Week 6 Power Rankings

The Sidekicks took a step back this week with losses for Cincy, Baltimore and Philly, but nobody took a further step back then the Jets, who, after struggling for two weeks, finally broke down completely and lost to the Bills.

The NFL still looks like an hourglass six weeks in, so let's just get this show on the road.

The Big Boys

1. New Orleans Saints (5-0) - Same - Drew Brees was simply phenomenal against the NFL's top pass defense. New Orleans now averages 48 points per game against the NFC East this season.
2. Indianapolis Colts (6-0) - Up 1 - Coming off of a bye, they get to face St. Louis. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Peyton Manning has a good shot at notching seven straight 300-yard games this weekend.
3. Minnesota Vikings (6-0) - Up 2 - Adrian Peterson now leads the league in rushing, Brett Favre is the NFL's third ranked passer, Sidney Rice is on pace to put up nearly 1,100 yards and Jared Allen has 7.5 sacks. After last week's win over a solid Ravens team, I'm completely sold on the Vikings.
4. Denver Broncos (6-0) - Same - Kyle Orton now has a 100+ passer rating, Elvis Dumervil has reached double-digit sacks and Eddie Royal's return ability opens up a new element to an already strong team.

The Sidekicks

5. New England Patriots (4-2) - Up 4 - People are criticizing the Pats for running up the score in last weekend's 59-0 laugher. What is this, Pee Wee football? These are pros vs. pros. And after two series in the third quarter, it was pros vs. backups.
6. New York Giants (5-1) - Down 4 - Yeah, they got stomped by New Orleans. But there were times during that game, where you could only ask: "What could you possibly do against this?". Drew Brees was simply unbeatable last Sunday.
7. Atlanta Falcons (4-1) - Up 3 - Their defense is still giving up plenty of yards, but is allowing only 15 points per game. The reason: Third-best red-zone scoring percentage. Conclusion: Bend, don't break.
8. Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) - Down 2 - Houston showed that stopping Cedric Benson and airing it out on the NFL's 5th worst pass defense is how you beat the Bengals. Will upcoming opponents follow suit?
9. Baltimore Ravens (3-3) - Down 2 - Can you imagine a team more unlucky? They get some bogus calls in Foxboro, Carson Palmer turns into Randall Cunningham against them and Kicker Steven Hauschka misses a very makeable game-winner. Amazing to think that they now have the same record as the Jacksonville Jaguars.
10. Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) - Down 2 - For whatever reason, this team just decides, collectively, not to show up about twice a year. Donovan McNabb, the offensive line, the coaching staff and the linebackers simply didn't play adequate NFL football last week.
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) - Up 1 - You just can't turn the ball over four times against Cleveland. If it had been anybody else, they'd be 3-3 right now.
12. Green Bay Packers (3-2) - Up 2 - They have a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense right now. If they had an offensive line and a consistent pass rush, they'd be a really scary team.

The Average Joes

13. Chicago Bears (3-2) - Same - Average offense, average defense, awful running game. Matt Forte was stuffed again last week in his worst game of the season.
14. Dallas Cowboys (3-2) - Up 1 - An offense that puts up yards, but can't always score faces a Falcons defense that gives up yards, but holds you to few points. Cowboys hoping that coming off a bye will give them the edge.
15. Arizona Cardinals (3-2) - Up 1 - We knew the Cards could throw. Now we saw a solid defensive performance for the first time this season. They allowed zero third-down conversions and just 14 rushing yards while holding Matt Hasselbeck to just 10-for-29 passing.
16. San Francisco 49ers (3-2) - Same - The bye week came at the perfect time. They desperately needed to get Frank Gore back, and the addition of Michael Crabtree to the offense gives the 28th-ranked pass offense a much-needed option.
17. Houston Texans (3-3) - Up 4 - Houston surprisingly went dink-and-dunk against the Bengals last week. If they can use that to complement their established vertical passing scheme, their lack of ground game may not be as big of an issue. Also, if they can stop the run like they have the past three weeks (45 yards per game), they could be a team that makes some noise.

