Week 5 Power Rankings

The elite group at the top got more exclusive this week, as the Patriots and Ravens both lost again this week.

Meanwhile, we're really starting to see a divide between the good teams and the average teams in the NFL, with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers being perhaps the only two on the fence.

The bottom, however, is growing and growing every week. Not only do the Losers have a new team in their group (Buffalo), but the Forgettables (Carolina, Washington, Detroit, Tennessee) don't appear good enough to beat anyone better than them either at this point.

Let's start this mess.

The Big Boys

1. New Orleans Saints (4-0) - Same - We'll get plenty of answers when Eli and the Giants roll into town on Sunday.
2. New York Giants (5-0) - Same - Toughness clearly runs in the Manning family, and it helps when you're beating a team so easily that you can take Eli out in the first half.
3. Indianapolis Colts (5-0) - Same - Peyton Manning has a 73.5 completion percentage, and, after a bye this week, will look to continue arguably his best season so far as a pro. The Colts' schedule this year looks pitifully easy.
4. Denver Broncos (5-0) - Up 1 - I'm a believer. The reason: coaching. Josh McDaniels is turning Kyle Orton into a very good NFL QB, while Mike Nolan is reminding people that he's a great Defensive Coordinator. For people blaming Denver for a weak schedule: How do explain wins over Cincy, Dallas and the Pats? And why haven't Pittsburgh and Atlanta looked as impressive against their relatively weak opponents? Denver is a good team that's beating teams that they're better than.
5. Minnesota Vikings (5-0) - Down 1 - I'm still not 100% sold. They're still not really special at anything, haven't faced a legitimate contender yet, haven't dominated and allowed over 400 yards to the Rams last weekend. They may be a great team, but they'll have to prove it against Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the next two weeks.

The Sidekicks

6. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) - Up 7 - People are comparing them to last year's Cardinals. But they remind me more of last year's Steelers. They're ugly, don't blow anybody out, play good defense, win close games and have a QB who looks sloppy through most of the game, but makes huge plays in the fourth quarter when his team needs him to.
7. Baltimore Ravens (3-2) - Same - They're good, but the schedule could be a real issue. They play Minnesota, Denver, Cincy, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh in the next 7 weeks.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1) - Up 2 - They've thoroughly dominated everyone they were supposed to, but don't have any quality wins yet. Still, the offense is potent and the defense is making a lot of plays.
9. New England Patriots (3-2) - Down 3 - They've played some quality defenses so far, but you'd still expect a Tom Brady-led offense to be better than 18th in scoring.
10. Atlanta Falcons (3-1) - Up 6 - They looked so-so until their bye, then completely came alive on a cross-nation trip to SanFran. Roddy White lit up a quality CB in Nate Clements.
11. New York Jets (3-2) - Down 3 - Did we jump the gun on them? Mark Sanchez has been up and down, but the real question mark is the run defense, which has allowed 431 yards in the past three games against good run offenses.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) - Down 1 - Getting Troy Polamalu back will light a fire under a defense that has been solid, but unspectacular. The loss of Aaron Smith will hurt, but Travis Kirschke is a reliable backup, while Ziggy Hood was drafted specifically to replace Smith down the line.
13. Chicago Bears (3-1) - Down 1 - The Bears and the Falcons are two of the last remaining unknowns so far. They'll face off Sunday Night in Atlanta. Can Matt Forte build on his performance before the bye against a weak Falcons run defense?

The Average Joes

14. Green Bay Packers (2-2) - Same - A seemingly very average team with a lot of potential. They'll get to build their record up to 4-2 against Detroit and Cleveland before Farvageddon II, return to Lambeau.
15. Dallas Cowboys (3-2) - Same - They needed OT to beat Kansas City. Can you believe this team has the #1 offense in the NFL?
16. San Francisco 49ers (3-2) - Down 7 - Wow, what a difference one week makes. I was ready to buy into this team, then they lose by 35 at home to the Falcons? Luckily, they have a bye week to get Frank Gore healthy and Michael Crabtree integrated.
17. Arizona Cardinals (2-2) - Up 3 - Luckily, Houston's defense is even worse than theirs. The running game is averaging 56 yards per game, but luckily, Kurt Warner's still keeping them afloat.

Who are these guys?

18. Miami Dolphins (2-3) - Up 3 - Tons of coaches have copied Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, but none have been able to truely master it like he did. So far, nobody runs the Wildcat even close to as well as Ronnie Brown's Dolphins.
19. Seattle Seahawks (2-3) - Up 3 - They completed their second shutout of the season against what was a top 10 Jaguars offense coming in. I don't know if this is a good team, but they're definitely capable of upsetting teams when they're on.
20. San Diego Chargers (2-2) - Down 1 - Unable to run the ball, their offense has become predictable. That may not be a great matchup against an aggressive Broncos defense this Sunday.
21. Houston Texans (2-3) - Down 3 - Well, they can thrown the ball just fine. Unfortunately, every other aspect of the team is struggling. Their running game isn't even averaging 3 yards per carry.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3) - Down 5 - I was ready to buy into them, but seriously, their pass rush is just awful. They have one DE with a sack (Reggie Heyward), and he's on Injured Reserve now.

The Forgettables

23. Carolina Panthers (1-3) - Up 2 - Well, they finally got a much-needed win against the disappointing Redskins. Unfortunately, they still rank in the bottom ten in every major offensive statistical category and, as expected, can't stop the run.
24. Washington Redskins (2-3) - Down 1 - They'll play their NFL-record sixth straight game against a winless opponent on Sunday, but the schedule after that gets simply brutal. Washington has one last week to get themselves together.
25. Detroit Lions (1-4) - Down 1 - Dante Culpepper was 23-for-27 in tough loss to Pittsburgh. Scott Linehan is doing a nice job with this offense, but the defense really needs to step it up (32.4 ppg allowed).
26. Tennessee Titans (0-5) - Same - Albert Haynesworth's loss isn't being felt against the run, but boy is his pass rush and double team-garnering ability missing. The Titans are the same as last year on offense, but the defense was special last year. This year it's giving up 27.8 points per game.

The Losers

27. Buffalo Bills (1-4) - Same - Perhaps the biggest blunder of the off-season was Buffalo's total neglect of their Offensive Line in Free Agency.
28. Kansas City Chiefs (0-5) - Up 1 - At least they're somewhat competetive. They hung with Baltimore in the opener, made a late push against the Giants and took the Cowboys to overtime. But dammit, why did they have to lose to the Raiders???
29. Cleveland Browns (1-4) - Up 1 - 2-for-17 = Win apparently in this year's bottom-heavy NFL. ESPN's NFL Blitz highlights of the game were back-and-forth punts from Dave Zastudil and Brian Moorman. Cleveland can thank Buffalo Punt Returner Roscoe Parrish for the win.
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5) - Up 1 - They put up yards on Philadelphia and Josh Johnson has some ability. Still, this is a young rebuilding team with a tough schedule. They would be my best bet to go winless this year.
31. St. Louis Rams (0-5) - Up 1 - They put up 400 yards against the Vikings, are getting Marc Bulger back this week and have two winnable games in the next three weeks. It's now or never for the Rams.
32. Oakland Raiders (1-4) - Down 4 - They're averaging less than 10 points and 200 yards per game on offense. They've also lost their last three games by a combined score of 96 to 13.