have unusual company in that section of the poll. Davis pointed out that the six teams ranked below them own a combined 1-23 record, a group made up of five 0-4 clubs and the 1-3 New York Jets. His writeup cited the continued absences of Josh Jacobs and Micah Parsons plus a season-ending Achilles tear for linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, and he wrote that it is getting "increasingly difficult" to view Green Bay as a playoff team after the close call in Tampa.

USA Today's weekly placements trace the team's decline: No. 16 after Week 1, No. 22 after Week 2, No. 20 after Week 3, and No. 26 in each of the past two weeks. Both of Green Bay's wins have come the hard way — an overtime defeat of the Jets that required overcoming a 10-point deficit, and Sunday's outcome against a Buccaneers side that started an undrafted rookie quarterback for the first time and saw its final drive end with an incompletion on fourth-and-11 from the Packers' 47-yard line.

The injury list continues to grow. Cooper, wide receiver Jayden Reed and Zach Bako-Bewele are all done for the season, and ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported that the run game has stalled without Jacobs and with an offensive line in flux: Green Bay sits last in the league at 58 rushing yards per game and has not scored a rushing touchdown. Chris Brooks left Sunday's game with an ankle injury, Kaleb Johnson and MarShawn Lloyd each fumbled, and coach Matt LaFleur said of the ball-security problems, "If guys don't start holding on to the ball, they're going to be sitting on the bench." Demovsky added that the roster currently offers the coach few alternatives.

The rest of the major national polls cluster the Packers in a similar range. ESPN ranked them 23rd, a drop of three spots; Yahoo Sports placed them 24th, up one; CBS Sports had them 24th, down two; The Athletic moved them up four spots to 23rd; and MMQB held them steady at 22nd.

Attention now shifts to Sunday's home date with the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Chicago carries a No. 10 ranking in USA Today's poll and arrives on consecutive wins with a backup quarterback running the offense.

Broadcast plans reflect the matchup's reduced profile. Yahoo's Frank Schwab wrote that the league moved the game out of the late-afternoon window in part because of Caleb Williams' injury and in part because the Packers "aren't that interesting." He acknowledged the Tampa Bay result counted all the same but argued it fell well short of a commanding performance against a first-time starter at quarterback.

Schwab also framed what is at stake, noting that a third straight loss to the Bears — a skid that would include last season's wild-card-round collapse — would have Green Bay fans again calling for LaFleur's dismissal. CBS Sports' Pete Prisco flagged two bad turnovers against the Buccaneers but wrote that the win temporarily eased the pressure on the coach. The Athletic's Josh Kendall and Chad Graff described an offense that still cannot run the ball and looks out of sync, while MMQB's Conor Orr cast the week as a study in contrasts, with LaFleur working to sort out internal problems as Ben Johnson uses the media for psychological gamesmanship.