Who are these guys?

18. Miami Dolphins (2-3) - Same - They'll be welcomed back from their bye by the New Orleans Saints. Miami needs to run the ball to be successful, so it's vital that their defense doesn't surrender a big, early lead.
19. New York Jets (3-3) - Down 8 - The NFL's biggest fraud in Week 3? Maybe. It's still a good team, but Mark Sanchez is really struggling. The Jets right now are averaging more yards on the ground than through the air. The penalties last week didn't help, either.
20. San Diego Chargers (2-3) - Same - Want to know what a bad team looks like with an elite QB? Look no further. Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman have combined for 0 sacks this season.
21. Seattle Seahawks (2-4) - Down 2 - When a team is as up-and-down as Seattle this year, you just have to conclude that they're a mediocre football team that can make noise, but not often or consistently enough to be taken seriously.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) - Same - Needing overtime to beat St. Louis is about as bad as losing outright. After looking pretty decent two weeks ago, they really need a bye after looking awful the past two.

The Forgettables

23. Carolina Panthers (2-3) - Same - The running game is back, as both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart went over the century mark. Unfortunately, Jake Delhomme's play this year is severely holding back a potentially powerful offense.
24. Buffalo Bills (2-4) - Up 3 - They've held shaky opposing QBs to passer ratings of 8.3 and 15.1 the last two weeks. Next up: Jake Delhomme.
25. Kansas City Chiefs (1-5) - Up 3 - After making noise against the Giants and taking the Cowboys to OT, they finally broke through with a win over the direction-less Redskins last week. Amazingly, none of the combined 20 points in the game were scored by either offenses. Thank you, Ryan Succop.
26. Detroit Lions (1-5) - Down 1 - The Lions were not preparing on having Drew Stanton under center this season. After last week, it's pretty clear that neither was Stanton. They have a bye to get the promising Matthew Stafford back healthy.
27. Washington Redskins (2-4) - Down 3 - Their defense is top-5 in points allowed, total defense and against the pass. Jason Campbell has an 84 passer rating and Clinton Portis is averaging more than four yards per carry. The problem? Awful leadership, a 22% Third-Down conversion percentage in their last three games, a bad offensive line and horrendous play in critical situations. This team is the exact opposite of clutch. Jim Zorn has his job secure for the season, but I would be astonished to see him back next year.

The Losers

28. Oakland Raiders (2-4) - Up 4 - The "emergence of Jamarcus Russell" featured a grand total of 2 completions for 6 yards. Lesson learned: Make sure you cover Oakland's TEs and RBs from now on. Yes, they beat a good team, but scoring 13 points is hardly a performance worthy of playoff guarantees.
29. Cleveland Browns (1-5) - Same - Worst offensive play of the season: Joshua Cribbs lines up in the gun, fakes the handoff, gets pressured and throws an ugly pass off of his back foot right into the arms of Troy Polamalu... in Pittsburgh's red zone. You know a team has a desperate QB situation when they run the wildcat SEVEN(!!!) plays in a row.
30. Tennessee Titans (0-6) - Down 4 - Tennessee's combined passing stats at New England: 2-for-14, -7 yards, 2 interceptions. They lost to the Pats by the same margin as Charleston Southern lost to Florida... and that game had a 73-point spread. Forget Tampa's play against the Giants earlier this season, this one's not getting topped this year.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6) - Down 1 - Josh Johnson's stats don't show it, but the Bucs have been more competitive since he's been the starter. DE Jimmy Wilkerson is also quietly having a nice year for them. They're pretty bad, but at least they're young and rebuilding.
32. St. Louis Rams (0-6) - Down 1 - The last remaining team that isn't scoring 10 points per game. How is it possible in the Free Agency era of the NFL, that one team can average 38 points per game and another can average 9? Bring on the Colts!